Getting started with FS

[Ivan Kohler]

On Mon, 13 Jul 1998, Mark Constable wrote:

> Ivan Kohler wrote:
> 
> > I've added some inline documentation on the pages themselves.  Please tell
> > me if it helps.  Some things (like agents and referrals) I didn't know
> > what to add; what don't you understand about them?
> 
> Well I'm on;
> 
> http://localhost/fs-current/htdocs/edit/cust_main.cgi
> 
> and the "Agent #" and "Referral" select gadgets near the
> top are almost non-existant (can't select anything) yet
> FS is saying they are required fields... without pouring
> thru the code I have no idea what to even add to those
> fields (edit the output page manually even) just so
> I can succesfully submit a new "Customer Add" client.

Well you need to have gone to the administration section and have added at
least one agent and referral.

An agent is a reseller of your service;  many small ISPs don't need this
functionality and will only have one agent.  You also need to have
previously setup an agent type for that agent that allows them to purchase
the packages you've previously setup, and those packages should have
at least one service.

Referrals are tracked for informational purposes only.  They are things
like "from another customer", "from an add in the Washington Post", and so
on.

In short, you should probably go through the entries in the Administration
section in order; after doing so you should be able to add a customer.

> Obviously nothing else will work until there is at least
> one entry in the database. fs-setup worked Ok so my basic
> setup, perms and mySQL must be alright but now I can't
> actually start the ball rolling and use any of the clickable
> entries on the main htdocs/ page until I have at least one
> entry (I guess)... but I can't add an entry because of the
> above problem.
> 
> I guess I could pull up your demo and see for myself what
> some example Agent/Referral numbers are supposed to look
> like. I suspect fs-setup should also load in one dummy entry
> into mySQL if it's setting this all up for the first time ?

Hmm.  I actually pulled the dummy entries out of fs-setup at some point so
that fresh installs didn't have them.  :/

> > If you send over (privately, please) your list of Provinces or
> > State-equivalents, I'll add them in to a menu in fs-setup.  That goes for
> > anyone, of course.  If anyone knows where a complete list is available,
> > again please drop me a line.
> 
> Well if I can get it going enough to use I'll email you
> the patch :-)

No complaints here; patches are always welcome.  ;)

> > >       Area Code (example US ph num)
> > >       Exchange  ( ditto )
> 
> > Example US area codes and exchanges are three digits.  Since this is
> > currently only tracked for informational purposes you should be able to
> > use this anyway.
> 
> Right, I hadn;t got that far to know if it would be a required
> field or not, if it isn't then not a concern.

I do think it is required; you should have at least one entry listed.

> > > o I was unaware of CGI::Base as distinct from CGI.pm
> > > o Needed a SUID version of perl
> > > o The .htaccess files are unusable as distributed
> > 
> > These should be added to the documentation.
> 
> Again, wanna patch ?

No, the documentation needs to be seriously reworked and I don't want you
to waste your time on patches to the existing set.

> > > o No conf/secrets
> > 
> > Remember fs-current is a development snapshot and the documentation is
> > possibly inaccurate, as well as incomplete.  Check the TODO for things
> > that haven't made it to the documentation yet, like conf/secrets.
> 
> I am not complaining in the slightest, jsut trying to
> pass on whatever I have noted that stopped me from using
> FS... and hoping I can contribute back to the project.

No problem.  I hope it works for you.

-- 
Ivan Kohler <ivan at sisd.com> - finger for PGP key
Silicon Interactive Software Design - http://www.sisd.com/
Open source billing and administration for ISPs - http://www.sisd.com/freeside
20 4,16 * * * saytime # consciousness is the missing symmetry