README

Last updated: August 22, 2010

ImpactProbe is an application which can be used to monitor the social impact
of outreach activities. It gathers data from various sources (i.e. Twitter 
Search API) according to specified keyword/phrase parameters defined by the 
user. Gathered results are presented to the user and can be clustered according 
to natural language similarily. Results can also be displayed and downloaded as 
a timeline graph (posts/time).

In this README you will find instructions for installing the application as well 
as information for developers interested in improving the application. See the 
LICENSE file in this same directory for the terms of redistribution and use. 

If you have any questions/comments/requests, please contact us:

Adrian Laurenzi (author)
laurenzi@cs.washington.edu

Peter Mangiafico (project manager)
peter@eol.org

================================================================================
Contents
================================================================================

1. Installation guide
    1.1 Linux
    1.2 Mac OS X
    1.3 Windows XP/Vista/7
2. Developer information
    2.1 General information for developers
    2.2 Application structure
    2.3 Data source APIs
    2.4 Uploading changes to git

================================================================================
1. Installation guide
================================================================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 Linux
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.1.1 Software dependencies
----------------------------------------

Apache, PHP, and MySQL are required to run this application. This software
bundle is known as LAMP and there are many guides available that describe how to 
install it on Linux. Here are guides for a few of the most popular Linux distros:
- Ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ApacheMySQLPHP
- Fedora: http://fedorasolved.org/server-solutions/lamp-stack
- Debian: http://wiki.debian.org/LaMp

NOTE: If you are installing Apache, PHP, and MySQL individually it is probably 
easiest to install them in the following order: MySQL -> Apache -> PHP.

----------------------------------------

- Apache HTTP Server (version 1 or 2)
  Although the application should work on Apache 1 we highly recommend using the
  Apache 2, the most current version. You should follow the instructions for 
  installing PHP and Apache side-by-side according to the PHP installation guide
  provided below. The official Apache website is here: http://httpd.apache.org

- PHP (>= version 5.3)
  UNIX installation guide for PHP/Apache: 
  http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.unix.php
  Downloads: http://www.php.net/downloads.php
  ***IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure to install the cURL extension with PHP***

- MySQL Community Server
  You should install each of the following MySQL Community Server packages:
  server, client, devel, and shared. Each of these packages can be downloaded 
  here: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql#downloads

- Kohana PHP Framework v3 (included in this package)
  Official website: http://kohanaframework.org

- Lemur Toolkit
  Instructions for installing this toolkit are provided below in this README.
  The official website for the Lemur toolkit is here: 
  http://www.lemurproject.org

- Linux cron
  Cron should come natively installed on all Linux distrubutions. If for some
  reason you do not have cron installed you can download it from the official
  website: http://www.gnu.org/software/mcron


1.1.2 Copying files
----------------------------------------

After installing the required software unzip the application package into the
your Apache DocumentRoot (the root HTTP directory of the web server). The 
DocumentRoot path should be listed in your apache configuration file which, if 
you are using apache2, should be listed in /usr/local/apache2/conf/httpd.conf 
or, if you created a new site, in the config file located in this directory:
/etc/apache2/sites-enabled

NOTE: Depending on your platform, the installation's subdirs may have lost 
their permissions due to the zip extraction. Chmod them all to 755 by running 
the following command from within the root directory of your application:
    
    find . -type d -exec chmod 0755 {} \;

In this guide ~/ is the root directory of the application.

The following directories MUST be made writeable:
~/data/charts
~/data/lemur/docs
~/data/lemur/indexes
~/data/lemur/params

Use the following UNIX command to make each of the above directories writeable:
    
    chmod 0777 <DIRECTORY>

We recommend that you do not modify the default directory structure
but if you choose to do so you must modify the application's configuration 
settings described in the 'Configuration settings' section (1.1.6).


1.1.3 Importing MySQL tables
----------------------------------------

To import the MySQL tables needed by the application you must import the 
mysql_tables.sql file provided in the root directory of this package.

First open the MySQL shell and enter your password:
    
    mysql -u <USERNAME> -p 

Replace <USERNAME> with your MySQL username (most likely this will be 'root')

While in the shell create a new MySQL database:
    
    create database <DATABASE NAME>;

Replace <DATABASE NAME> with whatever you wish to name your database.
 
Exit the MySQL shell (type 'exit') and import the MySQL tables using the 
following command:
    
    mysql -u <USERNAME> -p <DATABASE NAME> < mysql_tables.sql

It may be useful to install PHPMyAdmin to manage your MySQL database, however 
this is not essential. Download PHPMyAdmin here: http://www.phpmyadmin.net


1.1.4 Setting up Kohana (version 3)
----------------------------------------

NOTE: You may need to switch "short_open_tag = On" in your PHP.ini configuration 
file and restart Apache.  If it is set to "Off", Kohana may not work correctly.

For your convenience we have included the Kohana PHP Framework version 3.0.7
in this software package. It is likely that a newer version of Kohana is 
available so if you wish to have the most up-to-date version of Kohana you can 
download it from their website: http://kohanaframework.org. If you choose to do 
this you should follow the installation guide on the Kohana website and then 
copy the entire ~/application directory from this package into your Kohana root
directory (replace the application directory that comes with Kohana). After
doing this open ~/application/bootstrap.php and make the following changes:
 - Set the default timezone for your application.
 - Set the base_url in the Kohana::init call to reflect the location of the 
   Kohana folder on your server.

Instructions for setting up Kohana 3.0.7 (included in this package) are 
described below according to those described in official Kohana installation 
guide found on their website: http://kohanaframework.org/guide/about.install

(1) Open ~/kohana/application/bootstrap.php and make the following changes:
    - Set the default timezone for your application.
    - Set the base_url in the Kohana::init call to reflect the location of the 
      kohana folder on your server.

(2) Make sure the ~/kohana/application/cache and ~/kohana/application/logs 
    directories exist and are writable by the web server (chmod to 0777).

(3) Test your installation by opening the URL you set as the base_url in a 
    browser. You should see the installation page. If it reports any errors, you 
    will need to correct them before continuing.

(4) Once your install page reports that your environment is set up correctly you 
    need to either rename or delete install.php in the root directory.

(5) To configure the MySQL database module copy the database.php file from 
    ~/kohana/modules/database/config into the ~/kohana/application/config 
    directory. Open the newly copied file and edit the settings to point to your 
    MySQL database (hostname, username, password, and database).

(6) To make the application accessible from the root directory of the 
    application rather than ~/kohana you must rename ~/index.php.tmp to 
    index.php and delete ~/kohana/index.php. Then open 
    ~/kohana/application/bootstrap.php again and set the base_url to the root 
    directory of the application.

NOTE: by default Kohana is configured to be in 'development' mode so if you plan
to make this application available on a public web server for security reasons
you should put Kohana in 'production' mode:
http://kerkness.ca/wiki/doku.php?id=setting_up_production_environment


1.1.5 Setting up the Lemur Toolkit
----------------------------------------

Download Lemur here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/lemur/
Untar the package and follow the instructions provided in the Lemur INSTALL file 
to install the software. Be sure to include the --enable-cluster option when 
running the configure script. Take note of the path where Lemur was installed 
because you will need it in when establishing the application's configuration 
settings (section 1.1.6).


1.1.5 Configuring cron
----------------------------------------

To enable the software to collect data at specified intervals you need to 
configure cron. Open up ~/impact_probe.cron provided with the application and 
change the directory paths to the Kohana index.php file on each line to point to 
your index.php file (this should be in the root directory of the application). 
In order for cron to work properly you might also have to change the 'php' 
command to the full path to your php executable (usually this is 
/usr/local/bin/php). Then issue this command to initialize a crontab:

    crontab impact_probe.cron

To display your crontab issue this command:
    
    crontab -l

NOTE: You should be aware that any command scheduled to run at a time when the 
computer is turned off will not be executed. Cron can make up for missed 
commands if you create bash scripts to execute each of the commands listed in 
impact_probe.cron and place each script into the appropriate cron directory 
(/etc/cron.hourly, /etc/cron.weekly, etc). However, if you do this you can only 
use gathering intervals for which cron folders exist and you have placed a bash 
script (for example, 'twice daily' will not work but 'daily' will).


1.1.6 Configuration settings
----------------------------------------

Configuration settings for the application are established in this file:
~/kohana/application/config/myconf.php

You will almost certainly have to modify all URLs and paths in myconf.php in 
order for your application to work properly. You must change all file paths in 
myconf.php to point to the root application path on your computer. Replace '~/' 
with the full path to the root directory of your application. To find the full 
path open the terminal and go to the root directory of your application and 
enter the 'pwd' command. All URLs should begin with the HTTP path to the 
application (for example http://localhost/ if your application is in the root 
directory of your web server). All URLs must include a trailing slash ('/') 
at the end of each URL but all file paths should NOT include a trailing slash.

NOTE: It is strongly recommended that you do not change your directory stucture
or configuration settings after you have started using the application because 
this is likely to cause problems.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 Mac OS X
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This application has not yet be tested on Mac OS X but all the required
software is available for Mac OS X so it shouldn't be difficult to set up. If
you can provide instructions set up on Mac OS X please add them to this README
and upload the changes to the github repository.


1.2.1 Software dependencies (Mac OS X)
----------------------------------------

- Apache HTTP Server (version 1 or 2)
  You should follow the instructions for installing PHP and Apache side-by-side 
  according to the PHP installation guide provided below. The official Apache 
  website is here: http://httpd.apache.org/

- PHP (>= version 5.3)
  Mac OS X installation guide for PHP/Apache: 
  http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.macosx.php
  Downloads: http://www.php.net/downloads.php

- MySQL Community Server
  You should install each of the following MySQL Community Server packages:
  server, client, devel, and shared. Each of these packages can be downloaded 
  for Windows here: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql#downloads

- Kohana PHP Framework v3 (included in this package)
  Official website: http://kohanaframework.org/

- Lemur Toolkit
  The Lemur Toolkit is available for Windows here:
  http://sourceforge.net/projects/lemur/files/
  Download lemur-*.tar.gz

- UNIX Cron
  Cron should be natively installed on Max OS X. More information on how to use 
  cron on Mac OS X can be found here:
  http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man8/cron.8.html


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3 Windows XP/Vista/7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This application has not yet be tested on Windows but all the required
software is available for Windows XP (possibly also Vista or Windows 7) so you 
should be able to get it set up. Windows XP/Vista/7 should all run Apache, PHP, 
and MySQL. CRONw and the Lemur Toolkit can be downloaded for XP and this version 
may also work on Windows Vista/7. If you can provide instructions set up on 
Windows please add them to this README and upload the changes to the github 
repository.


1.3.1 Software dependencies (Windows)
----------------------------------------

- Apache HTTP Server (version 1 or 2)
  You should follow the instructions for installing PHP and Apache side-by-side 
  according to the PHP installation guide provided below. The official Apache 
  website is here: http://httpd.apache.org/

- PHP (>= version 5.3)
  Windows installation guide for PHP/Apache: 
  http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.php
  Windows downloads: http://windows.php.net/download/

- MySQL Community Server
  You should install each of the following MySQL Community Server packages:
  server, client, devel, and shared. Each of these packages can be downloaded 
  for Windows here: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql#downloads

- Kohana PHP Framework v3 (included in this package)
  Official website: http://kohanaframework.org/

- Lemur Toolkit
  The Lemur Toolkit is available for Windows here:
  http://sourceforge.net/projects/lemur/files/
  Download either lemur-*-win64-install.exe or lemur-*-install.exe

- CRONw: 
  CRONw is the Windows version of cron which you can obtain from: 
  http://cronw.sourceforge.net/


================================================================================
2. Developer information
================================================================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1 General information for developers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This application is written using the Kohana PHP Framework (version 3) which is 
an HMVC framework. To contribute in the development of this application you will
have to familiarize with this framework. We chose this framework because it is 
open source, under active development, lightweight, secure, and relatively easy 
to learn. Be sure to learn Kohana version 3 (KO3) and not version 2, the older
version.

Primary Kohana resources:
- User Guide: http://kohanaframework.org/guide/about.kohana/
- API User Guide: http://kohanaframework.org/guide/api/
- Unofficial wiki: http://kerkness.ca/wiki/doku.php
- Community forum: http://forum.kohanaframework.org/

Other useful Kohana resources:
- Very basic Tutorial: http://kohanaframework.org/guide/tutorials.helloworld/
- Thorough & comprehensive tutorial: 
  http://www.dealtaker.com/blog/2009/11/20/kohana-php-3-0-ko3-tutorial-part-1/
- Conventions/Style: http://kohanaframework.org/guide/about.conventions/
- Resources for learning Kohana: 
  http://forum.kohanaframework.org/comments.php?DiscussionID=4691

Kohana is a popular framework so there are lots of resources available on the 
Internet so don't be afraid to search around. But be aware that a lot of the 
existing guides are for Kohana version 2.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2 Application structure
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Important files & directories (~/ is the root directory of the application):
~/kohana/application/classes/controller - Main code for application
~/kohana/application/classes/model - Generally used to communicate with database
~/kohana/application/config - URL/path and database configuration settings
~/kohana/application/messages - Error messages
~/kohana/application/views/template.php - Page header & footer
~/kohana/application/views/pages - Page content
~/kohana/modules - 
    Potentially useful Kohana modules (enable these by modifying
    ~/kohana/application/bootstrap.php)
~/kohana/system - Kohana system files; in general these should not be modified 
~/data - 
    Lemur Toolkit and Google Chart data is stored here (subfolders named as 
    the project_id contain data for that project) 
~/data/lemur/stopwords.list - 
    A list of stopwords (one per line) that will be omitted when clustering is 
    performed
~/js - Javascript files (this application uses the JQuery framework)
~/css - Cascading Style Sheet files
~/images 


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2.3 Data source APIs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Data source APIs are the places from which the application collects data (for 
example the Twitter Search API). Adding additional data source APIs is of utmost 
importance because the utility of the application depends upon the amount of 
data it is able to access.


2.3.1 Currently implemented data source APIs
----------------------------------------

Currently methods have been implemented (in 
~/application/classes/controller/gather.php) to collect data from the following 
sources:
- Twitter Search API
  Documentation: http://dev.twitter.com/doc/get/search/
- RSS Feeds
  More information: http://www.rssboard.org/


2.3.2 Adding additional data source APIs
----------------------------------------

There is one method in ~/application/classes/controller/gather.php for each data
source API (i.e. twitter_search). To allow the application to gather data from 
an additional source API you must add a new method to gather.php. Use the `NEW 
GATHERING METHOD TEMPLATE` which has been commented out in gather.php (please 
leave a copy of the template for other to use). Choose a name for your method 
name and modify the code as necessary. Please note that this template assumes 
your API responds to either GET or POST requests. In order to activate your 
method you must insert a new row into the `api_sources` table in the MySQL 
database. The row should contain the name of your method you created in 
gather.php and also a 'friendly' name. Here is an example SQL command:

    INSERT INTO `api_sources` (`api_name`, `gather_method_name`) 
    VALUES ('Twitter Search', 'twitter_search');

Now when adding or modifying a project you should see your API appear under the 
list with a checkbox next to it.

Suggested additional data source APIs to implement:
- Facebook Open Stream API:
  http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Using_the_Open_Stream_API/
- Blogger API: http://code.google.com/apis/blogger/


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.4 Uploading changes to git
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The github repository for this application is located here:
http://github.com/peetucket/ImpactProbe/

Unlike SVN, git does not used a central repository. This is why git is 
"distributed" and SVN is "centralized". Although this makes git an extremely 
powerful system for collaborators, tracking changes between various 
collaborators can quickly become difficult as multiple forks are created.

Please read the following before working with this code:
- Dealing with newlines: http://github.com/guides/dealing-with-newlines-in-git/
- Submitting changes from your fork: 
  http://github.com/guides/fork-a-project-and-submit-your-modifications/
- Using SSH keys with github: 
  http://github.com/guides/how-to-not-have-to-type-your-password-for-every-push/


2.4.1 Managing remote repositories
----------------------------------------

After installing git and signing up for an account, you will need to tell git 
about the remote repository:

    git remote add ImpactProbe git@github.com:peetucket/ImpactProbe.git

This adds "ImpactProbe" as a remote repository that can be pulled from.

    git checkout -b ImpactProbe/master

This creates a local branch "ImpactProbe/master" of the master branch of the 
"ImpactProbe" repository.


2.4.2 Merging changes from remote repositories
----------------------------------------

Now that you have a remote repository, you can pull changes into your local 
repository:

    git checkout ImpactProbe/master

This switches to the previously created "ImpactProbe/master" branch:

    git pull ImpactProbe master

This pulls all of the changes from the remote into the local 
"ImpactProbe/master" branch:

    git checkout master

This switches back to your local master branch:

    git merge ImpactProbe/master

This merges all of the changes in the "ImpactProbe/master" branch into your 
master branch:

    git push

This pushes all the merged changes into your local fork. Now your fork is now in 
sync with the origin repository!