---------------------------------------------------------------------- WILMA: Web Information-List Maintenance Agent (version 1.xMN) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1997 by Mark Nottingham This is derivative software; see wilma.license for more information. Original Copyright © 1995 by E-Doc WILMA Development Team: Andrew Williams and Daniel K. Appelquist ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wilma FAQ About Wilma 1.1 Why Wilma1.xMN? 1.2 What platforms does Wilma run on? 1.3 Why doesn't it run on Windows? Getting the most out of Wilma 2.1 Using Headers and Footers Troubleshooting 3.1 Wilma doesn't work; I get a server error. 3.2 Wilma says it can't open a file. 3.3 Why do the links at the bottom of xx page lead to the wrong place? 3.4 I get an error about "AnyDBM_File" when I run it by hand. 3.5 wilma-parse can't write to the DBM file in interactive mode. Technical Questions 4.1 Is there any way to make Wilma faster? 4.2 Why are the Catagories and Abbreviations in two arrays? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Wilma 1.1 Why Wilma1.xMN? I originally came across Wilma by E-doc in the (Australian) summer of 1996 while working at La Trobe University, in Melbourne. It was a great CGI, but it was only alpha, and it didn't appear if much work was being done on it. When I learned a bit of Perl while working at connect.com.au later that year, I decided to make Wilma a project on my own. And it grew, and grew... 1.2 What platforms does Wilma run on? Wilma was designed for use on any modern Unix system that has Perl 5 or greater installed. 1.3 Why doesn't it run on Windows? Although it would be fairly easy to port Wilma to Windows in most respects, there are two main obstacles; a) The implementation of DBM access in Windows is not fully compatible with how they are used in Unix, and b) I don't have access to a Windows box to test it on. Getting the most out of Wilma 2.1 Using Headers and Footers Because you can modify headers and footers for each individual category as well as the index and search pages, you have quite a bit of control over look and feel. Remember that the contents are simply lists, so you can put anything around it; from tables to complex graphics to frames, if that's what you're into. Troubleshooting 3.1 Wilma doesn't work; I get a server error. There are a number of things you should check if you get a server error when running Wilma. * Are the scripts readable and executable by the user who is running the Web server (usually 'nobody' 'web' or 'www')? * Are you using Perl 5 or greater? * Are you using Wilma on a Unix machine? Wilma uses some features of Perl that are not suppored with Windows NT and other platforms. If you get a Server Error when you access Wilma with a browser, try running the scripts by hand from the command line, but remember to delete the files that are created in the data/ directory. 3.2 Wilma says it can't open a file. The most common cause of this is not making the data directory writable by the Web user; see the install docs for details. Also, if you run one of the Wilma scripts by hand, it will create the data files with your username, which will bring about the same effect. Either delete them or change their ownership. 3.3 Why do the links at the bottom of xx page lead to the wrong place? The page headers and footers are NOT automatically updated; you must change all of the files in the headers/ directory to reflect your system. Wilma can be written to evalute the headers and footers, but there would be a performance penalty. 3.4 I get an error about "AnyDBM_File" when I run it by hand. Some systems have unusual setups for DBM access. To force Wilma to use SDBM (which is installed with Perl), add the line use SDBM_File; to wilma.conf. 3.5 wilma-parse can't write to the DBM file in interactive mode. wilma-parse will run with the permissions of whoever invokes it; if this is different than the owner of the DBM files or data directory, and they do not have world-write, it will die with a failed write error. You can fix this in a number of ways; add world-write if this is acceptable, or become the Web user to modify the database. After you're done, make sure that the Web user can read and write all of the files. Technical Questions 4.1 Is there any way to make Wilma faster? Probably the best way would be to use modPerl or FastCGI; list and index are prime candidates for this. If you're interested, drop me a line. 4.2 Why are the Catagories and Abbreviations in two arrays? Putting them in an associative array means that any preferred ordering by the user would be lost. While it could be preserved by putting them in alternating order in a single array and then splitting it, this would degrade perfomance and increase the likelyhood of errors.