Summary Manual - Quick Start

Quick Start Guide

Summary runs on many platforms including Windows 95/98/NT, Macintosh, Linux running on x86 family hardware, MacOS X Server, and Sun SPARC workstations.

You must be running an internet browser while you are running Summary, either on the same machine or on a different machine. Your web browser functions as your user interface for both configuring Summary and viewing reports. On Macintosh, you must also have an active internet connection while you are running Summary.

Memory requirements vary depending on the size of the log file being analyzed but 6 Meg free while running a browser should do it for average size log files. Larger log files may require far more memory.

Step One
You must get a copy of your log file onto your local machine or on a file system that is mounted on the local machine over the network so that it can be accessed as a normal file. If you don't know how to do this you should contact your server administrator or web hosting provider for more information on how to get a copy of your log file.

The procedure for getting a copy of your log file varies widely between different service providers and server configurations. Your web hosting provider or server administrator is the person who will know how you can get a copy.

Step Two
Place your log file (or an alias/shortcut/symbolic link to your log file) in the "logs" folder. Logs can either be compressed with GZip or not compressed at all.

Step Three
Run the "Summary" application. On Linux, Sun, and MacOS X Server you give the command line command './summary' after changing to the directory Summary was installed in. Summary will display a heading including a line like:

Set web browser to "http://your.machine.net/"

The URL inside the quotes, displayed by your copy of Summary, is the Web address you should use to access Summary.

Step Four
Run your web browser and enter the Web address for your copy of Summary (from step three) into the location or URL line of your web browser and press enter. This address will be the address of the computer you are running Summary on.

All user interaction with Summary is handled through the web browser.

The first time you run Summary, you will want to go to the configuration page and enter at least the site descriptive name and the preferred domain name. The configuration page is accessed by clicking on the config button in the Summary header. Most configuration settings will not take effect until the next time you process the log file.

Registered versions of Summary will not display the "Unregistered" message on every page, and they will enable an option to process logs automatically every N hours. Beta test versions may use the registration code: 0000-3794-0000-2130. This code only works for Beta test versions. Official release versions require that you register to get an official registration code, or get a 30 day demo code from the Summary.Net web site.

You can quit Summary by selecting "Quit" from the FIle menu (Macintosh) or by pressing 'Q' on the keyboard while Summary is the current application (Macintosh and Windows), or by giving the command 'summary -quit' from the Summary directory (Linux, Sun, and MacOS X Server).

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