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NOTE: These notes were put together by Sarah Yurman, a programmer at
Spatial Focus, while setting up her first ACEDB server. She has
contributed these notes in the hope that they will help other
programmers to avoid the traps that she stumbled into. Another
important document to consult is [1]wrpc/SERVER.INSTALLATION, part of
the ACeDB source distribution.
Troubleshooting a new ACE Database
_________________________________________________________________
Introduction
May 25, 1999
This is a list of things great and small that we have discovered while
implementing a new ACE database at [2]Spatial Focus. We are working
with ACE in Linux, at the time of this writing we are using Redhat
5.2.
Caveat Emptor
This document is a work in progress. It is being written while we are
solving problems. Its primary purpose is to maintain a record for
internal use at Spatial Focus. Although we don't deliberately make
mistakes, anything in this document could be wrong. Mistakes will be
corrected as they are found. We are not responsible for any harm
resulting from information we record here.
Merci!
Many thanks to [3]Lincoln Stein and all the folks at the Human Genome
Project.
Contents
Environment Description
Installation
ACEDB
*
ACEDB and environment variables
*
Permissions
Gifaceserver
*
inetd.conf
*
server.log
Models
Editors
White Space
To Do
_________________________________________________________________
Environment Description
These notes refer to the following environment:
* ACEDB: 4.7g, loaded from the Linux binary
(bin.linux_libc6.4_7g.tar.Z)
* Perl 5.005_03
* CGI.pm 2.51
* AcePerl 1.54
* Gifaceserver loaded from gifaceserver.LINUX
* Apache 1.3
(This is just for local use, so upgrading hasn't been a priority)
* Netscape 4.51
* Linux (Redhat 5.2)
* bash shell
Installation:
ACEDB
ACEDB and environment variables
Problem
If nothing works, chances are the environment variables haven't been
set. The acedb and textdb scripts built by INSTALL wouldn't work due
to the differences in shells. acedb sets environment variables called
$ACEDB and $DBDIR, and appends your path, then starts the xace
graphical interface to ACEDB. textdb sets the environment variables
and starts the tace text interface.
Solution
I altered my .bash_profile with the following lines:
ACEDB=[pathname to database]
DBDIR=[pathname to database]/database/
PATH=$PATH:[pathname to ace software directory]/bin
export ACEDB
export DBDIR
(PATH was already exported)
Testing the Solution
Use the echo command to make sure the environment variables are in
place. We put our "contacts" database under /home/httpd because that
directory is accessible to the web server. This is a requirement of
AceBrowser, which we want to use as the primary interface.
A test of the $ACEDB environment variable looks like this:
echo $ACEDB (return)
It returns this:
/home/httpd/database/contacts/
Consequences of the Solution
The NOTES file distributed with this version of ACEDB advises you to
move the acedb and textace scripts to /usr/local/bin, and using them
to start the program. With your environment variables in place, you
can simply use xace or tace instead.
Permissions
Take your permissions seriously. Richard Durbin's Installation Guide
is out of date, but gives good advice in this department.
Gifaceserver
Warning: this isn't yet working completely
Problem
Most documentation dealing with this software simply tells you to get
it going. The software comes with no documentation whatsoever. No
README at all. There is a manual that comes in /acedocs called
aceserver.html. Its installation instructions don't work on version
4.7g.
Solution
The best installation information is in the README file for
AcePerl-1.54. A few more hints are listed here.
The AcePerl README file implies creating a user called acedb. This
creates permissions problems that we haven't solved yet. We are using
individual user names instead.
One thing that no documentation mentions is that we had to move
gifaceserver.LINUX to /usr/local/bin/gifaceserver. Obvious, but still
makes you wonder while you do it.
Inetd.conf
Our individual inetd.conf files were completely commented out, and the
daemon stopped because of our dispersed locations. Append the required
line to the file, and enter:
Killall -HUP inetd
server.log
The server really wants a server.log file, writable by the user to
whom the gifaceserver is assigned in the inetd.conf file. We created
one by opening the gifaceserver on a fake port number (12345):
/usr/local/bin/gifaceserver /home/httpd/database/contacts 12345
1200:1200:10
Models
Documentation
The best documentation for models is in /acedocs/exploring/*. The
table of contents is in /acedocs/exploring/toc_models.html.
Unfortunately, like all the ACEDB documentation, it uses absolute
pathnames. We have converted these pathnames to relative ones, and
will make the document available for download on the Spatial Focus
private web page. Although the document is marked "draft" and dated
1994, it is thorough and simple. Doesn't appear to be significantly
out of date.
The moviedb database is the best simple example of a database.
Editors
ACEDB is picky about its ascii. vi works great. Can't vouch for emacs
;-). Don't use anything nasty like a word processor.
White Space
It really likes alignment, and it likes tabs. Combining tabs and
spaces kills otherwise perfectly good models every five seconds.
To Do
Solve the mysteries of the failure of AceBrowser. Every other means of
access works now.
References
1. file://localhost/home/lstein/projects/Ace-perl/docs/SERVER_INSTALLATION.HOWTO
2. http://www.spatialfocus.com/
3. http://stein.cshl.org/
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