Developers Meeting on Thurs, August 21, 2025

Time/Location

21 Aug 2025 from 14:00-15:00 UTC

Location: https://lyrasis.zoom.us/my/dspace?pwd=RTk4QUhISnhPRi9YenVrTFJKbDllQT09 (Meeting ID: 502 527 3040).  Passcode: dspace

• More connection options available at DSpace Meeting Room

Agenda

• Discussion Topics - If you have a topic you'd like to have added to the agenda, please just add it. 
  1. DSpace & DSpace-CRIS potential merger discussions
     1. DSpace and DSpace-CRIS Planning Groups - wiki pages to follow along with ongoing discussions.
     2. DSpace-CRIS and DSpace Differences  - List of known feature/architectural differences between DSpace 8 and latest version of DSpace-CRIS
  2. Overview of Nx and why we might want to migrate DSpace to using it (Giuseppe Digilio (4Science) and 4Science)
     1. What is the problem we are trying to solve?  We are looking for a way to modularize the UI and build plugins (which you can optionally install or not): DSpace Angular : library-based architecture proposal
        1. The backend currently supports modules/plugins via Maven Modules.  Institutions can create a Maven module and "plug" it into DSpace via modifying POMs.
        2. The frontend currently has no similar concept.  It's one large codebase.  Institutions have to customize the source code.
     2. Preparation PR (preparing for migration): https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/pull/4629
     3. Original PR (full migration): https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/pull/4019
  3. Other topics
     1. Add your topic here.
• Board Review:
  • 10.0 Project Board - Review PRs collaboratively or Assign new PRs to volunteers to code review and/or test.
  • Backlog Board - Are there any tickets here stuck in the "Triage" column?  We'd like to keep this column as small as possible.
  • Maintenance Board (9.x, 8.x, 7.6.x) - Known bugs can be found here, along with any backported bug fixes.
• Upcoming Topics: (Let us know if there are topics you want to discuss in future weeks)
  
  • Restore Angular dynamic decorators: https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/pull/4528
  • Follow-up on "aggressive bot" discussion:  https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/issues/4565
    • PR to update our built-in "rate limiter": https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/pull/4620

Attendees

• Tim Donohue 
• Holger Lenz 

• Art Lowel (Atmire) 

• Andrea Bollini (4Science)

• Giuseppe Digilio (4Science) 
• Paulo Graça
• Mark H. Wood 
• Grazia Quercia (4Science)
• Julian Timal (eScire) 
• Martin Walk 
• Melissa Anez 
• Oliver Goldschmidt 
• Pascal-Nicolas Becker 
• Pierre Lasou 
• Kim Shepherd 
• Nicholas Woodward 
• Sascha Szott 
• Marsa Haoua 
• Jesiel Viana 
• Scholaris Team

Current Work

Project Boards

• DSpace 10.0 board: https://github.com/orgs/DSpace/projects/32
• DSpace 9.x, 8.x and 7.6.x maintenance board: https://github.com/orgs/DSpace/projects/29

To quickly find PRs assigned to you for review, visit https://github.com/pulls/review-requested  (This is also available in the GitHub header under "Pull Requests → Review Requests")

Goals for 10.0

To be decided by DSpace Steering Group with feedback from Leadership Group. 

Priorities listed at DSpace Release 10.0 Status. 

Goals for 9.2 / 8.3 / 7.6.5

Deadline is TBD for 9.2, 8.3 and7.6.5.  Bug fix releases do not have fixed/scheduled deadlines. Instead, the developer team will determine when to create a release based on the significance of the issues to solve. (e.g. If major issues are fixed, then a bug fix release will occur more rapidly.  If minor issues are found, then a bug fix release may be delayed until sufficient fixes have been made to warrant a release)

• Bug/security fixes only.  These minor releases will not include any new features.
  • New "themeable components" (for dspace-angular) are allowed in bug fix releases, provided that they don't significantly modify component behavior or similar.
  • Accessibility fixes are also allowed in bug fix releases, provided they don't significantly modify component behavior or similar.
• Bug fix PRs should be created against "main" branch where possible. The "main" branch has the most strict code style rules. (i.e. PRs created against dspace-7_x  are becoming more difficult to port forward.)
• Per our support policy, bug fixes are only guaranteed to be ported back to 9.x.  That said, where possible, we'll try to backport bug fixes (especially significant ones) to 8. x and 7.6.x.

Try "Pull Request Trading" for a quicker review

Do you have a PR stuck in "under review" that you really want to see move forward?  Or maybe it's someone else's PR but you want to get it more attention?

See Trading reviews on Pull Requests for how to get immediate attention to that PR!

Notes

Opening

• Tim welcomed participants and noted the main agenda item: discussion on NX and potential migration of the DSpace Angular UI.

• Brief mention of ongoing merger discussions before transitioning to the main technical topic.

Merger Updates

• Strategic group is planning a Q&A webinar in the second half of September (exact date TBD).

  • Format: short presentation on merger progress + ~45 minutes for community questions.

  • Questions can be submitted in advance via an online form.

• Tim: 

  • No decisions have been made yet; planning work continues.

  • Recommendations to steering/leadership groups expected in about a month or more.

  • Still exploring how a merger might be structured technically.

Main Topic: NX Migration Discussion

• Background:

  • Current Angular UI is monolithic; customization requires code-level changes.

  • Goals:

    • Modularization to allow reusable, plugin-like architecture (institutions can build and share small add-ons).

    • Easier customization management (similar to how XML/JSP UI allowed overlays in earlier DSpace versions).

  • Backend modularization is possible with Maven modules, but front-end currently lacks equivalent flexibility.

• NX is not required to achieve modularization but makes it easier.

• Provides tooling for creating and managing libraries, ensuring builds occur in correct order.

• Advantage: incremental builds & caching, reducing build times significantly.

• Presentation: Nx Benefits (Giuseppe Digilio, 4Science)
• Giuseppe Digilio presented on using Nx to further modularization; challenges and how to get there

  • Current Angular app is monolithic → hard to extend, limited for external plugins.

  • NX helps by:

    • Structuring code into apps + libraries.

    • Offering CLI scaffolding, dependency graphs, incremental builds, and caching.

    • Supporting modular architecture while maintaining developer productivity.

  • Two approaches:

    • Standalone (single app + libraries).

    • Monorepo (multiple apps + shared libs).

  • Demoed proof-of-concept migration:

    • Showed creation of libraries (e.g., core functionality separated).

    • Highlighted speed improvements with cached builds.

    • Example of custom feature library adding routes independently.

  • Questions:

    • pcg-kk: Raised concerns about NX maintenance:

      • Version incompatibilities between NX & Angular.

      • Risk of circular dependencies if modularization isn’t carefully managed.

      • Observed bugs and open issues in NX community.

    • Giuseppe Digilio:

      • Agreed circular dependencies are a risk in any modularization. Scripts and NX configs can help enforce boundaries.  We already have a script in DSpace that attempts to find any circular dependencies.  This issues isn't specific to NX, but is more a modularization issue.

      • Suggested aligning Angular and NX versions carefully; not seen as a major blocker.

    • Tim Donohue:

      • Suggested documenting risks and considering fixed NX versions per DSpace release.

    • Art Lowel: Questioned impact on merger with DSpace-CRIS.

      • Concern: CRIS doesn’t use NX currently.

      • Giuseppe: standalone NX approach minimizes disruption; structure remains similar to current Angular app.

      • Tim: The Technology Planning Group will need to look at and consider this.  Depends on how the merger would to occur...if the merger is over several PRs, switching to NX may not have a large impact as long as 4Science is prepared for it.

    • Themes: Question raised about impact on theme upgrades under modularization.  Initially themes will remain in the main application – so the process is unchanged.  In the future, with NX, would could consider splitting the theming engine into a separate module and modularize themes more.

    • Backend + frontend bundling: Desire expressed for ways to package both together for customizations. Tim noted NX can wrap other build tools (like Maven/Gradle), so potential exists.  No immediate plans for this yet though.

  • We will bring this back to next meeting; in the meantime, please add feedback on NX to this old PR: https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/pull/4019 (Or send to Tim directly)
  • Giuseppe will send a copy of the slides to Tim or Holger

Action items