ELOG FAQ  

Frequently Asked Questions about usage and configuration

  1. How does one configure elog to display a listing of all messages by default instead the last message

    Starting from version 2.2.0 on, a page with the last messages is displayed by default. To display something else, one can use the Start page option in elogd. The entry:

    Start page = 0?cmd=last

    shows the last entry by default (pre-2.2.0 behaviour). To show all messages, one can use:

    Start page = ?cmd=Search&mode=summary&all=1

    This shows all messages from all logbooks (all=1). To have the described behaviour for all logbooks, the above statements can be placed in the [global] section.

  2. Are there any plans to implement a MySQL back end?

    No. The idea behind ELOG is that it is a simple to use, simple to install application. Many people use ELOG under Windows, and they even don't know what MySQL means. Other people like the flat file database format, because it's simple, easily accessible from other programs, and it's easy to backup certain days or months of the database (since the filenames contain the date). Since ELOG should be independent of any other package, some "switchable" backend between native ELOG format and MySQL would be needed, which is lots of work and not planned right now.

  3. Can I run the ELOG daemon from inside Apache or any other Web server?

    No. The ELOG daemon was designed as a standalone server and it will stay like that in the future. The reason for that is that elogd should not rely on any other software. This is for example important for many people running elogd under Windows, and they have no clue how to install Apache for Windows. The installation and maintenance for elogd therefore becomes much simpler. To run elogd in parallel to an Apache server on port 80, use Apache as a proxy, following the instruction on the installation page ("Running elogd under Apache").

  4. I can access my logbook without any password, isn't that a security problem?

    By default, no password is used in ELOG. This can be useful for public directories etc. that anybody should be able to read. To add password security, read the documentation under Access control. The recommended setup is password file security with guest access.

    Note that passwords are transferred over the network in plain text and therefore not secure. If this is a problem, a secure network connection should be used.

  5. I want a bookmark pointing to the last page where an attribute has a certain value

    Use the URL:

    http://<your.host>/<logbook>/?cmd=Last&<attribute>=<value>

    This executes the "Last" command using a filter with <attribute>=<value>. The following command displays the same page, but also locks the attribute (checks the box next to <attribute>) so that browsing (next, previous, first, last) only shows pages with that attribute value.

    http://<your.host>/<logbook>/?cmd=Last&<attribute>=<value>&l<attribute>=1

    Note the "l" before the second attribute, as in "lAuthor=1".

  6. I want a logbook with public read access (no password), but restricted write access

    In an old version of the FAQ it has been stated here that one has to use two logbooks pointing to the same data directory. From Version 2.0.6 on, this can be accomplished much easier by the usage of the "Guest menu command". Use a logbook with user level access (password file), and add menu lists like in the following example to the configuration file:

    Menu commands = New, Edit, Reply, Find, Last 10, Change password, Logout, Help
    Guest menu commands = Find, Last 10, Login, Help

    If users access the logbook without supplying a user name, they are treated like "guests" and see the "Guest menu commands", with which one cannot submit or edit logbook entries. If one hits the "login" button, a user can login with a user name/password and sees the normal menu commands, with which one can submit new logbook entries.

    An optional self registration is possible by specifying

    Self register = 1

    in the configuration file. New users can then create their own accounts.

  7. I have many loogbooks with password files, so if I add a user or want to change a password I have to do this for all logbooks which is painful.

    You can have several logbooks point to the same password file. So if you change a user or password in that file, it becomes automatically available in all logbooks which use that file.

  8. By default, ELOG displays the last entry from a logbook. How can I configure it to display the last 10 messages instead?

    There is a simple trick. You use the "Welcome page" option in the elogd file to redirect the start page to the last 10 command. Put the statement:

    Welcome page = redir.html
    
    into elogd and create that file with following contents:

    <head>
    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; URL=/logbook/last10">
    </head>
    
    This causes the welcome page being redirected to /logbook/last10, where logbook must be replaced by the current logbook name. Following other redirections are possible:

    /logbook/last20                         for the last 20 messages and so on
    /logbook/past1                          for the last day
    /logbook/past2                          for the last two days and so on
    /logbook?cmd=New                        for the new message entry form
    /logbook?cmd=Find                       for the "find" page
    /logbook?cmd=Search&<attrib>=<value>    for a search with <attrib>=<value>
    
  9. I want to have additional command specific to my lookbook

    New commands can be added for example with the "Bottom text = bottom.html" option. To display all messages from last week and month of with "category = info", one can put following HTML code in bottom.html:

    <center>
    <a href="?last=7&Category=Info">Info from last week</a> |
    <a href="?last=31&Category=Info">Info from last month</a> |
    </center>
    

    Note that the parameters "last=7&Category=Info" apply a filter on the display. You can learn how to make these filters by looking at the URL in your browser when you submit a find command with certain options.

  10. How does one configure elog to disable editing of existing messages? I want a logbook where one can enter messages but not change them afterwards.

    This works with the option Menu commands. By default, the menu commands Back, New, Edit, Delete, Reply, Find, Config, Help are dispalyed and allowed. To avoid editing (and deleting) of existing messages, one removes the two commands and puts following statement into elogd.cfg:

    Menu commands = Back, New, Reply, Find, Config, Help

    This prohibits the execution of the commands "Edit" and "Delete".