Spy-Server Initialisation Parameters

Introduction

Init parameters give initialisation information to Spy-Server, such as the name of the current search database.  However, Spy-Server usually stores its configuration information in the work directory.  The work directory information overrides the init parameters.

There is only one vital init parameter - work - and this may be set correctly by default. However, see below to check it.

In some situations it can be a hassle changing init parameters.  This is why Spy-Server uses its work directory - so configuration changes can be made without changing the init parameters.  However, if you want to be ultra safe, you should make sure that the init parameters have valid values - this guards against the work directory being inaccessible for some reason.

For server-specific instructions on changing init parameters, see here:

• Apache JServ
• Apache Tomcat
• BEA WebLogic Server
• Borland Enterprise Server
• IBM WebSphere
• Macromedia JRun
• Sun iPlanet Web Server
• Sun ONE Application Server

Work directory

Before you start testing Spy-Server, it is important to check that the Spy-Server work directory is in a suitable location.

Spy-Server uses a work directory to store all its configuration information and search database files. It is important that this directory is secure from unwanted direct access, while still being available to Spy-Server. It is also a good idea to make sure that this directory is not wiped accidentally, eg if you update the Spy-Server runtime to a newer version. Finally, it is also a good idea to backup the contents of the Spy-Server work directory regularly.

The configuration screen General section displays the current work directory. If this is not suitable then you need to change the work init parameter.

If the current work directory is not suitable then you must make a suitable (new) work directory and change the work init parameter. The Test work directory field of the General section lets you prove that your new directory is usable by Spy-Server. (Some directories may not be readable or writeable by Spy-Server.)

Changing init parameters

How you change init parameters is usually servlet engine specific.  Be careful to use lower case for all the parameter names.

Most servlet engines provide a control panel interface that lets you change an init parameter. However in almost all cases, there is a fallback manual method of changing servlet parameters. The crucial task is finding a file called web.xml in the Spy-Server deployment directory, usually in the WEB-INF sub-directory.  This file is in XML format.  It should be fairly obvious where to edit this file to set init parameters, eg to set work:

<init-param><param-name>work</param-name>
<param-value>D:\SpyData</param-value></init-param>

Init Parameter List

The "Supplied value" is the value for the parameter that is installed when the Spy-Server Web Application is deployed.  The supplied values for the index and baseurl parameters set up Spy-Server to search the documentation web pages that are contained in the Spy-Server Web Application.

The "Default" is the value that is used if no init parameter is found.

Parameter name	Description	Supplied value	Default
bot	The path/URL of the template file containing the HTML to put at the bottom of Spy-Server results, before the footer. See the Look and feel page.	spybot.htt	null	a standard bottom
cacheresults	If "true", Spy-Server caches search results in the session state to make it quicker to access the next sheet of results.	true	true	Results are cached
footer	The path/URL of the template file containing the HTML to put at the bottom of all Spy-Server output. See the Look and feel page.	spyfoot.htt	null	a basic footer
getwordcounts	If "true", Spy-Server gets the count of all search words in each page hit, so that the %WORDCOUNT% Results line variable and WordCount session variable are valid. Word counts are automatically retrieved if reorderresults is set to "wordcount".	false	false	disabled
heading	The path/URL of the template file containing the HTML to put at the top of all Spy-Server output. See the Look and feel page.	spyhead.htt	null	a basic heading
languages	A comma separated list of URLs for extra language files. See languages page.	null	null	no extra languages
licenceid	The Spy-CD/Spy-Server licence id	null	null	Not licensed
line	The path/URL of the template file containing the HTML to use for each Spy-Server results line. See the Look and feel page.	spyline.htt	<DL> <DT>    <B>%RESULTNO%.    %TITLE_LINK%</B>    %FILENAME% <DD>    %ABSTRACT% </DL> <BR>
password	The password that must be used for future Spy-Server configuration requests.	null	null	No password required for search database change requests
reorderresults	Specify one the following: off Standard Spy-Server sorting filename Sort results on the page filename title Sort results on the page title abstract Sort results on the page abstract priority Sort results on the page Priority wordcount Sort results on the count of search words in each page Optionally then specify one of the following after a space: ascending Sort ascending [default] descending Sort descending	null	null	By default, Spy-Server sorts the results so that pages that are more likely to be of interest are listed first, that is words in the Meta description, Meta keywords, title and headings in that order.
rules	The path/URL of the Rules file	rulesen.txt	null	No word stemming or synonyms
target	The target window name The following target frame names have special meaning: _self current frame _parent parent frame _top top-most frame _blank new unnamed top-level window	_self	_self	Shows a page in the same window, ie to replace the search results sheet
top	The path/URL of the template file containing the HTML to put at the top of Spy-Server results, after the heading. See the Look and feel page.	spytop.htt	null	a standard top
work	The path of the work directory	null	null	A default sub-directory SpyData is created