Request shorter URL for simple-search

[funderburkjim]

This was discussed in #18.

The request by @gasyoun is to use

https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/s/...

in place of current

https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/simple/...

[gasyoun]

Not just

https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/s/

but even

https://sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/s/

[funderburkjim]

The 'www.' is not required:

https://sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/simple/lan/ca

I'm still not comfortable changing 'simple' to 's', however.

[gasyoun]

The 'www.' is not required

Let us have a rule that www. is redirected no to non-www, so it never arrives anymore. No need to have it. Length matters.

[funderburkjim]

The way the .htaccess rule is written,

both https://sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/simple/lan/ca

and https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/simple/lan/ca

work the same.

So, its just a matter of user convention which is used. When we document or publicize the
link, we can use the non-www version.

[gasyoun]

So, its just a matter of user convention which is used. When we document or publicize the
link, we can use the non-www version.

Thanks a lot!

Now we have:
https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/SKDScan/2020/web/index.php (75 characters)

Let us have:
https://sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/SKD/ (49 characters)

1. www. (4 characters), sanskrit-lexicon is already a subdomain of uni-koeln.de
2. index.php (9 characters), web/index.php and web/ both work identically at least since 1999, when I first learned the lesson
3. /scans/SKDScan/2020/web/ remains, (25 characters). What if we leave /scans/SKD/20/ (15 characters) or even /scans/SKD, so make 20 open by default, if needed only then introduce additional year (20 instead of 2020)

Short links will never break! A 26 character shorter link will break 100 times less frequent.

[alexander-myltsev]

I suggest to resolve the issue by modifying the Apache config with rules that rewrite URL. @funderburkjim , could you give me access to the server? My telegram is alex_myltsev. @gasyoun Mārcis is OK with that :)

[funderburkjim]

access to the server?

@alexander-myltsev Sorry, no.

If you want to suggest rewrite rule (s), please provide one such (to start), and I'll examine and perhaps put it in an .htaccess file on the server as an experiment.

If you do supply such an .htaccess rule, please provide good documentation of

• what you expect the rewrite rule to accomplish; include many examples.
  • I have found the documentation of rewrite rules to be obscure and difficult to test.
• the directory in whose .htaccess file the rule should be placed.

[alexander-myltsev]

@funderburkjim I need to run it locally to experiment with Apache rules. is there the instruction how can I run the project locally?

[funderburkjim]

There are some instructions at https://github.com/sanskrit-lexicon/COLOGNE/tree/master/localinstall

You should take a look at the mac notes, even if you are installing on Windows (xampp instructions).
Especially the 'download1.sh and or download2.sh in mac notes may be userful.

xampp provides a local apache-php server. If you already have such a server (e.g. on a linux box),
you don't have to use xampp.
But the xampp installation instructions also allow remaking dictionaries which require more installations, such as Python.

[funderburkjim]

One option would be, on a Windows PC,

• install xampp (and sqlite3), according to xampp instruction directory/
• install displays for maybe two dictionaries (say mw and md).

You will then have a file system like:

• cologne (in htdocs directory of xampp)
  • mw
  • md
  • .htaccess

You can make copies of say md, with other names (more like the cologne server directories)

your display urls will be like localhost/cologne/md/web/,
or localhost/cologne/md/web/webtc/indexcaller.php.

To play with urls more similar to those on Cologne server,
you could:

• cd cologne
• mkdir tscans (like scans at Cologne -- you might be able to use 'scans')
• mkdir tscans
• mkdir tscans/MDScan
• cp -r md tscans/MDScan/2020

Then you would be able to use urls like http://localhost/cologne/tscans/MDScan/2020/web/webtc/indexcaller.php

[alexander-myltsev]

@funderburkjim do you occasionally have Docker file to set it up?

[funderburkjim]

No Docker file.

Have you got a local Apache server with PHP? If not, then can you install one from XAMPP?

[alexander-myltsev]

If I make Dockerfile, would you accept PR?

[drdhaval2785]

I think there is no harm in accepting PRs for Docker file.

[funderburkjim]

All I need back from you is the .htaccess file.
I don't know what a PR is, or what 'accepting PRs for Docker file' means.

[funderburkjim]

Once you have Apache with PHP, you can download a dictionary display.
Go to https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2020/web/webtc/download.html
and download the mwweb1.zip file, and the readme.txt file. The readme should explain what to do relative to your Apache-PHP installation, so you will have a local version of the MW dictionary.

[funderburkjim]

If 'PR' means 'pull request', I would rather not add a Docker file to any of sanskrit-lexicon repositories.

[alexander-myltsev]

@funderburkjim this seems like a long instruction to follow :) If you host the server in a cloud, may be you can clone the existing machine for my dev/test needs?

[funderburkjim]

Looks like we are stuck.
The sanskrit-lexicon web site is hosted by the University of Cologne in Germany.
I do not own the server.

[alexander-myltsev]

@funderburkjim I compose, test locally and provide you the Apache config file only. without installing the sanskrit-lexicon. would you merge it on your own?

[funderburkjim]

sounds like a plan. One question - you said apache config file. Why not .htaccess?

[alexander-myltsev]

Sure, let it be .htaccess.

[gasyoun]

@alexander-myltsev still doable?

[gasyoun]

@alexander-myltsev no?

[alexander-myltsev]

Should be, but I don't have time capacity for that one. Sorry.