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New industry/manufacturing/importing tool - EVE Traders Handbook
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Shei Bushaava
Neural Nexus
#1 - 2015-05-11 09:26:17 UTC
After several months tinkering I just released version 1.0 of the EVE Traders Handbook:

http://matthewpennell.github.io/eve-traders-handbook/

I built it for myself so I could monitor what Brave was losing and anticipate potential market demand, and now I'm releasing it for any other industrialist types to use. Watch the video for a brief introduction to what it can do.

In its current incarnation it's self-hosted, so you'll need to be comfortable setting up some LAMP hosting, but I might eventually turn it into a web app with SSO integration.

Anyway, let me know what you think, and if you use it I'd love to know what improvements you would make. :)
Selaria Unbertable
Bellator in Capsulam
#2 - 2015-05-11 12:27:55 UTC
Wanted to give this a try, but I can't get it working, probably because of the framework you need... However, I can give you some comments on the installation process I did so far:

1. Don't put the tables from the dump into the same database. That is bad practice. Use a separate database for them, that allows users to import the complete dump, not just a few tables. Some of us who write their own code already have that database set up, and don't want to reimport a few tables. Plus, you can just drop all tables and import a single sql file once a new update is out.

2. Please provide a step-by-step guide on how to install that fricking Laravel Framework... Apache works fine with regular php, I have several apps running for different purposes and never had a problem, but this just doesn't work out of the box... No one will bother using this if they can't get it running. I gave up after about 30 minutes messing around with my apache config, php and laravel without any success... And at this point, I don't bother to continue trying.

Sorry to say that, but if you want others to use your app and provide feedback, you have to take their hand and extend that installation guide. If they can't get it working, they get frustrated and give up. Step by step, from downloading the archive, setting up the framework to finally configuring the app and adding api keys. As detailed as possible.

o/
Shei Bushaava
Neural Nexus
#3 - 2015-05-11 12:36:01 UTC
Thanks for the feedback. To respond:

1. You mean you want to separate out the third-party data (the EVE stuff) from my own into a new database? I guess I could do that, I'll have to look at how to use two different databases within a single app.

2. You don't have to "install" Laravel, it's all part of the app you download - you just unzip it, copy it to where you want it to live, and setup a VirtualHost (if local) or symlink (if remote).

I take your point about better install instructions, though; I'll definitely do some work on improving them.
Selaria Unbertable
Bellator in Capsulam
#4 - 2015-05-11 12:59:18 UTC
Shei Bushaava wrote:
Thanks for the feedback. To respond:

1. You mean you want to separate out the third-party data (the EVE stuff) from my own into a new database? I guess I could do that, I'll have to look at how to use two different databases within a single app.

2. You don't have to "install" Laravel, it's all part of the app you download - you just unzip it, copy it to where you want it to live, and setup a VirtualHost (if local) or symlink (if remote).

I take your point about better install instructions, though; I'll definitely do some work on improving them.


1. Yes, that does work, as long as the database user has at least permissions to do selects. Works quite well, you just have to adjust your queries and put the database names as a prefix in front of the table names.

2. Did that. Downloaded the archive, put it into the correct directory for apache, setup a virtual host, and adjusted some configs. Didn't work, apache couldn't find the url /settings. After a short online search, that didn't help at all, I gave up...
Shei Bushaava
Neural Nexus
#5 - 2015-05-11 13:07:07 UTC
Selaria Unbertable wrote:
Did that. Downloaded the archive, put it into the correct directory for apache, setup a virtual host, and adjusted some configs. Didn't work, apache couldn't find the url /settings. After a short online search, that didn't help at all, I gave up...

Do you have the root of the app pointing to /public, rather than to the install location?
Selaria Unbertable
Bellator in Capsulam
#6 - 2015-05-11 13:20:51 UTC
Shei Bushaava wrote:
Selaria Unbertable wrote:
Did that. Downloaded the archive, put it into the correct directory for apache, setup a virtual host, and adjusted some configs. Didn't work, apache couldn't find the url /settings. After a short online search, that didn't help at all, I gave up...

Do you have the root of the app pointing to /public, rather than to the install location?


Nope... I will give it another try.
Selaria Unbertable
Bellator in Capsulam
#7 - 2015-05-11 13:48:49 UTC
Ok, that seems to have done the trick. Setup works, but the import page seems to cause an error What?
Logging is a good idea, you should add that too ;)
Shei Bushaava
Neural Nexus
#8 - 2015-05-11 14:51:47 UTC
Selaria Unbertable wrote:
Logging is a good idea, you should add that too ;)

:)

If you tail the error log (app/storage/logs/laravel.log) that might help identify where the problem is.
Vacant Glare
Nefariam Cementarii
#9 - 2015-05-12 10:38:36 UTC
Looks fantastic.

Unfortunately, I have now idea what "LAMP hosting" is so I will just have to wait and hope you turn this into a real installable program. :(
William Bevan
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#10 - 2015-05-13 04:59:17 UTC
Great tool, set it up today and I'm looking forward to using it more.

I've got a few suggestions you may wish to consider

  • I made a change to the database allowing the "value" field in the "settings" table to hold a larger varchar so I could add more systems to the CSV there. As it stands it seems like there was a hard cap on how many systems I could add (I didn't bother to check if your code accommodates for this).
  • Might be nice to have a batch pull of systems of an entire region or two (ended up doing this by grabbing all systemIDs based on a regionID and then shoving them into the settings table).


Those are the top two I can think of off the top of my head, I'll post again or eve-mail you if I think of anything. Awesome work!
Shei Bushaava
Neural Nexus
#11 - 2015-05-13 09:12:59 UTC
William Bevan wrote:

I've got a few suggestions you may wish to consider

  • I made a change to the database allowing the "value" field in the "settings" table to hold a larger varchar so I could add more systems to the CSV there. As it stands it seems like there was a hard cap on how many systems I could add (I didn't bother to check if your code accommodates for this).
  • Might be nice to have a batch pull of systems of an entire region or two (ended up doing this by grabbing all systemIDs based on a regionID and then shoving them into the settings table).


Thanks! I agree with both of your suggestions; the size of the system field is just leftover from my initial database setup, you're right it should be made larger.

I originally planned to have a "select a region to automatically add all systems within it" feature, but I didn't get around to including it. I'll add it to the backlog of future updates. :)
Shei Bushaava
Neural Nexus
#12 - 2015-05-14 07:46:04 UTC
William Bevan wrote:
I made a change to the database allowing the "value" field in the "settings" table to hold a larger varchar so I could add more systems to the CSV there. As it stands it seems like there was a hard cap on how many systems I could add (I didn't bother to check if your code accommodates for this).

This is now fixed.
Shei Bushaava
Neural Nexus
#13 - 2015-05-17 11:29:15 UTC
I've completely rewritten the installation instructions now, with a lot more detailed hand-holding - hopefully it might help any not-so-technical people:

https://github.com/matthewpennell/eve-traders-handbook/wiki/Installation
Vamp Talvanen
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#14 - 2015-06-04 12:43:43 UTC
Frustrated. Followed revised install instructions exactly. Tried via a MAMP and also FAMP stack so either a step is missing or I'm just missing something.

I get to the end of Step 4 no problems. But then I go to http://localhost:8888/eve-traders-handbook/ and Whoops is still there. Please check instructions again????
Shei Bushaava
Neural Nexus
#15 - 2015-06-08 07:00:27 UTC
Vamp Talvanen wrote:
Frustrated. Followed revised install instructions exactly. Tried via a MAMP and also FAMP stack so either a step is missing or I'm just missing something.

I get to the end of Step 4 no problems. But then I go to http://localhost:8888/eve-traders-handbook/ and Whoops is still there. Please check instructions again????

One apparently common issue is that the server needs write access to the storage folder (to write error logs, etc.) You could try going into the app/storage folder and running "chmod -R 777".

Another helpful tip - edit app/config/app.php and change the debug value to true. Now when you try to load a page, you get a much more detailed stacktrace and detailed error report, which can help in figuring out exactly what isn't working.

Feel free to add me as a contact and poke me when you see me online. :)
Shei Bushaava
Neural Nexus
#16 - 2015-07-12 19:25:28 UTC
I've just pushed a couple of updates for the EVE Traders Handbook:

1) Shipping cost - you can now enter a cost per m3 for shipping in the settings, and this will be reflected in the calculations for import profit and loss;

2) Potential profit/day - a new column on the main page shows the potential profit per day that you could make selling each item. It's a basic calculation of Items Lost / Days Since Records Began * Profit Per Item, but it's intended to make it easier to spot the most profitable things to concentrate on.

As before, any questions please reply here, or join the 'EVE Traders Handbook' channel in-game.
Amely Miles
Second Exile
#17 - 2015-07-12 21:25:06 UTC
you are awesome

As I slipped my finger slowly inside her hole, I could immediately feel it getting wetter and wetter.

I took my finger back out and within seconds she was going down on me.

"I really need a new boat," I thought to myself.
Amely Miles
Second Exile
#18 - 2015-07-13 09:05:51 UTC
i appreciate the detailed guide on installation however i'm stuck on Number 2 XD

http://gyazo.com/38892d8d393ccdfa796e537432bd4412

what console? ... XMAPP is a control panel is that what your talking about or were you thinking that sentence was for one of the other programs you listed?

As I slipped my finger slowly inside her hole, I could immediately feel it getting wetter and wetter.

I took my finger back out and within seconds she was going down on me.

"I really need a new boat," I thought to myself.
Selaria Unbertable
Bellator in Capsulam
#19 - 2015-07-13 10:35:32 UTC  |  Edited by: Selaria Unbertable
Amely Miles wrote:
i appreciate the detailed guide on installation however i'm stuck on Number 2 XD

http://gyazo.com/38892d8d393ccdfa796e537432bd4412

what console? ... XMAPP is a control panel is that what your talking about or were you thinking that sentence was for one of the other programs you listed?


He refers to the UNIX console. Since most web servers are based on a linux distribution, and usually don't have a graphical interface, configuration and administration is done via bash or another console.
If you use windows, you can stick to a graphical tool for git in order to clone the project, or simply download the complete .zip file. Using git is only for getting the most recent code.

Shei Bushaava wrote:
I've completely rewritten the installation instructions now, with a lot more detailed hand-holding - hopefully it might help any not-so-technical people:

https://github.com/matthewpennell/eve-traders-handbook/wiki/Installation


Just checking this tool out once again. The installation instructions look much better than the last time. You may wanna think about splitting them up for Windows users and Mac/Linux users though. The instructions for those operating systems are quite different, so this might be a good idea. Will provide more feedback once I have installed the app.
Amely Miles
Second Exile
#20 - 2015-07-13 10:50:22 UTC
so from my understanding the windows or mac programs are for downloading and using on a computer creating a fake webserver.

so i just need to download the zip file and then unzip it where i want it ...possibly install it if it does not work right out of the box and then somehow i tell XMAPP to find this and utilize that as a website that does not technically exist on the internet except to pull the killboard info and prices?

As I slipped my finger slowly inside her hole, I could immediately feel it getting wetter and wetter.

I took my finger back out and within seconds she was going down on me.

"I really need a new boat," I thought to myself.
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