Version 7.0

Table of Contents:

Overview

What will be included in DSpace 7?

The DSpace 7.0 release will concentrate on the following major features:

1. A new User Interface based on Angular (to replace XMLUI and JSPUI). This work is going on at https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular
   1. The goal of the new UI is to implement all major features of both XMLUI and JSPUI in a single, modern UI.
   2. While additional UI-related features/improvements may come in this release (especially any that are made easier by Angular), we do not anticipate any significant changes to the DSpace backend (except for the REST API, as noted below).
2. A refactored/enhanced REST API (using modern REST best practices). This work is going on in the "master" branch of https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace
   1. Additionally, a new REST Contract (describing all API interactions) is being written at https://github.com/DSpace/Rest7Contract
3. A new configurable object model (tentatively called "Entities"), which allows for the creation of new "typed" Items, and storing relationships between Items.  This feature will allow for tighter integration with external identifier systems (e.g. ORCID), current research information systems (CRIS), journal publishing systems, etc. This work is going on in the DSpace 7 Entities Working Group.
4. Alignment with core recommendations from the COAR Next Generation Repositories Report (http://ngr.coar-repositories.org/).  Specifically, DSpace 7 will introduce two technologies deemed of highest priority by this report.
   
   1. ResourceSync
      1. options to install alongside an existing DSpace 5.x or 6.x installation will also be made available
   2. Signposting

For much more information on the history behind these decisions, see DSpace 7 UI Project Plain Language Summary

Where is this work happening? How can I track it?

Join us in a DSpace 7 Community Sprint!  We are holding regular development sprints which anyone can signup & participate. Prior experience with DSpace 7 is not required (and Sprint Coaches will be available to help you during the Sprint). See the wiki page for upcoming sprints, participant requirements, signups, etc.

Between sprints, active work takes part in the DSpace 7 Working Group (this is the development team). This group meets on a weekly basis (see working group wiki page for scheduling information). All meetings are open (anyone can attend) and meeting notes are publicly available off the group's wiki page.

We also use Slack to communicate between meetings. Anyone can request a Slack invite (see link) to listen in or join discussions.  The DSpace 7 development team primarily uses the #angular-ui and #rest-api channels within Slack, to discuss the UI and REST API work respectively.

Where can I see the latest work? Is there a demo site?

September 2019 DSpace North American User Group Meeting

Live demos:

• UI demo (June 2018): provides a high level overview of the new REST API, with a detailed demo of the new user interface, submission process, etc.
• REST API demo (July 2018): provides an overview of the new REST API, and how easy it is to work with using third-party tools like Postman.  This video is part of a larger REST API Dev Show & Tell meeting, but the DSpace 7 REST API demo starts around 26:28: https://youtu.be/L5JeyvRj5-A?t=26m28s 

We also host two demonstration sites of the latest DSpace 7 work. You can try them yourself to see how the work is progressing!

• DSpace 7 User Interface demo: https://dspace7-demo.atmire.com/
  • This site is automatically updated each time a UI code change is merged into https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular
  • It also points at the REST API demo (see below) and uses data from it.
  • Currently, the site is anonymous access only, as authentication / authorization features are still in progress.
• DSpace 7 REST API demo: https://dspace7.4science.it/dspace-spring-rest/
  • This site is updated after major changes to REST API.

  • REST API design/interaction is described in the REST Contract at https://github.com/DSpace/Rest7Contract

Presentations / Webinars on DSpace 7

• June 2018: DSpace 7 Update talk and Workshops at OR2018
  
  • DSpace 7 Update Slides: https://tinyurl.com/or2018-dspace7 (Includes updates, What is coming in DSpace 7, estimated roadmap, and screenshots of the live demo)
  • DSpace 7 Recorded Demo: https://youtu.be/yKnos2jTdSQ  (Includes a preview of REST API, Browse, Search, and a detailed demo of the enhanced Submission & Workflow functionality. This is an extended version of the live demo given at OR2018 in conjection with the "DSpace 7 Update Slides")
  • DSpace 7 REST API Workshop
    • Workshop Slides (including exercises): https://tinyurl.com/or2018-dspace-rest
    • Exercises & online tutorial (work in progress): https://dspace-labs.github.io/DSpace7RestTutorial/
  • DSpace 7 Angular UI Workshop
    • Workshop Slides (including exercises): https://tinyurl.com/or2018-dspace-ui
    • Workshop Wiki page: https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/DSPACE/OR2018+DSpace+Angular+Workshop
• February 2017: DSpace 7 updates webinar. An update on the DSpace 7 work was presented as part of the DuraSpace "hot topics" webinar series
  • Video recording is available at: http://www.duraspace.org/node/3103
  • Slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/DuraSpace/22817-introducing-dspace-7-webinar-slides
  • As this talk was highly technical (at parts), a higher level summary of the main points is at: DSpace 7 UI Project Plain Language Summary
• June 2016: Introducing DSpace 7 talk at OR2016. At OR16, the plans for DSpace 7 were presented as part of the "Introducing the New DSpace User Interface" talk.
  
  • Slides are available at: http://www.slideshare.net/tdonohue/introducing-the-new-dspace-user-interface
  • Video recording is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbxQ60wjPXs&index=1&list=PLER-v9UmiFBut2SVfA2uUSuBFhSFnqlXh

Current Status of new UI

We are tracking the current status of all active DSpace 7 development on this Google Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18brPF7cZy_UKyj97Ta44UJg5Z8OwJGi7PLoPJVz-g3g/edit#gid=0

• The "Overview" tab contains a list of all high-level features currently available in either the DSpace 6.x JSPUI or XMLUI.  (If you feel a feature is missing, let Tim Donohue know)  Our development workflow is generally described below:
  
  • Green features are considered "completed" (or have an early implementation completed). These features should already exist on the demo site (https://dspace7-demo.atmire.com/).
  • Red features are waiting for review (i.e. code is nearly ready, and this feature is likely to be coming soon to the demo site)
  • Blue features are work in progress (i.e. one or more volunteers are currently working on this feature)
  • Yellow are ready to be worked on (i.e. waiting for volunteer)
  • White/Gray are not yet fully described in a development "ticket". They will still be part of DSpace 7. These features will move up this workflow (to Yellow → Blue → Red → Green) once other features are completed.

Other possible changes in DSpace 7.0 (not comprehensive)

The following is an (unordered) list of changes / new features that we'd like to see added to DSpace 7.0. If you have additional features to add, please feel free. We also NEED volunteers to make these features happen, so please do volunteer if you are willing to work on a particular change!  Please note that we reserve the right to reschedule/reject any feature that may not align well with the longer term RoadMap.

Feature	Notes / Tickets	Priority	Volunteer(s)
Single Backend Web application.  New REST API, OAI-PMH, SWORD and RDF in a single webapp.	DSpace Backend as One Webapp Unable to locate Jira server for this macro. It may be due to Application Link configuration.	High	Tim Donohue (nearly Completed)
Upgrading Solr from v4 to v7	Upgrading Solr Server for DSpace	High	Mark Wood
More powerful email templates (using Velocity templating engine)	Unable to locate Jira server for this macro. It may be due to Application Link configuration.	Medium	COMPLETED
Single built-in Statistical Engine (SOLR Statistics)	Move Elasticsearch Usage Statistics to external "module"?	Medium	COMPLETED
Upgrading Handle Server to v9	Unable to locate Jira server for this macro. It may be due to Application Link configuration.	Medium	Ian Little at CNRI (nearly completed)
Single Embargo system	We have two ways of managing embargos, when we only need one Unable to locate Jira server for this macro. It may be due to Application Link configuration.	Medium	(uncertain status)
Enhanced Solr Statistical Reports	For example, the nice work by Andrea Schweer at http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/stats Other suggestions or code contributions welcome!	Low	(uncertain status)
OAuth authentication plugin	Dryad (a fork of DSpace) has already implemented this, and reportedly is interested in contributing it to DSpace	Low	(uncertain status)
Inline video player	Required: Closed caption capability for accessibility	Low	(uncertain status)

Pull Requests to review for possible inclusion

• https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/milestones/7.0

Code Changes in DSpace 7.0

New Features in 7.0

General Improvements in 7.0

Bug Fixes in 7.0

Organizational Details

Release Coordination

Instead of a single "Release Coordinator", the DSpace 7.0 release will be managed by a "Release Team".

Release Team

• Tim Donohue
• DSpace 7 Working Group

Please volunteer (by emailing Tim Donohue), if you are interested in joining the team!

Timeline and Processing

Your contributions are welcome now! Code and documentation need not be finished, so long as it is working and we can all see what it is for. Time is set aside for fixing, polishing, and integration. We have some general Code Contribution Guidelines available, but you are also welcome to ask questions on the dspace-devel mailing list.

Release Process

Release Process needs to proceed according to the following Maven release process: Release Procedure