(... large imports failing through the web interface likely due to timeouts...) I just realized there might be an easy way out of this.
My biggest concern right now is easyness of use. A set of users generates a lot of data through a database and I'd like this data to be uploaded in MW for the benefit of all other users. The Special:Import page is easy enough for them to use but has the problem I described in previous messages. Even raising the timeout tolerances, i.e. in php.ini or in the webserver if necessary, is unlikely to solve once and for all this, especially given the lack of error messages which would lead to puzzled users in case those tolerances are exceeded.
Unfortunately using command line tools such as those in mediawiki/maintenance would be uncomfortable to those users generating the data.
I've been wondering then: could a scheduled event (a cronjob or a windows equivalent) run a script to check the content of an import directory where users put the files to be imported in MW, and, if new files are found, trigger the execution of the import script? The same thing could be done with images I'd imagine.
This way the users would only have to worry about saving or transferring the files to be imported in the right location, confident that they'd be uploaded, say, every 15 minutes.
Does anybody see any drawbacks with this method?
Ciao!
Manu