Syntax of elogd.cfg

Here is a simple example, which define two logbooks "Linux" and "PC":

[global]
Logbook tabs = 1
Tab cellpadding = 2
SMTP host = mailsend.your.domaine

[Linux]
Theme = default
Comment = General linux tips and tricks
Data dir = /usr/local/elog/linux
Attributes = Author, Type, Category, Subject
Options Type = Routine, Software Installation, Problem Fixed, Configuration, Other
Options Category = General, Hardware, Software, Network, Account, Other
Options Author = Stefan, Linus, unknown
Required Attributes = Author

[PC]
Comment = Database PC installations
Data dir = /usr/local/elog/pc
Attributes = Location, OS, Owner
Options Location = Building1, Building2
Options OS = Linux, Windows ME, Windows 2000
Required Attributes = Location, Owner
Email All = name@address, othername@otheraddress
Mail Subject = Location

Global options

• Language = <name>
  The language setting determines the language of the elogd output. Not affected by this setting are the configuration file options (they are always in English) and the attribute names as well as the optional Menu commands. They have to be translated manually in the configuration file.

  If a language name is given (currently only "german" and "french" are supported by now), the system searches for a translation file eloglang.<name> which contains string translations from English into that language. If new languages are added by someone, please send it back to the author so it can be included in future distributions.

  The online help for elogd is contained in the file eloghelp_xx.html where xx are the first two letters of the language (like "en", "ge" and "fr"). For new languages, a new file of that type has to be created as well.

• Tab cellpadding
  Specifies the empty space between the name in the logbook tab and its frame in pixel.

• Logbook Tabs = 0/1
  This flag controls the display of "tabs" on top of the logbook page with which one can quickly switch between logbooks.

• Main Tab = <string>
  If this option is present, an additional first tab is displayed which takes you back to the main logbook selection page. The string is used for the contents of the tab.

• Welcome Title
  This optional HTML code gets displayed in the title of the logbook selection page. It can contain images via <img src="welcome.gif">. These images must be present in the same directory as the elodg.cfg file. Following line is an example Welcome Title:

  Welcome title = <img src="welcome.jpg"><p><font size=5 color=white>Welcome to our Elog</font>

  This displays an image and a text below.

• Page title = <string>
  The string specified here is used for the title of the logbook selection page. It is also used by most browsers for bookmark names.

• Selection page = <file>
  When this option is present, a user defined file is displayed instead of the logbook selection page. This file has to be present in the same directory as the elogd.cfg file. It can be completely customized in order to conatin logos etc. As a template, the standard selection page produced by elogd can be used.

• SMTP host
  This defines the SMTP host needed to send automatic email notifications. The host name you can get from your email program or your local system administrator.

Individual logbook options

Following options are available:

General options

• Data dir
  Each logbook has a separate directory where the logbook entries are stored, which is controlled by the this statement. Note that the directories must exist and must be writable by the elogd program.

• Number Attachments
  The number of attachments which can be submitted in one entry. May be zero if no attachments are needed. Maximum is defined by MAX_ATTACHMENTS in elogd.c (10 by default).

• Comment
  The comment is displayed on the logbook selection list. The selection list is displayed if more than one logbook is defined on a host and no logbook is explicitly specified in the URL.

• Theme
  A theme determines which layout and colors are used for a logbook, similar to skins in other programs. The theme option points to a subdirectory under the directory of the configuration file, which contains all files for that theme. The format of these files is described under the Themes section.

• Date format = <string>
  This option determines how the date of a logbook entry is displayed. The format of the string is the same as the C function strftime, so a string of %A, %B %d, %Y yields in a display of Thursday, November 15, 2001 for example.

• Welcome Page = <file>
  By default, the last entry of a logbook is displayed when the logbook is selected. This can be overridden with this option, which causes a HTML file to be shown instead of the last message. This file can contain further links for new logbook messages of for logbook queries. Here is a simple example of such a file:

  <h1>Welcome to the test logbook</h1>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="?cmd=new">Enter</a> a new message
  <li><a href="?cmd=find">Search</a> the logbook
  </ul>
  

  The file has to be present in the same direcotry as the elogd.cfg file.

• Submit Page = <file>
  This optional page can be displayed when a new message was submitted in a logbook. Here is an example:

  <h1>You successfully submitted a message</h1>
  
  <a href="linux">Back</a> to the logbook<p>
  <a href="linux?cmd=new">Enter</a> another message
  

  The reference "linux" in this case corresponds to the logbook name. The file has to be present in the same direcotry as the elogd.cfg file.

• Message comment
  This optional comment is displayed on top of the text entry field when submitting a new message. It can contain a sentence like "Please enter your message here:".

• Menu commands = <list>
  This option specifies the menu commands displayed on top of the logbook page. For certain installations, it can be useful to disable some commands. Following commands are possible:
  • New - Enter new logbook entry
  • Edit - Edit current logbook entry
  • Delete - Delete current logbook entry
  • Reply - Submit a reply to current entry
  • Find - Search entries in logbooks
  • Last day - Display entries from last day
  • Last 10 - Display last 10 entries
  • Move to - Move entry to other logbook
  • Copy to - Copy entry to other logbook
  • Config - Edit elogd.cfg
  • Change password - Change password for current user (if "Password file is given")
  • Logout - Logout current user (if "Password file" is given)
  • Help - General help

  If this option is not present, following default is used:

  Menu commands = New, Edit, Delete, Reply, Find, Last day, Last 10, Config, Help

• Find Menu commands = <list>
  This option specifies the menu commands displayed on top of the listing page resulting from a "find" command. Although all commands from a above are possible, only the commands New, Find, Back, Last, Last day, Last 10, config, Change password, Logout and Help make sense. There is one special command in addition to the above commands: The command Last x gets expanded to "Last 2 days", "Last 4 days" or "Last 20 entries", "Last 40 entries" and so on, similar to the standard behaviour without the "Find Menu commands" option.

• Bottom text = <file>
  If this option is present, the HTML contents of file is displayed at the bottom of an Elog page instead of the little Elog home page link. It can contain for example a link back to the main logbook selection page like:

  <center><a href="/">Main page</a></center>
  

  Or it can contain other useful links. The file has to be present in the same directory as the elogd.cfg file.

• Help URL
  This URL is used for the Help button. By default, the file eloghelp.html is returned with the contents of the help page. One can either edit this file directly to add site-specific help for all logbooks. Alternatively, one can use the Help URL option to specify different help pages for different logbooks.

  It can point to a site-specific help page via http://... or to a local file like file://c:/tmp/config.html. Alternatively, a HTML file can be directly specified, which must be present in the same directory as the elogd.cfg file.

Attributes

• Attributes = <list>
  Define a number of attributes for the logbook. A maximum of 20 attributes can be defined. Typical values are "Author", "Subject" or "Type".

• Options <attribute> = <list>
  Usually, an text field is used for an attribute, where the user can fill in text of up to 100 characters. If instead a drop-down box with preset items is better for a given attribute, these items can be defined with this statement. Up to 100 items can be defined, separated by commas.

• MOptions <attribute> = <list>
  This list allows for "Multiple Options", meaning that an attribute can have several values simultaneously. When entering an entry with MOptions, each value from the list is represented by a checkbox. Unlike with nowmal options, multiple checkboxes can be ckecked for an entry. The attribue value then becomes

  <value1> | <value2> | ...
  

  In the "find" page only one of these values can be specified, which is then treated as a substring in the search filter.

• Options <attribute> = boolean
  If an attribute is marked "boolean" this way, a checkbox is displayed for this attribute.

• Preset <attribute> = <string>
  This option uses a preset string for an attribute. The string can contain subsitutions like the ones described under the "Subst <attribute>" command. One possible application is to use the login name for the author field like:

  Preset Author = $long_name
  

  If the attribute should be locked at the Web submission, use the "Locked Attributes = ..." option. If a preset value is given for an attribute which has an options list, the preset value is selected in the drop down box by default.

• Preset text = <string> or <file>
  This preset value is used for the main body text. It can be a string or a file, which has to be present in the same directory as the elogd.cfg file.

• Locked Attributes = <list>
  The attributes specified here cannot be modified when a new entry is submitted. This makes only sense for preset attributes.

• Required Attributes = <list>
  The attributes specified here are required when a new entry is submitted. The attribute names are marked with * on the entry form.

• Page title = <string>
  The string specified here is used for the title of the web page. It is also used by most browsers for bookmark names. The string can contain substitutions as described unter the "Subst <attribute>" option.

• Display search = <list>
  The display of attributes in a search result table can be restricted only to certain attributes listed here. This can be helpful is many attributes are defined in a logbook, which usually makes the table too big to fit in the browser.

• Subst <attribute> = <string>
  When submitting logbook entries, attribute values can be substituted by some text. This text can contain arbitrary fixed text and following values:
  • $<attribute>: The entered value of the attribute itself
  • $host: The host name where elogd is running
  • $remote_host: The host name of the host from with the entry was submitted
  • $short_name: The login name (if password file is present)
  • $long_name: The full name (if password file is present)
  • $logbook: The name of the current logbook
  • $date: The current date, formatted via "Date format"

  Following example use this feature to add the remote host name to the author:

  Subst Author = $author from $remote_host

• Remove on reply = <list>
  This option clears one or more (separated by commata) attribute values from an logbook entry when one enters a reply to that entry. This can make sense for example for the author, since the author of a reply can be different from the original author.

Access control