3.7 Installing new PaPCo modules

Before installing any new module make sure that you inform the module author - you will probably need his help to obtain some data anyway! Make sure that the module is compatible with

• Your platform. Unfortunately most module authors don't pay much heed to cross-platform compatibility. Most modules should work under UNIX though.
• Your version of PaPCo.

3.7.1 Adding a new PaPCo module

You will probably obtain the module off the Web as a zipped tar file. The best place to unzip & untar it into would be your papco_user_XX\papco_user_modules directory.

You will then need to exit IDL and reconfigure PaPCo to include that module. In the PaPCo configuration widget, add the new module to the User Modules section (see 3.5). Once you start PaPCo , a button for the new module should appear in the top part of the main PaPCo widget.

BEFORE USING the new module you will need to configure it, by using the configure option of the new module's panel editor of the configure sub-menu choice. Newer modules will not allow you to use them before they have been configured! Edit the the configuration for your site and then don't forget to save it. See section 6.4.1 for details on the panel editor config widget.

Review the information in the module's panel editor help file. This is the place where all the information about the module should be. This file is under the module papco_interface directory. You can also access it with the help button of the module's panel editor.

(If you added the module into you main PaPCo core papco_modules directory, the module would appear as one of the Standard Modules in the configuration widget. This is not encouraged, as you would ``loose'' the module when you upgrade the PaPCo core to a new version)

3.7.2 Updating to a new PaPCo module version

This could be either a module which is part of the distribution or one of your own modules in papco_user_XX\papco_user_modules. Simply copy the new module to the same location - it would be prudent to keep a copy of the old module though (simply rename the module directory name).

Once you have the module loaded in PaPCo you will again need to re-configure it - the modules config options might have changed. To do this use the module configure option and re-load the module defaults by hitting the defaults button. Edit the the configuration for your site and then don't forget to save it. See section 6.4.1 for details on the panel editor config widget.