Question

I'm trying to create my first form but can't get it to work. When I go edit a topic and hit the Add Form button I get a blank window rather than a list of available forms.

To do this I first added a form to the Webforms preference. I then clicked on the question mark to create the template. I copied and pasted the sample One Topic WebForm template from the TWiki forms documentation. After saving it I created a new topic. I then saved it and edited it. The Add Form button showed up. I clicked on it and got an empty screen, with nothing but an empty header and body.

Environment

-- BeirneKonarski - 07 Dec 2004

Answer

Some really simple questions:

• Are the edited WebPreferences and test topic are in the same web?
• Have you tried just creating (not copying/pasting) a simple table in your form template file?
• When you view WebPreferences, does the Set WEBFORMS actually show your topic and is the topic a valid twikiname (not a 'forced' one)?

-- SteveRJones - 07 Dec 2004

Thanks for the quick reply. Here are my answers:

• The WebPreferences and the test topic are both in the Sandbox web.
• I didn't create a template by hand originally but just tried it. The template still does not show up when I try hit Add Form.
• Here is what the WEBFORMS is set to: Set WEBFORMS = ComputerForm, ComputerForm2, TestFormBlk

The computerforms were my first attempt, TestFormBlk was one where I typed the fields by hand.

-- BeirneKonarski - 07 Dec 2004

Ok, some really basic stuff:

1. TWiki is really checked out to run under Perl 5.6.1 and it looks like you are running 5.8.
2. TWiki is not recommended to be run under Apache 2.x, although it is not clear if you are running IIS or Apache.

See http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/TWikiSystemRequirements for all of the requirements.

-- SteveRJones - 08 Dec 2004

Yes, we are running perl 5.8 and Apache 2.x. I guess that's the cost of trying to stay current Thanks for the help. I'll get it installed under the earlier versions.

-- BeirneKonarski - 09 Dec 2004

I would try going the Perl route first - this is probably the easiest as you can put 5.6.1 in a twiki-specific area then point the cgi scripts to that version (this is what we do). The benefits are many, some being:

1. If this is a multiuser system, upgrades to 5.8 will not impact twiki;
2. Many twiki plugins have some very specific requirements for perl modules and may not play well if upgraded.
3. Predictability.

-- SteveRJones - 09 Dec 2004

We just upgraded TWiki to version 30 Oct 2004 $Rev: 1794 $ and the problem went away.

-- BeirneKonarski - 10 Dec 2004

Good deal, and good to know!

-- SteveRJones - 11 Dec 2004

Perl 5.8 is fine by the way, I and others have been using it for some time - so I've made it one of the recommended Perl versions (alongside 5.6) in TWikiSystemRequirements and WindowsInstallCookbook. Of course, some plugins might have issues, but I find it hard to think of things that work in 5.6 but break in 5.8.

For anyone upgrading to the latest TWikiBetaRelease - be sure to patch it for any current TWikiSecurityAlerts, such as the search hole found in Nov 2004. Beta and alpha releases are not patched when a security hole is found, although SVN is.

-- RichardDonkin - 12 Dec 2004

Unfortunately, I ran into a rather glaring incompatibility with Perl 5.8 while trying to run the new (beta) TWiki upgrade script. Dropping back to 5.6 solved my problem, I posted such in the CODEV web, and I believe the problem was fixed. The point being, there are still some rather interesting and non-obvious incompatibilities. I tend to ride on the side of conservativism and as long as the requirements page for TWiki still recommends 5.6 . . .

-- SteveRJones - 12 Dec 2004