Cannot add Related Items

Omeka Classic
1

After more than 10 years of using Omeka successfully (currently Version 2.7.1) , of late I am unable to add any Related Items. Colleagues on their machines trying to add items to our site get the same message. I enter the item number, select Is Related To, and when I try to save, I get this not-very-useful error message: " Omeka has encountered an error." Any suggestions?

After reading “Error Messages in Relation to Items and Plugin Issues,” I tried following that procedure. I have been unable to change permissions so that I get a detailed error message.

2

You’ll have to do the retrieving error messages steps you refer to in order to get the necessary information here.

If the “Display Error Messages” steps don’t work, you can do the “Activate Error Logging” steps instead to log to a file.

3

I finally was able to get the error message. Thanks for any suggestions of how to proceed.

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Zend_Db_Statement_Mysqli_Exception: Mysqli prepare error: FUNCTION dbu4ceodpcfpp4.AsText does not exist in /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Zend/Db/Statement/Mysqli.php:77
Stack trace:
#0 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Zend/Db/Statement.php(115): Zend_Db_Statement_Mysqli->_prepare(‘SELECT neatlin...') #1 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Zend/Db/Adapter/Mysqli.php(388): Zend_Db_Statement->__construct(Object(Zend_Db_Adapter_Mysqli), 'SELECT neatlin…’)
#2 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Zend/Db/Adapter/Abstract.php(479): Zend_Db_Adapter_Mysqli->prepare(‘SELECT neatlin...') #3 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Omeka/Db.php(80): Zend_Db_Adapter_Abstract->query('SELECT neatlin…’, Array)
#4 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Omeka/Db/Table.php(647): Omeka_Db->__call(‘query’, Array)
#5 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Omeka/Db/Table.php(429): Omeka_Db_Table->fetchObjects(Object(Omeka_Db_Select), Array)
#6 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/plugins/Neatline/models/NeatlineRecordTable.php(53): Omeka_Db_Table->findBySql(‘item_id=?’, Array)
#7 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/plugins/Neatline/NeatlinePlugin.php(179): NeatlineRecordTable->syncItem(Object(Item))
#8 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Omeka/Plugin/Broker.php(154): NeatlinePlugin->hookAfterSaveItem(Array)
#9 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Omeka/Record/AbstractRecord.php(301): Omeka_Plugin_Broker->callHook(‘after_save_item’, Array)
#10 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Omeka/Record/AbstractRecord.php(548): Omeka_Record_AbstractRecord->runCallbacks(‘afterSave’, Array)
#11 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Omeka/Controller/AbstractActionController.php(229): Omeka_Record_AbstractRecord->save(false)
#12 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/controllers/ItemsController.php(88): Omeka_Controller_AbstractActionController->editAction()
#13 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Zend/Controller/Action.php(516): ItemsController->editAction()
#14 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Zend/Controller/Dispatcher/Standard.php(308): Zend_Controller_Action->dispatch(‘editAction’)
#15 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Zend/Controller/Front.php(954): Zend_Controller_Dispatcher_Standard->dispatch(Object(Zend_Controller_Request_Http), Object(Zend_Controller_Response_Http))
#16 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Zend/Application/Bootstrap/Bootstrap.php(105): Zend_Controller_Front->dispatch()
#17 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Zend/Application.php(384): Zend_Application_Bootstrap_Bootstrap->run()
#18 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/application/libraries/Omeka/Application.php(73): Zend_Application->run()
#19 /home/customer/www/squaredancehistory.org/public_html/admin/index.php(28): Omeka_Application->run()
#20 {main}

4

This is an issue with the plugin “Neatline.”

I think there might be an updated version that fixes this specific problem? From a quick look, version 2.6.4 of the plugin should fix this, and it’s available from its page on the addons directory.

5

Thanks for such a speedy response. So, two questions:

  1. I’m not tech savvy. (In fact, one of the features about the Omeka platform is that it makes it possible for such folks to organize and share our collections.) How do I go about uploading and installing the updated Neatline plugin?

  2. The updated plugin is dated May 19, 2021. But for the past three years, we’ve been able to add items and successfully use the Related Items feature. What would cause that to stop working?

6

The problem here is probably that your host upgraded the version of the database your site runs on. The error mentions “AsText does not exist,” which is a reference to something that’s been removed/renamed in newer versions of MySQL. The (relatively) newer Neatline version changes this code to a newer version that works with the more recent database.

The manual has instructions for upgrading plugins. The manual breaks it down into steps but I’ll restate it differently here: the Neatline plugin has a folder named “Neatline” inside the “plugins” folder of your Omeka installation. You would delete the “Neatline” folder, then replace it with the one from the .zip file for Neatline version 2.6.4 that I referred to in my previous message. Then, go to the “Plugins” page on your Omeka admin dashboard and you’ll have an “Upgrade” button you can press for Neatline to complete the upgrade.

7

Success!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!