FAQ

This Macrotone Joomla Audit (JAudit) FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is intended to assist you in providing answers to some of the most commonly asked questions. It is intended to supplement the main documentation.

How do I get hold of a copy of the component?

The release is now available for download in the 'Download' directory.

Which version of Joomla does it work with?

The initial release was for Joomla 3.1 and 2.5, but it runs on the current release versions of Joomla.

Are there any front end features?

No there are no front end features what so ever. An Auditing package of this nature has a limited and very restrictive viability, and then only to suitably authorised people depending upon the information captured.

Where is the documentation?

The full product documentation is available as web pages and in PDF format. The documentation covers all releases.

Are any Joomla core files changed?

No. The component creates Database triggers which capture the change information and saves it in the database for viewing by the component. It is completely oblivious of the Joomla application as far as the capture of information is concerned, hence should work with all of the underlying tables.

What databases are supported?

The underlying databases upon which Joomla runs each have different capabilites as far as features such as triggers, procedures, functions etc. are concerned. In addition each accepts slightly different syntax. Due to these differences the current release version only support MySQL as the underlying database.

I am seeing errors trying to create a trigger in the database?

The component creates database triggers, however to do so the connection that Joomla makes to the underlying database must have the appropriate database privileges to be able to create triggers. We know that not all hosting providers permit their clients to create database objects such as triggers, procedures and functions. We regret that in this situation the component is unable to override the database privileges and it necessary for you to check your database providers permissions and either request they change them, change your hosting provider, or uninstall and stop using the component, which ever is most appropriate.

What are database triggers?

A database trigger is procedural code that is automatically executed in response to certain events on a particular table or view in a database. The trigger is mostly used for maintaining the integrity of the information on the database. For example, when a new record (representing a new worker) is added to the employees table, new records should also be created in the tables of the taxes, vacations and salaries.

Triggers are commonly used to:

  • audit changes (e.g. keep a log of the users and roles involved in changes)
  • enhance changes (e.g. ensure that every change to a record is time-stamped by the server's clock)
  • enforce business rules (e.g. require that every invoice have at least one line item)
  • execute business rules (e.g. notify a manager every time an employee's bank account number changes)
  • replicate data (e.g. store a record of every change, to be shipped to another database later)
  • enhance performance (e.g. update the account balance after every detail transaction, for faster queries)

Are other languages supported?

When released only the English language was available, however the component was written specifically to be able support other languages. Some translations have been provided by the community and are available for download. We welcome any submitted language translations that users might like to contribute. These would then be made available to the whole community.

The component uses the Transifex system and there are a few additional languages being provided. Please see the appropriate pages on the site for details of the currently available translations.

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