File Listing
./erealms
./erealms-admin
./gz
changelog.txt
installation.html
installation.txt
license.txt
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File Overview
./erealms
This directory the bulk of the client scripts. At least
those that will be accessed frequently at varying stages of their use
of the system. As a result of this, it is recommended that
these be placed into some sort of accelerated mode.
- bio.pl
Bio is a script that is
designed to display contact information or redirect to a puppets home
page if the users have so decided to allow it. In realms,
this functionality is enhanced as to allow for quick access to private
messaging and ignoring.
- board.pl
- board
- sysboard.pl
Message
board
functionality for Ethereal Realms, using a simplified threaded model
expanded for ease of use.
- contrib.pl
(Experimental)
A new portal
designed exclusively for contributors which allows access to all
components without using native interfaces.
- gallery.pl
The client side
portion of galleries, currently featuring text and image
works. Script includes searching capabilities, work/gallery
overviews, detailed work navigable interfaces and user based comments
and rating system.
- gwho.pl
A front-end interface
available to end-users allowing them to see globally the activity in
public realms.
- mail.pl
Internal mail system for
Ethereal Realms, that allows for users to send messages directly to
other users without having to making their identity known.
- poll.pl
Front-end interface for the
polling system used by the site. Allows a user to place votes and
see the results of the poll at any time.
- portal.pl
- go
- static.pl
The primary function of the portal is to authenticate users and direct
them to a screen that will show them access to available features,
functionality and allow them to access individual realms.
- realm.pl
- stream.pl
Handles
the primary interaction with the realms themselves. In
order to post, chat or view traffic on a realm one must make use of
this script to proceed.
- registration.pl
- confirmation.pl
System requires that users are registered in order to recall settings,
handles and customizations. This script handles the tasks
of collecting initial information and making sure that the details
provided such as the Email address are valid through the confirmation
aspect of the script.
- reset.pl
This script allows one to
reset passwords for users excluding anyone with a degree of
privilege as to avoid abuse.
- weblog.pl
Allows for the passing of quick
information to all users on the site. This is done
through a new style system which works like a weblog.
- webring.pl
- ring
Integrated webring
system for use by public and hybrid realms located on the system.
./erealms/post
These scripts are used while interacting through a realm. As a
result of this, the bulk of these scripts will have the same access
control measures put into place as to prevent unauthorized access.
- colours.pl
Colours display a guide listing all allowed colours in a realm against
the customized background as to allow for a quicker selection.
- dice.pl
An advanced die roller that while supporting a multitude of systems can
be templated to support simply one for realms catering to a certain
role-play system. Rolls can be made in public or sent privately
based on the users preference.
- private.pl
Primary private message sub-system that will allow to send messages in
private to people of the same realm or public realms if configured to
do as such. Administrators can also use this interface as to send
messages globally to all realms at once.
- who.pl
Realm specific who is on that will originally display everyone in a
specific realm then move to all public realms if requested.
- zoom.pl
Allows for the expansion of posts into an external window in order to
allow for easier modification and spell checking.
./erealms/ssi
Ethereal Realms has created scripts that are made to function in
conjunction with Server Side Includes. This allows dynamic
content to be mixed in with seemingly static pages, without requiring
people to use scripts directly.
The above directory does not contain a series of scripts. Instead
it acts as a container for allowed SSI scripts that can be called by
the web server itself. Since the ./erealms-admin/ssi
directory would normally not be directly exported, this effectively
allows administrators to determine what is available to be passed.
For ease of installation, all SSI are installed with the proper name in
this directory. To disable certain features, simply remove the
symbolic links.
./erealms-admin
A separate container for scripts that sites may not to have loaded
under mod_perl or equivalent web acceleration
processes. This also allows one to selectively export
directories granting a more granular control over the scripts
themselves.
./erealms-admin/admin
This contains all of the administrative scripts which require
administrative level users to make changes to the system.
These scripts allow to change anything from a users properties to the
look and feel of the site.
- swho.pl
Similar in principle to global who, this script has the additional
features of seeing all associated usernames, warning levels and any
active realm currently active.
- system.pl
- access.pl
- attrib.pl
- audit.pl
- contact.pl
- font.pl
- genre.pl
- gummy.pl
- poll.pl
- realm.pl
- rotate.pl
- template.pl
- weblog.pl
This administrative script creates a
tabbed user interface that allows to control all administrative aspects
of the site. From realm creation to changes in specific
wording of a button, this script will allow the changes to be
made.
Recent changes have also allowed the administrator to view
administrative/supervisory actions taken on the side. This
audit entry viewer can become a very useful ally to determine where
things have gone wrong.
./erealms-adming/config
These configuration scripts do not require administrative access in
order to be used. However, their access levels vary from
requiring supervisory/moderative access for their use to simply being
available to all.
- cookie.pl
Script that allows for users to embed a browser cookie. When used
users will be able to bypass the normal authentication process.
- home.pl
The homepage component of Ethereal Realms which allows contributors to
access files and images stored on the local server.
In addition to straight file access, the script allows for mass
uploads, removals and image resizing.
- ignore.pl
Script that allows to ignore users on multiple levels, including simply
replacing their title information.
- gallery.pl
Interface used to manage galleries, works and gallery news entries for
any contributor of the site.
- gummies.pl
A view-only script that is generally used in conjunction with the
puppet configuration panel and allows users to see gummies allowed on
the site.
- puppet.pl
Puppet configuration script that handles the creation, cloning,
modification and removal of puppets to be used in realm.
- puppeteer.pl
Puppeteer configuration panel allows a user to change user specific
information from one interface. This includes password and
Email address changes, contact information updates etc.
- realm.pl
This supervisory/moderative level script deals with realm specific
management as required for public and/or hybrid realms. As with
./admin/system.pl, this script uses a tabbed interface to consolidate
interfaces into one.
./erealms-admin/commandline
Scripts in this directory are to be used at the commandline level only
and do not carry with them the ability to interact as a CGI script and
are used exclusively for maintenance/update tasks.
NOTE: These scripts
should NOT be exported through the webserver.
- convert.pl
This is a primitive tool that can
be used in the migration of SQL dumps from MySQL databases to
PostgreSQL. It is used as a pipe from a process to generally a
file.
- erealms.pl
Primary command-line utility used by Ethereal Realms for all of
required maintenance. This script can also be used to
terminate streams, rotate banners in realms and synchronize Email
addresses with eGroups.
- publish.pl
Used on the site in order to publish all text works in
galleries. This also allows for a global update of
all works to new matching templates saving time and resources.
- release.pl
Creates an SQL dump of necessary code to release Ethereal Realms into
the wild. Generally administrators will find minimal use
for
this script since this is NOT a replacement for native database tools.
- rewrite.pl
This is especially useful for
those that cannot move the libraries into a system search
position. Once the CHANGE values within the file are
adapted
to match the needs of the administrator, the script will
adapt the files to use the proper instance of perl and
find the appropriate modules.
- spel.pl
Daemon which will interact with
iSpell and allow the system to run the actual through accelerated means
such as Apache mod_perl.
./erealms-admin/eRealms
This chat server aims to be somewhat object oriented. The following
folder contains classes and their methods used throughout the chat
system.
- Audit.pm
Auditing modules used to store
administrative and supervisory tasks done within the
system.
- Comm.pm
Handles all of the post gathering
and inserting into the database system.
- Crypto.pm
Handles encoding features within
Ethereal's parameters.
- Database.pm
Designed primarily to hide most of
the work used to access and work with the database. Will handle things
from making a database handle to retrieving documents.
- Filter.pm
A safer, centralized method of
filtering HTML based on a few factors. This includes a
somewhat primitive version of HTML tag closing for those that tend to
forget.
- Home.pm
Home page module, currently only
used for the removal of home folders on the system.
- Image.pm
Basically a wrapper Image::Magick that simplifies common tasks employed
on the system.
- Login.pm
Simple authentication module, as
to make the scripts easier to deal with.
- Mail.pm
Mail handling module, which allows
for the standardization and separation of the mailing process
from the scripts.
- Option.pm
Option handling module.
Meaning options that are specific on a straight line.
- Param.pm
Handles all aspects of the parameters sent back and forth between
browser and server. Instance of the class also acts as an
associative hash for easier retrieval of values.
- Post.pm
Handles the display of posts to
the various viewing method
- Pull.pm
Module used to retrieve posts for
users.
- Rotate.pm
Deals with the rotation of objects in the ethereal.Rotate table in
order to be displayed in various areas of the site.
- Spel.pm
Spell checking module, which will
work in conjunction with the spell checking
daemon. The typo in the name is done on purpose.
- Stamp.pm
Time stamp handling module used
exclusively with posting.
- Table.pm
Default table creation, used
extensively in the scripts along with Template.pm as to simplify design
implementations.
- Template.pm
Makes use of templates to generate interfaces and widgets on the site,
removing a great deal of repetition from the attribute code.
- Weather.pm
Handles the parsing of the METAR
weather reports. Also will retrieve them as needed for use in
weather forecasts on the system and individual realms.
- Who.pm
Primary component of who.pls,
handles the retrieval and display; of who is currently on.
./gz
This contains a series of files which can be used to populate the
system with a certain set of defaults. These are generally
not kept up to date, but will serve as a staging area.
- css.tar.gz
Example css code which will allow
you to format the basics for the site.
- gummies.tar.gz
All images needed to host a base
set of gummies are in this archive.
- images.tar.gz
Images used in the display of
various pages for Ethereal Realms, allowing for simpler
integration if need be.
- help.tar.gz
Documentation related for use of
Ethereal Realms from the users perspective.
- js.tar.gz
Base javascript used on the system.
Installation
Before you even begin you will need to retrieve a series of perl
modules that were not included with Ethereal realms.
This is
primarily for the fact that they were not created by the author of the
scripts and thus where not included. All of these modules can be
retrieved by using CPAN.
- Digest::MD5
MD5
cryptographic hashing
- Image::Magick
Imagine
manipulation library, replacement for Image::Size other then
legacy use.
- Image:Size
Used to
determine the size of retrieved image, legacy library used when
Image::Magick fails.
- LWP::UserAgent
Used in the
retrieval of images for the module above.
- MIME::Entity
Tools for
handling MIME encoded Emails, used for sending posts to users.
The CPAN module itself can greatly simplify the installation of the
above modules. As it also makes sure that dependencies are
installed in order to properly install the main modules. In
order to
use CPAN simply type in the following at the command prompt:
> perl -MCPAN -e shell;
Then type in the following:
cpan> install DBI
cpan> install DBD-Pg
cpan> install Digest::MD5
cpan> install Image::Magick
cpan> install Image::Size
cpan> install LWP::UserAgent
cpan> install MIME::Entity
A new requirement for Ethereal Realms needed to handle the publishing
of documents over to PDF is the addition of the HTMLDOC
distribution. In order to install and make use of HTMLDOC
one simply needs to visit http://www.easysw.com/htmldoc/
and follow their instructions. The source code and
binary versions are available without their associated fee.
After these modules have been downloaded and installed, you
should download the tar.gz file containing this distribution.
This
is
done by decompressing the file, make sure all of the listed files above
are in fact there and do the following steps.
NOTE: The installation of
the modules above will most probably need other modules. Read the
installation instructions of each module specifically to determine what
is required before installation.
Copy the contents of ./erealms-admin/eRealms
so to that it can be found by perl when it searches for modules.
In the authors case the location was:
/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.005/eRealms/
(Linux RedHat 6.0) or
/usr/local/libdata/perl5/site_perl/eRealms/
(OpenBSD 2.7-3.4)
NOTE: If the
scripts use the wrong instance of Perl or if you
cannot move the modules into a searched
path. Look at the ./erealms-admin/commandline/rewrite.pl
file for a possible solution.
The next step involves exporting the scripts so that they can be made
accessible through a web server. In most cases you can create
symbolic links to ./erealms, ./erealms-admin/admin and ./erealms-config to a directory that
allows execution of scripts. This can either be a dedicated
directory such as http://www.somesite.org/cgi-bin
or simply enabled to execute when scripts are present.
NOTE: Apache will not be
default execute a script mixed in with normal HTML documentation.
Look into using the ExecCGI
option for an exported directory in order to gain that functionality if
need be,
NOTE: All scripts must be
executable in order for them to be run by the webserver. In
order to confirm that all scripts are, you can complete the following
command under both ./erealms
and ./erealms-admin.
> chmod +x `find ./ -type f`
Next, configure the database according to the specific instructions
listed within the ./erealms-admin/commandline/dumps
directory. The
current database installation and configuration system uses database
dumps to makes things easily and less complicated then changes done in
Database.pm.
As of version 1.3.0 and above there are no longer DBMs for use with
Ethereal Realms. They have been removed due to problems with Perl
on certain distributions or Unix variants. As a result the next
step requires you to change one file other then the database dumps
themselves: Database.pm
Lines 85 to 88 of eRealms::Database
should be adapted to meet your needs. While this may seem less
gallant in a way, it does allow
for the tags to be placed in the database and allows for the subsequent
use
of multiple web servers with one singular or clustered database as a
back end.
Finally, all of the scripts including administrative scripts should be
operational. Please make use of system.pl in order to change from
the defaults used by Ethereal itself, even though we do not mind added
visitors.
NOTE: Ethereal
Realms 3.0.0 was final release of the functions
under function under MySQL. Future
versions have been optimized for operation under PostgreSQL and can
be found at the following link: http://www.postgresql.org
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