Forum OpenACS Development: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts

Posted by Divya R on 04/23/03 12:49 PM

Hi,

Can u help me with the expalnation Im giving you regarding the subject Ive mentioned above....any help will be of great help.....
Note below: -

I am using AOL32 as my web server....now when I start the server from
Putty Client I haven no errors whatsoever....also wen I type the error
log path:
/usr/local/aol32/log/.... i again get to see all my log files which
are .html,.tcl,.cgi....No probs there as well...

Now I do not know where in I need to type my commands and where can I
view them.....
I have been given the Vim Editor to type codes in Tcl and run to view
the output using %tclsh xxx.tcl

However if I type a code in the vim editor using aolserver commands:
set conn [ns_conn headers] Cookie

and save it as .tcl I am unsble to get any output!! What do I save
these kind of programs wherein I use aolserver commands as well which
already has the tclscipt embedded I believe??????? Is it .adp???

Also note a code below: -

I type this in the Vim editor: -
set conn [ns_conn headers] Cookie
" <html>
<head>
<body bgcolor="#fffffff" text="#000000" >
Type my text here
</body>
</head>
</html>"
ns_return 200 text/html

now what do i save this program as??? .adp or .tcl or .html ?????
Also where do i run such a program from: -

%tclsh, or MSIE4.0 as i have html also here in the code or what????

If u think I shud mail all this in the OpenACS forum/ comp.clientserver forum/ AOLserver forum....dome all of it and yet no response whatsoever....u think u can ask someone and forward this email to seek help I would rather glad and obliged....also if u feel thts a sheer waste of time....I'd be glad if u can give me theri respective references and email ids.....

Thanks in advance for all the trouble you may take !!

Regards, divyaHi,

Can u help me with the expalnation Im giving you regarding the subject Ive mentioned above....any help will be of great help.....
Note below: -

Now I do not know where in I need to type my commands and where can I
view them.....
I have been given the Vim Editor to type codes in Tcl and run to view
the output using %tclsh xxx.tcl

However if I type a code in the vim editor using aolserver commands:
set conn [ns_conn headers] Cookie

Also note a code below: -

I type this in the Vim editor: -
set conn [ns_conn headers] Cookie
" <html>
<head>
<body bgcolor="#fffffff" text="#000000" >
Type my text here
</body>
</head>
</html>"
ns_return 200 text/html

now what do i save this program as??? .adp or .tcl or .html ?????
Also where do i run such a program from: -

%tclsh, or MSIE4.0 as i have html also here in the code or what????

Thanks in advance for all the trouble you may take !!

Regards, divya

2: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 1)

Posted by Jamie Rasmussen on 04/23/03 01:57 PM

(The first post of this problem was https://openacs.org/forums/message-view?message_id=94022)

Is there some reason you are using AOLserver 3.2? Depending on what your end goal is, I would recommend using the OpenACS distribution of AOLserver (based on 3.3.1 + AD13 - http://uptime.openacs.org/aolserver-openacs/) or a recent version of AOLserver from http://sourceforge.net/projects/aolserver/ Are you following a particular AOLserver installation guide? I would highly recommend that you do. For example, if you eventually want to install OpenACS, you should probably follow the OpenACS documentation at https://openacs.org/doc/openacs-4/aolserver.html

You don't want to use Tclsh to run your program. What AOLserver config file are you using? That config file will specify what port AOLserver will listen on, where your pageroot is, and much more. You should save your file with a .tcl extension in the pageroot directory that the config file specifies, and use your web browser to see the output after you have started AOLserver. Before you try a dynamic page that calls Tcl functions, you probably want to make sure that AOLserver is serving simple static html pages. Please let us know the exact command you use to start AOLserver and any error messages that you see when you do start it.

I hope that helps.

3: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 1)

Posted by Divya R on 04/24/03 07:27 AM

Hi,

Im using Tcl 8.3 and have to create Dynamic web pages using aOLServer...have also not been able to configure the web server rite despite of reading soo many documents.....

When i type an html page....shud i save it as .html or what in the text editor and save it in
/web/nsp-trainee/www/study ?? To view this output I know i need to use a Web browser....can I use MSIE?? How do i locate if Im already on in the web server....what commands shud i use??

I ahve read those documents but unable to understandd how to configure....Im in reall trouble...Pls any help will do....

Thanks in advance,

Regards,
Divya

4: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 3)

Posted by Jamie Rasmussen on 04/24/03 11:24 AM

Save plain html pages with a .html extension. Once AOLserver is running, you can view the static and dynamic pages with any web browser, including MSIE.

We need more information in order to help you. The directory you save your html file in is platform and configuration specific. Look at the "Test AOLserver" section at https://openacs.org/doc/openacs-4/aolserver.html Are you starting AOLserver with a command like ./bin/nsd -t sample-config.tcl ? If so, what file are you specifying with -t ? What does that file contain? It might also help if we knew where you found that version of AOLserver.

5: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 1)

Posted by Divya R on 04/24/03 11:52 AM

Hi James,

Well...My path is
/usr/local/aol32/bin/nsd -t /usr/local/aol32/nsp-trainee.tcl

And my output to this path: -
[24/Apr/2003:14:28:34] [21207.1024] [-main-]Notice:nsd.tcl starting to read nsd.tcl config file...
[24/Apr/2003:14:29:45] [21027:1024] [-main-]Notice: finished reading config file.

I have been asked to try a simple program to addd two numbers using:
Tcl,Perl,HTML,Javascript,psql...

I was also told that .adp files begin with <%..%>..Is it just adding these<%....Normal HTML coding.....%> thats all?? or any other issues as well??

I need to create a directory(which i already have!!) /web/nsp-trainee/www/study and then store all my programs in this directory...

You also said: The directory you save your
html file in is platform and configuration specific...
I told you that my platform is Linux and the configuration for AolWebServer is 3.2 and the Tclversion is 8.3

Now pls further advice on these queries....Thanks agn in advance,

Divya

6: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 5)

Posted by Jamie Rasmussen on 04/24/03 12:22 PM

By platform specific, I meant that sometimes people place their files in different places even among the various Linux distributions.

By configuration specific, I meant it depends on what is in your config file. Can you post the contents of /usr/local/aol32/nsp-trainee.tcl ?

Before you start on your adding program, you should check that AOLserver is serving plain pages properly. Put a simple html document named test.html in /web/nsp-trainee/www/study The URL you use to see that file in MSIE depends on the name of your machine and the contents of /usr/local/aol32/nsp-trainee.tcl but will be something like http://yourmachine/study/test.html

If that works, then you can start writing your program. See http://www.aolserver.com/docs/devel/tcl/adp-overview.html for information on adp page syntax and examples.

7: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 1)

Posted by Divya R on 04/24/03 12:39 PM

Hello James,
By the foolowing words: -
"Before you start on your adding program, you should check that AOLserver is
serving plain pages properly. Put a simple html document named test.html in
/web/nsp-trainee/www/study The URL you use to see that file in MSIE depends on
the name of your machine and the contents of /usr/local/aol32/nsp-trainee.tcl
but will be something like http://yourmachine/study/test.html" ...
Does this mean I type test.html in Vi editor or in a normal tool like Notepad?? Does this matter??

Regards, and Thanks so much....Waiting for your response,

Divya

8: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 7)

Posted by Jamie Rasmussen on 04/24/03 12:52 PM

I would use an editor on the same platform that you are installing on - vi or emacs should be fine. You might run into problems with tcl and adp pages if the line endings in the file don't match the platform they are being served from.

From your questions about MSIE and Notepad I take it that you are using at least one Windows machine. If you would be more comfortable working on Windows, I maintain the Win32 port of AOLserver 4.0 and can point you to an installer.

10: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 8)

Posted by Divya R on 04/25/03 05:46 AM

Hello James,
Yes Pls give me the needful from what you have stated below: -

"From your questions about MSIE and Notepad I take it that you are using at
least one Windows machine. If you would be more comfortable working on
Windows, I maintain the Win32 port of AOLserver 4.0 and can point you to an
installer."

Regards,
Divya

15: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 10)

Posted by Jamie Rasmussen on 04/25/03 02:49 PM

The AOLserver 4 installer for Windows is at http://empoweringminds.mle.ie/openacs/4/

Let's not be too hard on Divya - he's been reasonably polite and at least he's not double-posting questions about MySQL with Apache. 😊

Divya, there are a few things that might help you get faster and more helpful replies in the future:

* Include detailed information about your configuration. I'm still not sure where you got AOLserver 3.2 or what distribution of Linux you were trying to use. It also helps when you describe, in as much detail as possible, what your goal is, and how what you see is not what you expected.

* Jim Lynch pointed you to some helpful documentation. I know they can be hard for people who aren't very experienced or for people whose native language isn't English, but they are really excellent and worth taking the time to read.

* Don't post to the OpenACS Development forum - you were correct before in posting to the OpenACS Q&A forum.

9: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 1)

Posted by Jim Lynch on 04/24/03 04:32 PM

Not sure what you're trying to do exactly. Tell us, as specifically as you can, what you want to do. No one I know can help you much until you do.

Have you read and tried problem set 1 from the openacs problem sets? Do it... you should. Also, might be a good idea to read Phil and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing; another book you might look at is the Internet Application Workbook.

The tcl code you quoted can go in a (surprise!) whatever.tcl file, somewhere under the aolserver page root. The .adp file is for templated html; you can put tcl in there (google for "TCL For Web Nerds"), but as you will see in that book, it's not recommended. Aolserver also supports .html files.

11: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 1)

Posted by Andrew Piskorski on 04/25/03 08:01 AM

Let me be blunt here, and say something that probably everyone reading and participating in this thread realizes, except for Divya himself:

Divya, from your posts it is pretty clear that you have no clue what you are doing. Various people here are being polite and helpful and giving you good specific technical advice, but it is unlikely that any of that is really going to help you, because you don't need specific technical advice, you need a sound tutorial of the basic concepts, so that the specific technical advice will make sense. What you need to do, is sit down and have someone who already understands this stuff explain the basics to you. To get him started, try asking questions like:

How does this AOLserver web server thing work? When a person clicks on a URL in their browser, what happens?
How does any web server work in general? How is AOLserver the same or different?
What are .tcl and .adp pages and what do they have to do with AOLserver?
Do the vim, Emacs, and Notepad editors all do the same thing? Why would I want to use one or the other?

And continue asking more questions from there. Once you can explain questions like that to someone else, you'll be ready to come back here and ask for more specific advice and help.

12: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 1)

Posted by Divya R on 04/25/03 08:43 AM

Hello James, Jim, Andrew,

I have been sruggling for the past few weeks and really thot tht I would seek timely help from all professionals alike you....Of which I must admit that James really ried hard and I am grateful to him....Well however if you think this is going to waste you time further...I shall be convinced that this forum also gets onto the list of "No use...its only meant for gurus"...

I am really sorry to have hurt all your feelings and if I have irritated you....

Thanks and regards,

Hoping to hear from either whether positive/negative....and that shall make me decide if this thread shud continue or not....I was the one who started with hopes....Anyays thanks a lot for everything and appreciate all ou guys wrote in the best possible stride tho' with a lot of mental conflict... :(

Goodluck and thanks again!!

Divya

13: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 1)

Posted by Divya R on 04/25/03 08:53 AM

Hello,

I beg your pardon Mr. jamie....for haviing addressed you as James all the while....

Regards and thanks amillion for all help....Get back if you felt what I wrote made any sense else I get my message....

I am a student after all to learn from all you biggies!! Else I would have been a peer today at MIT too !! ;) Ain't I getting too unimaginably positive!! All the best frens....

Thanks and regards always,

Divya

14: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 1)

Posted by Andrew Piskorski on 04/25/03 09:36 AM

One final note: Divya, my feelings certainly were not hurt, and I doubt anyone else's feelings here were hurt either.

(Yes, I and some of my friends did use your posts as a source of entertainment and the butt of jokes, but we kept that entirely private, and you'd never have known at all except that I'm mentioning it now. So that's irrelevent.)

Most importantly, what I told you in my previous post is in fact the best possible answer I know how to give you. Honestly, it's the best advice I know. There are many newbies here who ask questions and get answers, it's not a problem, we're used to it. But you're not up to their level yet. Perhaps you can be, but not without thought and effort on your part first.

If you want an example of someone to emulate, see some of Tammy M's posts; here's just one of many good ones. She's an excellent example of a relative OpenACS newbie who seems to have quickly come up to speed in a few months, and who asks good questions and posts good helpful information.

Oh, I don't know that it will be of any actual help, but this article is also very good, and quite interesting: Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments

16: Re: AOLserver 3.2 Doubts (response to 1)

Posted by Divya R on 04/28/03 02:11 PM

Hi all,

Thank you and this happens to be my final word as well....I have figured out how to go abt with my bit of web development and am happy abt it....just thot of sharing it with all u guys!!
Good luck and Take care

Divya