Hi Ken,

> Is there any open-source or otherwise freely-available software to 
> handle the installation of a LAMP-type product:
> 
> - creating databases
> - creating data tables (in this case, with a dynamic list of fields 
>   depending on some user input)
> - loading up some pre-determined data into database tables

If you *do* end up doing this part yourself (which I suspect you will) and want to look at a Perl script that automates the process, I've put a script online [1].  I have additional scripts (if I can find them) for other databases, but they are pretty similar.

> I'm trying to package it up in such a way that other users will
> be able to use the software too, and I've never done this before.

If you're releasing software for the first time, you might want to make sure you've covered yourself regarding the copyright ownership and any permissions you need to release it [2].

-- Michael

[1] Coded Character Sets > URDU > About > Database Create Script
    http://rocky.uta.edu/doran/urdu/dbcreate.html
    The URDU "About" page also has links to the database table
    structure and data files so you can better understand what
    the script is doing.
    
[2] Intellectual Property Disclosure > Releasing Open Source Software in Academia
    http://rocky.uta.edu/doran/ip/

# Michael Doran, Systems Librarian
# University of Texas at Arlington
# 817-272-5326 office
# 817-688-1926 mobile
# [log in to unmask]
# http://rocky.uta.edu/doran/
  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On 
> Behalf Of Ken Irwin
> Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 1:05 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] code to guide installation of software?
> 
> Hi folks,
> 
> I've got a homegrown piece of software that I'll be presenting at a 
> conference in a few weeks (to track title & call-number request 
> histories using III's InnReach module). I'm trying to package 
> it up in 
> such a way that other users will be able to use the software too, and 
> I've never done this before.
> 
> Is there any open-source or otherwise freely-available software to 
> handle the installation of a LAMP-type product:
> 
> - displaying readme type information until everything's set up
> - creating databases
> - creating data tables (in this case, with a dynamic list of fields 
> depending on some user input)
> - loading up some pre-determined data into database tables
> - editing the config file variables
> 
> I could make this up myself, but I wonder if someone has genericized 
> this process. (I'm particularly concerned about how to effectively 
> pre-load the data tables, not assuming the user has 
> command-line mysql 
> access.)
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> Thanks
> Ken
> 
> -- 
> Ken Irwin
> Reference Librarian
> Thomas Library, Wittenberg University
>