Here is a way to VACUUM your places database from within the browser.

1. Go to Tools -> Error Console
2. Paste the following in the “Code:” text-box:

   Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL("VACUUM");

3. Press Enter

Your UI will freeze for a bit while the vacuum runs.

Resources:

• https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Updating_extensions_for_Firefox_3.5#Accessing_the_Places_database
• https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Storage

function create_lock {
        LOCK_NAME=$1
        if [[ -e "$LOCK_NAME" ]]
        then
                OLDPID=`cat $LOCK_NAME`
                if ps p $OLDPID > /dev/null
                then
                        return 1
                fi
                rm $LOCK_NAME
        fi
        echo $$ > $LOCK_NAME
        return 0
}

create_lock doesn’t handle race conditions, but it is typically good enough for me.

If you are interested in setting up your Google Search Appliance with a mediawiki instance, installation is simple, download or checkout the extension and follow the installation instructions.

The command assigntome, by default, changes the assigned to field to your user.  The whole process can be automated by tacking on the submit noun, which will simulate clicking the “Commit” button.

To install assigntome subscribe to my Ubiquity feed.