Gossamer Forum: Products: DBMan: Customization: Hit Counter Mod resetting

Nov 7, 2001, 2:45 PM

Morgan

Novice (25 posts)

Nov 7, 2001, 2:45 PM

Post #1 of 3

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Hit Counter Mod resetting

I have implemented a hit counter mod in my script and everything went smoothly for a month or two. The counter was at 10,000 plus when it suddenly reset. There are actually two separate counters, the second counters value is much less and has not had a problem. The counter code is executed in html_record_form_basic with the following code:

Code:
  if ($db_uid =~ "staff") {   
    $count_up= "/path/"; 
    open (COUNT, "<$count_up"); 
    $countup = <COUNT>; 
    close COUNT; 
    open (COUNT, ">$count_up"); 
    $countup2 = $countup + 1; 
    print COUNT $countup2;  
    close COUNT;   
  } 
  elsif ($db_uid =~ "faculty") {   
    $count_up= "/path/"; 
    open (COUNT, "<$count_up"); 
    $countup = <COUNT>; 
    close COUNT; 
    open (COUNT, ">$count_up"); 
    $countup2 = $countup + 1; 
    print COUNT $countup2;  
    close COUNT; 
  }

After some discussion with a coworker, he suggested that maybe this happened as a result of two users updating the code simultaneously. He suggested the following solution:

Code:
    $i=0; 
    while($i++ < 5) { 
     if(link($countup,"$countup.lock") == 0) { 
      sleep 1; 
     }   
     else { 
      &add1; 
      unlink "$countup.lock"; 
      last; 
     } 
    } 

    sub add1 { 
     open (COUNT, "<$count_up"); 
     $countup = <COUNT>; 
     close COUNT; 
     open (COUNT, ">$count_up"); 
     $countup2 = $countup + 1; 
     print COUNT $countup2; 
     close COUNT; 
    }

"This will try to set a link on the counter file called the file name with .lock on the end. If it is not successful there is another process updating the file so sleep 1 sec and try again. If it is unsuccessful after 5 trys then forget it. If it is successful then rewrite the file with one more and clear the lock. "

However, when I implemented the code, the counter stopped working altogether. It also slowed the DB down quite a bit.
Any comments, suggestions, anything?

Thanks!

Nov 7, 2001, 2:49 PM

Paul

Veteran (19537 posts)

Nov 7, 2001, 2:49 PM

Post #2 of 3

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Re: [Morgan] Hit Counter Mod resetting In reply to

After opening the file for writing in your original code add:

flock(COUNT, 2);

See if that helps.

eg....

open (COUNT, ">$count_up");
flock(COUNT, 2);

Last edited by:

RedRum: Nov 7, 2001, 2:50 PM

Nov 8, 2001, 10:05 AM

LoisC

Veteran / Moderator (3034 posts)

Nov 8, 2001, 10:05 AM

Post #3 of 3

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Re: [Morgan] Hit Counter Mod resetting In reply to

I've had the most success using this version of the Hit Counter which has the flock command inserted and a check to see if that option is enabled in your .cfg file.

http://gossamer-threads.com/p/002878
Topic: Updated MOD: Top 10/Record Hit Counter (More Accurate)
TheFew May 06, 2000

The only modification was to add the count routine to:

sub html_topten {

chop $toparray;
foreach my $toplist (split(/,/,$toparray)) {
%rec = (&get_record($toplist));
#### to display the count add these lines ###########
$hcount_up= "$counter_dir/$rec{$db_key}";
open (COUNT, "<$count_up");
$hcountup = <COUNT>;
close COUNT;
######## end display counts ######

print qq|
# <a href="$db_script_link_url&$db_key=$rec{$db_key}&view_records=1&ww=1">$rec{'Title'}</a> |;

You wouldn't have to have the Top 10 page if you choose not to ... you can just use the hit counter.

Hope this helps

Unoffical DBMan FAQ

http://creativecomputingweb.com/dbman/index.shtml/