Hi everyone,
we have formerly used the DOOCS eLogBook from DESY for a couple of years for some application at our large
research facilities. Now we have standardized on ELOG and I've got a request to import the old DOOCS eLogBook
data into the new logbooks.
I've looked into it and the import appears to be fairly straight forward. I have two questions to the community,
before I start to program an import script:

1) Has anyone created such an import function already, and if the answer is yes, can I have it?

2) Would anyone else be interested in such a "cross logbook import", and if yes, what are your requirements?

Thanks
Andreas

Hi Stefan,

I'm experiencing problems importing XML (.csv is not working at all for me).

My logbook contains 3 date-attributes besides the system DATE (entry time), date-format is defined as %d %b %y.
The XML file hold the date format "DD.MM.YYYY"

- During "preview" I see that all entries are listed.

- During the import I get the "wrong date format" error.

- When I review the Summary, I see that only the first XML entry (all 3 date-attributes hold a date) was imported.

- When I try to re-import the XML from the second entry (after removing the 1st entry from XML - this second entry hold NO date-value on one of the date-attributes) the elogd.exe crashes and I get the "Service Temporarily Unavailable" error page.

- When I try to re-import the XML from the modified second entry (after removing the 1st entry from XML - this second entry holds date-value on all of the date-attributes) the elogd.exe crashes and I get the "Service Temporarily Unavailable" error page.

Any suggestion what could be wrong? Is it the missing date-value?

 Can you post your elog configuration file (elog.cfg)?

 Hi Andreas,

I had to filter-out some other logbook. Please find attached the configuration section for the affected logbook "UMOWY".

Looking forward to your review.

Regards, Barend

Hi Barend,

Cheers, Andreas

Stefan/Andreas,

When I reply to an existing Logbook entry, I get the error page "Error: Attribute Audit Date not supplied. Please go back and enter the Audit Date field."

The configuration file uses:

Required Attributes = Audit No, Audit Date, Audit Type, Finding No, Finding Level, Section, MOE Procedure, Finding Details, Auditor, Deadline, Responsibility
Fixed Attributes Reply = Audit No, Audit Date, Audit Type, Finding No, Finding Level, Section, MOE Procedure, Finding Details, Auditor, Deadline, Responsibility
Type Audit Date = date
Type Deadline = date
 

The combination "Required Attributes" and "Fixed Attributes Reply" does not work for date-fields.

As soon as I disclose the date fields from either "Required Attributes" or "Fixed Attributes Reply" the error is no longer evident.

But I want the "Audit Date" and "Deadline" to entered during a new Record and they shall not be changed during a reply.

Is this a bug -or- do I have to change the configuration?

Thanks & regards, Barend

Hi Barend,

I can reproduce your point. 

I've found various work-arounds, but possibly the best one is to remove "Audit Date" and "Deadline" from the Required Attributes line.  True you won't get a warning saying that they were not entered for the first entry (if you didn't enter them, that is), but all subsequent replies run as you would want.

Another way is if you *preview* your entry, you can then submit it and that works.  This seems to work by bring up a different page where you can edit all those Fixed Attributes.  (I'm not sure that Preview is meant to do that, but it does and it's a work-around).

Or, if you remove "Audit date" and "Deadline" from the Fixed Attributes Reply (as you did) seems to work in the same way.  But I see that you don't want the opportunity for these to be changed.

I note that if you get this error message and go back, the message that you may have written is erased (this is unusual, it doesn't do this if you have not supplied an attribute on the first entry, say).

So I suspect this is a bug, possibly not detected before; perhaps no-one had tried this combination.

Hi,

I am setting up an elog to organize my lab activities. I installed elog 2.8.0 on the latest CentOS 5.5, 32 bit. I got into trouble setting up the automated email notification.

According to the elog manual, I setup the smtp setting in the elogd.cfg as follows:

SMTP host = smtp.gmail.com
SMTP username = jianglai.liu
 

I then used "elogd -t" to encode the password into the configuration file.

But when I submit an entry, I always received: "Error sending Email via "smtp.gmail.com": 5.7.0 Must issue a STARTTLS command first. y17sm867489wfd.15"

If I switched to use my university email servers, similar things happened.

SMTP host = smtp.sjtu.edu.cn
SMTP username = jianglai.liu

I got "Error sending Email via "smtp.sjtu.edu.cn": 5.7.8 Error: authentication failed: another step is needed in authentication"

I also switched to use one of my old work server

SMTP host = smtp-server.its.caltech.edu
SMTP username = jliu

and ended up with the same error message.

I did a google search on this without much progress. I would appreciate it very much if someone could shed light on how do I fix this.

Thanks much!

elog only supports basic authentication, not TLS or SSL. These days more and more SMTP servers require this however. I will put this on my to-do list. In meantime you can maybe configure your CentOS machine acting as an SMTP server, and then not using TLS or SSL there. That's what most people do.

 Hi, has this problem been fixed? (i.e does ELOG now support TLS or SSL?) Thanks, Oliver

Didn't have time yet for this. 

Have you tried on this forum? 

 The navigation buttons work for me but Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn does not in IE8 or Chrome.

However buttons and Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn both work in FireFox, so seems to be browser specific, I noted that in Chrome Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn moves through your open Tabs.

I confirm that IE8 and Chrome "eat" the Ctrl-PgUp/Dn keys, so they are not passed to ELOG, and there is nothing I can do about. 

 On this linux box, using Firefox 12, if tabs are in use, Ctrl-Pgup/Ctrl-Pgdn goes throught the tabs.  If you force tabs off, then it goes through the entries.

Bavigation buttons work fine.

  I have tried this forum, it worked fine. So, it should not be a browser. The only different I have logbook that I have been working on ELOG v2.6.5 and I have installed a new version v2.9.2. I just wonder any different data format (2.6.5 vs. 2.9.2) could have caused a problem.

The data format has nothing to do with the functionality of browsing buttons. Except if you have an empty logbook, or a logbook with just one entry, then of course going forwared and backward will not make any sense. 

I have a group includes more than one logbooks. One has about 1600 entries and another new one has 5 entries. I have tried them both. When I retested with v2.6.5, the buttons are still functional. This problem also exists on Firefox plus giving me a message "This is the first entry" "This is the last entry" when I clicked a previous button and next button respectively. I need to use v2.9.2 since it has many improvements

Each time a attempt to CREATE A LOGBOOK on any of my logbook groups, I get an ELOG ERROR page presenting saying FORBIDDEN ATTRIBUTE DATE.

I have, up until recently been able to add new logbooks.

Can anybody help me on this.

Paraic Fahey

Just modify your configuration file elogd.cfg manually with an editor and add your logbooks there, then restart elogd.

/Stefan 

 I cannot answer for Windoze, BUT there is more to this if you use Linux.

(Sorry for re-entry, I spotted a cut-and-paste error from first time around)

If you want to make a new logbook in linux manually, you need to do the following:

0.  Stop the elogd daemon.

1.  Edit elogd.cfg as Stefan said.  This will be in two parts - at the top, and then a block of entries which is what you normally see when you go to the "config" section of any logbook.  Easiest to copy and paste an existing block, only remember to put in a new header in the square brackets at the top - the name of your new logbook.  While most of the elogd.cfg is the same as in the documentation, the additional headers etc are pretty self-explanatory, and you only see these because you're editing the file raw rather than through the elog interface.  Once restarted, you can then edit the config for the new logbook in the usual way.

2.  Create a new subdirectory in your logbooks directory *with the same name* as the name you added in when editing elogd.cfg.

3.  Give that subdirectory the correct ownership and permissions.

4.  Only then, start elogd again.

As a windows user, which of the above you need to do: create the subdirectory (I imagine so) and/or anything else (I don't know).  I don't use Windows - apart from AutoCAD and one other javascript based program that non-the-less has windows dependancies (!).

David.

 David, Stefan,

Thanks for your help. Directly editing the elog.cfd file worked.

Paraic

Hi.

I'd like to package ELOG for the new Debian. I'm a complete beginner in
this matter, but I spent some time configuring it for my desktop.

Could you help me do this (links to package maintainance, Elog tips,
security, former package maintainer...) ?

Thanks for any help.

--

Nicolas FRANCOIS                      |  /\
http://nicolas.francois.free.fr       | |__|
                      X--/\\
We are the Micro$oft.                _\_V
Resistance is futile.           
You will be assimilated.         darthvader penguin
 

I'm also not familiar with Debian, all I know is that the former maintainer was Recai Oktas. See here for example:

elog:1002

Is it a time zone issue or a setting issue related to the FIND by date / time issue?

It seems to add an hour to each of the time selections once you select SEARCH. see attached pics

 One hour adrift at this time of the year sounds like daylight saving.  Or compensation thereof.  What is your computer clock set to (not what time the clock reads)?

Personally I think it rather naughty that [at least older] Windoze automatically sets the clock one hour forward the first reboot after the spring switch forward, and the same in the autumn back.  What if you'd already done it, like all the rest of the clocks in the house?

 Some computer programs/OS work with the computer clock as is.  Some make adjustment for Daylight Saving.  Some - Windows comes to mind, actually adjust the computer clock back and forth as Daylight saving ends and begins respectively.  I know this because I have a dual boot computer (I use windoze for AutoCAD and one other Windows-only Java based utility[!]), and when British Summer Time starts, my Linux automatically moves the screen clock forward.  But when I subseqently boot into Windoze, it sets the computer clock forward one hour, so when I then boot back into Linux, the clock is one hour fast.

I therefore suggest again you check what your computer clock *really* is, not what the OS reports it as being, as often they think they're being clever and automatically put in Daylight Saving.

Another test - Stefan and Andreas will be shuddering hard tonight - will be to set your computer clock to December, and see if the effect is still there or has disappeared.