Niwa CMS

Setup log

This is a developers log file, created on the fly, not meant to enjoy a reader, but to catch knowhow, to be digged out in eventual later odd circumstances.

Make it start

The homepage of Niwa is www.niwa-cms.de, the download comes from http://sourceforge.net/projects/niwa/files (download # 20100323.1441). A nice tutorial is found in www.niwa-cms.de/tutorials.

We just unpack Niwa 0.8.2 beta.zip into app.niwa/trunk.

We append a new alias to Apache's httpd.conf, as we routinely did for the other app.webstack installations:
 
# add alias (# 20100323.1701)
Alias /niwa "../../../app.niwa/trunk/Niwa 0.8.2 beta"
<Directory "../../../app.niwa/trunk/Niwa 0.8.2 beta">
   Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
   AllowOverride None
   Deny from all
   Allow from 127.0.0.1
</Directory>
 
Note that we need quotes for the path, since the Niwa folder name contains blanks (as opposed to the tutorial's instructions ;)

When starting, Niwa welcomes us with a warning and an error, the both referring the same file.

Niwa's first start.

The two links in the error screen point to
 
http://localhost/niwa/function.require-once and
http://localhost/niwa/function.require,
 
which both is in the nirwana.

Line 36 in core.inc.php reads:
 
require_once(LOCAL2LIB.'module/parent.inc.php');
 
A file parent.inc.php does exists indeed in "Niwa 0.8.2 beta\core\lib\module".
 
Might LOCAL2LIB be a variable, which must be set somehow?

In the files object.inc.php and config.conf.php in each we find the line
 
define('LOCAL2LIB',LOCAL.'core/lib/');
 
The file config.conf.php is mentioned in the tutorial, that it shall be edited by the user to create objects. Hm .. we are not creating objects, shall we try anyway?

In config.conf.php, at the beginning of a define cascade, we find the line
 
define('LOCAL', $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/');
 
This line triggers a suspicion. What PHP calls DOCUMENT_ROOT -- may that be identical with what Apache calls DocumentRoot? If so, the problem might be, that we are using an alias.

We evaluate the idea by modifying httpd.conf:
 
###DocumentRoot "../htdocs" # ORIGINAL LINE, TEMPORARILY REPLACED
DocumentRoot "../../../app.niwa/trunk/Niwa 0.8.2 beta"

Bingo!

If Niwa is called directly via Apache's DocumentRoot, instead via Alias, then it starts.

We are happy, that we have seen Niwa's start screen. Only, we cannot leave httpd.conf with such dedicated setting. We need to address Niwa via Alias. Smells like programming work, or at least better understanding PHP, as we are totally bloody beginners in PHP. But before we can attempt this, we sorrily have to return to solve the nasty OXID eShop problem, because that shop must run first.

Looking forward to see Niwa come to live in The Fat Portable Webstack.

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. . . it may last . . .

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