Systems Planning Homepage MWeb Homepage MWeb Administrator's Guide - How MWeb Works - Getting Started 1. Configuring the Project - Integrated Searching - Project Setup - Subsets - Search Categories - Stopwords - Linking to MWeb - Moving or Deleting a Project 2. Configuring Databases - Types of Databases - Adding Databases - Configuring Features - Configuring Tables - Configuring Subsets - Configuring Fields - Indexing a Database - Maintaining the Index - Testing the Database - If a Database Changes - Deleting a Database - Databases with Images, Part 1 - Databases with Images, Part 2 - Advanced Relational Topics - More about MARC Databases 3. Configuring the Interface - Introduction - Customizing the Splash Screen - Changing Layouts - Adding a Logo - Changing Messages - Changing CSS Stylesheets - Using XML and XSLT 4. Using MWeb Features - Sorting Search Results - Direct Access - Using HTML Tags in Data 5. Administering MWeb - Basic Tasks - Keeping Records - Administrator Control Center - User Administration - Reporting Problems - Performance Appendix 1: Installation Appendix 2: Reference - Interface Options - Security - Browsers and Standards - Error Messages - Character Encodings - Installation Details - Uninstalling & Reinstalling Appendix 3: Troubleshooting MWeb Glossary Contact Us

MWeb™ Universal Administrator's Guide


We recommend you print this page to refer to during installation and setup. You may also wish to check off each step as it is completed.

For some steps you will see a box with this symbol. It indicates information you will need to know later with exact spelling. Since this information may be hard to find, we recommend you record it in the box as you go.

Installation

Please Note!

Because MWeb is installed onto a server, there can be more problems than with normal desktop software. We recommend that a server technician perform the installation, because of these kinds of problems:

  • Your server may require administrative permission to run some of the installation steps, since they configure IIS and change directories.
  • IIS may be using names for virtual directories that MWeb wants to use.
  • The IIS website you wish to use may not be the default website (the only one MWeb can install to automatically).
  • A technician may be required to load your Database onto the server or deal with security issues (see below).

The installation will be more automated in future. However, once installed, using MWeb requires absolutely no technical ability!

The installer configures IIS only at this time. Apache support will be added in future. However, you can use Apache now if you know how to configure it.

Database Security

For highest security you should keep your Databases behind a firewall. This will require one of two ways to allow requests to pass:

  1. Install the Database on a server inside the firewall and permit the HTTP GET requests from MWeb to be received by the Data Connector on that server.
  2. Install the Data Connector on a server outside the firewall and allow it to pass ODBC requests through to another server inside the firewall running your database.

In addition, each Data Connector maintains its own Control Tables that it must be allowed to write to. These Control Tables are in a file called MWebXML*.dat (where the * represents a number).

No part of MWeb ever tries to write to or modify your Database in any way.

We regret we cannot assist with security setup.

Next to some steps we add this symbol. It indicates information you will need to know later with exact spelling. Since this information may be hard to find, we recommend you record it as you go. We suggest you print the Project Worksheet to make this easier.

Ordering MWeb

To order, see MWeb Universal Pricing and Ordering, then return here and write down the Order Number.

If you ever upgrade to a later release of MWeb, you will use the Order Number of the upgrade purchase from then on.

Installation Overview

The installation procedure may seem rather complex, but this is partly because you are installing to multiple servers. Just follow the steps one by one for best results.

You will be installing two things: the MWeb Universal Main Module, and a Data Connector for each Database in the Project. MWeb and each Database may all be on separate servers, on the same server, or any combination. Each server containing a Database must have a Data Connector installed on it.

If there are multiple Databases on the same server, you must purchase a license for each Database. However, you can install the Data Connector just once for all Databases on a server.

MWeb refers to the collection of Databases you plan to search as the Project. MWeb uses codes to refer to these. The default Project Code is "uni" and the default Database Code is "udc" (for Universal Data Connector).

If you have multiple MWeb Universal Projects on the same server (which requires multiple licenses), each Project must have a different Project Code.

If you wish to know what the installation program does, or in case of configurations the installation program cannot handle, see details here.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008

If server uses Windows Server 2008, then you must allow it to run CGI programs and scripts that are needed by the MWeb installation program. To do this, follow these steps:

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Windows screen Instructions
Go to Control Panel and click Programs.
Under Programs and Features, click Turn Windows features on or off.
Check the two boxes IIS 6 Scripting Tools and CGI.

MWeb Universal Main Module

Step 1: Install the Main Module

The two files you downloaded when you purchased MWeb are installation files that take care of many of the details. To begin, double-click the MWeb Universal Main Module installation file to run it (its name is like MWebUni_xx_Main.exe, where xx stands for the release number.

The installer creates virtual directories for the IIS web-server, in the default website. You will need to perform the installation by hand using these instructions if any of these conditions are true:

  • You want MWeb in a different website from the default
  • Your security blocks Visual Basic scripts from running
  • Your are not using IIS

Running the installer

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Installer screen Instructions
1. Click Next to proceed.
2. Read the license. You may also read or print it by going to the MWeb License page.

When you have read the license, click I Agree.
3. The exact wording of this screen depends on what components you purchased, either Express Installation, Install Main Module, or Install Data Connector. Express Installation installs all MWeb components onto this server. The other two must be installed separately.

If you are installing Data Connectors on more than one server, you will run that installation program on EACH server.

Click Next to proceed.
4. This is the location where MWeb will be installed. You may choose another location by clicking the Browse button. Write down the location before clicking Next to proceed.

5. Here is where you enter the Project and Database codes. These should be short, as they are used to make folder names and URLs. These codes are not displayed to users.

For Express Installation we recommend the defaults shown. However, for multiple Databases, give each one a unique Code. Write down the codes before clicking Install to proceed.

6. When you see this display, the installation program is creating directories, copying files, and adding the virtual directories to IIS.

During the process, or at the end, messages may be shown about problems the installation program encountered.

It is always safe to re-run the installation program. Therefore if you see a message like "Could not configure IIS ...", try that first. You may save yourself having to do manual configuration.

If you see a message like "... already exists in IIS ...", then IIS already has a virtual directory with the name that MWeb was planning to use. MWeb creates names based on the Project and Database Codes you entered in the previous step. Unfortunately the installer cannot go back at this point, so do one of these two things: delete the IIS virtual directories if they are no longer needed and rerun the installer; or rerun the installer choosing a different Project or Database Code.

MWeb Universal Data Connectors

Step 1: Install Data Connectors

To install Data Connectors you perform the same procedure as for installing MWeb, with a few differences.

You will do this entire procedure on EACH server holding a Database. If there are multiple Databases on the same server, you need to run the installation program only once for that server.

If you are installing a PastPerfect-Online Database, please email Systems Planning for installation of the Data Connector. For security reasons, you are not allowed to install the Data Connector on the PastPerfect server. Then you may skip to Project Setup.

The installer creates virtual directories for the IIS web-server, in the default website. You will need to perform the installation by hand if any of these conditions are true:

  • You want MWeb in a different website from the default
  • Your security blocks Visual Basic scripts from running
  • Your are not using IIS

Now you will use the second of the two files you downloaded when you purchased MWeb. To begin, double-click the MWeb Universal Data Connector installation file to run it (its name is like MWebUni_xx_DC.exe, where xx stands for the release number.

Running the installer

Click images for larger view

Installer screen Instructions
1. Click Next to proceed.
2. Read the license. You may also read or print it by going to the MWeb License page.

When you have read the license, click I Agree.
3. The exact wording of this screen depends on what components you purchased, either Express Installation, Install Main Module, or Install Data Connector. Express Installation installs all MWeb components onto this server. The other two must be installed separately.

If you are installing Data Connectors on more than one server, you will run that installation program on EACH server.

Click Next to proceed.
4. This is the location where MWeb will be installed. You may choose another location by clicking the Browse button. Write down the location before clicking Next to proceed.

5. Here is where you enter the Project and Database codes. These should be short, as they are used to make folder names and URLs. These codes are not displayed to users.

For Express Installation we recommend the defaults shown. However, for multiple Databases, give each one a unique Code. Write down the codes before clicking Install to proceed.

6. When you see this display, the installation program is creating directories, copying files, and adding the virtual directories to IIS.

During the process, or at the end, messages may be shown about problems the installation program encountered.

It is always safe to re-run the installation program. Therefore if you see a message like "Could not configure IIS ...", try that first. You may save yourself having to do manual configuration.

If you see a message like "... already exists in IIS ...", then IIS already has a virtual directory with the name that MWeb was planning to use. MWeb creates names based on the Project and Database Codes you entered in the previous step. Unfortunately the installer cannot go back at this point, so do one of these two things: delete the IIS virtual directories if they are no longer needed and rerun the installer; or rerun the installer choosing a different Project or Database Code.

Step 2: Load the Databases onto the Servers

The Database(s) to be used by MWeb must be on the server. Please put them there now if they are not already there. Since every Database is different, the installer cannot do this. For some types of database (SQL Server, Oracle, etc.) this may be a complex installation that a technician should do.

A MARC Database is one or more files in the same format and in the same encoding. Simply copy the files to the server. Configuration will be easier if they are all in the same folder, but this is not required. Skip to Installing MARC Databases.

The PastPerfect-Online User's Guide

The PastPerfect-Online User's Guide was written assuming that your database would be hosted on the PastPerfect server. Therefore you may skip some parts of the Guide. Here is what you need to know:

  • The Guide uses the term "PastPerfect-Online" to refer to two things, the overall product including hosting, and also the web-publishing upgrade that is installed into the PastPerfect collection management system. If you are using MWeb Universal, you will install and use the upgrade, but you may ignore the parts of the Guide that refer to hosting by PastPerfect. With MWeb Universal you will be hosting the database on your own server.
  • The web-publishing upgrade for the PastPerfect collections management system allows you to select records for export to the web. It also includes a wizard to export the fields you desire, to name fields, and to determine how data is indexed. This wizard is used by MWeb Universal for the same purposes. Therefore refer to pages 2-13 of the Guide that tell you how to do install and use the module.
  • Ignore bullet point 3 on page 3.
  • You may watermark your images as they are exported from PastPerfect. The watermarks will appear in MWeb.
  • The entire last part of the Guide starting on page 14 should be ignored. This refers to the PastPerfect-Online product with hosting, not to MWeb Universal.
  • Instead, once you have run the web-export wizard, you will copy the exported data and image files to your web server. For data, you have two options:
    1. Using FTP or a similar tool, copy the file c:\pp4\webexport\data\data.zip to the server and uncompress it into the folder where you decided to put your Database.
    2. Copy to the server the individual files in c:\pp4\webexport\data except for data.zip. Important: Make sure you upload the files Catnames.dbf, Fieldmap.dbf, and Fieldnames.dbf, and make sure all files end up in the same folder on your server. (Older versions of the PastPerfect web-export wizard put these three files in c:\pp4\webexport instead of c:\pp4\webexport\data.)
  • Images linked to the exported records will be in c:\pp4\webexport\images. There will be subfolders under that for your groupings like \001, etc. Under these subfolders will be \thumbs subfolders for the thumbnails corresponding to the images. Don't forget to upload these images to the server as well as the data.
  • The c:\pp4\webexport folder and all subfolders are emptied each time you run the export wizard.
Note: The first time you load PastPerfect data, your preferences for fieldnames and indexing are taken from the files exported from PastPerfect. In subsequent loads these preferences are not examined. Instead, to make changes after the initial load of your data, use the configuration options in MWeb Universal.

For a PastPerfect Export Database the Database consists of a set of FoxPro tables created by running the web-publishing wizard in PastPerfect. For help with this process, see the PastPerfect Online User's Guide you received when you purchased the web-publishing upgrade (more information in the box to the right).


We regret we cannot help with installing databases and database software on your servers except on a consulting basis. It requires specialized knowledge for each database vendor.

Step 3: Create an ODBC Data Source on Each Server

The Data Connectors use Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) to access the Database(s) in your Project. This is a nearly universal approach to accessing data. ODBC requires an "ODBC driver", which is just a program developed for data access. In nearly all cases, the vendor of your database software (Microsoft, Oracle, MySQL, IBM, etc.) provides an ODBC driver with the database software.

If the Database already has an ODBC Data Source on the server, you may skip this step, but write down the Data-Source Name.

Each ODBC driver is slightly different. We regret we cannot help with the details of installing and configuring ODBC drivers, except on a consulting basis. However, here are the general steps:

Using the ODBC Administrator on the server, create a "System DSN" as follows:

  1. Click the System DSN tab.
  2. Click the Add button.
  3. Select the appropriate driver and click Finish.
  4. Fill in the necessary fields, which are different for each kind of database. Write down the Data Source Name in the box above.

    For PastPerfect Export Databases, click the Free tables radio button.

    For Microsoft Visual FoxPro databases, including PastPerfect Export Databases and PastPerfect-Online Databases, click Options and un-check Fetch data in background.

    For Oracle databases, end the Data Source Name with an underscore and the schema name, such as "MWEB_ORACLE_HR", where "HR" is the schema name. Enter both the user ID and password in the User ID box, separated by a slash, such as "joe/Gdk45". If you prefer, you may add the password to the Windows Registry instead. You may set the Data Source to "read-only" for safety, since MWeb does not alter the Oracle database.

    For SQL Server databases, after you set up the Data Source, use the SQL Server administration interface to add the IUSR to the valid users of the database. Only the db_datareader and db_datawrite roles are required for this user.

  5. Click the OK button.

You may now close the ODBC Administrator.

Step 4: Install Images

MARC Databases -- read this section
MWeb Enterprise Databases -- handled by wizard
PastPerfect Export Databases -- read this section
PastPerfect-Online Databases -- handled by wizard
Relational Databases -- read this section

MARC Databases

For MARC Databases, it is required that the images be referenced by a complete URL in the 856$u. Therefore, install the images to the locations specified in the 856$u subfields.

Relational Databases

Install images by copying them to the udcimages folder on the server, which was created by the MWeb installation program.

PastPerfect Export Databases

Install images by copying them to the udcimages folder on the server, which was created by the MWeb installation program. For PastPerfect Export Databases, image access is configured by the wizard if your images are stored in sub-folders under udcimages like this:

Images/udcimages/001/imagefile.jpg
Thumbnails/udcimages/001/thumbs/imagefile.jpg

You may also have multiple levels of sub-folders in the path, like this:

Images/udcimages/objects/gifts/imagefile.jpg
Thumbnails/udcimages/objects/gifts/thumbs/imagefile.jpg

If you wish to do things differently, you will need to see Databases with Images after you have completed the rest of Project Setup.

Installation is complete! You are now ready to proceed with Project Setup.

Installing MARC Databases

Installing a MARC Database (defined here) is quite easy. When you setup the Database, you will be asked for a full path and filename for the MARC files. Here are some examples of what you might enter:

d:\library\catalog.mrc
d:\library\snapshot*.mrc
d:\library\*.mrc
d:\library\*.*

When the filename includes * (the "wildcard" character), the Database will include each file in the folder that meets the specifications. For example, if you specify

d:\library\snapshot*.mrc

the Database will include files such as

d:\library\snapshot1.mrc
d:\library\snapshot2.mrc
etc.

Therefore, to install your MARC Database, simply copy the files to a folder.

The setup wizard can add only files in the same folder. However, after setup you may add additional MARC files in other folders to the Database.

Installation is complete! You are now ready to proceed with Project Setup.


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