Troubleshooting Dotproject
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You faithfully followed the installation instructions and something horrible happened. Or, you went ahead and tried to install dotProject without reading the instructions and now want to know how to fix what went wrong. We will take a look at the most common issues that can occur when installing dotProject.
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[edit] Database Installation Fails
The installer will create a database if you have checked the Create Database box and the MySQL user you have nominated has sufficient permission within MySQL to do so.
If the user does not have permission, it will fail.
If the database already exists (i.e. you have used some other means of creating it), you do not need to check the Create Database box.
[edit] config.php Not Created
A config.php file must be in place for dotProject to operate properly.
Since this file is not automatically included as part of the installation, it is recommended that the config.php code shown in steps 5 and 7 (under the section Browser-Based Installation of [1]) should be copied and pasted into a text file then uploaded to the server. This should be done before attempting to log in to dotProject. The PHP file shown in the section on browser installation should work fine as long as the Database Name, Database User Name, and Database Password information are modified. So, don't use the exact ones I used in the example. If you are using an online control panel to manage your database, it will usually append the same group of letters to each new database you create. For example, you can see during the installation that my database began with "rumour", which happens to be the name of my cat.
[edit] Using a Different Web Server/OS/Setup
Many different setups run dotProject successfully. Visit the dotProject forums at http://dotproject.net/vbulletin/ for installation help with a particular setup.
Be sure to list all the details, including the operating system, web server, database, and programming language. Version numbers of these should also be included. Please read carefully about the compatibility of MySQL 5 and PHP 5.
[edit] dotProject Pages Display Differently for Me
Your dotProject installation pages do not look the same as the examples in this book. There are several different situations where this can happen.
What browser and operating system are you using to view dotProject? dotProject uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) files for presentation and formatting of most of the data. While most pages should display the same in all browsers, it is possible that there may be some differences between how they look on a Mac running Safari and for a Windows XP user running Internet Explorer 7.
What theme is being used as the default theme? The classic dotProject default theme is being used in this book. There are other themes available, which will alter the way dotProject looks.
The skin or "look" of dotProject can be further customized by altering the files in the styles folder. Back up any files before you attempt to make changes.
[edit] Resolving Gantt Chart Errors
Font Error is experienced when users click on the Gantt chart tab on the Projectsscreen or within individual projects. It is a source of great frustration for users and administrators.
If you see an error as shown in the previous screenshot there are two fixes for this.
Well three if you do a combination of the two.
[edit] Method 1
You will need to upload a new fonts folder with the Arial fonts into the locales/ language/ folder of your dotProject installation.
Then, update the jpGraph_config.inc file located in the /lib/jpGraph/src/ folder by adding the following line after the cache definition:
//------------------------------------------------------------------- // DEFINE( CACHE_DIR , /tmp/jpgraph_cache/ );// DEFINE( TTF_DIR , /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/truetype/ ); //edited font source DEFINE( TTF_DIR , /home/leesjordan.net/public_html/yourwebteam/ locales/en/fonts/ ); // end edited font source // DEFINE( MBTTF_DIR , /usr/share/fonts/ja/TrueType/ );
For most hosted solutions the generic format would be:
DEFINE( TTF_DIR , /home/mydomainname/public_html/ mydotprojectinstallation/locales/en/fonts/ );
Save the file and upload it back to the original jpGraph/src directory. Log in to the dotProject installation and attempt to view a Gantt chart on the projects list and on an individual project. You should see a result similar to the following screenshot:
[edit] Method 2
If the combined view of all the projects is not displayed and you do not want to download font files, then do the following.
Download the gantt.php file from the modules/projects/ folder in the dotProject installation. Save it as a backup. Create a test folder, then find and replace FF_ARIAL with FF_FONT1. This will replace Arial with the internal system font and we need to upload the file. The combined projects Gantt chart should now display.
Individual Project/Task Gantt Display Error (Fonts)
If your projects list combined view displays fine but you get an error similar to the following screenshot:
Then do the following:
Download the gantt.php file from the modules/tasks/ folder in the dotProject installation. Save it as a backup. Create a test folder, then find and replace FF_ARIAL with FF_FONT1. This will replace Arial with the internal system font. To see the changes we have to upload the file. This is what I had to do for individual Gantt charts to display properly.
[edit] Additional References
- For instructions on Personalizing the dotProject Environment, click here
- For instructions on installation of dotProject, click here
[edit] Source
The source of this content is Appendix B: Troubleshooting of Project Management with dotProject: Implement, Configure, Customize, and Maintain your DotProject Installation by Lee Jordan ( Packt Publishing, 2007).
