data-scribbler

• Real-time collaborative data editing. No registration required.
• Supports JSON, JSONPath queries, calculation functions, and three collection types.
• Like spreadsheets, but for hierarchical data.
• Runs in your web browser.

This project powers https://datascribbler.com/

by Jeff Tyrrill -- email | @datascribbler

v0.9.0.2

Server requirements

• Apache
• Python 3
• fancyBox
• jQuery (tested v2.2.2)
• bowser

Installation instructions

Copy the project files to your www/ directory. If you already have a .htaccess file, then copy the lines from Data Scribbler's into yours.

In .htaccess, you may need to edit or remove the following lines depending on how you would like your server to behave. These lines redirect www. to no www., and assume your server is running https:

    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.(.*)$ [NC]
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%1/$1 [R=301,L]

In your www/ directory, run these commands:

chmod o+x main.py
mkdir data
chmod o+w data

Obtain copies of fancyBox, jQuery, and bowser, and place them in the www/ directory. The jQuery and bowser JavaScript files should be directly in the www/ directory. For fancyBox, there should be a fancybox directory in the www/ directory.

You may want to edit <div class="prompt prompt-faq"></div> in index.html to include appropriate content for your server.

Future plans

• The codebase does not currently include functionality to delete old documents. This will come soon.
• Polish based on intial feedback.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter an access error, make sure you have the rewrite Apache mod installed:

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo service apache2 restart

If the application doesn't work, check your browser debugger to see if calls to main.py are downloading the Python script instead of executing it. If so, check the following:

Make sure that you have the cgi Apache mod installed:

sudo a2enmod cgi
sudo service apache2 restart

Make sure that the following (or equivalent) exists in your Apache .conf file, within the <Directory></Directory> portion:

Options ExecCGI
AddHandler cgi-script .py

Check that python3 is installed by running python3 and seeing if you get an interpreter. (Use exit() to exit.)

Check the location of python3 on your machine using:

whereis python3

and make sure that the shebang (the first line) in main.py points to one of those locations.

Verify again that main.py has the execute permission for the other group.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.