What?

It is a plain text file the Trouble Ticket Express uses to store its settings, such as SMTP server information, help desk email address, company name. Here is a fragment of configuration file.

HTMLBASEWIDTH=700
admpwd=test123
basedir=/web/localhost/htdocs/ttx
blockautoresponder=1
company=Trouble Ticket Express Demo
email=ttxmail@eastwright.com
emailfix=0
group1=Billing
group2=Sales
group3=Customer Service
grpsellbl=Department
httphost=www.company.com
imgurl=.
scriptname=/ttx/ttx.cgi
smtp=127.0.0.1
smtptrace=0
timezone=-300
ttx.version=2.21
usecache=0
xOS=3
xSN=2

As you can see, each line defines one configuration variable. You probably recognized some variables, because they correspond to the setup form fields. Some variables do not have setup form counterparts. Trouble Ticket Express uses these variables to store internal information.

Where.

The Trouble Ticket Express looks for the configuration file under the scripts directory. The name of the file is ttxcfg.cgi. But it is not an executable CGI script. It uses cgi extension for security reasons only – trying to open the file using web browser will result in Internal Server Error rather than disclosing its contents. Depending on your system settings, the ttxcfg.cgi file contains either list of configuration variables or a single line with a reference to real configuration file, which resides outside scripts directory.

How

Normally, you do not need to edit the configuration file, as the Trouble Ticket Express does the job. Just use setup.cgi script to change system settings. You may need to edit the ttxcfg.cgi if you want to

• Adjust file system paths when moving the system to another host.
• Use undocumented features. These undocumented features are the ones, which are already implemented but not available in setup forms yet. This usually happens if we had to make an intermediate release to address some bugs.

To edit the configuration file please use plain text editor, such as Notepad on Windows or vi on Unix. Do not forget to build a backup copy before applying changes to the file.

The RSS news feed concept is very similar to the one of email newsletter. The major difference is delivery method: while email alerts are being “pushed” to your mailbox, the RSS content is being “pulled” by your RSS reader or “aggregator”. The “pull” method provides pretty elegant solution to fight spam, because there is no need to inform a publisher about your wish to cancel subscription. You simply instruct your RSS aggregator (it is either a program on your PC or web service) to stop polling the news feed. Needless to say, nobody can subscribe you to RSS feed without your concent. Furthermore, it is known that antispam filters often make it difficult for publishers to reach readers via e-mail. Using RSS channel solves this problem, as the RSS content delivery protocol does not rely on email at all.

In order to use RSS you need an RSS reader (like a browser for RSS) – or “aggregator” (because the software pulls together various feeds). You have many choices, but there are two primary categories of feed reading applications: installable desktop programs and online services.

Desktop software. Since RSS newsfeed is very much like email subscription, the most natural is to use single program to handle news and mail. The Mozilla Thunderbird can read RSS feeds right out of the box. There are both commercial and open source plugins for Microsoft Outlook. NewsGator (Outlook Edition) is probably the leading commercial product. You may also try free rsspopper.

Most popular standalone desktop applications are FeedDemon (Windows) and NetNewsWire (Mac OS X). A search for “RSS Reader” at popular search sites will yield many additional results.

Web services. If you would prefer to use an online service to track and manage your feeds, you have the advantage of being able to access your feed updates anywhere you use a web browser. Both Yahoo and Google provide the RSS content capabilities. The NewsGator provides broad range of services ranging from free subscription plans to feature packed enterprise servers.

Once you have your RSS reader set up, you’re ready to start subscribing.

The Opera and Firefox browsers automatically sense RSS feeds and show small notification icons. In Internet Explorer, though, you may have to manually find and paste the RSS URL into your RSS aggregator.

Many websites feature little orange buttons that say “XML” (RSS is a form of XML) or “RSS.” Click on those to find the URL. Other sites have aggregator-specific buttons. If you click on an “Add to Google” button, for instance, a browser window will open that will allow you to add the RSS to your Google homepage or Google Reader.

If you use My Yahoo, you may want to install the Yahoo toolbar, which gives you a one-click option to subscribe to RSS.