SearchMonkey returns only a few basic kinds of warning and error messages: a mandatory field is not filled in, an XSLT problem has occurred, or a PHP problem has occurred. In all three cases, SearchMonkey should indicate where the error or warning is occurring.
Field-related and miscellaneous issues:
If you forget to fill in a mandatory field, SearchMonkey
reminds you of this with an error message at the top of the
screen. For example, if you forget to select the Terms
of Service checkbox, SearchMonkey displays a message,
"Please agree to the Terms of Service". You cannot
click and save your work until
you fill in the field.
When selecting Test URLs — As you select or tab to the next
field, SearchMonkey verifies that the URL you specified is
reachable. If the test URL is reachable, SearchMonkey displays
"Reachable URL" in green, or possibly a
301 HTTP code. If the test URL is unreachable,
SearchMonkey might display a timeout message, "Unreachable
URL - Operation timed out after 5000 milliseconds with 0 bytes
received" or an error message "Non 200 HTTP code -
Recieved: , where
http_code"http_code404 or a 50x. If you receive an error
code or timeout, check the test URL in your own browser, and
select a different URL if necessary.
If a site owner blocks SearchMonkey using robots.txt or
other means, your data service will simply return no data from
that site.
XSLT-related issues:
WARNING: Element — Indicates that the XPath expression you
specified to extract data is incorrect, returning an empty
result.element
with property =
some:value
has no content
ERROR: Value of property
— Indicates that value returned by the XPath expression does not
match the expected datatype. For example, a propety of
some:property
doesn't look like
some:datatype:media:width should be an integer
(xsd:integer), not an arbitrary string. These errors
are often caused by XPath expressions that are not yet matching
their target correctly, so be sure to resolve any "no
content" warnings first.
XSLT Validation Errors: — Indicates that you
have invalid XSLT or XPath. SearchMonkey should indicate the
nature of the problem and the line where it detected the
error.
PHP-related issues:
In many cases, PHP problems will not be immediately obvious.
For example, if a Data::get() call has an invalid
path, the array value simply will not be assigned. Presentation
applications have various fallbacks for handling missing data, and
many search results are actually expected to be missing data (i.e.
not every LinkedIn profile has a picture). Both of these effects
help to hide true coding errors. Use the
Input and Output links
to verify that your application is working properly.
Backend error: Indicates some sort of
significant syntax error.