Ferret talk - May 2006 - How to install Ferret to get the best performance

Hey all,

After dabbling with ActiveSearch, we''re coming back around to take 
another look at Ferret.

ActiveSearch slowed to a crawl after indexing about 20k documents, each 
20 lines each.

This time we may attempt to create multiple Ferret indexes (isolating 
each organization''s data individually), since we eventually could have 
upwards of 20k documents for some organizations.

I was wondering - what is the best current way to get optimal 
performance out of Ferret? (C bindings, etc)

I''m developing locally on an OS X Tiger (latest updates).  (PowerPC 
architecture, not Intel just yet)

I tried the instructions laid out here for the Archive Install of 
ferret-0.9.1-alpha:
http://ferret.davebalmain.com/trac/

After running:
> sudo ruby setup.rb
I got:
make: *** [ferret_ext.bundle] Error 1
The C extensions were not installed. But don''t worry. Everything should
work fine

Then I tried installing the gem and everything seemed to work like a 
charm.  (no error messages, etc)

Does installing the gem give you the fast C extensions?

Also, we''ll eventually be deploying this onto a production Linux box. 
Should we use the Archive Install method or gem install method for that 
(to get the C extensions), or does it not matter?

Thanks!

- Shanti
http://sproutit.com  - group email for support@, sales@ addresses
http://sablog.com    - personal blog

-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

Ok, still reading up a bit here =)

This post sheds some light on the situation:
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lang.ruby.rails/27008

Eagerly awaiting cFerret,
- Shanti

-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

Hi Shanti,

Actually, cferret is now used as the back end for ferret. But if you
got an error running the install then it won''t have been installed and
you''ll just be using the pure C version. There was a known issue with
the compile on OS X which I fixed a while back but I haven''t released
it yet as I''ve been trying to get ferret to compile on Windows.

That has been a major hassle so I might just put a release out today.
As for method of install, it shouldn''t make a difference in terms of
performance. I''d recommend the gem install for ease of use.

Cheers,
Dave

On 5/5/06, Shanti Braford <shanti at braford.org>
wrote:
> Ok, still reading up a bit here =)
>
> This post sheds some light on the situation:
> http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lang.ruby.rails/27008
>
> Eagerly awaiting cFerret,
> - Shanti
>
> --
> Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.
> _______________________________________________
> Ferret-talk mailing list
> Ferret-talk at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ferret-talk
>

Hi David,

Sweet!!  So if I installed the gem w/o errors, it''s now rocking the 
latest cFerret engine that''s 100x faster or so?  Awesome.

Thank you fine sir,
- Shanti

(I couldn''t code my way out of a wet paper bag in C.  *ahem*)

David Balmain wrote:
> Hi Shanti,
> 
> Actually, cferret is now used as the back end for ferret. But if you
> got an error running the install then it won''t have been installed
and
> you''ll just be using the pure C version. There was a known issue
with
> the compile on OS X which I fixed a while back but I haven''t
released
> it yet as I''ve been trying to get ferret to compile on Windows.
> 
> That has been a major hassle so I might just put a release out today.
> As for method of install, it shouldn''t make a difference in terms
of
> performance. I''d recommend the gem install for ease of use.
> 
> Cheers,
> Dave

-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

> But if you got an error running the install then it won''t have
been installed and
> you''ll just be using the pure C version
Dave,

Is that a typo?  Did you mean "you''ll just be using the pure ruby
version"?

Tom

On 5/5/06, Shanti Braford <shanti at braford.org>
wrote:
> Hi David,
>
> Sweet!!  So if I installed the gem w/o errors, it''s now rocking
the
> latest cFerret engine that''s 100x faster or so?  Awesome.
>
> Thank you fine sir,
> - Shanti
>
> (I couldn''t code my way out of a wet paper bag in C.  *ahem*)
>
> David Balmain wrote:
> > Hi Shanti,
> >
> > Actually, cferret is now used as the back end for ferret. But if you
> > got an error running the install then it won''t have been
installed and
> > you''ll just be using the pure C version. There was a known
issue with
> > the compile on OS X which I fixed a while back but I haven''t
released
> > it yet as I''ve been trying to get ferret to compile on
Windows.
> >
> > That has been a major hassle so I might just put a release out today.
> > As for method of install, it shouldn''t make a difference in
terms of
> > performance. I''d recommend the gem install for ease of use.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Dave
>
>
> --
> Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.
> _______________________________________________
> Ferret-talk mailing list
> Ferret-talk at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ferret-talk
>

--
Tom Davies

http://blog.atomgiant.com
http://gifthat.com

Ah yes.

If the C extensions fail to compile then Ferret will rescue by using
the pure Ruby version instead.

On 5/8/06, Tom Davies <atomgiant at gmail.com>
wrote:
> > But if you got an error running the install then it won''t
have been installed and
> > you''ll just be using the pure C version
>
> Dave,
>
> Is that a typo?  Did you mean "you''ll just be using the pure
ruby version"?
>
> Tom
>
> On 5/5/06, Shanti Braford <shanti at braford.org> wrote:
> > Hi David,
> >
> > Sweet!!  So if I installed the gem w/o errors, it''s now
rocking the
> > latest cFerret engine that''s 100x faster or so?  Awesome.
> >
> > Thank you fine sir,
> > - Shanti
> >
> > (I couldn''t code my way out of a wet paper bag in C.  *ahem*)
> >
> > David Balmain wrote:
> > > Hi Shanti,
> > >
> > > Actually, cferret is now used as the back end for ferret. But if
you
> > > got an error running the install then it won''t have been
installed and
> > > you''ll just be using the pure C version. There was a
known issue with
> > > the compile on OS X which I fixed a while back but I
haven''t released
> > > it yet as I''ve been trying to get ferret to compile on
Windows.
> > >
> > > That has been a major hassle so I might just put a release out
today.
> > > As for method of install, it shouldn''t make a difference
in terms of
> > > performance. I''d recommend the gem install for ease of
use.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > Dave
> >
> >
> > --
> > Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ferret-talk mailing list
> > Ferret-talk at rubyforge.org
> > http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ferret-talk
> >
>
>
> --
> Tom Davies
>
> http://blog.atomgiant.com
> http://gifthat.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ferret-talk mailing list
> Ferret-talk at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ferret-talk
>