webserverless Python Wiki Engines: do they exists?

  • Thread starter Brian van den Broek
  • Start date
B

Brian van den Broek

Hi all,

I've just a few hours looking via google, http://c2.com/cgi/wiki, and
the python.org wiki, but haven't had luck, so it's time to ask:

I'm looking for a stand alone Python wiki engine that does not require a
web server such as Apache or MS IIS. I have found such beasts in other
languages (e.g. <http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?EddiesWiki> in C++, and a couple
in Ruby), but none written in Python. A pointer to any that I've missed
would be most appreciated.

To give some idea of my requirements: Python is the only programming
language that I know anything to speak of, and my skills are modest.
(Python is a thesis procrastination projec and I've done no web
programming to date.) I have an itch in the PIM domain, and I am wanting
to find a project as a basis to build upon that is 1) appropriate in
scope/complexity for a relative newcomer and 2) would enable me to have
a personal wiki (not exposed to the web). I am running WindowsMe, and
Python 2.3.4. I don't mind if I have to get some extra packages, but I
definitely don't want to have to come to terms with something like Zope.
(One day, perhaps, but not too soon.)

If there were one that used ReStructuredText for markup, that would be
great. But at this point, I think I'd be better off not restricting the
pool :)

Thanks for any pointers. Best,

Brian vdB
 
G

Guyon Morée

oops!

that was my first ppost through google and that didn't go ok :)

but what I wanted to say is that you can take a look at:
http://feetup.org/blog/dev/python/WikiLite.html


this is not webserverless, but it doesn't use Apache or IIS. It only uses a
couple of lines of python code to serve it up. it's dead easy!
 
P

Peter L Hansen

Brian said:
I'm looking for a stand alone Python wiki engine that does not require a
web server such as Apache or MS IIS. I have found such beasts in other
languages (e.g. <http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?EddiesWiki> in C++, and a couple
in Ruby), but none written in Python. A pointer to any that I've missed
would be most appreciated.

To give some idea of my requirements: Python is the only programming
language that I know anything to speak of, and my skills are modest.
(Python is a thesis procrastination projec and I've done no web
programming to date.) I have an itch in the PIM domain, and I am wanting
to find a project as a basis to build upon that is 1) appropriate in
scope/complexity for a relative newcomer and 2) would enable me to have
a personal wiki (not exposed to the web). I am running WindowsMe, and
Python 2.3.4. I don't mind if I have to get some extra packages, but I
definitely don't want to have to come to terms with something like Zope.
(One day, perhaps, but not too soon.)

If there were one that used ReStructuredText for markup, that would be
great. But at this point, I think I'd be better off not restricting the
pool :)

Although I'm not yet sure (not having examined the source) whether
it would be suitable for you given your constraints above, you
might at least compare Trac (http://www.edgewall.com/products/trac/)
in terms of capability and approach. It was not at all easy for
me to install on Linux, but that's largely my own fault and not
an inherent problem with the tool. Furthermore it has a standalone
server mode that was added in recent versions (but may not be 100%
complete... check the CHANGELOG or something for notes).

I suspect the standalone Moin-moin approach would be best, though
I believe at least one of the other lightweight ones is able to
run standalone.

You *have* see http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines, haven't you?
It identifies those that are in Python and standalone...

-Peter
 
B

Brian van den Broek

Peter L Hansen said unto the world upon 2004-10-07 06:51:
I suspect the standalone Moin-moin approach would be best, though
I believe at least one of the other lightweight ones is able to
run standalone.

You *have* see http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines, haven't you?
It identifies those that are in Python and standalone...

-Peter

Thanks Peter, Carlos, and Guyon,

The story below is partly for future google hits:

At first, I did try moin-moin. I downloaded 1.2.3 as since I've never
set-up a Moin-moin wiki, the beta in 1.3beta troubled me. I started an
install and saw in the installation instructions txt file that 1.2.3
came with said:
> You currently need an external webserver to run MoinMoin.

Having seem Mon-moin being listed as standalone on
<http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines>, I tried the wiki's docs at
<http://moinmaster.wikiwikiweb.de/HelpOnInstalling>, and got the same
information on some of the pages it wiki-linked.

Frustrated, I turned back to <http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines>,
following several others described as "standalone". Similar situation:
for instance PikiPiki's install instruction file says:
> Make sure you have a web server that will let you run CGIs

Each one I tried said (things I interpreted as meaning), that I needed
Apache, IIS, or some other form of webserver.

Thinking I must not understand what "standalone" means in this context,
I posted last night's query.

Convinced by both Peter's and Carlos's mention of Moin-moin in their
responses, I dug again. It turns out
<http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/HelpOnInstalling_2fStandAloneOnWin32>
does indeed have stand alone (no webserver) instructions. Evidently, I'd
been looking at <http://moinmaster.wikiwikiweb.de/>, which, on this
topic at least, is not as up to date as
<http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de>. (Unfortunately, it is the moinmaster
version of the install instructions that came bundled with 1.2.3)

> Not yet revised to take into account the stand-alone web server

So, the docs don't seem entirely up to date nor consistent. But I'm
working on working it out. (If I don't get it soon, time to go bug the
moin-moin people.)

Tanks again for the help, folks, and I hope the account above might help
someone in the future, too.

Best to all,

Brian vdB
 
I

Irmen de Jong

Brian said:
So, the docs don't seem entirely up to date nor consistent. But I'm
working on working it out. (If I don't get it soon, time to go bug the
moin-moin people.)

You'll get answers fast on IRC (#moin on freenode), in my experience.

--Irmen
 
B

Brian van den Broek

Brian van den Broek said unto the world upon 2004-10-07 14:19:
So, the docs don't seem entirely up to date nor consistent. But I'm
working on working it out. (If I don't get it soon, time to go bug the
moin-moin people.)

Tanks again for the help, folks, and I hope the account above might help
someone in the future, too.

Best to all,

Brian vdB

Hi all,

thanks to all who responded to my posts.

A Moin-moin standalone installation turned out to not be hard at all.

It was just a matter of following/sensibly reconciling the instructions on

<http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/HelpOnInstalling_2fInfrastructureOnWin32>,

<http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/HelpOnInstalling_2fWikiInstanceOnWin32>,
and <http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/HelpOnInstalling_2fStandAloneOnWin32>

(If *I* could do it, pretty much anyone could!)

Now I've got to stop playing with my shinny new toy and do some actual work!

Best,

brian vdB
 
D

David M. Cooke

Brian van den Broek said:
Frustrated, I turned back to <http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines>,
following several others described as "standalone". Similar situation:
for instance PikiPiki's install instruction file says:


Each one I tried said (things I interpreted as meaning), that I needed
Apache, IIS, or some other form of webserver.

If the problem is you don't want to setup and configure a webserver,
there is a simple solution. Assuming the CGI script is in a directory
cgi-bin below the current directory (for PikiPiki, something like
cgi-bin/piki.cgi), then running python's CGIHTTPServer.py module as a
script will give you a webserver to run CGI scripts:

[~/public_html]$ python /usr/lib/python2.3/CGIHTTPServer.py 8080

(where the path there depends on your installation, of course). Then
http://localhost:8080/cgi-bin/piki.cgi will run the piki.cgi script.

Note that it will also serve all files below your current directory to
the world if you're on the internet, so it's not the most secure
thing.
 
B

Brian van den Broek

David M. Cooke said unto the world upon 2004-10-07 23:24:
Frustrated, I turned back to <http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines>,
following several others described as "standalone". Similar situation:
for instance PikiPiki's install instruction file says:


Each one I tried said (things I interpreted as meaning), that I needed
Apache, IIS, or some other form of webserver.


If the problem is you don't want to setup and configure a webserver,
there is a simple solution. Assuming the CGI script is in a directory
cgi-bin below the current directory (for PikiPiki, something like
cgi-bin/piki.cgi), then running python's CGIHTTPServer.py module as a
script will give you a webserver to run CGI scripts:

[~/public_html]$ python /usr/lib/python2.3/CGIHTTPServer.py 8080

(where the path there depends on your installation, of course). Then
http://localhost:8080/cgi-bin/piki.cgi will run the piki.cgi script.

Note that it will also serve all files below your current directory to
the world if you're on the internet, so it's not the most secure
thing.

Hi David,

thanks for the suggestion. In the end, I did get Moin-moin up and
running (but for some configuration wrinkles which I've posted to their
list about), but I'm to have the information, nonetheless. Also, I'm not
too surprised to learn I wasn't interpreting the "a webserver is
required" claims correctly.

Since I'm planning to use it as a PIM, and don't want my plans for world
domination to leak out ;-) it doesn't sound like the best route. Of
course, having typed that, I'm now realizing I am not certain that the
Moin-moin solution doesn't have the same result.

Thanks and best,

Brian vdB
 
P

Pierre Quentel

Brian van den Broek a écrit :
Hi all,

I'm looking for a stand alone Python wiki engine that does not require a
web server such as Apache or MS IIS. I have found such beasts in other
languages (e.g. <http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?EddiesWiki> in C++, and a couple
in Ruby), but none written in Python. A pointer to any that I've missed
would be most appreciated.

Have you taken a look at Karrigell (http://karrigell.sourceforge.net) ?
It's a simple and lightweight web framework, 100% Python, shipped with a
built-in web server (well, two in fact, one based on SimpleHTTPServer
and the other on asyncore/asynchat), although it can also work with
Apache or Xitami

It comes with a wiki server demo which you can use once you've started
the server

A+
Pierre
 
P

Pierre Quentel

Brian van den Broek a écrit :
Hi all,

I'm looking for a stand alone Python wiki engine that does not require a
web server such as Apache or MS IIS. I have found such beasts in other
languages (e.g. <http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?EddiesWiki> in C++, and a couple
in Ruby), but none written in Python. A pointer to any that I've missed
would be most appreciated.

Have you taken a look at Karrigell (http://karrigell.sourceforge.net) ?
It's a simple and lightweight web framework, 100% Python, shipped with a
built-in web server (well, two in fact, one based on SimpleHTTPServer
and the other on asyncore/asynchat), although it can also work with
Apache or Xitami

It comes with a wiki server demo which you can use once you've started
the server

A+
Pierre
 
B

Brian van den Broek

Pierre Quentel said unto the world upon 2004-10-08 16:25:
Brian van den Broek a écrit :


Have you taken a look at Karrigell (http://karrigell.sourceforge.net) ?
It's a simple and lightweight web framework, 100% Python, shipped with a
built-in web server (well, two in fact, one based on SimpleHTTPServer
and the other on asyncore/asynchat), although it can also work with
Apache or Xitami

It comes with a wiki server demo which you can use once you've started
the server

A+
Pierre

Thanks for the suggestion, Pierre.

I'll put it on the list of things to look at if and when I give up on
Moin-moin. I wanted to go that way, as it seems the closest thing to a
'standard' python wiki.

I've gotten it installed, but am having some real grief with css. css
support is working on MS IE, but broken for Mozilla Firefox 1.0PR :-(

I've got an outstanding request for help on the moin-moin list. I did
try Irmen de Jong's suggestion to go to IRC (which I'd never used before
-- a real newbie for you!). However, at the moment, I'm out of town
(happy Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend!) so I'm stuck with a
1$/minute dial-up. Makes IRC a non-option.

So, if anyone is still following the thread and knows about why css
might work with IE but not FF, I'd love to hear about it!

Best to all,

Brian vdB
 
C

Carlos Ribeiro

So, if anyone is still following the thread and knows about why css
might work with IE but not FF, I'd love to hear about it!

I'm using Firefox 0.9 (haven't updated to 1.0pr yet), and for me it
works just fine. I wonder if it's really a CSS bug... in my case, it
turned out that I was messing up with the configuration. You don't
change the CSS only -- you have to change the templating code also. I
really don't remember what I did, but after a few attempts I managed
to pute everything together, and the new layout is *much* better (it's
the one with a sidebar to the right, it's really nice).

--
Carlos Ribeiro
Consultoria em Projetos
blog: http://rascunhosrotos.blogspot.com
blog: http://pythonnotes.blogspot.com
mail: (e-mail address removed)
mail: (e-mail address removed)
 
B

Brian van den Broek

Carlos Ribeiro said unto the world upon 2004-10-08 18:10:
I'm using Firefox 0.9 (haven't updated to 1.0pr yet), and for me it
works just fine. I wonder if it's really a CSS bug... in my case, it
turned out that I was messing up with the configuration. You don't
change the CSS only -- you have to change the templating code also. I
really don't remember what I did, but after a few attempts I managed
to pute everything together, and the new layout is *much* better (it's
the one with a sidebar to the right, it's really nice).

Marked OT and subject changed as this is really about moin-moin. Their
list is much lower traffic and so far my request for help hasn't born
fruit over there, so with the [OT] notice, I hope people don't mind if I
pursue it here. If my hope is wrong, speak up, and I will drop it with
apologies.

Hi Carlos,

thanks for the reply.

First off, unless it is FF 1.0PR itself (as opposed to Firefox 0.9) that
is causing the problems, I'd suggest you do the upgrade. A few very nice
improvements, mostly to find as you type, the updating mechanism, and
support for live-bookmarks (RSS feed bookmarks). Some very cool stuff.
And most extensions now support 1.0, too. Also, at the very least, you
should move up to 0.9.3 -- there were, as I understand it, some MS IE
sized security wholes in 0.9 which 0.9.1, 0.9.2, and 0.9.3 patched.
Evangelism done, so:

System details recap:
moin-moin 1.2.3, Python 2.3.4, Firefox 1.0PR, pywin32 build 202, and
WindowsMe ("ah, *there's* his problem!")

At this point, I'd be happy with *any* layout. It's not that I cannot
change to a different css-based layout; rather I have no css
functionality at all, not even the default style. I have an
appropriately styled wiki when viewed through IE, and an ugly mess when
viewed through Firefox 1.0PR.

By "ugly mess" I mean: no icons, no colouring, no nicely arranged
horizontal menus at the top, etc. Instead of the nice icons for edit,
view, diffs, etc. that moin-moin (as defaulted) puts up on the right
under IE (and Firefox when I view a public wiki over the web) I get
something that looks like:

______
* |_Edit_|
______
* |_View_|

etc, etc. where the lines indicate an ugly blue box around each link.

I've never worked with css before, and didn't try anything other than as
installed. (That was a bit bumpy, as the docs for standalone install on
Win32 on moinmoin.wiki are under construction. I might well have goofed
something up.)

I did note that the instructions for configuring css say:
If you wish to modify the default MoinMoin style sheet, it is a good
practice to create a new .css file and use the @import function to
import the original moinmoin.css file.

and I have no moinmoin.css file anywhere on my system (including the
moin-moin1.2.3.zip I downloaded). :-(

Can I run my moin-config.py settings past you? My wiki is in
C:\wikimoin\main. Following instruction on
<http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/HelpOnInstalling_2fStandAloneOnWin32
>, I made few changes to moin_config.py. The changed parts now read:

# basic options (you normally need to change these)
sitename = "Brian's Local Wiki"
interwikiname = None
data_dir = './data/'
url_prefix = 'C:/moinwiki/main/htdocs'
#url_prefix = '/wiki' see note 1
logo_url = url_prefix + '/classic/img/moinmoin.png'

# other code left unchanged is omitted.

# for standalone server (see cgi-bin/moin.py)
httpd_host = "localhost"
httpd_port = 80
httpd_user = "nobody"
#httpd_docs = "c:/moinwiki/main/" see note 2
httpd_docs = "C:/Python23/share/moin/htdocs"

note 1:
I made this change after it was suggested on the IRC channel
freenode/#moin. It didn't help Firefox, but did break css with MS IE. I
also tried url_prefix = 'C:/moinwiki/main'. No joy.

note 2:
This was suggested on the sourceforge moin-user list, together with
copying the htdocs dir to c:/moinwiki/main. No observable difference.

Anything look obviously wrong? Mind if I had a peek at your moin_config.py?

Thanks for any light you can shed, and sorry to any who feel I'm abusing
this list. Best to all,

Brian vdB
 
I

Irmen de Jong

Are you sure that the server is sending the correct Content-Type HTTP header for the css
files? Firefox refuses to load css files in standard compliance mode when the
content-type is not text/css.

--Irmen
 
C

Carlos Ribeiro

Anything look obviously wrong? Mind if I had a peek at your moin_config.py?

I'm really sorry, but íts not possible to me to check it *now*. I'll
see if I can send to you in pvt some info, but no promises -- I'm
really in a hurry now. BTW...

[Irmen de Jong]
Are you sure that the server is sending the correct Content-Type
HTTP header for the css files? Firefox refuses to load css files in
standard compliance mode when the content-type is not text/css.

That's a possible cause... because the simple web server isn't really
that careful when it comes to headers, etc. Worth a check.


--
Carlos Ribeiro
Consultoria em Projetos
blog: http://rascunhosrotos.blogspot.com
blog: http://pythonnotes.blogspot.com
mail: (e-mail address removed)
mail: (e-mail address removed)
 
B

Brian van den Broek

Carlos Ribeiro said unto the world upon 2004-10-08 20:30:
I'm really sorry, but íts not possible to me to check it *now*. I'll
see if I can send to you in pvt some info, but no promises -- I'm
really in a hurry now.

Hi Carlos,

I'm sorry, but I don't understand the apology. You are being very
helpful to a 'doze user trying to emerge out of the thrall of Bill.

If you have the time later, I'd very much appreciate it. But if you
don't, well, it's *my* problem, not yours. I'm hardly in a position to
ask you for my money back :)

Thanks for all your help,

Brian vdB
 
B

Brian van den Broek

Irmen de Jong said unto the world upon 2004-10-08 20:22:
Are you sure that the server is sending the correct Content-Type HTTP
header for the css files? Firefox refuses to load css files in standard
compliance mode when the content-type is not text/css.

--Irmen

All I am sure about your question is that I don't know how to check.

It's my job to find out, and I will go do some research, but if it is
easy to explain, and you have the time . . . .

If you don't no worries, it is *my* problem after all.

But either way, I won't be doing that research today, I think. I may be
Canadian, but I'm off to watch the US presidential debate that starts
pretty much now.

Thanks for the continued effort to help me surmount my ignorance :)

Best,

brian vdB
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads


Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
473,744
Messages
2,569,482
Members
44,901
Latest member
Noble71S45

Latest Threads

Top