CEAN FAQ

1. How do I start CEAN?

CEAN is installled in a directory called cean in the directory where you unpack it. In the cean directory there is a command file start.sh (UNIX) or start.bat (Windows). Run it and you will get a command line.

2. Is there a help system in CEAN?

Type the following command from the erlang shell.

cean:help().

3. Why was there a failure when the package I wanted was installed?

On a slow internet connection the default download time might not be enough. Use install/2 that allows you to give a longer timeout.

4. The list from cean:installed(). is too long. How can I see all of it?

There is a help function called display/1. You can do

cean:display(installed).

and get the whole list. display/1 can handle other arguments too, just check with

cean:help(display).

5. How do I install CEAN into /usr/local/bin?

While convenient (no need to update your PATH) it is not a good idea to install everything into /usr/local/bin. However, you can install CEAN somewhere (like /usr/local/cean) and get erl and erlc in /usr/local/bin by doing:

  $ cd /usr/local/bin
  $ ln -s ../cean/start.sh erl
  $ ln -s ../cean/erlang/erts-5.5.4/linux-x86/bin/erlc

You should, of course, replace linux-x86 with your real system directory name. This will let erl and erlc be into your $PATH as the standard installation. Finally you need to put this line

BASEDIR=/usr/local/cean

somewhere in the beginning of start.sh

6 How do I install CEAN into an existing erlang installation?

You have to download the CEAN library and extract its content into the erlang/lib directory (/usr/local/lib/erlang/lib on usual erlang install). Windows users may better download a zip archive of CEAN library and extract its content into Program Files/erl-your_version/erlang/lib directory. then, you have to edit your erl script (/usr/local/bin/erl on usual erlang install) to define some CEAN environment values like this:

export ARCHDIR=linux-x86
export CEAN_SERVER="http://cean.process-one.net"
export HTTP_PROXY="" # "your.proxy.name:port"

Windows users do not have /usr/local/bin/erl script, but Program Files/erl-your_version/bin/erl.bat. That file must be edited to add the following environment values:

set PROGNAME=cean
set ARCHDIR=windows
set CEAN_SERVER=http://cean.process-one.net
rem set HTTP_PROXY=your.proxy.host:port

Of course, you must set ARCHDIR to your effective system: values are os-cpu (except for windows). MacOSX is named darwin.
Example: linux-x86, linux-amd64, linux-arm, sunos-sparc, sunos-x86, windows, darwin-powerpc, darwin-x86, etc...
At last, you have to create the VERSION file (which should be located into your erlang ROOTDIR directory) containing this:

CEAN Erlang/OTP R11B-5 erts-5.5.5 arch distrib

you must replace arch by your effective system (see above for details) and distrib by either prod or devel (devel is a good choice in that case anyway). Finaly, make sure major Erlang version and erts version matchs your effective installation (here values corresponding to an R11B-5 installation).
example: CEAN Erlang/OTP R11B-5 erts-5.5.5 linux-x86 devel

7 How do I start CEAN by double clicking on an icon under Mac OSX?

Start Terminal. File -> Save As
(Save it on your Desktop) Enter /cean/start.sh as the command. Check the "Run command inside a shell" checkbox.

8 How do I download CEAN using wget?

As an example you can

wget http://cean.process-one.net/pub/R11B/prod/linux-x86/cean_installer.bin

If you prefer the developer version (no stripped beam files and includes sources), you can

wget http://cean.process-one.net/pub/R11B/devel/linux-x86/cean_installer.bin

You should, of course, replace linux-x86 with your real system directory name.

9 How do I contribute a package to CEAN?

To submit something to CEAN, one must follow the Packaging Guide.
The code must be accessible from the net (svn/cvs/tar/tgz/tbz2/erl) and the packager must email the .pub file which describe the package to christophe dot romain at process-one dot net with subject CEAN.