Setting Up WebSPHINX
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WebSPHINX is written in Java, so it runs on a variety of machine platforms.
It has been tested in the following Java environments. Instructions for each
environment are found below.
Setup
No special setup is required. The Crawler Workbench can be loaded directly
across the network by Netscape 4.0, so go directly to the
WebSPHINX examples to try it out.
Notes
All features of the Crawler Workbench are available under Netscape 4.0.
Warning: the Workbench requires more privileges than an ordinary Java
applet. Its primary function (Web crawling) requires opening connections
to other network hosts, and several other features (such as saving or
concatenating pages) require write permission to your local disk. Whenever
the Workbench requests permission to do something that a Java applet is not
normally allowed to do, Netscape will pop up a dialog box asking you to give
permission. Here's an example:
Once you have granted a capability to the Workbench, it remains granted for
the duration of the browser session.
If you would prefer not to give these capabilities to an applet running in
your Web browser, you can also run the Workbench from the command line using
JDK 1.1 or JDK 1.0.2.
Setup
No special setup is required. The Crawler Workbench can be loaded directly
across the network by Internet Explorer 4.0, so go directly to the
WebSPHINX examples to try it out.
Notes
All features of the Crawler Workbench are available under Internet
Explorer. There is one known bug in the Workbench on IE: for some
reason, popup dialogs do not appear. Thus the Open and Save buttons
have no effect on IE, since they are unable to pop up a dialog to
request a filename. This bug will be fixed shortly.
Warning: the Workbench requires more privileges than an ordinary Java
applet. Its primary function (Web crawling) requires opening connections
to other network hosts, and several other features (such as saving or
concatenating pages) require write permission to your local disk. For this
reason, before the Workbench starts, Internet Explorer will pop up a dialog
box asking you to give it permission to run.
Setup
The WebSPHINX class library needs to be found on your classpath; otherwise
Netscape will not allow it to contact other hosts on the network (which is,
after all, its main purpose).
The setup procedure depends on your platform:
-
On a Unix machine with AFS access, type:
setenv CLASSPATH /afs/cs/user/rcm/www/websphinx/websphinx.zip
-
On Windows 95 or NT:
-
Download websphinx.zip to your local disk. For
example, you might save it as c:\websphinx\websphinx.zip.
-
On Windows NT: go to the Control Panel, click on the System icon, select
the Environment panel, and set CLASSPATH to the local filename you used for
websphinx.zip.
-
On Windows 95: edit AUTOEXEC.BAT to set CLASSPATH to the local filename you
used for websphinx.zip, and restart your machine.
-
Restart Netscape so that it uses the new CLASSPATH.
-
Go to the WebSPHINX examples to try out the
Workbench.
Notes
The following features are not available under Netscape 3.0:
-
Save, concatenate, and extract. Netscape 3.0 does not allow any applets
to access the local disk. Since these features of the Crawler Workbench require
writing new pages to the local disk, they won't work.
-
Loading and saving crawlers. Netscape 3.0 does not support serializing
Java objects.
-
Crawling file: URLs. Netscape 3.0 does not allow any applets to access
the local disk, so crawling over file: URLs is forbidden.
Setup
The WebSPHINX class library should be found on your classpath. The setup
procedure depends on your platform:
-
On a Unix machine with AFS access, type:
setenv CLASSPATH /afs/cs/user/rcm/www/websphinx/websphinx.jar
-
On Windows 95 or NT:
-
Download websphinx.jar to your local disk. For
example, you might save it as c:\websphinx\websphinx.jar.
-
On Windows NT: go to the Control Panel, click on the System icon, select
the Environment panel, and set CLASSPATH to the local filename you used for
websphinx.zip.
-
On Windows 95: edit AUTOEXEC.BAT to set CLASSPATH to the local filename you
used for websphinx.zip, and restart your machine.
-
Run the following command:
java websphinx.workbench.Workbench
The Crawler Workbench will appear in a new window.
-
Go to the WebSPHINX examples to try out the
Workbench. You'll have to manually copy the screenshots into your Workbench
window.
Notes
The following features are not available under JDK 1.1:
-
Viewing pages by double-clicking on the graph display. JDK 1.1 does
not have access to a Web browser to display the pages.
Installation
The WebSPHINX class library should be found on your classpath. The setup
procedure depends on your platform:
-
On a Unix machine with AFS access, type:
setenv CLASSPATH /afs/cs/user/rcm/www/websphinx/websphinx.zip
-
On Windows 95 or NT:
-
Download websphinx.zip to your local disk. For
example, you might save it as c:\websphinx\websphinx.zip.
-
On Windows NT: go to the Control Panel, click on the System icon, select
the Environment panel, and set CLASSPATH to the local filename you used for
websphinx.zip.
-
On Windows 95: edit AUTOEXEC.BAT to set CLASSPATH to the local filename you
used for websphinx.zip, and restart your machine.
-
Run the following command:
java websphinx.workbench.Workbench
The Crawler Workbench will appear in a new window.
-
Go to the WebSPHINX examples to try out the
Workbench. You'll have to manually copy the screenshots into your Workbench
window.
Notes
The following features are not available under JDK 1.0.2:
-
Viewing pages by double-clicking on the graph display. JDK 1.0.2 does
not have access to a Web browser to display the pages.
-
Loading and saving crawlers. JDK 1.0.2 does not support serializing
Java objects.
Send comments or questions to Rob
Miller (rcm@cs.cmu.edu)