Interaction Trace Manager

Written by Jean-Daniel Fekete ([email protected]) and Jeremy Boy ([email protected])

Intertrace is a log/trace manager for javascript programs on the web. A simple library called trace.js can be imported in any HTML5 page to send tracing events to a server. These trace events can be used to debug, log, or collect information on what the user has done.

To install it, you need:

1. Python, tested with version 2.7.4+

2. MySQL

3. Fabric On Ubuntu, install with:

   sudo apt-get install python-pip python-dev build-essential
   sudo pip install fabric
   

4. Virtual Environment

   sudo pip install virtualenv
   

5. Change information in intertrace/settings.py to comply to your local environment.

6. Install the requirements for Django/interface

   Inside the intertrace directory, run:

   fab setup
   

   It will create the virtual environment, install the required libraries and create a secret key in your file intertrace/settings.py.

7. Create the mysql database

   Inside the intertrace directory, run:

   ./createdb.sh
   

   It asks for the root mysql password to create the 'intertrace' database with the right credentials.

8. Create the tables in the databse intertrace

   Inside the intertrace directory, run:

   fab migrate
   

9. Create an entry for a superuser in Django

   Inside the intertrace directory, run:

   fab create_superuser
   

   It will create an entry for a superuser in Django so that you can log in and create other users.

10. Run the development server and try the application

    Inside the intertrace directory, run:

    fab runserver
    

11. Open a web browser and connect to:

    http://localhost:8000/recordtrace/
    

    It should ask for your login/password (as entered in step 9) and show you a blank interface, since there is no trace yet

12. To test and create some simple traces, connect to:

    http://localhost:8000/static/recordtrace/test.html
    

    This test page will create some trace events that you will be able to read when opening again the interface at:

    http://localhost:8000/recordtrace/
    

13. To deploy on an apache2 server, take a look at the file apache.conf.tmpl. To create the configuration file for apache2, run the script:

    ./createconf.sh
    

    and copy/rename the file apache.conf as (for Ubuntu): /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/intertrace.conf

    Restart apache2, the site should be running. Check out the Django configuration file setting.py for specific settings, such as the name of the host, and debug mode.