OpenInteract: A robust web application framework built to run under Apache and mod_perl.

QUICK INSTALL
=========================

 - Read the 'INSTALL' file also located in this directory.

 - If you're upgrading from version 1.05 or earlier, please read the
 UPGRADE file in this directory.

WHAT IS IT?
=========================

OpenInteract is an extensible application server using Apache and
mod_perl built for developers but also to be manageable almost
entirely via the web browser. It includes:

 - A robust system of components built on templates that can access
 your data just about any way that you can think of.

 - A very flexible separation of presentation and data access: you can
 use one template for accessing data from different sources (e.g., a
 listing of users from the system, from an LDAP server, from an NT/SMB
 authentication controller, etc.) or you can use one set of data to
 fill multiple templates.

 - A consistent security mechanism allowing you to control security
 for users and groups not only at the task level, but also at the
 individual data object level.

 - A simple user and group-management system that allows users to
 create their own accounts and an administrator to assign them to one
 or more groups.

 - A convenient packaging system that makes it simple for developers
 to distribute code, configuration and all other information necessary
 for an application. It also makes the installation and upgrading
 processes very straightforward and simple.

 - An integrated, database-independent method for distributing data
 necessary for a package. You should be able to install any
 package on any database that's been tested with OpenInteract. (Some
 of this work must be done by the package authors, but OpenInteract
 tries to make this as painless as possible.)

OpenInteract uses a number of CPAN modules, relying heavily on the
following:

 - SPOPS (Simple Perl Object Persistence with Security, which was
 developed in tandem with this framework)

 - Template Toolkit (version 2+ is required)
 
 - Apache::Session

Many others are also used -- why reinvent the wheel when there are so
many lying around and so many interesting problems to conquer? 

OpenInteract is usable *right now*, out of the box. That doesn't mean
we're sitting on our laurels -- we're working on a number of different
features to OpenInteract which will be added soon to a separate file
'TODO', found in this directory.


HOW DO I INSTALL IT?
=========================

(1) Read and follow the directions in INSTALL.

(2) Read and follow the directions in INSTALL.

(3) Return to step (1).


IS THERE MORE INFORMATION?
=========================

Check out the HTML documents in the 'doc/' directory where you
unpacked this distribution. These documents are also copied to the
base installation directory when you install OpenInteract and from
there to individual websites as you create them. This way someone
creating a website can see the docs through her browser.

Documentation also comes in the individual packages and modules within
the packages. Some packages are better documented than others, but
we're working on bringing them all up to a stellar level.


WHAT NEXT?
=========================

We're interested in your feedback on a number of topics. In particular:

 - How did you find the installation process? Was OpenInteract simple
 to install and configure?

 - How easy was it for you to create an application, install its SQL
 structures and data and import its templates?

 - Which documentation do you feel is lacking?

As you might tell, we're keenly aware that installation and initial
understanding can be a big barrier to entry with a fairly substantial
application like this. Feedback is crucial for us to plug the holes.

We also hope to extend certain features (such as users and groups) to
different types of data sources, like LDAP directories. Other
applications of OpenInteract really depend on what you'd like it to
do!

Updates can be found at:

 http://www.openinteract.org/

and

 http://sourceforge.net/projects/openinteract/


FINALLY
=========================

Thanks for trying out OpenInteract! If you have any questions,
comments, thoughts, diatribes, e-mail them to Chris Winters
<chris@cwinters.com>.


COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMERS
=========================

OpenInteract is Copyright (c) 2001-2002 intes.net, inc.. All rights
reserved.

The OpenInteract library(**) is free software; you can redistribute it
and/or modify it under the terms of the Perl Artistic License or the
GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
Foundation; either version 2 of the License (see 'COPYING'), or (at
your option) any later version.

**"OpenInteract library" includes the core 'OpenInteract::' files: 

 OpenInteract
 OpenInteract::ApacheStartup
 OpenInteract::Auth
 OpenInteract::CommonHandler
 OpenInteract::Config
 OpenInteract::Config::GlobalOverride
 OpenInteract::Config::Ini
 OpenInteract::Config::IniFile
 OpenInteract::Config::PerlFile
 OpenInteract::Cookies::Apache
 OpenInteract::Cookies::CGI
 OpenInteract::DBI
 OpenInteract::Error
 OpenInteract::Error::Main
 OpenInteract::Error::System
 OpenInteract::Handler::GenericDispatcher
 OpenInteract::LDAP
 OpenInteract::Package
 OpenInteract::PackageRepository
 OpenInteract::Request
 OpenInteract::Session
 OpenInteract::Session::DBI
 OpenInteract::Session::File
 OpenInteract::Session::SQLite
 OpenInteract::SPOPS
 OpenInteract::SPOPS::DBI
 OpenInteract::SPOPS::LDAP
 OpenInteract::SQLInstall
 OpenInteract::Startup
 OpenInteract::Template::Context
 OpenInteract::Template::Plugin
 OpenInteract::Template::Process
 OpenInteract::Template::Provider
 OpenInteract::UI::Main
 OpenInteract::Utility

along the default configuration and documentation, etc. This also
includes the core packages:

 base
 base_box
 base_component
 base_error
 base_group
 base_page
 base_security
 base_template
 base_theme
 base_user
 lookup
 object_activity
 results_manage
 system_doc

and the following application packages:

 classified
 full_text
 news

Every other package, whether developed by intes.net, inc. or other
party, is licensed under its own terms.

=========================
$Id: README,v 1.7 2002/05/07 05:35:33 lachoy Exp $