UBB.Developers Forums UBB.threads 7 Development How Do I? problem with editing language file

I've had two different problems with editing language in 6.3.

I initially posted this on the threads support board, but was told they couldn't help me because of the mods I'd made, which - as I undersstand "hack" - actually only apply to the second, and more important, item below.

(Item 1 is on my main board, and it's minor, but a real puzzler. This is a board that I upgraded from 6.2.3 to 6.3. When I recently went to edit two fields for the main index, I was able to edit one (new_mem), but not another (reged_users)...i.e., the text displayed in the screen for editing this language file HAS changed, but what is displayed when I go to the main page is the same as before, i.e., "Registered User(s)", instead of "registered users". Any idea how this can happen? Makes no sense to me! PS: this board has a modified ubbthreads template - is that considered a "hack" by infopop?)

Item 2: More importantly, and equally strange to me, I have a test board that I started with a fresh install of 6.3, then applied the "facelift" and Josh's mod for pulldown of the post icons. I then changed the ubbthreads.tmpl in several ways, but still displaying the same fields, and I wanted to change the language for the 2 fields noted above in item 1. When I clicked on the "edit a language file" in admin, the screen for selecting a language came up, but NO language appeared in the pulldown menu!!!

As I understand it, the 6.3 upgrade only contained the language files for English, and - when I checked again in the directories for my test board - the directory for english was there, with the admin directory as a subdirectory, just as it was for my main board. (The main board, of course, has other languages as well, because I had upgraded from 6.2.3, which had those languages.)

I'd appreciate any suggestion of what the problem could be, because it doesn't make any sense to me!

Thanks - Tony

PS: In the second case, If I hit the "choose this language" button anyway, I get the following error messages instead of a pulldown menu with the language files:

The following language files are available to edit. To locate the correct script, look at the URL bar in your browser while you're on the page that contains the word(s) you wish to edit. It contains the script name. Language strings that appear in multiple scripts are in the generic language files.


Warning: SAFE MODE Restriction in effect. The script whose uid is 10031 is not allowed to access /home/virtual/site30/fst/var/www/html/testboard/languages owned by uid 0 in /home/virtual/site30/fst/var/www/html/testboard/admin/selectlanguage2.php on line 68

Warning: readdir(): supplied argument is not a valid Directory resource in /home/virtual/site30/fst/var/www/html/testboard/admin/selectlanguage2.php on line 69

Warning: closedir(): supplied argument is not a valid Directory resource in /home/virtual/site30/fst/var/www/html/testboard/admin/selectlanguage2.php on line 75
Language file to edit:

I think it's pretty obvious if you step back and read it again.

Warning: SAFE MODE Restriction in effect.

The script whose uid is 10031 is not allowed to access /home/virtual/site30/fst/var/www/html/testboard/languages owned by uid 0

so let's see. Safe mode is on so user number 10031 (probably you) cannot access a directory owned by uid 0 (root)

Change the directory (and files within) ownership from root to uid 10031. Make sure permissions are right too.

I appreciate your reply, but

? still puzzled ?

So at the risk of embarrassing myself further...here's what I've done or considered...

When this problem appeared, I reset all the permissions on the language files/directories/contents to 777.

What is "safe mode restriction", and why is it on? (Is it possible that it's because I set up a test board...this issue hasn't come up with my main board.) I really don't know what it means to change the directory ownership from root to user 10031. I (as admin) was the first user for my testboard, and there are only 2 or 3 of us...does user 10031 make sense in this context?

As I say, I'm further puzzled, because this isn't happening on my main board.

hmmm...I see you commented about the persmissions, so evidently ownership is different from this issue....

Let's see...I checked the configuration settings, and everything looks right...

anyway, directory ownership presumably would be based on the site where this board is installed...how can I change THAT ownership to that of the board admin?

sorry - I'm just trying to look at all the possibilities...maybe you can tell me which of my comments here are relevant and do or do not make sense in the present context.

appreciate your help - Tony

If I recall correctly you may want to try chmod'n them to 666

666 may have been what they were set at earlier, i.e., before I opened them up...but wouldn't restoring them to more restrictive permissions be unlikely to help this particular problem, which might be one of access? (at least as suggested by navaho? Admittedly, I'm at a loss...

I don't suppose it is possible this somehow occurs because I have my main board and my test board on the same site? (they DO have different prefixes in the database, and all the files are of course in different directories...)

Tony,

I don't mean admin as in the board admin, I mean teh actual SERVER admin

uid 0 on the server itself is always ROOT. That error is indicating that the server admin owns that directory.

Safe mode prevents one user (or his/her php scripts) from reading or writing files owned by another user. It's a security measure.

hmmm...ok I think I understand what you say about safe mode...but where is safe mode set? any idea why this issue doesn't come up on my main board?

You are saying I should change who owns the languages directory in particular? how would I do that...is that a site admin function? or in threads somewhere? is the number 10031 a number within threads or at the server level?

thanks for any clarification - Tony

[]hmmm...ok I think I understand what you say about safe mode...[/]

good

[]but where is safe mode set?[/]

It's a server side setting. It's good to have if you are on a shared server. You don't wanna mess with it. Heck, I'd even run it if I had my own dedicated server again.

[]any idea why this issue doesn't come up on my main board?[/]

File ownership is not messed up I betcha.

[]You are saying I should change who owns the languages directory in particular?[/]

Yup. So, you are understanding.

[]how would I do that[/]

I'm betting you can't. See below.

[]...is that a site admin function?[/]

Bingo!

[]is the number 10031 a number within threads or at the server level?[/]

server level. Every service, and every user that has a login on that server is identified by an id number. UID (user id) number 0 is the boss, head hotshot, server admin, root, god, whatever you want to think of it as. UID 0 can run anything and do anything. But you as a regular user 10031 cannot write (or in this case read) stuff owned by UID 0.

The fix for it would seem to me to go like this.

1)Buy some chocolate chip cookies.
2)Call the server admin or support department, tell them there are files or folders in your directory that seem to be owned by root and need to have the ownership corrected.
/home/virtual/site30/fst/var/www/html/testboard/languages in specific.
3)Munch on cookies. Milk optional, but recommended.


You're on a machine running Ensim. If you used the file manager to upload the files that would be a good place to look for why your files are owned by the wrong person. Anotehr would be if the site or server admin moved the files for you via command line.

WOW!!!

Ok, 2 basic questions, then:

1) how would safe mode be set for one of my boards and not the other? I certainly didn't do anything I know about to foment such a situation, and more to the point...

2) I have personally uploaded (using WS-FTP) every file in the var/www/html directory, and that contains BOTH my main board and test board. None of the files have been moved around, or I wo uld be able to see it. I have as site admin been setting permissions on the directories for these two boards, as needed, etc. So, again, I cannot imagine why I would have access to the language files on my main board, but not on the test board...Everything that has been done on the files for my two boards (main and test) has been done by me, logged on in the same way. Doesn't seem to match up with what you suggest is the problem...so I understand a lot of what you said, I think, but it's even more puzzling now...

Do you think it would help to upload the language files again? either on the test board to fix the problem, or on the main board to duplicate it?

Do you STILL really think this can only be solved by getting the hosting service to change something? after all I've noted here?

Thanks - Tony

Safe mode is on for both boards. It's server wide, and that is Ensim default. you want it, believe me. t might be more of a pain in the rear, but it's safer, hence the name.

So, whatever is wrong with the test board is right with the main board.

In which case I would compare them - file permissions against file permissions, directory permissions against directory permissions. See what is different.

If it is a file or directory permissions error you can fix it with wsftp. If it is an ownership permissions you cannot fix it via wsftp, you need the hosting service to do it.