Data-sharing protocol: A prototype implementation

This paper describes a client/server communication protocol which will allow physicists to access data from cooperating remote experiments. Special low-level ''client'' software within the user's ''home'' data-access library formulates a request for data from the remote experiment. This request is sent over a network to a server at the remote site. The server has specific knowledge about the location and format of the requested data. The server gets the data and sends it over the network to the requesting client, which reformats the data according to the local library's conventions. Our prototype is being developed to suppose remote access to data from ATF, PBX, and micro Vax data from Tore-Supra. We have attempted to create a flexible design which should accommodate data from other experiments as well