file uploading

Thursday 29 January 2009 04:09 pm

inc_function_clean_file.php
added a new function to manage the 'cleaning' of files (cleanFileName) which cleans up any 'illegal' characters in file names that cause 'bad file name' errors when trying to view them over the web.  Currently only called from addNews, but will update the other file uploading tools later.

file manager - odd bug
a staff member in Psychology is unable to use the new version of the file manager. Investigating various options, including browser issues (nope), file names (nope), bug in file_manager code (possible, but must be account specific - still checking this one after made a minor tweak). Bill (admin) is double checking to see if the tweak fixed things, if not need to think again what could be causing this.
update
worked it out with Bill's help.  The file manager[move] button could be triggered without selecting a 'move to' from the select drop down list next to it. If you [move]d a file without selecting a move destination, it did the move and placed the file 'up' a directory, renaming it by pre-pending the file with its containing folder e.g. if it was

 /spider/00001/myTextfile.txt

it would be moved to:

 /spider/00001myTextfile.txt

the db wasn't updated with the new location, so the file 'vanished' from the class.  I've put in a fix to the JavaScript to block moves/copies when there is no selected destination.  Just have to go and fix all the files that have been moved...

Updates

Thursday 15 January 2009 04:59 pm

yum update
yum is a handy tool that updates Linux rpm based distros. Finally got round to fixing it so it works properly on SPIDER and BRUCe (needed new PGP keys) and updated all the packages that needed updating since the system was installed back in November. All seemed to go well except it updated the Apache web server, which resulted in SPIDER denying logins. The problem came from the standard rpm install modifying the permissions on the php session folder, setting the group ownership to apache, whereas SPIDER runs Apache as 'nobody'. Took me 10minutes to work this out, in which time 3 people fired off an email to say they couldn't login... Each login makes a unique session_id file in this folder, which was being denied due to the permission problem. Still, could have been worse...

Class Tutors
SPIDER now allows staff to assign students as class tutors, who can then manage attendance registers, marks and assignments for students in any class group they are assigned to. More info in the wiki.

Custom cluster update
Due to some people using the auto-class evaluation tools that shouldn't, update the customise cluster option for admins to allow them to turn this feature on and off for their clusters.

SPIDER going mobile
well, sort of. Been working on a new/revision of the text only interface to allow for small screen devices/mobile phones to access SPIDER. Still on the DEV server only just now.

bulk feedback upload for myAssignments
Staff can now create a mass upload of files in a zip archive to give feedback to students en masse. Assumes the staff member has a bunch of files named studentregnumber_whatevertheylike.doc. Put them all in a zip file, upload it and the students all get access to their own feedback file.

fun with backups
BRUCe wasn't playing nice with the backup scripts due to permission errors, so came back from the holidays to find that not everything was backing up right (the files were copying from SPIDER to BRUCe, just not from BRUCe to the external backup drive). Sorted it out with a few
find /path/to/files -type f -exec chmod 644 \;
commands. Got to love the CLI. MySQL was also not happy - the BRUCe slave wasnt getting the bin log or updating. Tracked it down to a misconfig in the SPIDER firewall blocking the request from BRUCe. Once this was fixed (early on the 5th Jan) the slave caught up the 2 weeks worth it had missed in around 15 minutes, maxing out at around 10,000 queries per second.

groups
mid-update of an addition to the class groups, to allow staff to see who hasn't signed up to 'opt-in' groups out of the class. Complete with email list to copy/paste and remind students that they need to sign up for one group. Bit more testing then this will be live in a day or so.

PG_DB
postgraduate database live for SIPBS staff & pg. Reporting feature undergoing live testing

Radiation database
A few minor tweaks to the pdf output for orders so they list current holdings of the ordered isotope in the lab an order is made from.

notes
added a basic notes tool, to allow for Xmas messages, but can be used as a general tool for storing 'stuff' in text format. Not linked in to the tools yet, as its a bit rough around the edges.

docStore
got an update to allow 'non-department' staff to be added to a docStore to allow them to view or manage the files. Mainly to allow safety services staff access to SIPBS docStores

questionnaire nag
feature extended to allow anyone who can view the results of a questionnaire to send a 'nag' email (previously restricted to the questionnaire author)

pFact and research admin tools
Scott has been making a series of scripts/modules to give SIPBS better access to its research data.

bugs n tweaks
probably been quite a few since the last post in Nov. can't remember anything major worth listing