SSServer(TM) User Troubleshooting and Frequently Asked Questions:
Instructions for Web Masters

  1. SSServer does not respond: I type in a query, hit the Search button on the query form but my browser indicates "Connection refused".
    Check if your computer is connected to the Internet. For example, enter your Home Page URL in the browser: your Web server may be simply "down" at the moment.

  2. My Home Page is seen perfectly but still after typing in queries, I receive the error message "The page cannot be found".
    Your Web server is unable to find and execute the file ssserver. Make sure the directory in which you have installed SSServer™ can be accessed by your Web server; check also if the virtual name (alias) that corresponds to this directory is correct. If not, fix the problem(s) by configuring your server or by editing the ACTION attribute in the search form:
    <FORM ACTION="cgi-bin/ssserver" METHOD="POST">

  3. While issuing a query, I am prompted to download the file ssserver. Why doesn't it respond with a search report?
    SSServer is now accessible by remote browsers, but yet your Web server has not been instructed to execute files from the SSServer root directory. You should allow your Web server to execute files from this directory.

  4. SSServer replies with an error message "Error reading configuration file".
    The configuration file must exist in the ssserverdata subdirectory of the SSServer root directory. The simplest way to fix the problem is to reinstall SSServer: the required configuration file ssserver.ini with the default SSServer settings will be automatically created.

  5. SSServer replies with the error message "Unable to create work directory".
    SSServer must be allowed to read, write and execute files in the ssserverdata subdirectory of its root directory. Modify permission and give ssserver the required rights.

  6. When I press the Help button on the SSServer query form, I get a message "Help is not available".
    Place the file help.htm in the ssserverdata subdirectory of the SSServer root directory.

  7. I get the error message "Unable to search: error opening file filelist.txt"
    The file filelist.txt must exist in the ssserverdata subdirectory of the SSServer root directory. Run SSServer Web-based configuration utility sssconf to create and modify this file.

  8. I get the error message "Unable to search: error opening dictionary."
    Reinstall SSServer. Also, you can visit Kryloff Technologies' Page and download the required language dictionary from http://www.kryltech.com/langsupp.htm.

  9. I get an error message "Error generating the final report" or "error generating the site map"
    While functioning, ssserver creates, modifies and deletes temporary files in the ssserverdata/workdir subdirectory. Modify permission to give ssserver the required rights.

  10. I get the error message "Building maps is not allowed on this site"
    Despite the fact that your configuration file (usually, ssserver.ini) contains the instruction ALLOWSITEMAP=NO, somebody is trying to obtain it! All instructions in your configuration file have the highest priority.

  11. My site contains pages in two languages. How can I instruct SSServer to process my files correctly?
    Create two different query forms for these languages. These two forms should refer to different configuration files, for example:
    <INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="CONFIG" VALUE="ssserver1.ini"> in the first form, and
    <INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="CONFIG" VALUE="ssserver2.ini"> in the second one.

    File ssserver1.ini instructs SSServer™ to search files listed in filelist1.txt in one language while file ssserver2.ini instructs the program to process other files in another language. For example:

    File ssserver1.ini:
    LANGUAGE=English.ssl
    FILELIST=EnglishFilesList.txt
    WORKDIR=WorkdirForEnglishFiles

    File ssserver2.ini:
    LANGUAGE=Russian.ssl
    FILELIST=RussianFilesList.txt
    WORKDIR=WorkdirForRussianFiles

    File EnglishFileList.txt:
    DIR=/usr/local/www/data/EnglishFolder/
    URL=http://www.mycompany.com/EnglishFolder/

    File RussianFileList.txt:
    DIR=/usr/local/www/data/RussianFolder/
    URL=http://www.mycompany.com/RussianFolder/

    Finally, place both forms on your Web server's pages; also explain your visitors that they may type in queries in English using the first form, and in Russian using the second one. The search form can look as follows:
    Search my site in English:Search my site in Russian:

    Note that the WORKDIR parameters should be different in different configuration files as shown in the example.

  12. SSServer is too slow; moreover, I see "garbage" in some quotations that are displayed in its search reports.
    SSServer™ v1.0 is designed to process HTML and ASCII text files only. But, if file filelist.txt contains the DIR= instruction, the application scans ALL FILES IN THIS DIRECTORY. So, if along with HTML's and texts, a directory also contains huge binary files, then these files are searched as well! This could slow down the performance and also produce "garbage".

    Exclude this directory from the filelist.txt. After it, include only the required files from this directory into the list on the "per file" level, e.g. using the instruction FILE=. Keep in mind, that SSServer does not select text and HTML files based on their extension: it processed all files in a given directory (without subdirectories) when it runs into the DIR= instruction.

  13. While searching literally, SSServer reports with the beginning of my HTML documents. Is there any way to make it display document summaries, instead?
    Yes, there is. Include the META tag in the header section of your Web site documents. For example:
    <META NAME="DESCRIPTION" CONTENT="This document is about this and that...">
    SSServer™ identifies this tag with the document summary and places it into the resulting report for all files in which it is found.

  14. I see the warning message "English (or another language) does not appear to be the language of your search phrase." How can I get rid of it?
    First, try another question: it is very unlikely that the one you have asked was really in English. For example, you could have typed in digits only.

    SSServer™ checks the language of your search phrase and compares it with the language dictionary. If this error message constantly appears in SSServer reports, make sure that you have correctly entered your language in the configuration file ssserver.ini (check the statement LANGUAGE=).

  15. I see a warning message "Error reading file "file.html" in all SSServer reports."
    The actual file has been renamed or deleted while the FILE= instruction, which refers to the old file, is still present in filelist.txt. Remove the corresponding instruction from the file list.

  16. My Web site is hosted on a remote computer. Is there any way to install and use SSServer on my site?
    Yes, there is. Just extract it in a temporary directory on your PC, edit configuration files and upload the contents of this temporary directory with subdirectories on your Web server. The detailed instructions are given in the Read Me file, the section "Remote Installation".

  17. What file types are supported by SSServer?
    SSServer internally supports HTML and plain text documents. However, there is a way to process other types of files, see Read Me file, the section "File types supported by SSServer™" for details.

    SSServer™ and Subject Search Server™ are trademarks of Kryloff Technologies, Inc.