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				#  ALCA-LINE  #
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   Alca-Line, a set of tools for people administrating an Alcatel 4400 Pabx.





Licence
=======
This software is currently GPL but this status may change in the future

System requirements
===================
CPU : depends on how fast you want the system to be ;-) More serioulsy a 500 MHz pentium is enough
Disk : 
- Cygwin
- Raw data storage
- Database
Software : Tested on Windows/Cygwin with Postgresql for Windows 8.2.1

Installation
============
- Download and install Cygwin including postgres developpement package
- Download and install Postgresql 8.2 
- Into src directory :
   o update Makefile to reflect installation target directory
   o update "Definitions" to reflect your system properties
   o update "RecupData' according to your Alcatel 4400 configuration
   o run "make" to build binaries
   o run "make install" install binaries and script
- Install RecupData as a cron jobs to download taxfile once a day
- Create database using CreateDatabase
- Install ImportData as a cron job to fill database with taxfiles. Note that
  once the tax files are imported you may delete them or move then to another
  directory. They may be redownloaded from the Pabx as there are not deleted on
  it, but the import process won't reimport them, exect if corresponding data
  are all deleted from the database.
- use reports to analyze taxdata when needed

Usage
=====




Note
====
* Ticket format

When a large database is already imported and a ticketformat change occurs
(column type change or column size change) importation of first newly formated
ticket may take a very long time and may fail if there's not enough resources
on the database server.

This happens only once after some system upgrade implying taxfile format
change. Running a "vacuum" on the database before importing new tickets may
be a good idea (more generally it is recommended to run a "vacuum" on a regular
basis).

* Date and time

Many reports rely on date and time data which a generated by the Pabx. Thus,
controling that date/time is accurate on the system is mandatory. Alca-Line 
will (soon) include a tool to automatically synchronize internal clock with a
PC (that can be synchronized with a NTP clock on the Internet or with a radio
controlled clock such a a GPS).

* Pabx change

If Pabx is changed or reinstalled, tax file names will be reset, potentialy
causing a failure in the import system. In such a case you must :
- remove all files in the taxdata directory
- reset taxdatid colum in the taxdata table (update taxdata set taxdatid = NULL)


Tests and developpement
=======================
Testing and development are made on a Windows 2000 computer running Cygwin,
Postgresql 8.2.1 and Apache 2.2.3.
Test data are a 4+ year historic, containing 3 ticket versions (4.8, 4.9, and
5.1) in 23.000+ files with 600.000 call details.


Thanks
======
- Eric Stern, alpha tester and samples provider
- Mathieu Cousin, former collegue and talented archivist
