Conference waylay::askenet_v5

    brassiere?

  Years ago, I was reading an article about obscure words and it mentioned
"embracery". It said it had a legal meaning, but I forgot what. It is not
related to "embrace". I got curious and looked it up in the dictionary.
  A decade or so later, after buying a new dictionary, I got curious again and
looked it up. It wasn't there. Usually, when a word disappears from the
dictionary, it means that it is no longer used by the profession that formerly
used it. So I'm guessing that this word is no longer used by the U.S. legal pro-
fession. Perhaps "jury tampering" is the replacement term. 
  If you can find a big dictionary that is over 20 years old, or a very big
(library-type) dictionary, that word is probably in there.

    
    embracery  n  : an attempty to influence a jury corruptly (as by bribes
      or threats
    
    (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate, (C)1988, Merriam-Webster; 2.8 lb, 1562
    pages)
    

    embracery n., pl. embraceries.  Law.
      An attempt to corrupt a jury, as with bribery.  [Middle English
    <embracerie>, from <embracen>, to influence a jury by illegal means, to
    embrace.  See EMBRACE.]
    
    	-- American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition, � 1992; Electronic
    	   version � 1994-1996, Softkey International.

    
    UTR03_FTA44:> webster embracery
    Connecting to Xwebster server at 16.1.16.1
    The meaning of the word is:
    DEFINITION 0
    em.brac.ery \im-'bra-s-(*-)re-\ n [ME, fr. AF embraceor] : an attempt
    to
       influence a jury corruptly
    

    
    	Apparently some of us are without an on-line Webster.
    

    Yeah.  I bet if someone volunteered information on what one is and how
    one uses it, more people might use it.
    
    jeb
    

    15 mins. and AltaVista produced these and others:
    
    http://c.gp.cs.cmu.edu:5103/prog/webster
    http://www.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/oed/

$ create webster.c
/*
 *  Author:
 *
 *	James A. Lundon
 *
 *  Date:
 *
 *	22 September 1993
 *
 *  Abstract:
 *
 *	This is probably the most basic client possible to XWEBSTER situated 
 *      at WEBSTER_IP_ADDR. It will allow the user input a word and then 
 *      return the definition of that word, nothing else.
 *
 *  Instructions to Compile:
 *
 *	To compile this program on VMS:
 *
 *      $ define SYS SYS$LIBRARY       !  Get the proper header files
 *	$ define NETINET SYS$LIBRARY   !  Get the proper header files
 *      $ cc webster
 *	$ link webster, sys$input/opt
 *      sys$library:ucx$ipc/lib	       !  UCX functions e.g connect, send...
 *      sys$library:vaxcrtl.exe/share  !  VAX C RTL
 *      ^Z
 *      $ run webster
 *
 *	To compile this program on ULTRIX:
 *
 *	% cc(c89) -o webster webster.c
 *      % webster  
 */

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <netdb.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <errno.h>
#define BUFSIZ 32768
#define WEBSTER_IP_ADDR "16.1.16.1"

#if vms
#define NO_SCREEN	0X10000000
#define EXIT(status) 	(exit (NO_SCREEN | status))
#else
#define EXIT(status) 	(exit (status))
#endif

main (
    	int		argc,
    	char		*argv[])

{

    char		webster_read[BUFSIZ],
    			webster_query[BUFSIZ],
    			temp_str[50 + 1];

    int		    	s,
    		    	status,
    			count;

    struct sockaddr_in 	*SockAddr;	

    /*
     *  Validate input
     */

    if ( argc > 1 )
    {
    	strcpy (temp_str, argv[1]);
    }
    else
    {
    	printf ("Please input word to get definition : ");
    	fgets (temp_str, 50, stdin);

    	temp_str[strlen (temp_str) - 1] = (char) NULL;
    }

    /*
     *  Checking for existance of wildcards or other illegal characters
     */

    count = 0;
    while ( temp_str[count] != (char) NULL )
    {
    	if ( !isalpha (temp_str[count]) )
    	{
    	    printf ("Illegal wilcard characters in the input word\n");
    	    EXIT(EXIT_FAILURE);    	
    	}
    	count++;
    }

    /*
     *  Connect to Xwebster
     */

    SockAddr = (struct sockaddr_in *) calloc (sizeof (struct sockaddr), 1);

    SockAddr->sin_family = AF_INET;
    SockAddr->sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr (WEBSTER_IP_ADDR);
    SockAddr->sin_port = htons (10300);

    /*
     *  Socket provides sequence, reliable, two-way connection based byte 
     *  streams with an available out-of-band data transmission machanism.
     */

    s = socket (AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);

    printf ("Connecting to Xwebster server at %s", WEBSTER_IP_ADDR);

    status = connect (
    		s,
    		SockAddr,
    		sizeof(struct sockaddr_in));

    if ( status != 0 )
    {
        printf ("connect status is %d and errno is %d\n", status, errno);
    	EXIT(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    /*
     *  Read/Write to/from server
     */

    sprintf (
    	webster_query, 
    	"DEFINE %s\015\012",
    	temp_str);

    status = send (
    	s,
    	webster_query,
    	strlen(webster_query), 0);

    if ( status < 0 )
    {
    	printf ("\nError with server query - Exitting\n");
    	EXIT(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    status = read (
    		s,
    		webster_read,
    		BUFSIZ);

    if ( status < 0 )
    {
    	printf ("\nError with server returning output - Exitting\n");
    	EXIT(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    printf ("\nThe meaning of the word is:\n");

    printf ("%s\n", webster_read);

    status = close (s);

    if ( status != 0 )
    {
        printf ("close status is %d and errno is %d\n", status, errno);
    	EXIT(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    EXIT(EXIT_SUCCESS);

}
$ define SYS SYS$LIBRARY       !  Get the proper header files
$ define NETINET SYS$LIBRARY   !  Get the proper header files
$ cc webster
$ link webster, sys$input/opt
sys$library:ucx$ipc/lib	       !  UCX functions e.g connect, send...
sys$library:vaxcrtl.exe/share  !  VAX C RTL
$ exit

$ create webster.c
/*
 *  Author:
 *
 *	James A. Lundon
 *
 *  Date:
 *
 *	22 September 1993
 *
 *  Abstract:
 *
 *	This is probably the most basic client possible to XWEBSTER situated 
 *      at WEBSTER_IP_ADDR. It will allow the user input a word and then 
 *      return the definition of that word, nothing else.
 *
 *  Instructions to Compile:
 *
 *	To compile this program on VMS:
 *
 *      $ define/user SYS SYS$LIBRARY       !  Get the proper header files
 *	$ define/user NETINET SYS$LIBRARY   !  Get the proper header files
 *      
 *	$ ! Alpha systems:
 *      
 *	$     cc/stand=vaxc webster
 *	$     link webster
 *      
 *	$ ! VAX systems (DEC C installed)
 *      
 *	$     cc/decc/stand=vaxc webster
 *	$     link webster 
 *      
 *	$ ! VAX systems (VAX C only)
 *      
 *	$     cc webster
 *	$   link webster, sys$input/opt
 *	sys$library:ucx$ipc/lib	       !  UCX functions e.g connect, send...
 *	sys$library:vaxcrtl.exe/share  !  VAX C RTL
 *      ^Z
 *      
 *      $ run webster
 *
 *	To compile this program on ULTRIX:
 *
 *	% cc(c89) -o webster webster.c
 *      % webster  
 */

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <netdb.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <errno.h>
#define BUFSIZ 32768
#define WEBSTER_IP_ADDR "16.1.16.1"

#if vms
#define NO_SCREEN	0X10000000
#define EXIT(status) 	(exit (NO_SCREEN | status))
#else
#define EXIT(status) 	(exit (status))
#endif

main (
    	int		argc,
    	char		*argv[])

{

    char		webster_read[BUFSIZ],
    			webster_query[BUFSIZ],
    			temp_str[50 + 1];

    int		    	s,
    		    	status,
    			count;

    struct sockaddr_in 	*SockAddr;	

    /*
     *  Validate input
     */

    if ( argc > 1 )
    {
    	strcpy (temp_str, argv[1]);
    }
    else
    {
    	printf ("Please input word to get definition : ");
    	fgets (temp_str, 50, stdin);

    	temp_str[strlen (temp_str) - 1] = (char) NULL;
    }

    /*
     *  Checking for existance of wildcards or other illegal characters
     */

    count = 0;
    while ( temp_str[count] != (char) NULL )
    {
    	if ( !isalpha (temp_str[count]) )
    	{
    	    printf ("Illegal wilcard characters in the input word\n");
    	    EXIT(EXIT_FAILURE);    	
    	}
    	count++;
    }

    /*
     *  Connect to Xwebster
     */

    SockAddr = (struct sockaddr_in *) calloc (sizeof (struct sockaddr), 1);

    SockAddr->sin_family = AF_INET;
    SockAddr->sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr (WEBSTER_IP_ADDR);
    SockAddr->sin_port = htons (10300);

    /*
     *  Socket provides sequence, reliable, two-way connection based byte 
     *  streams with an available out-of-band data transmission machanism.
     */

    s = socket (AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);

    printf ("Connecting to Xwebster server at %s", WEBSTER_IP_ADDR);

    status = connect (
    		s,
    		SockAddr,
    		sizeof(struct sockaddr_in));

    if ( status != 0 )
    {
        printf ("connect status is %d and errno is %d\n", status, errno);
    	EXIT(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    /*
     *  Read/Write to/from server
     */

    sprintf (
    	webster_query, 
    	"DEFINE %s\015\012",
    	temp_str);

    status = send (
    	s,
    	webster_query,
    	strlen(webster_query), 0);

    if ( status < 0 )
    {
    	printf ("\nError with server query - Exitting\n");
    	EXIT(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    status = read (
    		s,
    		webster_read,
    		BUFSIZ);

    if ( status < 0 )
    {
    	printf ("\nError with server returning output - Exitting\n");
    	EXIT(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    printf ("\nThe meaning of the word is:\n");

    printf ("%s\n", webster_read);

    status = close (s);

    if ( status != 0 )
    {
        printf ("close status is %d and errno is %d\n", status, errno);
    	EXIT(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    EXIT(EXIT_SUCCESS);

}
$ define/user SYS SYS$LIBRARY       !  Get the proper header files
$ define/user NETINET SYS$LIBRARY   !  Get the proper header files
$ IF f$getsyi ("ARCH_NAME") .EQS. "Alpha"
$ THEN
$   cc/stand=vaxc webster
$   link webster
$ else
$   IF F$SEARCH("SYS$SYSTEM:DECC$COMPILER.EXE") .NES. "" 
$   THEN
$      CC/DECC/STAND=VAXC WEBSTER
$      link webster
$   ELSE
$      cc webster
$   link webster, sys$input/opt
sys$library:ucx$ipc/lib	       !  UCX functions e.g connect, send...
sys$library:vaxcrtl.exe/share  !  VAX C RTL
$    ENDIF ! check for DECC$COMPILER installed
$ ENDIF
$ exit

Well, those C programs are cute.

But a simple

$ telnet 16.1.16.1 10300

Seems to work just fine.  Type "Help" for assistance with commands,
the simplest of which is "Define <word>"

What is the source of the database (which of the many "Websters")?
What are licensing considerations?

/john

For Merriam-Webster's: http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm