INANNA Version 0 / Creating a New Map

1. Create a directory for the Web page and animation scripts. Henceforce, this will be referred to as the web directory.
   
   
2. Create a directory for the template script, the configuration file, and the data collector script. This directory should not be Web-accessible. Henceforth, this will be referred to as the bin directory.
   
   
3. Create a directory for the archived GIF files. This directory may be Web-accessible, but it must not contain any other files than the archived GIFs. Henceforth, this will be referred to as the history directory.
   
   
4. Place the following files in the web directory:
   • movie-create.cgi
   • movie-play.cgi
   • movie.cgi
   
   
5. Create the template GIF and place it in the web directory.
   
   
6. Create a dummy data collector script in the bin directory that returns constant or random values. The following will do the trick:

     #!/usr/bin/perl -w
     print int(rand() * 10000000) . " 10000000\n";
     print "0\n0\n0\n0\n0\n0\n";

7. Configure the param and palette sections of the configuration file. Verify that the image can be generated without errors by running template with the configuration file as its command-line parameter.
   
   
8. Add the link section to the configuration file, omitting the percent box locations. Adjust the position of the arrows using a process like this (your software preferences may vary :) :
   
   
   1. Find approximate coordinates using GIMP.
   2. Add the links to the configuration file.
   3. Run template on the configuration file.
   4. Open the image in XEmacs.
   5. Make pixel-level adjustments in coordinates.
   6. Go back to step 3 if you're not happy.
   
   
9. Add the percent box coordinates to one side of each bidirectional link and adjust their placement as in the last step. This helps you make sure you're really describing the side of the arrow you think you are.
   
   
10. Add the remainder of the percent box coordinates to the configuration file and adjust their placement. (Remember that percent boxes are 24 pixels wide for relative measure and 32 pixels wide for absolute measure.)
    
    
11. Add any labels you want to the label section of the configuration file and adjust their placement.
    
    
12. Add any clickable areas you want to the area section of the configuration file and adjust their placement.
    
    
13. Write the real version of the data collector script. For the expected output format of this script, consult the documentation on the configuration file format.
    
    
14. Make sure that the data collector script is running correctly and verify that the output GIF looks the way you want it to. In short, make last-minute adjustments. Don't forget to make sure that the links at the bottom of the Web page are functional.
    
    
15. Clean your test images out of the history directory.
    
    
16. Add a line to your crontab file to execute the template script with your configuration file as a command-line argument. The job should run as often as your source data are collected. (So if you're getting the numbers from MRTG, every five minutes is a good bet.)
    
    Make sure to have the script run after the latest data are collected. In other words, running template at the same time as MRTG is a bad idea. Running it at a minute after MRTG is a better idea. Two minutes is even better if many links are being monitored.
    
    
17. Install your new crontab. It's alive!

Interactive Animated Traffic Analysis (INANNA), Version 0.
Copyright 2000 by the Trustees of Indiana University.