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PixelPimp
10-07-2003, 06:17 PM
Anyone have any insight into Webalizer and Flash monitoring/webstats? I found this thread (http://www.actionscript.org/forums/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=17614&highlight=webalizer) but I want to avoid the workarounds and I'm interested in the XML aspect of it. Anyone know if Webalizer would recognize SWF-loaded XML?
CyanBlue
10-07-2003, 06:29 PM
Howdy... ;)

Just out of curiosity... What is it you want to do with the webalizer and Flash??? I don't understand what you are trying to do from your question... :(
PixelPimp
10-07-2003, 06:46 PM
Well, my client insists on knowing where users go on his site, which is a single SWF on index.html. My previous experience is that Webalizer will only recognize the SWF and the HTML page that the SWF is embedded in. As for the various sections within the SWF, they might as well not even exist to Webalizer.

So... my idea is to load XML files for content hoping that Webalizer will recognize these calls and log them, thus enabling my client to check his stats and see how often "content.xml" has been viewed. Do you know if this will work? I'm building a test now...
CyanBlue
10-07-2003, 07:01 PM
Well... I think I know now what you are trying to do...
I don't know anything about the webalizer, but what about this???

I am sure that you've got many buttons that load external XML files to display the content in the SWF file...
Why not add counters on each buttons and save it somewhere on the server... When you need to display the stat information, you can just display that information on the screen saying something like this...
About page : 15 times
Product page : 50 times
Contact page : 20 times
and so on???

That's easiest way I can think of on top of my brain... ;)

Please post back if you find the solutionl...
PixelPimp
10-07-2003, 07:18 PM
Unfortunately, I am forced to seek the more difficult solution instead of making a custom hits page. As my client wants the nitty gritty that Webalizer (http://webalizer.com/) can produce.

I've created a test, posted on my server, and hit it a few times, however Webalizer doesn't generate up to the mintute responses (at least on my server) so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if it worked. Ugh! Anyway, I'll be sure to post back, stay tuned.
CyanBlue
10-07-2003, 07:27 PM
Ah... It sucks to wait for a day to see the result of it... Dang... :(
(Haven't tried, but you may be able to get the log file downloaded and then see if the XML page has been added???
/html/webalizer/usage_200310.html looks like the log file to me...)

Yup... Waiting for the result back from you... ;)
PixelPimp
10-08-2003, 01:29 PM
Good to go CyanBlue. Webalizer logs the activity just fine! I don't know why I doubted it would...

Just a simple: contentXML_xml.load("content.xml"); worked fine.

This will come in handy. Even if I decide not to use the xml for delivering content and just pass some foo variables, Webalizer will still recognize the xml call and log the activity.

I think however I will use the XML to deliver the content. Therefore, my next challenge would be to build a content editor for the XML... I haven't looked into it yet, but do you know of a good PHP (or perhaps Flash) app that will do this? An app that can read the appropriate XML nodes, make them editable and writeable through an admin-type interface? My client has been itching to have this kind of control (and it saves me from making tedious copy changes).
CyanBlue
10-08-2003, 02:45 PM
Good to hear that it was logging it fine... ;)

Can you show me the line that says the name of the XML file if it is not too much trouble??? I just want to see how it says in the log file... (Me too lazy to test it myself, hehe...)

As for the XML writing app... Well... I was meaning to create one myself for the past few years... (Um, not the XML file originally... The problem stem up from the text file actually... )
I remember I did some research on this when it hit my brain, but I cannot find those bookmarks at the moment... (You know how it gets messy and complex and suddenly impossible to find anything from the favorite bookmarks as soon as it goes more then 100... :()

I think this is an excellent question that other people might be interested in as well... Why don't you make a new thread with that quesiton on the General Help or Server side scripting forum??? That way other people can help you and some can get valuable information... ;)
PixelPimp
10-08-2003, 03:05 PM
Here's a screenshot of Webalizer. Is this what you wanted to see?

http://zachlyon.com/swf_test/stats.php

Stay tuned for that new thread...
PixelPimp
10-08-2003, 03:09 PM
http://zachlyon.com/swf_test/stats.gif

Silly little file extensions. ;)
CyanBlue
10-08-2003, 03:37 PM
Yup... That's what I wanted to see... Thanks alot... :)
you_rock
10-05-2004, 01:08 PM
I am curious if the XML file is cached and therefore not accurate in terms of reporting?

I would be very interested to find out.
CyanBlue
10-05-2004, 03:05 PM
What's your question??? I don't understand...
you_rock
10-06-2004, 04:27 PM
Does the XML file get cached on the server and/or client?

If the file is cached, then it will not provide an accurate account of hits, since it will be loaded into cache and no longer hit the server.

This solution seems like it could work well to record visits in a flash file, but if the xml is cached then it seems like we're set back a little in terms of the accuracy of the tracking data.
you_rock
10-06-2004, 04:34 PM
It seems like XML, like any server object, does cache (depending on the client's settings).

http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/200006/msg00039.html

So in the example above, the contents.xml would load once, but then not generate any more hits until the cache was cleared (based upon the client's browser preferences).

It seems like in order to get an accurate report using Webalizer, you would need to force the XML to load using PHP or some backend to push it with each load.
CyanBlue
10-06-2004, 08:46 PM
Well... I guess that depends on... :)

For example, let's talk about a simple user counter...
I can count the user number whenever the browser is reloaded, or I can count the user number only when IP address is different in certain amount of time...
Which one is the 'real' number??? It depends on how you are looking at the number... If you focus more on how many times the server/page is hit, then the first one is the real number for you, but if you focus more on how many people were on the page, then the second one is the one you are looking for, right???

The same thing applies... You can always have the XML page reloaded everytime the browser is reloaded, but maybe the Webalizer does not want it that way... It all depens on... :)