Blank screen at Cases>New Case after trying to create a new case type

[civieric]

I'm getting a blank screen when I choose Cases>New Case. I tried creating a new case type 'NOAH' (see steps below), but even after removing everything connected to that I'm still getting the blank screen at Cases>New Case. I tried to follow the instructions at http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/CiviCase+Configuration#CiviCaseConfiguration-ConfiguringCiviCase, which seem to be a bit different than those in the 4.4 version of the Book.

The setup is exactly the same as another, which is working fine with the HousingSupport.xml copied to /var/www/virtual/<site>/custom_tpl/CRM/Case/xml/configuration/, so I can't fathom what the problem might be. [Modified/added:] The one that is working is using civicrm-4.4.4-wordpress.zip while the one that's not working is using civicrm-4.4.5. I just reinstalled the latter and with a pristine installation, only change is to activate CiviCase, I'm getting the same white screen at New Case. Using WP 3.9.1.

[Modification/addition 2:] When I update a 4.4.4 version to 4.4.5, the "New Case" works fine. But it doesn't work on a new installation of 4.4.5 as far as I can tell.

Am I making a mistake somewhere? [After message modification: Presumably not making a mistake.]

Thanks.

-Create case type "NOAH"
   -create directories for the case XMLs at /var/www/virtual/<site>
      -/var/www/virtual/<site>/custom_tpl/CRM/Case/xml/configuration/
      -From /var/www/virtual/clear*:
         -chown -R apache:allusers *
         -chmod -R 775 *
      -Tell Civi where custom_tpl is: Administer>System Settings>Directories and enter the full path in the Custom Templates box and save.
   -copy sample Case xml file to serve as template for 'NOAH' case type
      -cd /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Case/xml/configuration.sample
      -cp --preserve=all HousingSupport.xml /var/www/virtual/clearboxcivicrm*/custom_tpl/CRM/Case/xml/configuration
      -cp --preserve=all Settings.xml /var/www/virtual/clearboxcivicrm*/custom_tpl/CRM/Case/xml/configuration
      -cd /var/www/virtual/<site>/custom_tpl/CRM/Case/xml/configuration/
      -mv HousingSupport.xml NOAH.xml
      -vi NOAH.xml and change the <name> value from 'Housing Support' to 'NOAH'
   -Populate Case Types, Activity Types, and Case Roles: add database records for each new Case Type, Activity Type, and Case Role
      -At CiviCRM webconfig: Adminster> CiviCase>Case Types
         -Click New Case Type
         -complete the form using the exact same text for the Label as you entered for the CaseType <name> element.

[demeritcowboy]

Rename your xml file to Noah.xml

Capital N, lower case oah.

[civieric]

1. 'NOAH' is an acronym, so I'd like to use all caps. Is that not possible with XML file?

2. Even if that's a problem, it doesn't explain why the blank page persisted when I put my installation back to its pristine condition and why it's happening with new installations (on different servers) of 4.4.5.

[demeritcowboy]

1. You can use all caps for the label that people will see in CiviCRM, but not for the filename. That's not an XML thing it's just historical. See footnote if interested in the history.

2. I'm not familiar with 4.4.5 yet. Is there an error in the civi log? Not sure where that is in wordpress, but there should be a ConfigAndLog directory created by CiviCRM somewhere in there.

Footnote:
At the time CiviCase was first being developed, there was already an existing storage mechanism and UI for dropdown options, so that was borrowed for case types etc. Also, there was an existing mechanism for "munging" filenames so that they worked across all platforms and could handle special characters which sometimes aren't allowed in filenames, so that was borrowed too. That's why the name, label, and filename are all potentially different. It does get confusing sometimes, but at the time it made sense to re-use the existing framework. I believe the next major version is getting some admin screens to help with this.

[civieric]

This is what's in the log (.../plugins/files/civicrm/ConfigAndLog/CiviCRM.6b66b525c271982bde6417152bf7ad41.log. It looks like it's all from this aft when I re-installed, I think. Nothing happens in the log when I restart apache and go to the CiviCRM again.

May 20 13:26:45  [info] $Fatal Error Details = Array
(
    [message] =>  is not of the type Positive
   

Code: [Select]

=>
)


May 20 13:26:45  [info] $backTrace = #0 /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Core/Error.php(322): CRM_Core_Error::backtrace("backTrace", TRUE)
#1 /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/Type.php(229): CRM_Core_Error::fatal(" is not of the type Positive")
#2 /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Contact/Page/AJAX.php(892): CRM_Utils_Type::escape(NULL, "Positive")
#3 [internal function](): CRM_Contact_Page_AJAX::dashboard((Array:3))
#4 /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Core/Invoke.php(289): call_user_func((Array:2), (Array:3))
#5 /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Core/Invoke.php(72): CRM_Core_Invoke::runItem((Array:12))
#6 /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Core/Invoke.php(52): CRM_Core_Invoke::_invoke((Array:3))
#7 /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm.php(470): CRM_Core_Invoke::invoke((Array:3))
#8 [internal function](): CiviCRM_For_WordPress->invoke("")
#9 /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-includes/plugin.php(470): call_user_func_array((Array:2), (Array:1))
#10 /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-admin/admin.php(211): do_action("toplevel_page_CiviCRM")
#11 {main}

[demeritcowboy]

How about in the web server logs? The location will vary depending on your web hosting. Sometimes there is even a separate log for php errors, depending on php.ini error_log settings.

[civieric]

Here's the last line of 'tail' from this morning after trying 'New Case' (the only line from this morning):

tail /var/log/httpd/<site>_error_log:

[Wed May 21 06:49:44 2014] [error] [client n.n.n.n] PHP Fatal error:  Class 'DomDocument' not found in /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Case/XMLProcessor.php on line 107, referer: http://<site>/wp-admin/admin.php?page=CiviCRM

I completely uninstalled CiviCRM and installed 4.4.4 and got the same error.  Maybe it's something in the WordPress or Apache setup on this box?

Latest from tail:

[Wed May 21 07:15:54 2014] [error] [client n.n.n.n] client denied by server configuration: /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/ConfigAndLog/CiviCRM.6b66b525c271982bde6417152bf7ad41.log
[Wed May 21 07:15:54 2014] [error] [client n.n.n.n] client denied by server configuration: /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/upload/latest-version-cache.txt
[Wed May 21 07:15:54 2014] [error] [client n.n.n.n] client denied by server configuration: /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/upload/latest-version-cache.txt
[Wed May 21 07:15:54 2014] [error] [client n.n.n.n] client denied by server configuration: /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/upload/latest-version-cache.txt
[Wed May 21 07:18:46 2014] [error] [client 166.137.89.160] PHP Fatal error:  Class 'DomDocument' not found in /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Case/XMLProcessor.php on line 107, referer: http://<site>/wp-admin/admin.php?page=CiviCRM&q=civicrm/admin&reset=1

Modified/added:
I made a new install of WP and CiviCRM at the default website for this box--the previous was a virtual site. This installation of WP 3.9.1 freshly downloaded and of CiviCRM 4.4.5 gives the same error ("Class' DomDocument' not found....").

Since this doesn't seem to occur with other WP/CiviCRM installations, could it be something in the Apache/PHP setup? And if so, any suggestions? But nothing else I've tested in the Civi installation seems to generate this error.

[demeritcowboy]

1. php-xml isn't installed, or is disabled in the php/web server config.

2. There's either the wrong permissions on /var/www/virtual/<site>/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm, or a .htaccess is denying access.

By the way these particular ones are common web server issues and not entirely CiviCRM-specific, so Bing (or Google) can also help.

[civieric]

php-xml was missing on ClearBox. Doesn't seem to be absent on other ClearOS setups, so I've mentioned this to the ClearOS people.

Thanks.

[demeritcowboy]

Ok. I've also updated the wiki:
http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/CiviCRM+PHP+Requirements