GeneWeb - Getting Started |
Warning: this approach supposes that you feel comfortable with the notions of "files" and "directories" and you are not afraid to type commands; otherwise, use rather the program gwsetup.
Introduction
Command gwc
| Command ged2gwb
| Command gwb2ged
| Command gwd
| Command consang
| Command gwu
| File a.gwf
| Directory "lang" - file "lexicon.txt"
| Directory "lang" - subdirectories
| |
In this window, type the command to go to the directory where you installed GeneWeb:
Under Unix, if you installed it for example in "/home/smith/geneweb":
cd /home/smith/geneweb Under Window 95/NT, if you installed it in:
"C:\soft\geneweb":
| cd c:\soft\geneweb |
cd gwAll GeneWeb commands can be launched with the option -help which displays the different possible options, with a short explanation.
For example, if you type:
gwd -helpyou must see something like this:
Usage: gwd [options] where options are: -hd <dir> Directory where the directory lang is installed. -bd dir> Directory where the databases are installed. -cgi Force cgi mode. -p <number> Select a port number (default = 2317); > 1024 for normal users. -wizard <passwd> Set a wizard passord: access to all dates and updating. -friend <passwd> Set a friend password: access to all dates. -lang <lang> Set a default language (default: fr). -only <address> Only inet address accepted. -auth <file> Authorization file to restrict access. The file must hold lines of the form "user:password". -log <file> Redirect log trace to this file. -nolock Do not lock files before writing.
Some commands are somewhat talkative. You can redirect their display in a file by ending the command by "> file". Example:
gwd -help > foo.txt
GeneWeb databases are directories with the extension ".gwb".
The command "gwc", in its simplest usage, creates an empty database: under GeneWeb, you will be able to fill it.
You must give a name to this base. Any name is available. Preferably, do not use more than 8 characters.
For example, if you want to call it "smith", type:
gwc -o smith
The command "ged2gwb" allows you to convert a GEDCOM file into a GeneWeb database.
The simplest way is to first copy your GEDCOM file in the directory where you installed GeneWeb. Do it with you usual method of copying files, either with an interactive command, or by moving icons.
If your GEDCOM file is named, for example, "foo.ged" and you want to create a base named "smith", type:
ged2gwb foo.ged -o smith
The command is somewhat verbose, especially if it discovers errors in the GEDCOM file. Ignore these errors in a first stage: your database will be build even so. If everything is allright, the command must end by:
*** Ok
Always in the interactive window, type:
gwd
This command launches the GeneWeb "daemon". The command must display:
GeneWeb 1.0 - Copyright (c) 2001 INRIA Possible addresses: http://localhost:2317/base http://127.0.0.1:2317/base http://address:2317/base where "base" is the name of the database Type control C to stop the service Ready (day) (hour) port 2317...
Note that you do not see the prompt in the interactive window. This program is waiting for requests you will send it through your Web navigator. When it receives one, it treats it and waits again. When you finish using GeneWeb, you can stop it by typing control-C in the interactive Window.
Now, you can really start. Since you consult this documentation, you are using a Web navigator. Take a new window in this navigator and open the following location. Replace "smith" with the name of your base. Warning: do not put the complete name (like "c:\geneweb\gw\smith" or "/home/geneweb/gw/smith"), just "smith".
http://localhost:2317/smith
You must see GeneWeb's welcome page in French.
[If this does not work, click here]
Select another language (English, e.g.) in the row of flags at the top of the page. (There is a way to select a default language different than French. See further).
If you started from a GEDCOM file ("ged2gwb"), you must see at the beginning
the number of persons of your base.
From there, you can consult it as a classical Web service, clicking on links and buttons, fill areas, etc. Hint: in a first stage, click on "Ok" after "All surnames by alphabetic order", then in the new page which appears: "the whole list". Select a surname, then a person, etc, and navigate. |
If you started from an empty base ("gwc"), the welcome page tells
you that the database holds 0 persons.
The only possible thing to do is create persons and families. Click on "Add a family". See the chapter: how to make modifications in the database. |
Meanwhile, you can notice that each time you click on a button or a link, a trace appears on the interactive window. When you make your GeneWeb server work on the network, you see the requests sent to your base by this way.
Note that if you type control-C in the interactive window, the service does not answer any more in your navigator. To restart it, just type "gwd" again.
Under Windows, you can simply double-click on the icon of "gwd" to launch it. It opens an interactive Window where "gwd" displays its traces. Typing Control-C stops "gwd" and closes the window. Creating a shortcut of "gwd" on the desk, you can use it very easily.
The command "consang" computes the consanguinities in a database. The displaying of consanguinities is done when consulting the database, in the personal records and while computing relationships.
But to have access to it, you must pre-compute the individual consanguinities of the persons of the database. This is what "consang" does. If your base's name is "smith", type:
consang smith
The program will compute some seconds or minutes, depending on the size of your base, and displaying without stopping the number of remaining persons to treat. At the end, you have the prompt again in the interactive window and the individual consanguinities are recorded.
During this computing, if you did not stop the daemon, you can absolutely return to your navigator and consult your base.
Launch "consang" from time to time, if you made modifications in your base, especially if they are adding, modification, deletions of families: the consanguinity depends on the structure of families. If it changes, the individual consanguinities are not yet available and you have to recompute them.
Moreover "consang" makes an internal "cleanup" of the base, necessary after a certain number of updates.
If your base is named "smith", and you want to save it in the file "foo.gw", type:
gwu smith > foo.gw
Saving your base in different versions and in different files, you can see the differences using a program to compare text files. This is particularly interesting if somebody has done modifications of your base and you want to know which they are.
This is also a method to reconstitute your base when you take another version of GeneWeb, in the case when the internal representation of bases has been changed.
To reconstitute your base, you must use the command "gwc". The saved file must have the extension ".gw". To build a base named "jones", from the file "foo.gw", type:
gwc foo.gw -o jones
The configurable values are the following:
body_prop allows to select a background color
or a background pattern and change the text and links colors. Its syntax
is the HTML syntax accepted in the tag "<body>" before the ">".
See your HTML documentation (or ask a wizard). Example:
body_prop=background=mybackg.jpg vlink=yellow This applies not only to the welcome page but to all displayed pages for this base. |
friend_passwd allows to limit the data
visibility of still living persons, in fact all persons born or
died since less than one century.
If you set a value to this variable, only persons who have put the password on the welcome page will have access to these data. |
wizard_passwd allows to limit the right to
make updates in your base.
If you set a value to this variable, only persons who have put the password on the welcome page will have access to modifications. |
wizard_just_friend allows to forbid the updating of the database. Put "yes" to do it, "no" to give the authorization again. It can be useful to put "yes" temporarily, while you are cleaning up your base. |
default_lang allows to define a default
language in the welcome page. Without precision, the language is
French. The possible values are:
"af" (Afrikaans),
"bg" (Bulgarian),
"cs" (Czech),
"ca" (Catalan),
"de" (German),
"da" (Danish),
"en" (English),
"eo" (Esperanto),
"es" (Spanish),
"et" (Estonian),
"fi" (Finnish),
"fr" (French),
"he" (Hebrew),
"is" (Icelandic),
"it" (Italian),
"lv" (Latvian),
"nl" (Dutch),
"no" (Norwegian),
"pl" (Polish),
"pt" (Portuguese),
"pt-br" (Brazilian Portuguese),
"ro" (Romanian),
"ru" (Russian),
"sl" (Slovenian),
"sv" (Swedish),
"zh" (Chinese).
Note that whatever language is selected by default, you can choose another one in the welcome page by clicking in the row of flags at the top of the page. |
can_send_image allow the "wizards" to send
(and delete) images. In this case in the update process, they can click on a link
titled send image (and possibly another
one titled delete image). By default,
it is "no" (no authorization to send images); to allow it, put "yes".
Warning: the images are recorded in your computer and therefore can use much disk space, if there are many images sent. |
renamed allows to indicate that the name of a database changed. If your site has been consulted much, and your base is recorded in many personal bookmarks, it is a way to redirect them to the new base, with the new name. If they attempt to access it by its old name, they see a page with a link with the same request to the new name. |
Moreover, if one of the proposed translations in one of the languages does not fit you, you can change it.
When you save the file "lexicon.txt", this will be applied immediately in the displaying in your browser. Maybe you just have to click on "reload".
You can change this welcome page for a given database. For the database "smith" in the language "xx", just make a copy of the file "start.txt" in the directory "xx" naming it "smith.txt". Then edit your file "smith.txt" and make adaptations you want. If you want, you can do that for each language.
Remark: these files hold HTML code with some particular indications: % signs followed by a letter. These are macros that "gwd" will replace by values. For example, "%t" is replaced by the name of the base, "%b" by the value of "body_prop" of the configuration file, etc.
The complete description of these macros is given here.