NewsAgent for Libraries

UKOLN Server Problem Log

NewsAgent 

This page gives a log of all problems reported with the NewsAgent server running at UKOLN. It is in reverse order - most recent problems first.

Problem: [000061-DATABASE]
There needs to be some mechanism so that a user's alert period for their current news can be reset to some sensible value (e.g. 2 weeks) automatically. Otherwise, users who only use the Web interface infrequently tend to generate very long lists of current news. 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd/Robin Yeates
Date raised: 19/5/98
Status:
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000060-EMAIL]
Some characters (for example the UK pound, £, symbol) that are gathered from Web pages using the NewsAgent robot are not displayed correctly in email alerts. 		Raised by: Robin Yeates
Date raised: 13/5/98
Status:
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000059-EMAIL]
Various people reporting multiple alerts of the same item by email. Item one day, then same item again next day, then never get alerted about it. 		Raised by:
Date raised:
Status:
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:
Suspect some background cron job is now taking longer than one hour to run. We reset the alter period from 24 hours exactly to 23 hours to fix similar problems in the past. I've now changed things so that the alert period is set to 20 hours.

Problem: [000058-ROBOT]
The NewsAgent Web robot does not correctly handle DC.Identifier META tags embedded into HTML pages. 		Raised by: Peter Evans
Date raised: ?
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy Powell
Date closed: 22/5/98
Notes:
Problem with the Harvest configuration files.

Problem: [000057-WEB]
There is no mechanism for people to update their registration details, for example their email address, using the current Web interface. 		Raised by: Andy
Date raised: 28/2/98
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000056-WEB]
Usernames and passwords appear in all NewsAgent URLs. This is insecure. 		Raised by: Andy
Date raised: 23/2/98
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:
An alternative approach would be to use standard HTTP Basic Access Authentication scheme (where username/passwords are not passed as part of the URL). Implementing the system in this way would probably make integration with Athens simpler.

Problem: [000055-DATABASE]
NewsAgent nightly cron job reports 
ORA-01631: max # extents (100) reached in table NEWS.OBJECT_ROWS
while loading OLSTF records. 		Raised by: Andy
Date raised: 18/2/98
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: FD
Date closed: 19/2/98
Notes:
Increased the storage parameters on that table in the database.

Problem: [000054-DATABASE]
No response after the login screen to Newsagent. Some or all users experiencing long pause on 'Current News' screen followed by error message about 'document contains no data'. 		Raised by: Rhonda Mcphail
Date raised: 12/2/98
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: FD
Date closed: 19/2/98
Notes:
NewsAgent nightly cron job reports 
delete from opac_hitlist
            *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01562: failed to extend rollback segment number 5
ORA-01628: max # extents (121) reached for rollback segment R04
during 'clear cache...'.

Fixed by flushing the Opac_hitlist table in the database.

Problem: [000053-EMAIL-ALERTS]
No email alerts sent on 7 Feb 1998. 		Raised by: Geoff Butters (and others)
Date raised: 10/2/98
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: UKOLN
Date closed: 10/2/98
Notes:
Caused by lack of spool space for outbound mail on the NewsAgent machine. New housekeeping procedures are now in place to ensure space is always available.

Problem: [000052-UKOLN-DCDOT]
DC-dot not working as feed of data to NewsAgent. 		Raised by: Mike Keen
Date raised: 2/2/98
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: UKOLN
Date closed: 4/2/98
Notes:
Several problems. The main one was that DC-dot (and other UKOLN tools) put general keywords before NewsAgent.Topic terms in the OLSTF SU field. NewsAgent.Topic terms sometimes got lost because of 240 char limit on SU fields in database. Fixed for all UKOLN import tools.

Problem: [000051-UKOLN-ROBOT]
LA Record articles not in NewsAgent database. 		Raised by: Don Watson
Date raised: 27/1/98
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:
Robot not pointed at Record yet.

Done.

Problem: [000050-DATABASE]
Corrupted records in the database? E.g. incorrect source item and other oddities. 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd/Geoff Butters
Date raised: 27/1/98
Status:
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000049-WEB]
Despite JavaScript validation, some usernames with spaces in them still get into the system. 		Raised by: Andy Powell
Date raised: 22/1/98
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: UKOLN
Date closed: 23/1/98
Notes:
Now run nightly cron job to check for such usernames. They are removed and a message sent to the owner.

Problem: [000048-DATABASE]
A link checker should be run over all entries in NewsAgent database on a regular basis. 		Raised by: Robin Yeates
Date raised: 21/1/98
Status:
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000047-DATABASE]
The way NewsAgent saved searches work is non-obvious! 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 19/1/98
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000046-EMAIL]
Difficulty dealing with people who register with a duff email address. Alerts fail to be delivered. Can't get a message to them in any way. 		Raised by: Andy Powell
Date raised: 19/1/98
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000045-WEB]
Accessing NewsAgent server resulted in error message 
Internal Server Error
Raised by: Geoff Butters
Date raised: 15/1/98
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: UKOLN
Date closed: 16/1/98
Notes:
Caused by scoop (the NewsAgent server machine) running out of virtual memory. Better housekeeping procedures now in place at UKOLN.

Problem: [000044-EMAIL]
No URLs back to NewsAgent copies of email messages in email alerts. 		Raised by: Robin Yeates
Date raised: 15/1/98
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000043-EMAIL]
Email alerts tend to go out every other day. 		Raised by: Andy Powell
Date raised: 15/1/98
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: UKOLN
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:
Now run cron nightly job to reduce 24 hour alerting periods to 23 hours.

Problem: [000042-WEB]
Opening screen and Welcome screen (after joining) need modifying to make buttons and text more visible on 640x480 screens. 		Raised by: Beoff Butters
Date raised: 9/1/98
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: UKOLN
Date closed: 9/1/98
Notes:

Problem: [000041-WEB]
Where 'current news' has more than 10 items, subsequent screen contain the error message: 
An error has occurred while processing your request
Raised by: Andy Powell
Date raised: 5/12/97
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: FD
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:

Problem: [000040-WEB]
Ariadne issue 12 in database but not visible. 		Raised by: Robin Yeates
Date raised: 5/12/97
Status: CLOSED
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:
Original embedded metadata did not have DC.Creator - so robot didn't add author field (AU) to OLSTF records. Author is mandatory. Robot and other input tools now add '-' to author field if real data is missing.

Problem: [000039-EMAIL]
A more generic output format (e.g. colon separated list of fields) required for alert messages. Administrators could then decided how to handle the alert messages - email, CDF, etc. 		Raised by: Andy Powell
Date raised: 5/12/97
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000038-EMAIL]
More information required in email alert message footer. 		Raised by: Robin Yeates
Date raised: 4/12/97
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: UKOLN
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:

Problem: [000037-WEB]
'UNDER CONSTRUCTION' message required on home page. 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: ??/11/97
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed: 28/2/98
Notes:
Under construction message added.

Problem: [000036-EMAIL]
Email alerting not working. 		Raised by: Various
Date raised: 25/11/97
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: FD
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:

Problem: [000035-WEB]
Revised text for profile construction pages required. 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 25/11/97
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Unknown
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:

Problem: [000034-DATABASE]
The Events and Products channels are empty. 		Raised by: Robin Yeates
Date raised: 24/11/97
Status: CLOSED
Closed by:
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:

Problem: [000033-UKOLN-EMAIL-PARSER]
The news-in mechanism for forwarding items into NewsAgent via email doesn't work too well from Netscape mailer. 		Raised by: Robin Yeates
Date raised: 20/11/97
Status: Action by UKOLN
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000032-UKOLN-ROBOT]
Web robot can cause duplicate entries in NewsAgent database. Also difficult to re-run robot over previously visited Web-site. 		Raised by: Andy Powell
Date raised: 20/11/97
Status: Action by UKOLN
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000031-WEB]
Changes to NewsAgent alerting configuration are not saved. 		Raised by: Mike Keen
Date raised: 18 Nov 1997
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:
The four buttons here always go back the default (Daily) when you visit this page, event if you have chosen another option (eg. Never). Ie. the screen appears not to have 'saved' the choice you have made if its not Daily. I presume this ought to be corrected/changed.

Problem: [000030-WEB]
No mechanism for automatically removing old news items from the NewsAgent database. 		Raised by: Andy
Date raised: 12 Nov 1997
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000029-WEB]
There seems to be no way of bookmarking the newslist so that one can avoid having to reenter the username and password on each visit. Is this possible, as I would like to have NewsAgent on my Netscape Personal Toolbar and one-click access to the latest news? 		Raised by: Robin Yeates
Date raised: 11 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:
It is possible to bookmark the current news page. To do it you must enter NewsAgent using your username and password, then go to the current news page, then select the 'Latest News' button, then bookmark that page.

Problem: [000028-WEB]
The further details screen should show the channel/topic to which the item has been assigned (and possibly also the NewsAgent.Topic list of terms that were assigned to the item by the publisher/author). 		Raised by: Robin Yeates/Andy
Date raised: 11 Nov 1997
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000027-WEB]
Users should see some news when they first join.

Also if no new news is available when they come back to the server they should be shown a selection of old news.

Raised by: Robin Yeates
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: Action by UKOLN
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:
It seems that everyone expects the website to behave like other news websites. If so, perhaps we cannot beat them and should join them. This would mean showing an unpersonalised selection of recent news on first Joining the site. Perhaps we should also have a display of the latest few items if there are no items to display according to the profile. Note the Excite Live page and others which do this. PointCast gives you the latest few items which match your profile after you join a channel, irrespective of whether they were loaded before that date. You cannot, however, see anything except the first general news item until you have selected a channel to view. The general news is a compulsory channel, pre-set by the system, so it is impossible not to receive anything at all.

If we made a General News channel to which everyone first joining was automatically subscribed, they would see the latest news for that channel immediately, and later they could perhaps be allowed to switch off (de-select) that channel when they set up others.

Note: setting up a 'general' channel may not be possible with the current system.

Problem: [000026-WEB]
Logo too large - it wastes valuable screen space. 		Raised by: Robin Yeates
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed: 19 Nov 1997
Notes:
It is annoying to have to scroll such a lot when a large logo fills the top of the creen all the time. Why not make a smaller version of the loag and heading and place it in the left index colum at the top, at least on most pages except perhaps the login. This would leave the results table right at the top of the window. I also agree that the hits count and next hits buttons should not need to be scrolled to - so could they be in the left column above the index on the results pages?

New logo supplied by LITC.

Problem: [000025-WEB]
Creating my own personal topic... says `select whether you would like to be automatically subscribed to your new topic.' This is not very comprehensible. 		Raised by: John Akeroyd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: Action by UKOLN
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000024-WEB]
Number of matches should be displayed at the top of the page rather than the bottom. 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000023-WEB]
Personal profile page needs modification. 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:
1st screen should be Add Personal Topic... not Add Topic
Topic name should come at top of box NOT at end
Not clear HOW user can modify... AND,OR,NOT?? - need to explain
Does AND have to be in upper case?
Can terms be truncated?
Message Configuration is complete is confusing it is just the personal topic bit
No indication of where to go next after completion
Should users be given the option to create ANOTHER personal profile?

Problem: [000022-WEB]
Configuration screen needs modification 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:
More general explanation about role of channels and topics is needed. The opening sentence is NOT clear for a new user " you may wish to select those topics on which you wish to receive news".... i.e. No mention of channels NOR any mention of ability to construct personal profile there or anywhere else.

Need to explain that if user does NOT choose e-mail then matches can be viewed on the web. A section explaining how matching is achieved possibly could be included somewhere and how users will be alerted to "fresh" news.

Problems leaving Configure... each time I pressed confirm it just showed me the list again! I had to use the back arrow to get back! Need to be told what to do next.

Problem: [000021-WEB]
Channels/topics are displayed in an odd order! 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd, Andy Powell
Date raised: ??
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:
There is no way of controlling the order in which channels and topics are displayed by the current Web interface.

Problem: [000020-WEB]
Configuration button - configuration is the wrong word! 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Isobel/Andy
Date closed:
Notes:
Replaced by 'Profile' button.

Problem: [000019-WEB]
Once a user has JUST joined and Help is clicked then there are links to things like Current News Page, Channels Page, Configuration, Item details page, Personal topics which have yet to be introduced. 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Isobel
Date closed: 19 Nov 1997
Notes:
Third Help page to be created - to be used specifically from the Welcome page.

Problem: [000018-WEB]
Need to re-jig Welcome page (after registering) with brief description of the use of the terms Channels and Topics within NewsAgent could be included here. I am still not convinced that the verb "Configure" is the best one to use. 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000017-DATABASE]
The system echos back a Name in Upper case when it has been inserted in lower case? 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000016-WEB]
The joining screen needs a little more detail of what NewsAgent aims to do since this is where new users would come. Plus an indication of the need for the users to register/become a member and to define their area of interest. Also need to indicate that users can redefine their areas of interest at any stage - still feel that this needs to be done 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed: 19 Nov 1997
Notes:

Problem: [000015-WEB]
No explanation given about Feedback button at any point. 		Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy Powell
Date closed: 11 Nov 1997
Notes:
Text added to the Help pages.

Problem: [000014-WEB]
The option buttons ( Join, Help, Feedback, Project) which are clickable the SAME colour/typeface as the field names for the joining instructions ( names/pw/e-mail) which are not clickable? They should be a different colour as they have a different function. Why is there an Enter NewsAgent box which looks as though it might be clickable but isn't?

Possibly confusing.

Raised by: Lucy Tedd
Date raised: 7 Nov 1997
Status: Action by UKOLN
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000013-WEB]
Use of the phrase 'new news' is very inelegant. 		Raised by: Peter Brophey
Date raised: 5 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed: 11 Nov 1997
Notes:
Replace with 'latest news'.

Problem: [000012-WEB]
Joining procedure is not clear enough... 		Raised by: Peter Brophey
Date raised: 5 Nov 1997
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed: 19 Nov 1997
Notes:
Once you get to the Welcome screen, its not very obvious what you're supposed to do next i.e. that you then need to click 'configure'.

You then are told that your configuration has been completed successfully, but again what next?. It would be better if there was an additional sentence which said 'You will now receive regular updates on information from NewsAgent' and perhaps suggested that the user could then close their application.

More text added to Joining screens.

Problem: [000011-WEB/DATABASE]
Attempting to Join NewsAgent results in

An error occurred while attempting to join NewsAgent. This is most probably due to a mistake in filling the application form. Please try again below, noting that all values must be supplied. Then press the Join button to join NewsAgent.

Raised by: "Watson, Don" <Don.Watson@la-hq.org.uk>
Date raised: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 09:40:48 -0000
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: Andy
Date closed: 19 Nov 1997
Notes:
Appears to be caused by a Name or Passowrd containing a space?

Some JavaScript has been wrapped around the current Joining form to validate the user and password before they are sent to the server.

Problem: [000010-WEB]
The NewsAgent Login and Welcome screens do not work well on low resolution screens (640x480). 		Raised by: G W Butters <g.w.butters@uclan.ac.uk>
Date raised: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 18:45:00 -0000
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: UKOLN
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:
Suggest that the three screens are re-modelled so that ALL the page is on view in the following circumstances:

640x480 screen resolution;
Netscape Toolbar set to be shown as Pictures and Text (i.e. at its deepest);
Netscape Location bar on show;
Netscape Directory Buttons on show;
and that:
no text is too close to the bottom of the screen,
the yellow back-panel be replaced by a simple border.

Problem: [000009-WEB]
The format of the list of news items that match a user's channel/topic selection is not configurable. Neither is the format of the further details. 		Raised by: a.powell@ukoln.ac.uk
Date raised: 4 Nov 1997
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:
These two HTML table are generated by a CGI executable. The source for this executable is not distributed with the NewsAgent release. It would be nice if the NewsAgent tailor file had some way of configuring which NewsAgent Database attributes were displayed in the two tables.

Problem: [000008-WEB]
The abstract, held typically in DC.Description, can be loaded into the NewsAgent database but is never displayed by the current Web user-interface. 		Raised by: a.powell@ukoln.ac.uk
Date raised: 4 Nov 1997
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:

Problem: [000007-DATABASE]
There is no obvious mechanism for handling some of the NewsAgent metadata attributes. 		Raised by: a.powell@ukoln.ac.uk
Date raised: 4 Nov 1997
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:
In particular:
<META NAME="NewsAgent.Contact">
<META NAME="NewsAgent.Contact.Email">
<META NAME="NewsAgent.Contact.Homepage">
<META NAME="NewsAgent.Coverage">

Problem: [000006-DATABASE]
There is no obvious mechanism for associating Publisher details with records - particularly a default copyright statement. 		Raised by: a.powell@ukoln.ac.uk
Date raised: 4 Nov 1997
Status: Reported to FD
Closed by:
Date closed:
Notes:
As a short term hack we could build some static Web pages describing our various NewsAgent sources and link to them from the 'Current News' page somewhere.

Problem: [000005-UKOLN-EMAIL-PARSER]
Some of the email list entries have the full header. 		Raised by: John Kirriemuir <john.kirriemuir@bristol.ac.uk>
Date raised: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 18:34:58 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: a.powell@ukoln.ac.uk
Date closed: 3 Nov 1997
Notes:
Look at:

http://newsagent.ukoln.ac.uk/cgi-bin/
newsagent?infile=title_get_page.html&title_no=3607

...the header is over a screen long - could these be removed or shortened?

Installed new version of UKOLN's email import utility.

Problem: [000004-WEB]
Various typos on Web pages. 		Raised by: John Kirriemuir <john.kirriemuir@bristol.ac.uk>
Date raised: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 18:34:58 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: a.powell@ukoln.ac.uk
Date closed: 4 Nov 1997
Notes:
In the welcome/sign in page - change "in" to "is" in "this service in free"

On the "View channels and topics" screen, it looks a bit odd that there is only one hula hoop instruction in the "To view a topic" menu.

On the search results, put a space between the hula hoop and "To view further titles..."

From the Personal option off the sidebar; in the "modify or delete a personal topic" section: change "form" to "from" in: "Select the required topic form the list"

In Help -> Configuration -> Confirm: change "you" to "your".

There are only 3 buttons on the Help sidebar (or is this deliberate?)

All fixed. Modifications made to HTML skeleton files.

Problem: [000003-DATABASE]
Web interface reports

personal start and personal end are the same

An error has occurred while processing your request

Raised by: G W Butters <g.w.butters@uclan.ac.uk>
Date raised: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 15:51:00 -0000
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: a.powell@ukoln.ac.uk
Date closed: 4 Nov 1997
Notes:
Caused by old username referring to a topic that no longer exists. Deleted the NewsAgent 'Names' (usernames). All now OK.

Problem: [000002-WEB]
Lucy and I have just tried joining. After the screen accepting the user name and password, we were asked to configure - BUT there is no button for this. Help! 		Raised by: emk@aber.ac.uk
Date raised: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 13:32:38 +0000 (GMT)
Status: CLOSED
Closed by: a.powell@ukoln.ac.uk
Date closed: 3 Nov 1997
Notes:
Added 'Configure' button to button bar on page generated from etc/html/configuration_success.html.

Problem: [000001-DATABASE]
Web interface reports

Warning:Cannot obtain data for sort-merge, Warning:Failed to process query: stage 3,COREOPAC.DLL

Raised by: Lorcan Dempsey <lisld@ukoln.ac.uk>
Date raised: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 00:26:34 +0000 (GMT)
Status: CLOSED
Closed by:
Date closed: Unknown
Notes:
Caused by a personal topics (saved search) that doesn't match anything in the database.

Maintained by: Andy Powell
Last update: $Id: intro.html,v 1.10 1998/05/22 12:39:45 lisap Exp $