PANDAS Manual

Processing Titles

Processing a title involves doing a quality control comparison of the gathered site with the publisher's original site and then either fixing problems (such as missing files) or identifying and noting problems and handing the title over to PANDORA technical support for fixing.

When a title has been gathered it will appear in the Completed area of the Gather Queue screen. Recently gathered titles that you own will also appear in the Current Messages window of the Main Menu screen and in My Process List.

Procedures covered in this section include:

• Begin Processing an Archived Title
• Viewing the Archived Instance
• Identifying and Fixing Problems
• Adding Files
• Editing Files via the File tab
• Editing Files using a HTML editor
• Deleting Files
• Creating Error Reports for PANDORA IT Support Staff
• Completing Processing (important note)

Begin Processing an Archived Title

1. There are a number of ways to access a gather to begin processing it. In the completed area of the Gather Queue click on the 'p' symbol for the title you wish to process. Or in the Main Menu screen select the menu item My Process List and click on the title you wish to process. Alternatively, Search for the title and then click on the menu item Process Instances. One other method involves clicking on the title in the Recent gather area of the Current Messages window on the Main Menu screen. The method shown in the next step is for accessing the gather via My Process List.
   
   
2. Click anywhere on the selected title appearing in My Process List to begin processing the title.
   
   
   
   
3. On the Process Title screen click on the Date of the gathered instance you wish to work on (this will be listed as a link under the heading of Currently processing).
   
   This brings up a screen populated with data from the gather, links to the live and gathered versions, tabs for creating and viewing error reports, and a tab which allows access to manipulate the gathered files:
   
   
4. To start processing the site click on the Gathered URL link in the centre of the window

Viewing the Archived Instance

When the Gathered URL link is clicked, a window will pop up asking for a username and password to enter the working area of the archive:


The username and password are what you normally use to access PANDAS. Once you've entered these, a new browser window will open displaying the working version of the gathered site. Complete a full navigation of the archived site to check the gather is complete and functioning correctly. If problems exist in the gathered site see the next section, Identifying and Fixing Problems.

Occasionally, when you click on the Gathered URL link, it will take you to a directory instead of the starting page. To rectify the problem, you need to enter the location (URL) of the starting page in the box designated as Starting URL under the Files tab on the Process Title screen. Then press the update button and close the record. You then need to go back to the Process Instances tab again. Click on the Gathered URL link which should have been updated and it will take you to the specified starting page.

Identifying and Fixing Problems

When processing an archived instance it is common to find problems such as missing files or parts of the site that are not functioning properly. Some of these problems will be basic and can be fixed by editing the files or adding additional files to the gather, while other problems will require intervention from the PANDORA IT technical support staff for solving.

1. If you determine that the problem can be easily fixed (such as a missing file) the next step is to click on the Files tab:
   
   
   This screen allows access to the working area of PANDORA via WebDav where file manipulation can be carried out (WebDav stands for "Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning" - it is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol, which allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web servers).
2. WebDav allows access to all files associated with the particular gathered instance of the title you are processing. To enter WebDav, highlight and copy the URL appearing in the green area of the screen.
3. On your PC desktop double click on the icon My Network Places (for Windows 98 users access is available through My Computer then Web Folders).
4. Double click on Add Network Place.
5. Paste the copied URL into the location box appearing in the popup window (for Winows XP users, add a hash "#" or a slash hash "/#" to the end of the WebDav URL) and click the Next button:
   
   
6. You will be prompted for your user name and password. Enter these.
7. A popup window will appear asking you to supply a name for the network place:
   
   
   Type in a meaningful name which incorporates the title and date of the archived instance (e.g. Gangway 11 Jul 02). and click the Finish button. You will again be prompted for your username and password. Enter these again.
8. You will now have access to a folder containing all the folders and files for the archived instance of the title you are processing. Here you can add files, edit files and delete files.

Adding Files

You can add one or many missing files to the archived instance by simply saving the file(s) locally to your PC's hard drive and then copying and pasting them to the appropriate folder(s) (or directories) in the archived instance. You will need to open up Windows Explorer to undertake this process. The additional files will be immediately available for viewing within the archived instance. Refresh the browser window containing the archived instance to view them. If they are showing as broken images or links you will need to ensure they have been added to the right folder (directory) and that the html referencing for the file(s) is correct. This may mean that you will also have to edit the html source of the file which is referencing the newly added file(s).

Editing Files via the File tab

There are two ways of editing files in PANDAS v.2. You can either edit individual files using an external HTML editor or you can edit single or multiple files via the File tab in the Process Title screen. The File tab method is described first. In contrast to using a HTML editor the main advantage of this method is that it allows you to perform global editing across all files and directories in the instance.

1. Click on the File tab to open it:
   
   
2. Holding your mouse over the coloured areas provides basic information for these areas. The help text says that file name and starting directory are optional but if you wish to replace text (rather than just conduct a search) you will need to specify the file in the top field box. For global changes you will need to use the wildcard * to search and replace text in the whole site (i.e. for all .html files use the term *.htm* in the top field box).. The recursive box is checked by default and means changes will be applied to all sub-directories.

   You should test an edit prior to executing it and this is done by checking the Testing field box in conjunction with the Execute field box.
   Testing a change will produce an email message detailing the number of occurrences of the text specified in the Containing Text field.
   Executing a change will produce an email message detailing the occurrence and replacement of the text.

3. Input (case sensitive) text in the appropriate boxes and click the Execute button. The example shown here is testing a change to the word bilingual in all files named index.html:
   
   If you want to replace coding which contains non-text characters (i.e. ? * & $ @ # ! |; %), you will have to place a backslash "\" directly in front of these characters or they will not be read correctly. An example is: "/external.html\?link=http://www.trivium.net/womenshistorymonth". If you don't have the "\" character before the "?" in this string, the string won't be understood and can't be replaced.
4. Regexp stands for Regular Expression which is a programming term. Don't use this field unless you are familiar with programming principles.
5. An email message is produced detailing the number of directories and files processed and the changes and substitutions made (where appropriate). Remember to test changes prior to executing them.

Editing Files using a HTML editor

This method is most useful for editing single files that require more complex editing. You may need to edit the HTML markup for a particular file if, for example, you need to change a link reference to fix a broken link. This example is illustrated in the steps below. You do this by opening the appropriate file in your HTML editor (such as WordPad, Notepad or HotMetal), editing the html and saving the file immediately back into the archived instance.

1. Locate the file in WebDav and move it to your PC for editing. Open the file using your chosen HTML editor (for example in WordPad choose File - Open to open the file ready for editing).
2. Edit the html source to correct the reference to the incorrectly referenced file.
3. Save the edited file and move back into the archived instance via WebDav.
4. Refresh the browser window containing the file you have edited.
5. Repeat steps 2 thru 4 if the corrections were not successful.

Deleting Files

Occasionally files will need deleting if they have been gathered in error (i.e. they weren't filtered out initially and they have been gathered but are not relevant to the title gathered). This is a very simple process in WebDav. The files (and their associated directories) to be deleted can be right-clicked on and then choose the Delete option.

Creating Error Reports for PANDORA IT Support Staff

If you encounter problems you are unable to fix you can log the problem via the Report tab in Process Title. This screen allows you to enter details of the problems in free text and provide IT staff with the associated URLs.

1. The first time a report is created for an instance you will be asked if you wish to create one. Click the create button.
2. The Report screen will be updated to allow you to create a report. One or more problems can be logged within a report. The screen incorporates an area for adding URLs, a free text area for describing the problem you've experienced, facility to add, delete or save the report, a dropdown field where you can view all problems in the report, and a facility to advise IT staff if the problem is recurring throughout the site.
   
   
3. Add a description of the problem and its associated URLs, indicating whether the problem is confined to the page or not by checking the appropriate box on the screen:
   
   
4. Click Save to save the problem. The problem will now appear in the dropdown area listing all problems in this report. Note that the problem has not yet been sent to PANDORA IT staff, it has just been recorded. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for additional problems in the gathered instance (however first click the Add new problem button).
5. When all problems have been described and saved click on the Send button.
6. All reports for the instance can be viewed via the View Reports tab. This will also indicate whether the report has been checked by IT or not.

Completing Processing

When the gathered title has been checked and the errors fixed the instance can be archived. This option is not available when you need to report on errors with an instance to PANDORA IT support staff. Only after these errors have been fixed and the title returned to the owner can processing of an instance be completed.

When ready to complete processing there are two options: Archive or Delete. Clicking the Archive button will create an archived copy of the instance ready to add to the Title Entry Page. Delete will delete the instance (an email message will be sent to you advising the instance has been deleted).

Please note that there will be a delay of at least five minutes and possible much longer between the completion of processing and when the archived instance can be viewed from the Display Details screen.

This delay is the result of the system performing a number of functions on the archived title including creating a "tar ball" of the archived instance and moving it to the preservation storage location; and moving a copy of the files from the working (WebDAV viewable) area to the display location.

You will need to design your workflow to accommodate this delay, for example by doing processing in the morning and working on display details in the afternoon. To keep track of the titles you are working on you can add them temporarily to your Favourites list which will provide you with a handy list and quick access to the records.

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Last updated 15 June 2004