This documentation is meant to show how to set up your computer to test DSpace Github Pull Requests (PRs). PRs are codes including proposal for new features or bug corrections. 

Getting ready

Step 1: Install required software

To start working on PR review and testing, the following applications are needed:

• GitHub login. This lets you add a comment to any PR you test, letting developers know if you found problems or if all your tests were successful.
• GIT https://git-scm.com/downloads
• Install GitHub CLI.  This makes it easier to "checkout" (i.e. download) the PR code so you can test it.
• Install Docker Desktop. This is the easiest way to get a DSpace backend installed locally for testing new (frontend or backend) PRs.
  • Windows 11: ensure Hyper-V are turned on in the Windows Features (TO ADD). May require administrator rights on the computer.
  • Once installed, you will be required to restart your computer. When first launched, an error may appear mentioning that WSL for Windows is needed. If so, install WSL. When Installing WSL you will be asked for a Linux Distro.
  • NOTE: Docker recently changed their service agreement, but Docker remains free for personal use or non-commercial open source projects like DSpace.

  • NOTE for Windows 10: Docker Desktop can sometimes become a bit "memory-hungry" when it is running.  It's best to either disable the "Start Docker Desktop when you log in" setting (so that it only runs when needed).  Alternatively, if you are using the default WSL2 backend, you can create a ".wslconfig" file in your user directory and limit the amount of memory you let Docker use (at least 4-8GB is recommended if you can spare it):

    .wslconfig

    [wsl2]
    memory=8GB

Congratulations!  You have installed the required software!

Step 2: Set up DSpace Docker

This step must be followed after all software listed in step one are installed. For additional details and more up-to-date information on DSpace Docker files and configurations, refer to the documentation on DSpace Github (Docker Compose files for DSpace Backend and Angular Docker Compose files)

GitHub CLI authentication

This operation is done once. It is must be done before beginning to install either DSpace Backend or Frontend.

gh auth login

Also possible to use Git Bash: 

1. Install Git Bash & verify the installation by running "git version" from Command Prompt or Powershell
2. No need to authenticate with Github credentials.

Installing Backend

3-step process (details in table below): 

1. Cloning the GitHub repository
2. Getting the DSpace Backend images from the Docker Registry
3. Starting the Docker Backend Containers

# Run from command-line where ever you want the "DSpace" directory of code to be created.
gh repo clone DSpace/DSpace
 
# Once downloaded, change into that directory
cd DSpace

# This command should be run from the "DSpace" code directory
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-cli.yml pull

# First start the backend with the test data
docker compose -p d7 -f docker-compose.yml -f dspace/src/main/docker-compose/db.entities.yml up -d

# [OPTIONAL] Run "logs -f" to watch the logs for everything to start up.  
docker compose -p d7 -f docker-compose.yml -f dspace/src/main/docker-compose/db.entities.yml logs -f
# (Click Ctrl+C to exit logs view)

# Finally, download the test data assetstore (of files) and install it, reindexing all content
docker compose -p d7 -f docker-compose-cli.yml -f dspace/src/main/docker-compose/cli.assetstore.yml run dspace-cli

Installing Frontend

3 step process (details in table below): 

1. Cloning the GitHub repository
2. Getting the DSpace FrontEnd images from the Docker Registry
3. Starting the Docker DSpace Frontend Containers

# Run from command-line where ever you want the "dspace-angular" directory of code to be created.
gh repo clone DSpace/dspace-angular
 
# Once downloaded, change into that directory
cd dspace-angular

# This command should be run from the "dspace-angular" code directory
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml pull

docker compose -p d7 -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d
 
# Optionally run "logs -f" to watch the logs for everything to start up.
docker compose -p d7 -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f
# (Click Ctrl+C to exit logs view)

Step 3: Ensure everything is up and running

Checking Docker Desktop Containers

Your Docker Desktop Containers page should look like the image below, with the d7 project containing at least 4 containers: dspacedb for the database ; dspacesolr for the solr indexes ; dspace for the backend server ; angular for the frontend UI.

TODO: ALSO ADD PRINT SCREEN OF UI AND BACKEND

Checking DSpace URL

Once you start the containers either through command line or Docker UI, the following URLs should be active.

• Backend: http://localhost:8080/server/
• Angular UI: http://localhost:4000/home
• OAI: http://localhost:8080/server/oai/request?verb=Identify

Starting Testing PRs

How to find PR for testing

If you are less technical, or just getting started, we recommend beginning your testing (or code review) with Pull Requests that contain the "1 Approval" label.  These are smaller Pull Requests that need a very quick test or review (usually a small bug fix or improvement).

• Backend pull requests with "1 Approval" label
• Frontend pull requests with "1 Approval" label

You are welcome to test any open pull request.  Even if the pull request is already assigned to other testers, it can help speed up its completion/acceptance if others also test it.

We recommend testing whichever pull requests are of interest to you.  You may find one relating to a bug that you'd also seen, or something that sounds easy for you to test, etc.  The choice is up to you.

How to select a PR to test

Things important to consider before selecting a issue to test: 

• No merge conflict detected (merge conflict tag)
• No changes have been requested by a reviewer (changes requested tags)
• No "work in progress" tag
• All automated test have passed without error
• Looking for an easy one? Look for the "1 Approval" tag (see links above)

Understanding what to test

For testing:

• Look if a Github Issue is linked to the PR, it usually gives more information on the feature to test.
• If test instructions are unclear, put a comment asking for instructions
• Tester do not need to be assign a PR to test it.

If the PR needs a specific configuration, it can be change: recommendation is to use a local.cfg containing the config value for the test. i.e, if the feature change in the PR use emails, it is necessary to configure SMTP using you SMTP reference.

Testing the DSpace Pull Request (PR)

Once you are ready to check the PRs: open Dev tool of you preferred browser

If an error occurs, check the log, either backend or frontend log can be accessed using Docker by clicking on the containers Name (i.e: dspace-angular or dspacedb, etc.)

Reporting test results

The PR's description should describe how to test it and what you should see.

1. If you notice any odd behavior, check for errors in the UI using your browser's DevTools. See Troubleshoot an error#FindingtheErrorMessageintheUserInterface
2. Based on what you find, add a comment to the PR. If it works, congratulate the developer. If it doesn't, let them know the error you saw (and what you clicked on when that error occurred).