path: root/sql-ledger/doc/faq.html

<ul>
<p><li><h4>lineitems not printing</h4>
Templates designed on a *NIX platform don't work on a DOS platform.
To make them work load the template either with the builtin template editor
or a text editor and save. Templates designed on a Windows platform have the
same problem and won't work on a *NIX platform. Once you strip the ^M's
the'll work just fine.

<p>Everybody now, "Who do we thank for this schlamassl".

<p><li><h4>UTF-8 character encoding</h4>
Most of the translations are in ISO format. To convert the translations
change directory to locale/cc and convert the files with iconv to UTF-8.
You should also convert the COAs too and make sure you select UTF-8
encoding when you setup a new dataset.


<p><li><h4>characterset problems</h4>
If you have problems displaying the correct characterset try adding
<pre>
  AddDefaultCharset On</pre>
in your httpd.conf file.

<p><li><h4>About installation</h4>
The easiest is to use the setup.pl script as root.
You don't need to know very much about your system, just login as root,
run 'perl setup.pl' and follow the prompts.
<p>setup.pl does not check for missing software packages and it is your
responsibilite to make sure you have the required software
installed either from source or from a package supplied with your distro.

<p>Requirements are clearly indicated in the README file and on the
download page.


<p><li><h4>cannot create function</h4>
<ol>
<li>either run createlang and install the plpgsql language handler or
install yourself. For more information how to do that, visit
<a href=http://www.postgresql.org/docs/>PostgreSQL</a> and
read the interactive documentation for procedural languages.

<li>load admin.pl
<li>unlock the system
<li>login
</ol>


<p><li><h4>The requested URL /sql-ledger/admin.pl was not found</h4>
Your webserver doesn't know where to find the script. Most commonly this
is from distributions hiding webserver configuration files in different
locations or files and setup.pl wasn't able to configure the location for
you. Find out which file (httpd.conf, httpdcommon.conf, ...)
controls your webserver configuration and add
<pre>
  # SQL-Ledger
  Include /etc/httpd/sql-ledger-httpd.conf</pre>

Create a file 'sql-ledger-httpd.conf' in /etc/httpd and copy the next part
into the file.

<pre>
  AddHandler cgi-script .pl
  Alias /sql-ledger/ /var/www/sql-ledger/
  &lt;Directory /var/www/sql-ledger&gt;
    Options ExecCGI Includes FollowSymlinks
  &lt;/Directory&gt;

  &lt;Directory /var/www/sql-ledger/users&gt;
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from All
  &lt;/Directory&gt;</pre>
replace '/etc/httpd' and '/var/www' with the appropriate directories.


<p><li><h4>users/members : Permission denied</h4>
Your webserver must have write access to the users directory.
If your server runs as user/group 'apache:apache' then set the
users directory to owner/group apache:apache.
<pre>
  # chown -R apache:apache users</pre>


<p><li><h4>Dataset newer than version</h4>
You are trying to use an older version with a dataset which was
created with a newer version.


<p><li><h4>PDF option not working</h4>
Check if you have latex and pdflatex installed.


<p><li><h4>Apache 2.0 "error 500"</h4>
Some of the early versions of Apache 2.0 (< patchlevel 44) had a rewrite engine
which decoded escaped strings. This created a lot of problems and I worked
around it by escaping strings twice.
If you get a server 500 error 'filename too long' or if collapsed menus
don't expand you may have to adjusted the following code in
SL/Form.pm and change the number (44) on line 84.
<pre>
  # for Apache 2 we escape strings twice
  if (($ENV{SERVER_SIGNATURE} =~ /Apache\/2\.(\d+)\.(\d+)/) && !$beenthere) {
    $str = $self->escape($str, 1) if $2 < 44;
  }</pre>


<p><li><h4>IDENT Authentication failed for user "sql-ledger"</h4>
Edit pg_hba.conf and change authentication to

<pre>
  local           all              trust</pre>

The file is in the 'data' directory of your postgresql installation.
This is different with every distribution so look for it.
<pre>
  # find / -name 'pg_hba.conf'</pre>


<p><li><h4>DBD-Pg for Mandrake 9.0</h4>
Mandrake did not package a compiled DBD-Pg package again, so install DBD-Pg
from the source package.
Install perl-DBD-Pg-1.01-4mdk.i586.rpm from the 'contrib' area.
(Mandrake / 9.0 / contrib / RPMS)


<p><li><h4>LaTeX error</h4>
If for some reason LaTeX produces an error message check for strange
characters in your account description and parts description
and use \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc} in the preamble.


<p><li><h4>LaTeX templates</h4>
If you don't want to edit tex code by hand,
you could use Lyx, Abiword, or any WYSIWYG editor capable of exporting
latex code.
To do that you must change the tokens for the variables <% and %> to something
like << and >>. % is the comment character in tex. There is also a
pagebreak block which must be commented out.
When you are done with the changes
replace << and >> with <% and %> and uncomment the pagebreak block.

<p>LaTeX is difficult but it also offers a much superior environment
to produce professionally looking forms in postscript and PDF format.
Unfortunately with all that power there is also a steep learning curve.


<p><li><h4>W3M</h4>
pass terminal=mozilla when you start w3m
<pre>
  $ w3m -F http://localhost/sql-ledger/login.pl?terminal=mozilla</pre>

To use without frames
<pre>
  $ w3m http://localhost/sql-ledger/login.pl?terminal=lynx</pre>

<p><li><h4>PDF option disappeared</h4>
Edit sql-ledger.conf and set $latex = 1;
<br>sql-ledger.conf is perl code, check if it compiles, if it does not,
the internal defaults are used which turn off $latex, hence no PDF option.

<p><li><h4>SQL-Ledger installation Mac Os X 10.3 (Panther)</h4>
Paul J. Teeter put together
<a href="http://paulteeter.net/writing/technical/howto-sql-ledger-osx.htm">
installation instructions</a> to run SL on a Mac.
<br>The instructions are for SL 2.2 but the will work for any of the later
releases too.

<p><li><h4>Installation on Windows (WIN32)</h4>
<ul>
<li>install Apache, perl,
<a href=http://techdocs.postgresql.org/guides/InstallingOnWindows>Postgres</a>
or Oracle, DBI and the appropriate DBD
module
<br>if you can't compile DBD-Pg here is a precompiled
<a href=http://www.edmund-mergl.de/export/>DBD-Pg module</a>
<li>download the latest version of <a href=/cgi-bin/nav.pl?page=source/index.html&title=Download>SQL-Ledger</a>
<li>extract the files to c:\apache\sql-ledger
<li>run 'perl shebang' to change the first line of the scripts. If perl
is not in c:\perl\bin' change '#!c:\\perl\\bin\\perl' to the location where
your perl binary is.
<li>edit c:\apache\conf\httpd.conf and add
<pre>
Alias /sql-ledger/ "c:/apache/sql-ledger/"
&lt;Directory "c:/apache/sql-ledger"&gt;
  AllowOverride All
  AddHandler cgi-script .pl
  Options +ExecCGI
  Order Allow,Deny
  Allow from All
&lt;/Directory&gt;

&lt;Directory "c:/apache/sql-ledger/users"&gt;
  Order Deny,Allow
  Deny from All
&lt;/Directory&gt;
</pre>

<li>start Apache
<li>start Postgres|Oracle|DB2
<li>connect to http://localhost/sql-ledger/admin.pl and setup users
and datasets
<li>connect to http://localhost/sql-ledger/login.pl and login

</ul>

<p><li><h4>Installation on Windows /w cygwin</h4>
<ul>
<li>install <a href=http://sources.redhat.com/cygwin/>cygwin</a>
Apache, perl, postgres, gcc and lynx
<li>install <a href=http://search.cpan.org/search?module=DBI>DBI</a>
<li>tar zxvf DBI-1.30.tar.gz
<li>cd DBI-1.30
<li>perl Makefile.PL
<li>make install
<li>install <a href=http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=DBD-Pg>DBD-Pg</a>
<li>tar -zxvf DBD-Pg-1.13.tar.gz
<li>export POSTGRES_INCLUDE=/usr/include/postgresql
<li>export POSTGRES_LIB=/usr/lib/postgresql
<li>cd DBD-Pg-1.13
<li>perl Makefile.PL
<li>make install
<li>edit /etc/apache/httpd.conf and add
<pre>
AddHandler cgi-script .pl
Alias /sql-ledger/ /var/www/sql-ledger/
&lt;Directory /var/www/sql-ledger&gt;
  Options +ExecCGI
&lt;/Directory&gt;

&lt;Directory /var/www/sql-ledger/users&gt;
  Order Deny,Allow
  Deny from All
&lt/Directory&gt;
</pre>
<li>install SQL-Ledger
<li>cd /var/www
<li>mkdir sql-ledger
<li>download <a href=/cgi-bin/download.pl?setup.pl>setup.pl</a> and save the file
in /var/www/sql-ledger
<li>cd /var/www/sql-ledger
<li>perl setup.pl
</ul>

<p><li><h4>What do I enter for the language</h4>
If you use English, nothing, if you want to use a foreign language for
the login screen and admin stuff enter the language code, this is the
directory in the locale directory.


<p><li><h4>printing to a printer</h4>
Printers are defined in sql-ledger.conf

<pre>
%printers = ( 'Default' => 'lpr', 'Color' => 'lpr -PEpson' );</pre>

Check in your /etc/printcap file for the names of available printers.

<p>If you have LaTeX installed set
<pre>
  $latex = 1</pre> in sql-ledger.conf

<p>To send the document to the printer check the "Postscript" or "PDF" format,
enter the number of copies and click on the "Print" button.

<p>The printer you enter in your preferences is the default printer.
You can choose any other available printer. This makes it possible
to print from anywhere on the network to any printer.

<p>Note: html format is for screen preview. Use the "Print" option from your
browser to print to a printer.


<p><li><h4>Using samba to send printjobs to a printer attached to a Windows XP workstation</h4>
The next part applies to roll your own printfilters only. If you use CUPS or
LPRng your milage may vary but you can still use this as a guide how it works.
I use the printer 'Epson' as an example which is
attached to a XP workstation called Raven, no password to log on.

<pre>
/etc/printcap entry on the server which runs lpd
 
epson:Epson\
  :sh:\
  :lp=/dev/null:\
  :sd=/var/spool/output/epson:\
  :if=/usr/libexec/lpr/epson/prnfilter:\

# end of entry in /etc/printcap


# pnrfilter shell script
#!/bin/sh
# Filter for Epson Stylus

PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin"

#read first_line
read tmp
first_line=`echo $tmp | cut -b1-2 | sed -n '1p'`

first_chr=`expr "$first_line" : '\(.\)'`
first_two=`expr "$first_line" : '\(..\)'`
rewindstdin

if [ "$first_two" = "%!" ]; then # Postscript file
  gs @st640p.upp -dSAFER -dNOPAUSE -q -sOutputFile=/tmp/$$ -
else
  # text file
  cat &gt; /tmp/$$
  echo -n "^L" &gt;&gt; /tmp/$$
  smbclient '\\Raven\Epson' "" -c 'printmode text'
fi

smbclient '\\Raven\Epson' "" -P -c "print /tmp/$$"
rm /tmp/$$

# EOF


rewindstdin is a small program to rewind the filehandle for STDIN
save the next part up to EOF to a file rewindstdin.c and compile

#include &lt;sys/types.h&gt;
#include &lt;unistd.h&gt;
extern int errno;
main()
{
  if( lseek(0,0,0) == 0 ){
    errno = 0;
  }
  return( errno );
}

# EOF

compile to an executable

gcc -o /usr/local/bin/rewindstdin rewindstdin.c
</pre>


<p><li><h4>beginning balances</h4>
Add a GL Journal entry and enter the beginning balance for your accounts.
Beginning balances are the balances from your last balance sheet. If you also
add open invoices to account for COGS for inventory, add the invoices
and make the appropriate adjustments.


<p><li><h4>establish a beginning inventory</h4>
add the parts with a vendor invoice. Use the <b>real cost</b> for the items,
not zero. If you use zero cost then the cost of goods will be zero when you
sell the item.


<p><li><h4>Assemblies</h4>
Assemblies are manufactured goods assembled from parts, services and
assemblies.  Because you do not buy assemblies you 'stock assemblies' by
adding assembled units to your inventory. The quantity for individual parts 
is reduced and the quantity for the assembly increased. To disassemble an
assembly you simply return the parts to inventory by entering a negative
quantity for the number of assemblies to stock.


<p><li><h4>customizing SQL-Ledger</h4>
The <a href=/cgi-bin/nav.pl?page=feature/api.html&title=Application%20Interface>application interface</a>
consists of a global and private interface.


<p><li><h4>DBD-Pg not installed</h4>

Most modern distributions now package DBD-Pg. If it is
not packaged follow this recipe to get it working.

<ul>
  <li>check if you have the header files for PostgreSQL
  <br>$ find / -name 'libpq-fe.h'
  <br>if nothing shows up install the development package for PostgreSQL
  <li>download and untar DBD-Pg
  <li>set the environment variables POSTGRES_LIB and POSTGRES_INCLUDE
  <li>cd to DBD-Pg directory
  <br>as ordinary user
  <br>$ perl Makefile.PL
  <br>$ make
  <br>$ make test
  <br>if all went well su to root
  <br># make install
  <li>remove DBD-Pg
</ul>


<p><li><h4>login.pl has compilation error</h4>

This could be because of a missing configuration file in the users directory

<p>check the permission for the users directory. The directory must be
set writeable for the webserver. If your webserver runs ias user/group
nobody.nogroup set the directory to
<pre>
drwx--x--x   2 nobody   nogroup    1024 May 26 16:49 users

or

drwxrwx--x   2 johndoe  nogroup    1024 May 26 16:49 users</pre>


<p><li><h4>script not executing, shows in browser instead</h4>

Add
<pre>
  AddHandler cgi-script .pl</pre>
in your httpd.conf file.


<p><li><h4>unknown terminal!</h4>
the frontend script couldn't figure out which browser you are using
<p>include the terminal variable on the URL
<pre>
  http://localhost/sql-ledger/login.pl?terminal=lynx</pre>
Valid terminal variables are lynx and mozilla


<p><li><h4>permission denied</h4>

Check if your web server has write permission to write to the following
files and directories:
<pre>
  users/
  templates/
  users/members

  # chown nobody:nogroup users templates users/members
</pre>


<p><li><h4>permission denied to access tables</h4>
The user you entered in the "Database section" must be a valid
database user who has rights to access the tables.

<p>If the tables are owned by 'joe' and you enter 'mary' as the dba
you might run into this problem if mary doesn't have the rights to
access tables owned by joe.


<p><li><h4>html and graphics files don't show up on screen</h4>

Enable Includes and FollowSymlinks Options in your httpd.conf file
<pre>
  &lt;Directory /usr/local/sql-ledger&gt;
    Options ExecCGI Includes FollowSymlinks
  &lt;/Directory&gt;
</pre>


<p><li><h4>Can I use mySQL</h4>

mySQL lacks certain features required by SQL-Ledger.


<p><li><h4>switch display to a foreign language</h4>

Load your preferences and select the language.
<br>Language selection is in accordance to 
<a href=http://www.unece.org/cefact/locode/service/main.htm>
ISO 3166-1</a> standards.


<p><li><h4>Text shows in English when I use a foreign language</h4>

This is because the corresponding hash entry is missing.
Add the missing text in the locale/cc/all or locale/cc/missing
file and run 'perl locales.pl' from the command line to rebuild
the individual files.

<br>cc refers to the country code.


<p><li><h4>switch to a foreign language for the login and admin screen</h4>

Edit sql-ledger.conf and enter the code for the $language variable
<pre>
  $language = "de";</pre>

<p>This is a global change and applies to all logins, individual settings
may be changed by setting the language in your Preferences.


</ul>

<p>
<hr>
<a name=security>
<h1>SQL-Ledger security</h1>
</a>

<ul>
<li>The security features built into SQL-Ledger provide encrypted passwords
and access control which makes it fairly safe out of the box to run even in
front of a firewall.
Some precautions which are out of our control must be taken though.
It matters where you install SL and how you configure your web server and
SQL server.

<pre>
  Typical setups:
  
  /usr/local/vh/www                   <- DocumentRoot for virtual host
  /usr/local/vh/sql-ledger            <- Alias for sql-ledger
  /usr/local/vh/users                 <- users directory out of reach

<hr width=60% align=left>
  /usr/local/vh/www                   <- DocumentRoot for virtual host
  /usr/local/vh/www/sql-ledger        <- Alias for sql-ledger
  /usr/local/vh/www/sql-ledger/users  <- users configuration files and tmp space

  &lt;Directory /usr/local/vh/www/sql-ledger/users&gt;  <- disable webserver access
    Order Deny,Allow                                 for users directory
    Deny from All
  &lt;/Directory&gt;

</pre>

The location for the users directory can be specified in sql-ledger.conf

<p><li>Set permission for the users and templates directory to 711

<p><li>If you do not want anyone to change the templates with the built-in
editor set the files in templates/directory/ to read only or disable
the menu item to edit the templates.

<p><li>You may setup a read-only environment if you disable the menu items
to add data. i.e 'Add Transaction' if unchecked you will not be able to add
a transaction or repost a transaction. You may look at it but nothing else.

<p><li>There are various settings for audit control and you may disable
reposting entirely or up to a certain date.

<p><li>For PostgreSQL you may also set who has access to the server in the file
pg_hba.conf
<br>Authentication crypt does not work because not all SQL servers
accept encrypted passwords.

<p><li>in addition you can secure the tables from unauthorized access by
setting up a different database user and GRANT rights. For instance,
users without DELETE rights will still be able to use the program, change
customers and vendors, add transactions but will not be able to delete or
repost transactions.
<br>To lock all the tables to create a RO system GRANT SELECT rights only.

<p><li>Other security options include a secure shell, your webserver's
authentication system, SSL, encrypted tunnels, ...

</ul>

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