SUMMARY
The "type" field can be used to specify any of several different types of data that are present in the Nameserver database. These types may be specified either by adding "type=name-of-desired-type" to any query or by using the "-t name-of-desired-type" switch.

Actually, a given entry may have more than one type, if it fits in more than one category. For example, people are listed under types "person" (since that's what they are) and "phone" (since information about people is commonly found in a phone book).

The following types are used in the database:

• person: Information about a human being.
• unit: Information about a campus unit (e.g., department).
• areacode: Information about a telephone area code.
• food: Information about a Champaign-Urbana restaurant.
• phone: Anything a reasonable person might expect to see in a phone book. The "phone" type covers the following other types: "person", "unit", "areacode", and "food".
• weather: Information about current weather conditions.
• timetable: The current UIUC course timetable. Also listed under types "fall", "spring", and "summer".

EXAMPLES
When a query is executed without any field specifiers, ph searches the entire database for all entries whose "name" and/or "nickname" fields match the query expression. In most cases a simple query expression will deliver the desired results. However, occasionally a simple query can produce too many matches, several or many of which may have nothing to do with the data type for which one is searching. For instance, the expression "ph english" displays the names of six people whose last name is English, the names of two campus units (Division of English as an International Language and the Department of English), and the titles of 59 courses in the University Timetable. In such cases, it can be helpful to include the "type" field specifier in your query expression. The general syntax for using the "type" field specifier is:

ph type=name-of-desired-type [name-of-field=]value-of-field...

In the case of the ambiguous example given above (i.e., "ph english"), using the "type" field specifier would only display those records matching the data type indicated. For example, if you were only searching for the entries of persons with the name "English," you could say "ph type=person english". The following examples demonstrate how to extract specific types of data from the ph database.

TO EXTRACT INFORMATION ON A PERSON:

syntax: ph type=person name1 [name2 name3 ...] example: ph type=person stanley ikenberry

TO EXTRACT INFORMATION ON A CAMPUS UNIT:

syntax: ph type=unit name-or-partial-name-of-unit example: ph type=unit agriculture

TO EXTRACT INFORMATION ON A TELEPHONE AREA CODE:

syntax: ph type=areacode name-of-city-or-state examples: ph type=areacode san francisco

ph type=areacode california

The area code database does not include every city in the U.S. If no matches are found using the name of a city, try entering the name of the state, and the area codes for the major regions in the state will be displayed.

TO EXTRACT INFORMATION ON A LOCAL RESTAURANT:

syntax: ph type=food [other=type-of-food] name-or-type-ofeating

-establishment
examples: ph type=food yen ching

ph type=food other=chinese restaurant

If you already know the name of the restaurant you want to locate, set the "type" field specifier to "food" followed by all or part of the name of the restaurant. If you want to locate all restaurants that serve a certain type of cuisine, use the "other" field specifier to indicate the type of food in which you are interested. In the latter case, you must also either give a name or indicate one of the five types of eating establishments used in the "nickname" field of the database: restaurant, bar, pizza, tavern, or donut. (For more information on the subtleties of extracting restaurant data from the ph database, see help on "restaurants".)

TO EXTRACT WEATHER INFORMATION:

Ph can display weather condition information for many locations throughout the state and country. It also offers some special options for local weather information. Weather conditions for a particular location are requested by including one of the three letter city codes listed below in the query:

Ph Weather City Codes

ALN  Alton           DSM  DesMoines     MWA  Marion
ARR  Aurora          FNT  Flint         MVN  Mt. Vernon
BLV  Belleville      GBG  Galesburg     NBU  Glenview
BMI  Bloomington     IND  Indianapolis  ORD  Chicago O'Hare
BOS  Boston          JFK  New York      PIA  Peoria
CGX  Meigs           LAX  Los Angeles   PDX  Portland
CMI  Champaign       MDH  Carbondale    RFD  Rockford
CMX  Houghton        MDW  Midway        SFO  San Francisco
COU  Columbia        MLI  Moline        SPI  Springfield
CPS  East St. Louis  MMO  Marseilles    STL  St. Louis
DEC  Decatur         MSN  Madison       SYR  Syracuse
DPA  Dupage          MSY  New Orleans   UIN  Quincy

syntax: ph type=weather citycode conditions example: ph type=weather cmi conditions

TO EXTRACT UNIVERSITY TIMETABLE INFORMATION:

The timetable information in ph can be searched by course number or by significant words likely to be found in the course's title. Additionally it is possible to conduct a search on the spring, summer, and fall timetables simultaneously or specify the semester for the query. Set the type field specifier to "timetable" in order to search all timetables or to "fall", "spring", or "summer" to search a specific timetable:

syntax: ph type=timetable|fall|spring|summer coursenumber

          ph type=timetable|fall|spring|summer word1 [word2
          word3...]
examples: ph type=timetable cs121
          ph type=fall introduction french literature
          ph type=summer "music*"

SEE ALSO: query, switch, manpage, areacodes, campus_units, people, restaurants, timetable, weather