[Image][Image] [Image] [Image] SunSolve CD Document - Info Docs Article 14674 [I------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Image] Load Document as Plain Text [Image] [Image] INFODOC ID: 14674 [Image] SYNOPSIS: Answerbook PSD [Image] DETAIL DESCRIPTION: [Image] [Image] AnswerBook PSD [Image] Index: [Image] [Image] 1.0 About AnswerBook PSD 1.1 AnswerBook Abstract 1.2 Important terms 1.3 Troubleshooting 1.3.1 How AnswerBook works from start to finish 1.3.2 How to troubleshoot AnswerBooks on Solaris 2.x 1.3.3 How to troubleshoot AnswerBooks on SunOS 4.x 2.0 Common How To's 2.1 Common AnswerBook package names on Solaris 2.x and how to find out what AnswerBooks are installed locally 2.2 How to install AnswerBook on Solaris 2.x 2.3 How to install AnswerBook on 4.x 2.4 How to create a master card catalog file 2.5 How to create a master bookinfo file 2.6 How to share 2.3 or later AnswerBooks over a network 2.7 How to share 4.x AnswerBooks over a network 2.8 How to convert a bookinfo file to an ab_cardcatalog file 2.9 How to merge a new AnswerBook on Solaris 2.3 or later into an existing master card catalog 2.95 How to generate a global cardcatalog file for Solaris 2.x 3.0 Some Common problems and Solutions for AnswerBook 3.1 Problems and Solutions for SunOS 3.11 Can 4.x AnswerBooks be merged? 3.12 Why do I get an error referring to "4ASSY" while installing AnswerBook? 3.13 Why can't I remotely display my SunOS AnswerBook (psh or test: arg expected errors)? 3.14 What causes the "bookinfo not found" error message? 3.15 Can AnswerBook be display on an Xterminal/Xemulator? 3.16 Why AnswerBook will sometimes not print large section/entire AnswerBook? 3.17 Why AnswerBook will not print at all? 3.18 Why do I get the message "Can't perform search on collection" when starting AnswerBook? 3.2 Problems and Solutions for Solaris 3.21 Why do I get "bookinfo not found" errors on Solaris AnswerBooks? 3.22 What is the reason for the 'AnswerBook " AnswerBook" is not accessible' message? 3.23 What kind of problem would give me the following error message? "/ab_cardcatalog[#]: :id=SUNWab_2_6:: not found" 3.24 Can AnswerBook be display on an Xterminal/Xemulator? 3.25 Why AnswerBook will sometimes not print large section/entire AnswerBook? 3.26 Why AnswerBook will not print at all? 3.27 After starting openwindows and then AnswerBook, I get "The AnswerBook Library $HOME/.ab_library is locked for use by another Navigator " 3.28 I get the following error while try to search my AnswerBook "Too many search indices included in merged index" 3.29 Can not see all AnswerBook as user but can see all AnswerBooks as root 3.30 Getting the following error message in /var/adm/messages "Feb 14 10:14:02 NetISAM[635]: Fatal error getcwd() failed-UNIX errno 13 or 9" 3.31 Why do I get the error "Can't Follow Hypertext Link"? 3.32 Why do I get "" when I try to start AnswerBook? 4.0 Patches 4.1 Core AnswerBook patches for SunOS 4.2 Patches related to AnswerBook for SunOS 4.3 Core AnswerBook patches for Solaris 4.4 Patches related to AnswerBook for Solaris 5.0 Known Bugs & RFE's 6.0 References 7.0 Information needed to solve the problem by tech support 7.1 Basic Information 7.2 Create a new user for testing purpose 7.3 AnswerBook's navigator will not start 7.4 AnswerBook's docviewer will not start 7.5 AnswerBook will not print 7.6 Template to fill out to help tech support to solve your problems, if none of the above helped 8.0 Supportability 9.0 Additional Support ==================================================================== 1.0 About AnswerBook PSD This document is designed to explain what AnswerBook is, how to set it up locally/remotely and the common problem that you might experience. 1.1 AnswerBook Abstract AnswerBook is online documentation in PostScript format. It can list AnswerBook libraries and the contents of its libraries and it has a basic search engine that enables you to search through your current selection of libraries using keywords. It can be shared over the network to any machine that can display PostScript. It is a convenient way to eliminate the need for bulky physical documentation at every location. 1.2 Important terms AnswerBook - an executable shell script, that by default for the system AnswerBook lives in $OPENWINHOME/bin for SunOS, and for Solaris should always be under $OPENWINHOME/bin. It is designed to set the environment necessary to run the navigator, docviewer and viewprint binaries. navigator - the binary that displays the GUI interface that enables you to browse or search the AnswerBook libraries. This file should only be run by the AnswerBook script. docviewer - the binary that receives the information and location of a PostScript file to be viewed from the navigator. To view PostScript you will need X11/NeWS for SunOS and Solaris 2.2 or less, or DPS extensions for Solaris 2.3 or greater. This file is called by and should only be used by the navigator. viewprint - the binary used to print the AnswerBook pages, it should be located in $OPENWINHOME/bin or in the same directory as the AnswerBook script. It should also be in your path for this binary to function properly. This file is called by and should only be used by the docviewer. AnswerBook SERVER - the system that has AnswerBook directories export for use over the network. AnswerBook CLIENT - the system that is mounting the AnswerBook directories from an AnswerBook server. ab_cardcatalog - installed with every AnswerBook package on Solaris 2.2 or later. It contains the locations of 3 important directories: tocpath - the location of the table of contents files pspath - the location of the PostScript files indexpath - the location of the index files In Solaris installations, this file is generally referred to as the AnswerBook configuration file. bookinfo - installed with every AnswerBook on SunOS and Solaris 2.1 or earlier. It uses the same basic principle as the ab_cardcatalog file above but the format is a little different. In SunOs installations, this file is generally referred to as the AnswerBook configuration file. MASTER CARD CATALOG - can be created to server AnswerBooks over a network it is a file that list the locations of all the AnswerBooks locally and/or remotely. This file can have any name but for consistency it is generally named ab_cardcatalog and put in a location the can be seen by all AnswerBook clients that intend to use the AnswerBook server. AnswerBook_setup - an executable shell script that is executed by the AnswerBook script, if it has been created and is in your path. It is used to set the AB_CARDCATALOG environment variable. This is the method of choice for AnswerBook over a network since you only have to modify this one file to set your AB_CARDCATALOG and then put it on the server were it will be in every AnswerBook clients path. .ab_cardcatalog - can be created in your $HOME to point to the master card catalog that you want to use for that particular user. .ab_library - created in the users $HOME to keep track of what AnswerBooks are currently being used. The AnswerBook script will create one if it does not exist already, also every time you click on "apply" button under the "Modify Libraries" button on the navigator, this file get remove and then recreated according to what the user has chosen for his/her current set of AnswerBook libraries. AB_CARDCATALOG - an environment variable that is used for locating remote and/or possibly local AnswerBooks. It points to the master card catalog file and is the most commonly used method to point the master card catalog file. It can also point to individual ab_cardcatalog files that are installed in each AnswerBook package on Solaris systems. 1.3 troubleshooting 1.3.1 How AnswerBook works, start to finish Type in the following: /usr/openwin/bin/answerbook The following happens: 1. The AnswerBook script is executed. 2. The script attempts to find AnswerBook locally installed by using pkginfo, at this point it is looking for the /var/sadm/pkg//pkginfo file. This file must contain the correct paths for the pkginfo command to work properly for AnswerBook. At this point, if the paths in the pkginfo file are not correct then the AnswerBook script will fail to find that particular package. 3. The script tries to execute "answerbook_setup" if it exist. This file is created to setup the $AB_CARDCATALOG environment variable. 4. If $AB_CARDCATALOG or ~/.ab_cardcatalog exists, AnswerBook combines the remote AnswerBooks choices with the local choices. 5. ~/.ab_library is run to find out the last choice of libraries that were selected by AnswerBook. 6. Navigator is now executed and creates a lock file (~/.ab_library.lock) to only allow one navigator per user that can modify libraries. From here you can do searches or browse through the AnswerBook libraries/documentation: - You can double-click on a document to bring up the docviewer - The docviewer can call viewprint to print AnswerBook page(s). - You can exit the navigator, which will send an exit signal to the docviewer and remove the.ab_libraries.lock. 1.3.2 How to troubleshoot AnswerBooks on Solaris 2.x /usr/openwin/bin/ab_admin has several options to help troubleshooting, for information on how it is used run a "man ab_admin" 1.3.3 How to troubleshoot AnswerBooks on SunOS 4.x $ABHOME/bin/bookinfo this is the binary file, this command can check your bookinfo text file to verify that all the books are have valid paths. Significant options: -c checks books paths -l lists each id of each book in the bookinfo file 2.0 Common How To's 2.1 Common AnswerBook package names on Solaris 2.x and how to find out what AnswerBooks are installed locally. SUNWabe User AnswerBook SUNWaadm System Administrator's AnswerBook SUNWaman System Manual Page AnswerBook Most additional packages to the OS have their own AnswerBook, for example: SUNWaws WABI AnswerBook SPROabcc C/C++ compiler AnswerBook To find out what AnswerBooks that are installed locally, type the following: pkginfo | grep -i answerbook 2.2 How to install AnswerBook on Solaris 2.x First, you must determine the location of where you would like to install the AnswerBook packages and must be the "root" user or Super users to install AnswerBook, for example if you are using the volume manager (that is default for Solaris 2.2 or greater) and Solaris 2.5 System Administrator's AnswerBook, Insert the CD-ROM that contains the AnswerBook cd /cdrom/cdrom0/SysAdmAB2.5/common (This directory will be different for different AnswerBooks) Type ls to confirm that the two packages SUNWaadm and SUNWaman exist If the packages do not exist, run the following command: find /cdrom/cdrom0 -name SUNWaadm -print If you cannot find the directory where SUNWaadm exists, you probably do not have the correct CD-ROM inserted or you could be have Volume Manager problems. Assuming that you see the correct packages after typing in ls, type the following: /usr/sbin/pkgadd -d `pwd` Output like the following appears: SUNWaadm System Administrator AnswerBook () SUNWaman Manual Page AnswerBook () Select package(s) you wish to process (or 'all' to process all packages). (default: all) [?,??,q]: Specify one or all AnswerBook packages by number and press Return. The install script guides you through the rest of the installation. Don't forget to install the AnswerBook on a partition with enough space, because some AnswerBooks can be very large. To determine the amount of local hard disk space that is available on your system, you can run the command df -kl. Here is an example of part of the output you would receive Filesystem kbytes used avail capacity mounted on /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s5 31966 10837 17939 38% /opt The line above means that you have about 18 megabytes available on /opt. /opt is the default directory for most AnswerBook installation. The installation script should ask you for an alternate directory to install into. 2.3 How to install AnswerBook on 4.x To install a 4.x AnswerBook, you must mount your AnswerBook CD-ROM. Instructions for mounting the CD-ROM are in the cover of the CD-ROM's case. When the CD-ROM is mounted, do the following: 1 - cd to the base directory of the CD-ROM. i.e. /. 2 - Type in ls. You should see the commands cdmand cdmanager. 3 - We will use cdm as an example. Type in `pwd`/cdm. - If you do not intend to share this AnswerBook over the network and have enough room on your /usr partition, use all the defaults as the script walks you through the install. - If you do not have enough room on /usr or intend to share over a network, do the following: If /usr does not have enough space, use the modify option to change $ABHOME from /usr/answerbook to If you are going to share AnswerBook over the network, you should have all the AnswerBook files located under one directory for easy exporting. You can do this by using the modify option to change all of the locations to start with $ABHOME and change $ABHOME to be the directory you intend to export. 2.4 How to create a master card catalog file (Solaris only) Creating a Master Card Catalog on Solaris For example, I just installed the User AnswerBook (SUNWabe) on the AnswerBook server. The AnswerBook server's hostname is appdist. I have installed it in /export/answerbooks I have the automounter running and I am sharing /export/answerbooks with the following line in my /etc/dfs/dfstab file: share -F nfs -o ro /export/answerbooks There are two ways to activate the command above, either reboot or type in shareall -F nfs. From any system, including the AnswerBook server, when you type the following cd /net/appdist/export/answerbooks ls SUNWabe (output of the ls command) cd SUNWabe ls You get the output: ab_cardcatalog index/ ps/ toc/ Notice the ab_cardcatalog file (AnswerBook's configuration file). cat this file: cat ab_cardcatalog # version 1 # # This file was generated by the AnswerBook installation script # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND. # id=SUNWab_8_29: title=Solaris 2.5 User AnswerBook: tocpath=/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/toc: pspath=/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/ps: indexpath=/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/index: Notice that there are no carriage returns. This is one continuous line from "id" to "index:" In this AnswerBook's current state it would run just fine on the AnswerBook server. To create the master card catalog, use the ab_admin command. Type the following on the AnswerBook server: /usr/openwin/bin/ab_admin -file /net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab_cardcatalog -merge /net/appdist/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/ab_cardcatalog The "-file" option creates or merges the master card catalog and the "-merge" is taking the contents of the "Solaris 2.5 User AnswerBook" and adding/creating the master card catalog file. This must be done for each AnswerBook you want to add to the master card catalog file. Now cat out the master card catalog file you just created cat /net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab_cardcatalog # version 1 # # This file was generated by cardcatadmin. # :id=SUNWab_8_29: \ :version=: \ :title=Solaris 2.5 User Answerbook: \ :tocpath=/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/toc: \ :pspath=/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/ps: \ :indexpath=/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/index: Notice that the paths are still not quit correct. You must insert the exact path that you would see on the AnswerBook client system. The master card catalog file is the file that the AnswerBook client uses to see the AnswerBook information on the AnswerBook server, so the paths to the data must be the same as the paths for the AnswerBook client to see the data. The following is what the file would look like after being modified to reflect the correct paths: cat /net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab_cardcatalog # version 1 # # This file was generated by cardcatadmin. # :id=SUNWab_8_29: \ :version=: \ :title=Solaris 2.5 User Answerbook: \ :tocpath=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/toc: \ :pspath=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/ps: \ :indexpath=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/index Note - be careful with editing this file; include a misplaced space or character and it might not work properly. To make sure that this will work, go to an AnswerBook client machine and type the following: cd /net/appdist/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/ps ls ADVOSUG/ ADVOSUG/ ADVOSUG/ (output of ls command) These are the PostScript directories for the User AnswerBook, if you can not see them then you have not shared the directory correctly or the automounter on the AnswerBook client is not working correctly or possibly the automountd or nfsd is not running on the AnswerBook server. The directory is now shared properly, the master card catalog file has been created, and you have put this file in a place were it can be seen from the AnswerBook client side. In this example, the catalog is in /net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab_cardcatalog, and if you cat this file it will display three paths that correlate to the actual directories needed to get to the AnswerBooks data from the client side. Client Setup to see the master card catalog To tell the client that the master card catalog exists, use one of the following three methods: - The simplest ways is to just set the environment variable AB_CARDCATALOG. The procedure varies with the shell you are using: - In the "C" shell, type the following: setenv AB_CARDCATALOG /net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab_cardcatalog - In the Korn shell, type the following: export AB_CARDCATALOG=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab_cardcatalog - In the borne shell, type the following: AB_CARDCATALOG=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab_cardcatalog export AB_CARDCATALOG - The next way works well if you have 1000 machines. Create an answerbook_setup file. This file is executed every time you run AnswerBook, if it exists and is in your path. This file is used to set the AB_CARDCATALOG environment variable. Here is an example of this file: #!/usr/bin/ksh # AB_CARDCATALOG=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab_cardcatalog: {AB_CARDCATALOG} Make sure that this is in the path of every user. Most larger networks have software servers in their paths, and this would be a good place for the answerbook_setup file. The file must be executable: chmod 755 answerbook_setup - The third way is not used very often. Create $HOME/.ab_cardcatalog and put the master card catalog contents into this file. For example, the contents of the file would have the following: # version 1 # # This file was generated by cardcatadmin. # :id=SUNWab_8_29: \ :version=: \ :title=Solaris 2.5 User Answerbook: \ :tocpath=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/toc: \ :pspath=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/ps: \ :indexpath=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/SUNWabe/index 2.5 How to create a master bookinfo file (SunOS Only) This is very similar to the principles in "2.4 How to create a master card catalog" above. If you are going to create a master bookinfo file to share AnswerBook over the network then your should have installed all of the AnswerBook under a single directory or this will be a nightmare. If you have not installed all of the AnswerBook under one location (keep in mind that under SunOS each AnswerBook is its own separate entity, they can not be merged. So when we refer to AnswerBook being installed under one location we mean all of each AnswerBook should be installed in its own directory) then you should remove the AnswerBook an reinstall it, it WILL save you time. You can tell if it is all in one place pretty much by just typing in which AnswerBook, if it comes back with /usr/openwin/bin then it is most likely the default install, again it WILL save you time to reinstall the AnswerBook with a custom install, so that all the file are located under one directory so that it can easily be exported. After the AnswerBook is installed under one directory, there is a file in $ABHOME called bookinfo. This file is a text file and is not to be confused with the binary bookinfo in $ABHOME/bin, if this is the location where you have installed your AnswerBook binaries. If you cat this file out, you will see a lot of output consisting of lines like the following: SLCINSTALL:/export/answerbooks:/export/answerbooks::System Software Answerbook Release 1, Issue 5 There are two methods to turn this file into a master bookinfo file 1. If you are running the automounter then you can export the directory that contains the AnswerBook by adding the directory to /etc/exports file, for example: /export/answerbooks 1. Reboot or run /usr/etc/exportfs -a 2. Change all the paths in the bookinfo file from /export/answerbooks to /net//export/answerbooks. This is easily done by using textedit and using the global replace option and then saving the file. Be careful not to add any spaces, because this might make the file fail. 3. Set the BOOKINFO environment variable on the answerbook client, so when your run the answerbook script from the answerbook server it can find the right bookinfo, for example: setenv BOOKINF /net//export/answerbooks/bookinfo It is recommended that, as in the example above where I installed AnswerBook in /export/answerbooks, you could create /export/answerbook on the AnswerBook client and then mount that directory from the AnswerBook server, so that as far as the AnswerBook is concerned all the paths are the same on the AnswerBook client as they are on the AnswerBook server. So, now that you have mounted the AnswerBook with the same paths as on the AnswerBook server, no modifications to the bookinfo file are necessary. 2.6 How to share 2.3 or later AnswerBooks over a network See "2.4 How to create a master card catalog" 2.7 How to share 4.x AnswerBooks over a network See "2.5 How to create a master bookinfo file" 2.8 How to convert a bookinfo file to an ab_cardcatalog file You might want to view 4.x AnswerBook from a Solaris 2.x systems (Viewing 2.x AnswerBooks from a 4.x system is not supported through nfs and will most likely not work at all, but remote displaying should be OK). First, you must have a 4.x system that you can mount from, because you cannot install a 4.x AnswerBook on a Solaris 2.x system. Once you have the 4.x AnswerBook mounted, locate the bookinfo file. If you have mounted it as /export/answerbooks/ab1.1.1 onto the AnswerBook server, you might want to give your self write permission as root on the mounted directory to run this command so you can keep the file we are about to create with the 4.x AnswerBook, then change it back to read only, if necessary, after you have run the following command on the Solaris 2.x AnswerBook server: /usr/openwin/bin/ab_admin -file /export/answerbooks/ab1.1.1/ab_cardcatalog -convert /export/answerbooks/ab1.1.1/bookinfo You should now have a file in /export/answerbooks/ab1.1.1 named ab_cardcatalog. If you cat this file out it will look something like the following: :id=SUNWab_1_5: \ :version=: \ :title=System Software AnswerBook Release 1, Issue 5: \ :tocpath=/export/answerbooks/ab1.1.1: \ :pspath=/export/answerbooks/ab1.1.1: \ :indexpath=/export/answerbooks/ab1.1.1/sr_index/SUNW1_5: You have now converted the bookinfo file to an ab_cardcatalog file. If you want to use this over the network, you must modify the file to look like the following, assuming that we are using the example master card catalog from "2.4 How to create a master card catalog file". It should look like the following: :id=SUNWab_1_5: \ :version=: \ :title=System Software AnswerBook Release 1, Issue 5: \ :tocpath=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab1.1.1: \ :pspath=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab1.1.1: \ :indexpath=/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab1.1.1/sr_index/SUNW1_5: 2.9 How to merge a new AnswerBook on Solaris 2.3 or later into an existing master card catalog. This is the same as "2.4 How to create a master card catalog file", except: - You are specifying an existing master card catalog this time for the "-file" option. - The new ab_cardcatalog file that was installed by the new AnswerBook, is used with the "-merge" option, for example: /usr/openwin/bin/ab_admin -file /net/appdist/export/answerbooks/ab_cardcatalog -merge/net/appdist/export/answerbooks/SUNWaadm/ab_cardcatalog The above line would add the System Administrator's AnswerBook, assuming that it was installed in /net/appdist/export/answerbooks. 2.95 How to generate a global cardcatalog file for Solaris 2.x Below is a script which will create a master cardcatalog file for all your locally installed answerbooks. Once the cardcatalog file is generated, the file needs to moved to a location in your PATH and modified so that users on client machines can access them. Ex. /net/server/opt/answerbook Don't foget to share the answerbooks with the clients and have them setup the AB_CARDACTALOG environment variable to point to the newly created cardcatalog file. #!/bin/ksh PATH=$OPENWINHOME/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:. echo Mapping Local Answerbook Cardcatalog locations. echo Also generating new global ab_cardcatalog file echo in temporary /tmp/new_global_ab_cardcatalog.$$ echo See Instructions at the end of this file. echo echo Searching: for i in `pkginfo | grep -i answer | awk '{print $2}'` do # # An Answerbook's card catalog or bookinfo file # (should) always reside in teh directory specified # by that Answerbook's "ABHOME" package parameter. # The usage of this parameter has been somewhat inconsistent # in the past, so we actually need to check in # $BASEDIR/$ABHOME as well as $ABHOME. # ABHOME=$(pkgparam $i ABHOME) if [ ! -d "$ABHOME" ] then BASEDIR=$(pkgparam $i BASEDIR) ABHOME=$BASEDIR/$ABHOME fi ls $ABHOME/ab_cardcatalog ab_admin -file /tmp/new_global_ab_cardcatalog.$$ -merge ABHOME/ab_cardcatalog done echo echo DO not forget to manually edit and copy /tmp/new_global_ab_cardcatalog. $ echo to the location where clients can mount it. echo echo Do not forget to change all references in the new-global_ab_cardcatalog.$$ echo to paths that are actually available to clients. echo echo Do not forget to set the AB_CARDCATALOG environment variable echo for all users on the clients accessing global answerbooks. echo echo Do not forget to share answerbook locations from the server echo and mount them from the client. echo 3.0 Some Common problems and Solutions for AnswerBook 3.1 Problems and Solutions for SunOS 3.11 Can 4.x AnswerBooks be merged? 4.x AnswerBooks cannot be merged. If you have installed two AnswerBooks in the same directory, you must remove both AnswerBooks and reinstall. Each AnswerBook under 4.x is it own self-contained program. Each AnswerBook under 4.x will install its own AnswerBook script and binaries. 3.12 Why do I get an error referring to "4ASSY" while installing AnswerBook? The following error message occurs during AnswerBook installation: "Search Indexes/Book Databases" installation underway... Please Wait XX ERROR: in Extracting Index "4ASSY" XX Errors in installing item "Search Indexes/Book Database Before you install AnswerBook with either cdm or cdmanager, make sure the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH includes the directory with the OpenWindows libraries, usually ${OPENWINHOME}/lib. setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH ${OPENWINHOME}/lib 3.13 Why can't I remotely display my SunOS AnswerBook (psh or test: arg expected errors)? Attempts to remotely display AnswerBook is failing with one of the following error messages: "/usr/openwin/bin/psh: cannot connect to window server" or "answerbook: test: argument expected" This is happening because the AnswerBook startup script is doing a check for the server version (OpenWindows 2.0 or OpenWindows 3.0) and is relying on output from psh, which expects OpenWindows to be running. If the server where AnswerBook is running has no Sun terminal attached (usually the case, because most people only have dumb terminals attached to their servers), the psh command will fail since OpenWindows is not running on the server. The "test: argument expected" message appears because the execution of psh fails, hence the "serverversion" assignment fails in the AnswerBook script. The workaround is to modify the way that the AnswerBook startup script checks for the serverversion variable as follows: 1. Replace the following lines (beginning at around line 112) in the "answerbook" startup script on the server machine: (Note: This script will be in either $OPENWINHOME/bin/xview, /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, or $ABHOME/bin). if ["X$startNavigator" = "Xtrue"]; then if [`expr "$serverversion -gt 2"`]; then navigator $nArgs 'syssoft_ab' & else .navigator.ow2 $nArgs 'syssoft_ab' & fi fi with: if ["X$startNavigator" = "Xtrue"]; then if [-f ${OPENWINHOME:-/usr/openwin}/lib/libxview.so.3.1]; then navigator $nArgs 'syssoft_ab' & else .navigator.ow2 $nArgs 'syssoft_ab' & fi fi 2. Comment out line 11 in the answerbook startup script, which looks like the following: serverversion=`echo "version ==" | $OPENWINHOME/bin/psh | sed 's; (;;p'| sed 's;\.[0-9][0-9]*)$;;p'` 3.14 What causes the "bookinfo not found" error message? During the installation of AnswerBook, the location of the bookinfo file is configured within the answerbook startup script. This means that AnswerBook will assume the location of bookinfo to be the same each time. If the location of bookinfo changes (e.g., the mount point changes) set the environment variable BOOKINFO to point to the current location. For example: % setenv BOOKINFO /usr/AnswerBook/SysSoft1.x/bookinfo Make sure the mount point stated in the first line of the bookinfo file matches the BOOKINFO path set above. Otherwise, use "vi" or "texteditor" to modify the lines: Example: % /usr/openwin/bin/textedit /usr/AnswerBook/SysSoft1.x/bookinfo Use the "Replace All" Text Editor feature to make a uniform change, for example: Select "Find and Replace..." (by clicking right mouse button) Find: /mnt/AnswerBook Replace All: /usr/AnswerBook 3.15 Can AnswerBook be display on an Xterminal/Xemulation? See 3.24 below for a full description. 3.16 Why does AnswerBook sometimes not print large sections or the entire AnswerBook? Printing large documents in AnswerBook requires proper resources to do so. If there is insufficient disk space in the spool directory or if the Laser printer has only a small amount of memory, large documents might not print and usually yield some sort of PostScript error. As a workaround, instead of trying to print out entire books (i.e., hundreds of pages), print out smaller sections of the document. Another option is to try patch-id #100409, which is known to resolve some resource problems. For more detail suggestions, please refer to SunSolve Infodoc/SRDB 2240. 3.17 Why does AnswerBook not print at all? Make sure the $OPENWINHOME variable is set properly and that $OPENWINHOME/bin or $ABHOME/bin is in your $PATH. 3.18 Why do I get the message "Can't perform search on collection" when starting AnswerBook? The error looks like: Verifying environment... Can't perform search on collection. Reason: F/T error code 2 AnswerBook cannot start until these problems are resolved. Report error messages to the system administrator. AnswerBook cannot use a directory that is a tmpfs file system. By default, AnswerBook uses /usr/tmp. Check to see if that directory is a tmpfs filesystem with the following command: df /usr/tmp If the "df" command indicates that the file system is swap, then tmpfs is being used for that directory. To have AnswerBook use another directory, set the environment variable FULTEMP to another directory that AnswerBook can use as temporary space: setenv FULTEMP some_other_dir 3.2 Problems and Solutions for Solaris 3.21 Why do I get "bookinfo not found" errors on Solaris AnswerBooks? In most case this is because of one of two situation: 1. You have installed a package that contains a version of the older AnswerBook and it is now in your path. If you do a which AnswerBook you should come back with /usr/openwin/bin/answerbook; if not, you must put /usr/openwin/bin in your path first. 2. You have mounted a file system that contains an older AnswerBook and it is in your path first. If you do a which AnswerBook you should come back with /usr/openwin/bin/answerbook; if not, you must put /usr/openwin/bin in your path first. 3.22 What is the reason for the: 'Answerbook " Answerbook" is not accessible' message or 'AnswerBook "xxxx AnswerBook" is not accessible. Can't find card catalog entry for the AnswerBook'? Only a "Continue" button is available. The reason for the first message: AnswerBook cannot follow the paths being specified in the ab_cardcatalog file (e.g., /opt/SUNWabe/ab_cardcatalog) to look for the necessary files. This is more likely when the user forgets to mount the CD-ROM when a nil, or medium install option is chosen. Solution: 1. If volume manager is running (default), insert the AnswerBook CD into the CD player. The CD will then be automatically mounted. 2. If volume manager is not working well, turn it off with /etc/init.d/volmgt stop 3. Then mount the CD-ROM manually with: mount -rF hsfs dev/dsk/c0t6d0s2 /cdrom 4. Make sure: a. to find /cdrom/SUNWabook. b. that the variables in ab_cardcatalog file (tocpath, pspath & indexpath) are referencing /cdrom/SUNWabook/..... The reason for the second message: This is likely to happen when using a networked environment with different collections of AnswerBooks installed on different Solaris 2.x machines. The $HOME/.ab_library file is updated whenever a user chooses "Modify Library...", and this file reflects the default selection on one particular system. If a user starts AnswerBook on another system that does not contain the AnswerBook collection specified in the $HOME/.ab_library file, this message is displayed. It is harmless in this case. 3.23 What kind of problem would give me the following error message? "/ab_cardcatalog[#]::id=SUNWab_2_6: : not found" The /usr/openwin/bin/answerbook_setup file has a bug. e.g.: #!/bin/ksh # AB_CARDCATALOG=${AB_CARDCATALOG}: \ /opt/Solaris_2.2_AB/ab_cardcatalog export AB_CARDCATALOG The extra space on line 2 above (between the ":" and "\") caused AnswerBook to give "/opt/Solaris_2.2_AB/ab_cardcatalog[6]::id=SUNWab_2_6:: not found" if /opt/Solaris_2.2_AB/ab_cardcatalog is executable, otherwise it gives "/usr/openwin/bin/answerbook[478]: /opt/Solaris_2.2_AB/ab_cardcatalog: cannot execute" Solution: Remove the space between ":" and "\", or change AB_CARDCATALOG=${AB_CARDCATALOG}: \ /opt/Solaris_2.2_AB/ab_cardcatalog to AB_CARDCATALOG=${AB_CARDCATALOG}:\ /opt/Solaris_2.2_AB/ab_cardcatalog This is a bug introduced in the following AnswerBook section and is identified as bug-id #1135574: Solaris 2.2 System AnswerBook Solaris 2.2 Administrator's Set (Set) Solaris 2.2 AnswerBook Administration Guide (Book) AnswerBook Administration Installing and Setting Up an AnswerBook (Section) Setting Up AnswerBook on a Network (Subsection) p. 10, step 8 3.24 Can AnswerBook be displayed on an Xterminal/Xemulator? When trying to display AnswerBook on a non-Sun display, you might encounter the following problems: The Navigator comes up, and lets you search for documents. However, when a document is selected, the Viewer will not come up. Generally a popup will appear with the message: "Can't start viewer" and the following message will appear in the console or starting shell: "Null pointer passed to xv_set" Because the AnswerBook documents are PostScript documents, a PostScript interpreter is required for AnswerBook. Before Solaris 2.3, Sun provided XNeWS as a part of the Xserver. With Solaris 2.3 and later, Sun provides Adobe Display PostScript extensions to the Xserver. AnswerBook prior to the version shipped with Solaris 2.3 will only run on an XNeWS server; the AnswerBook shipped with versions 2.3 and later of Solaris will run on either XNeWS or Adobe DPS. No other vendors provide XNeWS support in their Xservers. Few other X display vendors provide the Adobe DPS extensions. (As of this writing, Tektronix and NCD are two vendors which make DPS available.) To discover if your vendor includes these extensions, try the following: xdpyinfo | grep vendor If you have XNeWS, you should see: vendor string: X11/NeWS - Sun Microsystems Inc. vendor release number: 3000 To check for Adobe DPS, try this: xdpyinfo | grep -i dps Unless you see something like the following: Adobe-DPS-Extension DPSExtension You will need one of the workarounds described below. Please be aware that AnswerBook is not supported by Sun on non-Sun displays, and that these are workarounds, not supported configurations. For Solaris 2.2 and Earlier: To use AnswerBook under X11R5, you can replace the docviewer program with xdocviewer. Xdocviewer does not support all the options that the "real" docviewer supports such as "hypertext" links. To install "xdocviewer" you will need the following programs. Perl-4 patchlevel 35 Ghostscript 2.4 or above GSpreview 2.1 or above or Ghostview 1.3 or above xdocviewer All of these should be available from prep.ai.mit.edu. They are located in the /pub/gnu directory and not supported as a docviewer on sun machines. xdocviewer should be available from the /contrib directory on host ftp.x.org. At the time of this writing, xdocviewer was not available for Solaris 2.3 and later. ** The ftp sites above might or might not have file mentioned above For Solaris 2.3 and Later: There is also a replacement for the missing DPS extension, provided by Adobe, called Adobe NX. This is a client which runs on the UNIX host and displays to the Xserver you wish to display AnswerBook on. It sits between docviewer and the Xserver, and translates the DPS instructions into X calls. Contact Adobe for details. Either of these methods might have performance drawbacks. 3.25 Why does AnswerBook sometimes not print large section/entire AnswerBook? See 3.16 for further details. 3.26 Why does AnswerBook not print at all? See 3.17 for further details. 3.27 After starting openwindows and start AnswerBook, I get the message "The AnswerBook Library $HOME/.ab_library is locked for use by another Navigator " If you get this popup menu, it is from one of two possible situations: 1. AnswerBook is already running as this user. 2. You exited from the windowing environment without exiting AnswerBook first. For further information see bug id 1209527 If there is no other AnswerBook running that is owned by this user, choose "Reset Lock, then Open". 3.28 I get the following error while trying to search my AnswerBook: "Too many search indices included in merged index" Under Solaris 2.3 and 2.4, you might have problems searching more than 16 collections at a time. This is fixed under Solaris 2.5. The current workaround is to search less than 16 AnswerBooks at any given time. 3.29 Can not see all AnswerBooks as user but can see all AnswerBooks as root If you getting AnswerBook from an AnswerBook server, you might have problems with the mount point. Check your console window for NetISAM errors. If you do not see any in your console window, check /var/adm/messages, if you see errors like the following: Feb 14 10:14:02 NetISAM[635]: Fatal error getcwd() failed - UNIX errno 13 Feb 14 10:14:02 NetISAM[635]: Fatal error getcwd() failed - UNIX errno 9 AnswerBook uses NetISAM for certain database files which it needs access to in order to run. One of several things might be preventing that access: 1. If you are attempting to access AnswerBook files across the network, there might be a mountpoint permissions problem. In this case, you will be able to run the AnswerBook on the machine where the files are installed, or remotely as root, but not remotely as a regular user. To correct this problem, run: umount ls -ld and both sides should have at least 755 for the permission on both mount point. Remember that without umounting the directory, the client side mount point's permissions are hidden (usually the cause of the problem). 2. If you cannot run the AnswerBook locally, and are seeing NetISAM errors, check each AnswerBook package for file problems. Use pkginfo to find out what AnswerBook packages you have on your system (Solaris 2.x). E.g.: pkginfo | grep -i answerbook application SUNWabNPT NeWSprint 2.5 AnswerBook application SUNWabe Solaris 2.4 User AnswerBook Then use pkgchk on each of the specified packages to find out which files are damaged: pkgchk SUNWabe If pkgchk returns nothing, the package is undamaged. If pkgchk returns an error such as: ERROR: /opt/SUNWabe/index/index.cat file size <295552> expected <4096> actual file cksum <29679> expected <56885> actual then the package is damaged and should be removed with pkgrm, then reinstalled with pkgadd. (Warning -- do not simply remove the files with rm -r. This will corrupt your package database.) For further information, see man pkginfo, pkgrm, and pkgadd. 3.30 Getting the following error message in /var/adm/messages: "Feb 14 10:14:02 NetISAM[635]: Fatal error getcwd() failed - UNIX errno 13 or 9" See 3.29 for further details. 3.31 Why do I get the error "Can't Follow Hypertext Link" This happens because the link is trying to link to an AnswerBook you do not have. Also, sometimes these links will point to older AnswerBooks. If this is happening, use the "search" in AnswerBook to look for the subject of the hypertext link. There is a chance that your link is not pointing to the most current information. 3.32 Why do I get "" when I try to start AnswerBook? The most common reason for this is that you have a standalone system that is not connected to the network. If this is so, then start openwindows with the "-noauth" option or in a shell window type in: /usr/openwin/bin/xhost + 4.0 Patches 4.1 Core AnswerBook patches for SunOS Patch-ID# 100753 OpenWindows 3.0: XNeWs dumps core viewing AnswerBook page 4.2 Patches related to AnswerBook for SunOS Patch-ID# 100444 OpenWindows 3.0: OpenWindows V3.0 Server Patch 3000-124 Patch-ID# 100452 OpenWindows 3.0: XView 3.0 Jumbo Patch 4.3 Core AnswerBook patches for Solaris Patch-ID# 101726 OpenWindows 3.3: Unable to print certain AnswerBook pages to LaserWriter Patch-ID# 101865 OpenWindows 3.3 Jumbo patch for libdps; Patch-ID# 102128 OpenWindows 3.3: docviewer fixes Patch-ID# 102676 OpenWindows 3.4_x86: bitmap sizing problem on Japanese Answerbook Patch-ID# 102350 OpenWindows 3.4_x86: Docviewer won't start when colormap is near full Patch-ID# 102671 OpenWindows 3.4: libserverdps Jumbo patch Patch-ID# 102140 OpenWindows 3.4: docviewer print popup takes too long with many printers Patch-ID# 102450 OpenWindows 3.4: Docviewer will not start when colormap is near full 4.4 Patches related to AnswerBook for Solaris Patch-ID# 101362 OpenWindows 3.3: Server (Xsun) Jumbo Patch Patch-ID# 102057 OpenWindows 3.4: Server (Xsun) Jumbo Patch Patch-ID# 103210 OpenWindows 3.5: Server (Xsun) Jumbo Patch Patch-ID# 103566 OpenWindows 3.5.1: Xsun patch (synchronizes with 2.5) 5.0 Known Bugs & RFE's See the SunSolve database for Bugs and RFE's for AnswerBook. 6.0 References Using the Sun System Software AnswerBook (SunOS) System Administrator's Guide to AnswerBook: Installation and Administration (Solaris 2.3) Software and AnswerBook Packages Administration Guide (Solaris 2.4) System Administration Guide, Volume I (Book) (Chapters 20-23) (Solaris 2.5) 7.0 Informational to help tech support solve the problem 7.1 Basic information Here are some generic questions, for more details see below for specific troubleshooting. Are you getting any errors? Console window /var/adm/messages Popup windows Has AnswerBook ever worked before? If so, what has changed since it stopped working, no matter how insignificant? Is this a standalone system? Networked Non-networked If so, was it networked at one point? Has anything changed on the network since the problem started? (IP Address, hostname changes) How are you starting AnswerBook? In a shelltool, can you start AnswerBook by typing in: /usr/openwin/bin/answerbook? (Is answerbook in your path?) Does AnswerBook work as root? If this document has not solved your problem and your are either on Warranty or Contract, fill out the template in 7.6 and send it to the tech support person to expedite the process. 7.2 Create a new user for testing purpose Creating a new user on the local system should eliminate user configuration problems. After creating the new user make sure that your /etc/nsswitch.conf (Solaris only) has "files" first on the following lines: passwd: files nis group: files nis hosts: files nis Now log out, then log in as the new user and run AnswerBook. Do you still see the same problem? 7.3 AnswerBook's navigator will not start For Solaris or SunOS Type the following commands: cd $HOME script sh -x //answerbook exit The file typescript will be created in your home directory. Search through this file for possible errors or send it to a tech support person. There is another command to run that a tech support person might find useful. Type the following command, for Solaris Only /usr/bin/truss -o /tmp/ab-truss.out -ef /usr/openwin/bin/answerbook Send the /tmp/ab-truss.out file to a tech support person 7.4 AnswerBook's docviewer will not start Answer all generic questions first. When double-clicking on a document, if it does not come up and nothing above helps then run these commands: For Solaris: ps -ef | grep -i navigator Get the PID /usr/bin/truss -o /tmp/ab-truss.out -e -p For SunOS: ps -aux | grep -i navigator Get the PID /bin/trace -o /tmp/ab-trace.out -p Send the /tmp/ab-.out file to a tech support person 7.5 AnswerBook will not print Can you print to a file then run lp ? Are you trying to print an entire AnswerBook? If so, then see above "Printing large AnswerBook files." 7.6 Template to fill out to help tech support to solve your problems if none of the above helped What OS are you using? What Windowing environment are you using? (CDE, OpenWindows, or Motif) What is your patch level? (/usr/bin/showrev -p > /tmp/ab-patch.out (Solaris only)) What is the exact error? Did you check the console window? Did you check /var/adm/messages? Did you check the popup window? Has AnswerBook worked at any point? If so, what has changed since it stopped working, no matter how insignificant? Is this a standalone system? Networked? Non-networked? If so, was it networked at one point? How are you starting AnswerBook? In a shelltool, will AnswerBook start if you type in: //answerbook? Does AnswerBook work as root or any other user? Is AnswerBook installed on a remote system or local? Run the following commands and send the output files: env | sort | > /tmp/ab-env.out On the system that is having the problem, run: xdpyinfo > /tmp/ab-xdpy.out Keep handy any of the output file from Troubleshooting 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, or 7.5, if applicable. 8.0 Supportability SunService is not responsible for the initial configuration of your AnswerBook environment. Consulting services are available from Sun to provide these services on a flat fee or per hour consulting rate. Contact your local Sun office for further information on those services. We can help resolve problems where AnswerBook is not behaving correctly. We cannot guarantee a solution to problems involving non-Sun hosts. 9.0 Additional Support For initial configuration, please contact your local SunService office for possible consulting offerings. Sun's Customer Relations organization can put you in touch with your local Sun Integration or Sales office. You can reach Customer Relations at 800-821-4643. PRODUCT AREA: Applications PRODUCT: AnswerBook SUNOS RELEASE: any HARDWARE: any ¿ Copyright 1994-1999 Sun Microsystems, Inc.