lineitems not printing
Templates designed on a *NIX platform have linefeeds only and LaTeX won't process the lineitems on a Windows or Mac platform which require CRLF line endings. To adjust the templates to your platform simply load the template in an editor and save it. This only applies to the TeX templates.
UTF-8 character encoding
Most of the translations are in ISO format. To convert the translations change directory to locale/cc and convert the files with iconv to UTF-8. You should also convert the COAs too and make sure you select UTF-8 encoding when you setup a new dataset.
characterset problems
If you have problems displaying the correct characterset try adding
```
  AddDefaultCharset On
```
in your httpd.conf file.
About installation
The easiest is to use the setup.pl script as root. You don't need to know very much about your system, just login as root, run 'perl setup.pl' and follow the prompts.
setup.pl does not check for missing software packages and it is your responsibilite to make sure you have the required software installed either from source or from a package supplied with your distro.
Requirements are clearly indicated in the README file and on the download page.
cannot create function
1. either run createlang and install the plpgsql language handler or install yourself. For more information how to do that, visit PostgreSQL and read the interactive documentation for procedural languages.
2. load admin.pl
3. unlock the system
4. login
The requested URL /sql-ledger/admin.pl was not found
Your webserver doesn't know where to find the script. Most commonly this is from distributions hiding webserver configuration files in different locations or files and setup.pl wasn't able to configure the location for you. Find out which file (httpd.conf, httpdcommon.conf, ...) controls your webserver configuration and add
```
  # SQL-Ledger
  Include /etc/httpd/sql-ledger-httpd.conf
```
Create a file 'sql-ledger-httpd.conf' in /etc/httpd and copy the next part into the file.
```
  AddHandler cgi-script .pl
  Alias /sql-ledger/ /var/www/sql-ledger/
  <Directory /var/www/sql-ledger>
    Options ExecCGI Includes FollowSymlinks
  </Directory>
  <Directory /var/www/sql-ledger/users>
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from All
  </Directory>
```
replace '/etc/httpd' and '/var/www' with the appropriate directories.
users/members : Permission denied
Your webserver must have write access to the users directory. If your server runs as user/group 'apache:apache' then set the users directory to owner/group apache:apache.
```
  # chown -R apache:apache users
```
Dataset newer than version
You are trying to use an older version with a dataset which was created with a newer version.
PDF option not working
Check if you have latex and pdflatex installed.
Apache 2.0 "error 500"
Some of the early versions of Apache 2.0 (< patchlevel 44) had a rewrite engine which decoded escaped strings. This created a lot of problems and I worked around it by escaping strings twice. If you get a server 500 error 'filename too long' or if collapsed menus don't expand you may have to adjusted the following code in SL/Form.pm and change the number (44) on line 84.
```
  # for Apache 2 we escape strings twice
  if (($ENV{SERVER_SIGNATURE} =~ /Apache\/2\.(\d+)\.(\d+)/) && !$beenthere) {
    $str = $self->escape($str, 1) if $2 < 44;
  }
```
IDENT Authentication failed for user "sql-ledger"
Edit pg_hba.conf and change authentication to
```
  local           all              trust
```
The file is in the 'data' directory of your postgresql installation. This is different with every distribution so look for it.
```
  # find / -name 'pg_hba.conf'
```
DBD-Pg for Mandrake 9.0
Mandrake did not package a compiled DBD-Pg package again, so install DBD-Pg from the source package. Install perl-DBD-Pg-1.01-4mdk.i586.rpm from the 'contrib' area. (Mandrake / 9.0 / contrib / RPMS)
LaTeX error
If for some reason LaTeX produces an error message check for strange characters in your account description and parts description and use \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc} in the preamble.
LaTeX templates
If you don't want to edit tex code by hand, you could use Lyx, Abiword, or any WYSIWYG editor capable of exporting latex code. To do that you must change the tokens for the variables <% and %> to something like << and >>. % is the comment character in tex. There is also a pagebreak block which must be commented out. When you are done with the changes replace << and >> with <% and %> and uncomment the pagebreak block.
LaTeX is difficult but it also offers a much superior environment to produce professionally looking forms in postscript and PDF format. Unfortunately with all that power there is also a steep learning curve.

W3M

pass terminal=mozilla when you start w3m

  $ w3m -F http://localhost/sql-ledger/login.pl?terminal=mozilla

To use without frames

  $ w3m http://localhost/sql-ledger/login.pl?terminal=lynx

PDF option disappeared
Edit sql-ledger.conf and set $latex = 1;
sql-ledger.conf is perl code, check if it compiles, if it does not, the internal defaults are used which turn off $latex, hence no PDF option.
SQL-Ledger installation Mac Os X 10.3 (Panther)
Paul J. Teeter put together installation instructions to run SL on a Mac.
The instructions are for SL 2.2 but the will work for any of the later releases too.
Installation on Windows (WIN32)
- install Apache, perl, Postgres or Oracle, DBI and the appropriate DBD module
  if you can't compile DBD-Pg here is a precompiled DBD-Pg module
- download the latest version of SQL-Ledger
- extract the files to c:\apache\sql-ledger
- run 'perl shebang' to change the first line of the scripts. If perl is not in c:\perl\bin' change '#!c:\\perl\\bin\\perl' to the location where your perl binary is.
- edit c:\apache\conf\httpd.conf and add
```
Alias /sql-ledger/ "c:/apache/sql-ledger/"
<Directory "c:/apache/sql-ledger">
  AllowOverride All
  AddHandler cgi-script .pl
  Options +ExecCGI
  Order Allow,Deny
  Allow from All
</Directory>
<Directory "c:/apache/sql-ledger/users">
  Order Deny,Allow
  Deny from All
</Directory>
```
- start Apache
- start Postgres|Oracle|DB2
- connect to http://localhost/sql-ledger/admin.pl and setup users and datasets
- connect to http://localhost/sql-ledger/login.pl and login
Installation on Windows /w cygwin
- install cygwin Apache, perl, postgres, gcc and lynx
- install DBI
- tar zxvf DBI-1.30.tar.gz
- cd DBI-1.30
- perl Makefile.PL
- make install
- install DBD-Pg
- tar -zxvf DBD-Pg-1.13.tar.gz
- export POSTGRES_INCLUDE=/usr/include/postgresql
- export POSTGRES_LIB=/usr/lib/postgresql
- cd DBD-Pg-1.13
- perl Makefile.PL
- make install
- edit /etc/apache/httpd.conf and add
```
AddHandler cgi-script .pl
Alias /sql-ledger/ /var/www/sql-ledger/
<Directory /var/www/sql-ledger>
  Options +ExecCGI
</Directory>
<Directory /var/www/sql-ledger/users>
  Order Deny,Allow
  Deny from All
</Directory>
```
- install SQL-Ledger
- cd /var/www
- mkdir sql-ledger
- download setup.pl and save the file in /var/www/sql-ledger
- cd /var/www/sql-ledger
- perl setup.pl
What do I enter for the language
If you use English, nothing, if you want to use a foreign language for the login screen and admin stuff enter the language code, this is the directory in the locale directory.
printing to a printer
Load admin.pl and edit the users. Enter the printer command in the 'Printer' field. Check in your /etc/printcap file for the name of available printers.
```
  lpr -P<printer>
```
Edit sql-ledger.conf and set
```
  $latex = 1
```
LaTeX must be installed for this to work.
To send the document to the printer check the "Postscript" or "PDF" format, enter the number of copies and click on the "Print" button.
The printer field is available only when you edit the user's preferences with admin.pl.
Note: html format is for screen preview. Use the "Print" option from your browser to print to a printer.

Using samba to send printjobs to a printer attached to a Windows XP workstation

The next part applies to roll your own printfilters only. If you use CUPS or LPRng your milage may vary but you can still use this as a guide how it works. I use the printer 'Epson' as an example which is attached to a XP workstation called Raven, no password to log on.

/etc/printcap entry on the server which runs lpd
epson:Epson\
  :sh:\
  :lp=/dev/null:\
  :sd=/var/spool/output/epson:\
  :if=/usr/libexec/lpr/epson/prnfilter:\
# end of entry in /etc/printcap
# pnrfilter shell script
#!/bin/sh
# Filter for Epson Stylus
PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin"
#read first_line
read tmp
first_line=`echo $tmp | cut -b1-2 | sed -n '1p'`
first_chr=`expr "$first_line" : '\(.\)'`
first_two=`expr "$first_line" : '\(..\)'`
rewindstdin
if [ "$first_two" = "%!" ]; then # Postscript file
  gs @st640p.upp -dSAFER -dNOPAUSE -q -sOutputFile=/tmp/$$ -
else
  # text file
  cat > /tmp/$$
  echo -n "^L" >> /tmp/$$
  smbclient '\\Raven\Epson' "" -c 'printmode text'
fi
smbclient '\\Raven\Epson' "" -P -c "print /tmp/$$"
rm /tmp/$$
# EOF
rewindstdin is a small program to rewind the filehandle for STDIN
save the next part up to EOF to a file rewindstdin.c and compile
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
extern int errno;
main()
{
  if( lseek(0,0,0) == 0 ){
    errno = 0;
  }
  return( errno );
}
# EOF
compile to an executable
gcc -o /usr/local/bin/rewindstdin rewindstdin.c

beginning balances
Add a GL Journal entry and enter the beginning balance for your accounts. Beginning balances are the balances from your last balance sheet. If you also add open invoices to account for COGS for inventory, add the invoices and make the appropriate adjustments.
establish a beginning inventory
add the parts with a vendor invoice. Use the real cost for the items, not zero. If you use zero cost then the cost of goods will be zero when you sell the item.
Assemblies
Assemblies are manufactured goods assembled from parts, services and assemblies. Because you do not buy assemblies you 'stock assemblies' by adding assembled units to your inventory. The quantity for individual parts is reduced and the quantity for the assembly increased. To disassemble an assembly you simply return the parts to inventory by entering a negative quantity for the number of assemblies to stock.
customizing SQL-Ledger
The application interface consists of a global and private interface.
DBD-Pg not installed
Most modern distributions now package DBD-Pg. If it is not packaged follow this recipe to get it working.
- check if you have the header files for PostgreSQL
  $ find / -name 'libpq-fe.h'
  if nothing shows up install the development package for PostgreSQL
- download and untar DBD-Pg
- set the environment variables POSTGRES_LIB and POSTGRES_INCLUDE
- cd to DBD-Pg directory
  as ordinary user
  $ perl Makefile.PL
  $ make
  $ make test
  if all went well su to root
  # make install
- remove DBD-Pg
login.pl has compilation error
This could be because of a missing configuration file in the users directory
check the permission for the users directory. The directory must be set writeable for the webserver. If your webserver runs ias user/group nobody.nogroup set the directory to
```
drwx--x--x   2 nobody   nogroup    1024 May 26 16:49 users
or
drwxrwx--x   2 johndoe  nogroup    1024 May 26 16:49 users
```
script not executing, shows in browser instead
Add
```
  AddHandler cgi-script .pl
```
in your httpd.conf file.
unknown terminal!
the frontend script couldn't figure out which browser you are using
include the terminal variable on the URL
```
  http://localhost/sql-ledger/login.pl?terminal=lynx
```
Valid terminal variables are lynx and mozilla
permission denied
Check if your web server has write permission to write to the following files and directories:
```
  users/
  templates/
  users/members
  # chown nobody:nogroup users templates users/members
```
permission denied to access tables
The user you entered in the "Database section" must be a valid database user who has rights to access the tables.
If the tables are owned by 'joe' and you enter 'mary' as the dba you might run into this problem if mary doesn't have the rights to access tables owned by joe.
html and graphics files don't show up on screen
Enable Includes and FollowSymlinks Options in your httpd.conf file
```
  <Directory /usr/local/sql-ledger>
    Options ExecCGI Includes FollowSymlinks
  </Directory>
```
Can I use mySQL
mySQL lacks certain features required by SQL-Ledger.
switch display to a foreign language
Load your preferences and select the language.
Language selection is in accordance to ISO 3166-1 standards.
Text shows in English when I use a foreign language
This is because the corresponding hash entry is missing. Add the missing text in the locale/cc/all or locale/cc/missing file and run 'perl locales.pl' from the command line to rebuild the individual files.
cc refers to the country code.
switch to a foreign language for the login and admin screen
Edit sql-ledger.conf and enter the code for the $language variable
```
  $language = "de";
```
This is a global change and applies to all logins, individual settings may be changed by setting the language in your Preferences.

SQL-Ledger security

The security features built into SQL-Ledger provide encrypted passwords and access control which makes it fairly safe out of the box to run even in front of a firewall. Some precautions which are out of our control must be taken though. It matters where you install SL and how you configure your web server and SQL server.

  Typical setups:
  /usr/local/vh/www                   <- DocumentRoot for virtual host
  /usr/local/vh/sql-ledger            <- Alias for sql-ledger
  /usr/local/vh/users                 <- users directory out of reach

  /usr/local/vh/www                   <- DocumentRoot for virtual host
  /usr/local/vh/www/sql-ledger        <- Alias for sql-ledger
  /usr/local/vh/www/sql-ledger/users  <- users configuration files and tmp space
  <Directory /usr/local/vh/www/sql-ledger/users>  <- disable webserver access
    Order Deny,Allow                                 for users directory
    Deny from All
  </Directory>

The location for the users directory can be specified in sql-ledger.conf

Set permission for the users and templates directory to 711
If you do not want anyone to change the templates with the built-in editor set the files in templates/directory/ to read only or disable the menu item to edit the templates.
You may setup a read-only environment if you disable the menu items to add data. i.e 'Add Transaction' if unchecked you will not be able to add a transaction or repost a transaction. You may look at it but nothing else.
There are various settings for audit control and you may disable reposting entirely or up to a certain date.
For PostgreSQL you may also set who has access to the server in the file pg_hba.conf
Authentication crypt does not work because not all SQL servers accept encrypted passwords.
in addition you can secure the tables from unauthorized access by setting up a different database user and GRANT rights. For instance, users without DELETE rights will still be able to use the program, change customers and vendors, add transactions but will not be able to delete or repost transactions.
To lock all the tables to create a RO system GRANT SELECT rights only.
Other security options include a secure shell, your webserver's authentication system, SSL, encrypted tunnels, ...

lineitems not printing

UTF-8 character encoding

characterset problems

About installation

cannot create function

The requested URL /sql-ledger/admin.pl was not found

users/members : Permission denied

Dataset newer than version

PDF option not working

Apache 2.0 "error 500"

IDENT Authentication failed for user "sql-ledger"

DBD-Pg for Mandrake 9.0

LaTeX error

LaTeX templates

W3M

PDF option disappeared

SQL-Ledger installation Mac Os X 10.3 (Panther)

Installation on Windows (WIN32)

Installation on Windows /w cygwin

What do I enter for the language

printing to a printer

Using samba to send printjobs to a printer attached to a Windows XP workstation

beginning balances

establish a beginning inventory

Assemblies

customizing SQL-Ledger

DBD-Pg not installed

login.pl has compilation error

script not executing, shows in browser instead

unknown terminal!

permission denied

permission denied to access tables

html and graphics files don't show up on screen

Can I use mySQL

switch display to a foreign language

Text shows in English when I use a foreign language

switch to a foreign language for the login and admin screen

SQL-Ledger security