RIB uses the Basic Interoperability Data Model (BIDM) to describe the software that it catalogs. Whenever RIB uses the BIDM to create a description of a software package, it stores this information in a specially encoded HTML file. If the repository maintainer chooses to share this data with other RIB repositories, then those repositories can use the Internet to import or link to this specially encoded HTML file. This allows a network of repositories to share their data with each other in a scalable and efficient manner.

Repositories currently available for interoperation

If you are running a RIB repository at your site then by all means please send us an email containing a brief description of the repository and the url to its catalog(s). You might be surprised to find out that other people are using RIB to create similar repositories and are willing to interoperate with you.

Below is a list of RIB repositories that are available for interoperation. You can see what software packages have been cataloged by those repositories by browsing their software catalogs. If you would like to incorporate any of the data from these repositories into your local RIB software catalog, then follow the guidelines in the Repository Interoperation section of the RIB User's Guide.

• HPC Netlib
• PTLib (Parallel Tools Library)
• BenchWeb
• PT/ES (Progamming Systems and Tools)
• CCM (Computational Chemistry and Material Science)