WebAdmin 4.0 Release Notes

WebAdmin is SilverPlatter's World Wide Web software solution for ongoing administration of release 4.0 of the Electronic Reference Library (ERL) system. These release notes outline the hardware and software requirements, installation instructions, and known problems which may occur when using SilverPlatter's WebAdmin 4.0.

Contents

The following information is available in this file:

  1. What You Need to Install and Run WebAdmin

  2. Installing WebAdmin 4.0

  3. Operating Hints

  4. Known Problems

  5. Contacting SilverPlatter Technical Support

1. What You Need to Install and Run WebAdmin

A. General Requirements

WebAdmin must be installed on a computer running Windows NT or the AIX, SCO, or Solaris versions of UNIX, and a supported Web server. WebAdmin can then be run from a supported Web browser from any location, over the Internet. WebAdmin requires ERL release 4.0 or higher; it will disallow any attempt to log in to an earlier version of ERL.

WebAdmin should be installed on a computer of the same minimum specification as that of DB server for the same platform.

B. The WebAdmin Software Package

The WebAdmin 4.0 software is available via anonymous FTP from SilverPlatter's FTP site.

To download the WebAdmin software package:

  1. Connect to your nearest SilverPlatter FTP site:

  2. Change to the subdirectory that corresponds to your platform. Enter either:
    • cd /software/webadmin/aix
    • cd /software/webadmin/nt
    • cd /software/webadmin/sco
    • cd /software/webadmin/solaris

  3. Download the WebAdmin software for your platform.

  4. You can also download WebAdmin directly from this page. Just select the version you require from the list below:

    European FTP Site

    US FTP Site


C. Web Server Requirements

WebAdmin must be installed on a computer running a supported Web server. The following Web servers are supported:

These Web servers can be downloaded from, respectively, http://www.microsoft.com and http://www.apache.org.

D. Browser Requirements

WebAdmin will only function properly if run from a Java-enabled, JavaScript-enabled, frames-capable browser. The following browsers are supported when run under the listed operating systems, though functionality may be available from other browser/operating system combinations. Note that Java and JavaScript are enabled by default in the supported browsers. Please note that Java was not enabled in Netscape 4.02.

These Web browsers can be downloaded from http://www.netscape.com or http://www.microsoft.com.

2. Installing WebAdmin 4.0

After WebAdmin has been installed properly, it can be accessed from any supported, Internet-connected Web browser, as described below.

A. On Windows NT

WebAdmin for Windows NT is distributed as a self-extracting archive file. See above for downloading instructions. After downloading webadmin.exe:

  1. Double-click on webadmin.exe to extract and start the installation wizard.

  2. Accept the defaults by clicking the Next button, or substitute preferred values.

  3. Press the Finish button to complete the installation.
You now need to restart the World Wide Web Publishing Service using the Internet Services Manager before using WebAdmin.

WebAdmin can now be accessed at the URL: http://[webserver]/webadmin/index.html.

B. On UNIX

If running AIX:

WebAdmin for AIX is distributed as a compressed tar file. See above for downloading instructions. After downloading webadmin.tar.Z:

  1. Move or copy webadmin.tar.Z to the directory below which you want WebAdmin installed. The install process will create a WebAdmin subdirectory in the directory in which you place webadmin.tar.Z.
  2. Uncompress the tar file.
    Type: uncompress [pathname]/webadmin.tar.Z
  3. Untar the file.
    Type: tar -xpf [pathname]/webadmin.tar
  4. Change to the WebAdmin subdirectory.
  5. Run the setup script.
    Type: ./setup
  6. Answer the questions asked by setup as described below.

If running SCO or Solaris:

WebAdmin for SCO or for Solaris is distributed as a compressed package. See above for downloading instructions. After downloading webadmin.pkg.Z:

  1. Uncompress the package.
    Type: uncompress [pathname]/webadmin.pkg.Z
  2. Add the WebAdmin package.
    Type: pkgadd -d [pathname]/webadmin.pkg
  3. Answer the questions asked by setup as described below.

UNIX setup details:

Both types of UNIX install will ask:

  1. The location of the Apache httpd.conf configuration file
    This allows the installation program to configure Apache to find WebAdmin. If you would rather modify the Apache configuration files manually (necessary changes are detailed below), enter "none" in response to this question.

  2. The User Name and Group Name that will own the WebAdmin files
    Enter your preferred User Name and Group Name or accept the default (ERL) to continue installation.
If you let the installation modify the Apache configuration files, you just will need to restart Apache before using WebAdmin. If you opted to make the changes manually, do the following steps first and then restart Apache:

3. Operating Hints

A. Using WebAdmin and erladmin

SilverPlatter intends that our customers use WebAdmin to administer ERL Release 4. Our earlier, DOS-based product, erladmin, can also be used to administer ERL. If you have a specific question about using both products, please contact SilverPlatter Technical Support.

B. Administering Different ERL Servers

The ERL server you will administer is selected at the WebAdmin Login page. Some ERL administrators must administer different servers, and so must constantly enter different specifications. This process can be made easier by the use of "bookmarks" (Netscape) or "favorites" (Internet Explorer).

  1. Access the URL of the location in which you have installed WebAdmin.

  2. "Bookmark" this location or "Add to Favorites" by selecting the applicable menu choice in the browser you are using, or by pressing ctrl-d.

  3. Select to edit bookmarks or to organize favorites, and right-mouse-click on the "bookmark" or the "favorite" you have just made.

  4. Select Properties from the menu, and add one, two, or all of the following parameters to the associated URL:
    • Name of the ERL Server (the "erlserver" parameter)
    • Account name (the "accountname" parameter)
    • Password for that Account (the "password" parameter)

  5. Precede the first parameter with a question mark and the next parameters with ampersands; precede every parameter with "[parameter]="

    Examples:
    http://www.university.edu/webadmin/index.html?erlserver=library&accountname=admin&password=sesame
    http://www.company.uk/webadmin/index.html?erlserver=central
    http://www.partner.net/webadmin/index.html?accountname=mary

  6. Rename the bookmark or favorite to remind yourself of the parameters that have been associated with it.

  7. You may choose not to include all of the parameters. If the browser from which you are running WebAdmin might be used by others, it may be unwise to enter the password in the bookmark.

C. Reloading/Refreshing Pages

When using applications over the Web, it is sometimes necessary to "Reload" (Netscape) or "Refresh" (Internet Explorer) a page. This is generally done by clicking a button on the browser's toolbar, by using Ctrl-r in Netscape on Windows, by using the F5 key in Internet Explorer on Windows, or by using Command-r on Macintosh. However, this can also be done by invoking a context-sensitive menu, and selecting Reload or Refresh.

Since WebAdmin consists of dynamically created data rather than a sequence of static pages, using the button on the browser's toolbar may cause the data you are looking at to be lost. If you wish to reload/refresh, point the mouse at the data to be refreshed, click the right button on the mouse (Windows) or hold the mouse button down (Macintosh), and select Reload or Refresh from the pop-up menu. This will always preserve the data.

D. "Off site" Functionality

Earlier releases of ERL administrative tools required the definition of an "off site" file to note those Accounts which are allowed to access ERL regardless of their IP addresses. This is not necessary in WebAdmin. Instead, define an all-inclusive IP Address Set (e.g., 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0) and assign those Accounts that should have no restriction to that Set.

4. Known Problems

A. Lists Not Adjusted After Deletion

If you delete all of the Accounts, Portfolios, or Statistical Reports from a list page, a blank page is then shown instead of the remaining section of the list. Use the Previous or Next buttons to keep on viewing the list. [bug 8270]

B. SDI/Alerts Permissions Not Effective

WebAdmin allows you to assign SDI or Alerts permissions to Accounts, but these permissions are not currently recognized by clients. This problem will be corrected in future releases of our search clients. [bug 9188]

C. Database Menu Headings Need To Be Unique

Database Menu headings need not be unique, though this is enforced by the current release of WebAdmin. You can work around this by manually editing the dbmenu.cfg file that belongs to your ERL server. [bug 8706]

D. Empty Statistical Report Window

Minimizing a Statistical Report window may cause it to display no content when it is restored. In this case, reload or refresh the screen as described above in the Operating Hints. [bug 8155]

E. Database Menu Headings Cannot Contain Certain Characters

Currently WebAdmin does not allow you to use the characters, * (asterisk), + (plus sign) or | (pipe symbol) when defining a database menu heading. In addition, you should not use HTML markup in the heading name as this can cause unexpected results and may even cause WebAdmin to stop functioning. [bug 9258]

F. Files in the WebAdmin data directory

Before uninstalling WebAdmin you should delete any files in the WebAdmin data directory. This will allow the uninstall procedure to run without any errors occuring.

G. Timeout in browser with some statistics reports

When running some large reports your browser may time out and inform you that there was no response from the server. In this situation it is normal to divide your report into smaller units, which will result in the browser returning the generated data more quickly, thus avoiding the timeout problem.

H. Statistics reports are CPU intensive

Most statistics reports are CPU intensive and should generally be run when your server is not busy. You may experience problems (see above) if running large reports on a busy server.

5. Contacting SilverPlatter Technical Support

For further assistance contact SilverPlatter's Technical Support Department.
UNITED STATES:
SilverPlatter Information, Inc.
100 River Ridge Drive
Norwood, MA 02062
Phone: 800-343-0064 (US/Canada)
781-769-2599
Fax: 781-769-8763		 LONDON:
SilverPlatter Information, Ltd.
10 Barley Mow Passage
Chiswick, London W4 4PH
Phone: 0800-262-096 (UK)
+44-181-585-6400
Fax: +44-181-585-6640
AMSTERDAM:
SilverPlatter Information BV
Nieuwe Herengracht 49
1011 RN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0) 20 6259650
Fax: +31 (0) 6237408
Fax: +44-181-995-5159		 BERLIN:
SilverPlatter Information GmbH
Uhlandstrasse 15
D-10623 Berlin
Germany

Tel: +49 30-315-2161
Fax: +49 30-315-2162
Internet: info@silverplatter.com or support@silverplatter.com
Web site: http://www.silverplatter.com

To obtain the most up-to-date copy of these release notes please visit our US or European FTP site.

Last updated: 30th September 1998