Release Notes

 
Welcome to Release 7.0, the next major release of the DSpace platform.  Any previous version of DSpace may be upgraded to DSpace 7 directly. For more information, please see Upgrading DSpace.

7.0 Beta 1 Release Notes

New features to look for

• A completely new User Interface (demo site). This is the new Javascript-based frontend, built on Angular.io (with support for SEO provided by Angular Universal). This new interface is also via HTML and CSS (SCSS). For early theme building training, see the “Getting Started with DSpace 7 Workshop” from the North American User Group meeting: slides or video recording.
• A completely new, fully featured REST API (demo site), provided via a single "server" webapp backend. This new backend is not only a REST API, but also still supports OAI-PMH, SWORD (v1 or v2) and RDF. See the REST API's documentation / contract at https://github.com/DSpace/Rest7Contract/blob/master/README.md
• A newly designed search box. Search from the header of any page (click the magnifying glass). The search results page now features automatic search highlight, expandable & searchable filters, and optional thumbnail-based results (click on the “grid” view).
• A new MyDSpace area, including a new, one-page, drag & drop submission form, a new workflow approval process, and searchable past submissions. (Login, click on your user profile icon, click “MyDSpace”). Find workflow tasks to claim by selecting “All tasks” in the “Show” dropdown.
• Dynamic user interface translations (Click the globe, and select a language).  Anyone interested in adding more translations?  See DSpace 7 Translation - Internationalization (i18n) - Localization (l10n).
• A new Admin sidebar. Login as an Administrator, and an administrative sidebar appears. Use this to create a new Community/Collection/Item, edit existing ones, and manage registries. (NOTE: A number of Administrative tools are still missing or greyed out. They will be coming in future Beta releases.)
• Optional, new Configurable Entities feature. DSpace now supports “entities”, which are DSpace Items of a specific ‘type’ which may have relationships to other entities. These entity types and relationships are configurable, with two examples coming out-of-the-box: a set of Journal hierarchy entities (Journal, Volume, Issue, Publication) and a set of Research entities (Publication, Project, Person, OrgUnit). For more information see “The Power of Configurable Entities” from OR2019: slides or video recording. Additionally, a test data set featuring both out-of-the-box examples can be used when trying out DSpace 7 via Docker.  Early documentation is available at Configurable Entities.
• Support for OpenAIREv4 Guidelines for Literature Repositories in OAI-PMH (See the new “openaire4” context in OAI-PMH).

Additional major changes to be aware of in the 7.x platform (not an exhaustive list):

• XMLUI and JSPUI are no longer supported or distributed with DSpace. All users should immediately migrate to and utilize the new Angular User Interface.  There is no migration path from either the XMLUI or JSPUI to the new User interface.  However, the new user interface can be themed via HTML and CSS (SCSS).
  
• The old REST API ("rest" webapp from DSpace v4.x-6.x) is deprecated and will be removed in v8.x. The new REST API (provided in the "server" webapp) replaces all functionality available in the older REST API. If you have tools that rely on the old REST API, you can still (optionally) build & deploy it alongside the "server" webapp via the "-Pdspace-rest" Maven flag.
• The Submission Form configuration has changed. The "item-submission.xml" file has changed its structure, and the "input-forms.xml" has been replaced by a "submission-forms.xml".  For early documentation see Configuration changes in the submission process (FULL DOCUMENTATION COMING SOON)
• ElasticSearch Usage Statistics have been removed.  Please use SOLR Statistics or DSpace Google Analytics Statistics.
• The traditional, 3-step Workflow system has been removed in favor of the Configurable Workflow System. For most users, you should see no effect or difference.  The default setup for this Configurable Workflow System is identical to the traditional, 3-step workflow ("Approve/Reject", "Approve/Reject/Edit Metadata", "Edit Metadata")
• Apache Solr is no longer embedded within the DSpace installer (and has been upgraded to Solr v7).  Solr now MUST be installed as a separate dependency alongside the DSpace backend.  See Installing DSpace.
• Some command-line tools/scripts are enabled in the new REST API (e.g. index-discovery):  See new Scripts endpoint: https://github.com/DSpace/Rest7Contract/blob/master/scripts-endpoint.md
• DSpace now has a single, backend "server" webapp to deploy in Tomcat (or similar). In DSpace 6.x and below, different machine interfaces (OAI-PMH, SWORD v1 or v2, RDF, REST API) were provided via separate deployable webapps.  Now, all those interfaces along with the new REST API are in a single, "server" webapp built on Spring Boot.  You can now control which interfaces are enabled, and what path they appear on via configuration (e.g. "oai.enabled=true" and "oai.path=oai"). See https://jira.lyrasis.org/browse/DS-4257 (FULL DOCUMENTATION COMING SOON)
• Configuration has been upgraded to Apache Commons Configuration version 2. For most users, you should see no effect or difference. No DSpace configuration files were modified during this upgrade and no configurations or settings were renamed or changed. However, if you locally modified or customized the [dspace]/config/config-definition.xml (DSpace's Apache Commons Configuration settings), you will need to ensure those modifications are compatible with Apache Commons Configuration version 2.  See the Apache Commons Configuration's configuration definition file reference for more details.
• DSpace now has sample Docker images (configurations) which can be used to try out DSpace quickly.  See Try out DSpace 7 ("Install via Docker" section)

Additional Resources

At this time, the DSpace 7 documentation is still in progress, but has begun at https://wiki.lyrasis.org/display/DSDOC7x/

That said, we have a number of recorded presentations and workshops available which provide an overview of all the new 7.0 features. 

• Presentations / Workshops from OR2019 (June 2019). Some video recordings exist https://wiki.lyrasis.org/display/DSPACE/DSpace+7+at+OR2019
• Getting Started with DSpace 7 Workshop at the North American User Group Meeting (Sept 2019). Includes slides, workshop materials & a video recording. https://wiki.lyrasis.org/display/DSPACE/2019+DSpace+North+American+User+Group+Meeting
• Additional DSpace 7 presentations/workshops/webinars are planned for 2020, including at the OR2020 conference

Milestones

DSpace 7.0 will be the largest release in the history of DSpace. It is the culmination of strategic planning by DSpace Governance in response to community feedback, use cases and needs (for additional details see Strategic Planning)

Achievement	More details
(2014-15) Governance creates a Strategic Plan for modernizing & refreshing DSpace for the future. A key goal of this plan is a "single, out of the box user interface" to replace the aging XMLUI and JSPUI.	DSpace 2015-18 Strategic Plan
(2015-16) Community competition for different UI prototypes. Nine were reviewed / analyzed for inclusion as the single, future DSpace UI.	DSpace UI Prototype Challenge
(2016) Formal selection of Angular as new UI framework, replacing both the XMLUI and JSPUI. New Angular UI that is modern, responsive, and built using a Bootstrap theme for easy customization.	"Introducing the new DSpace User Interface" talk at OR2016 DSpace 7 UI Project Plain Language Summary
(2017) Adoption of a standards based REST API to maximize exposure of all DSpace features for integration purposes: A completely redesigned REST API that is self-documenting and human browsable.	"On the Road to DSpace 7 : Angular UI + REST" at OR2017 DSpace 7 UI Project Plain Language Summary
(2017-19) Redesigned submissions and workflows  featuring a one page submission process with a drag-and-drop interface & a searchable MyDSpace.	Configuration changes in the submission process
(2017-19) Configurable entities, an optional new item type inspired by the DSpace-CRIS project that allows for complex linked relationships between items. For example, Items can now represent a Person (Entity) to provide a way to support "researcher profiles", and link that person to the works they authored.	Initial Investigation WG: DSpace Entities Working Group (2017-18) Implementation WG: DSpace 7 Entities Working Group (2018-19)
(May 2019) Preview release, including Entity demonstrator and associated data set	DSpace 7 Preview Release
(2019-20) Docker installation and deployment procedures	Try out DSpace 7 ("Install via Docker" section)
(Jan 2020) Established a new Staged Beta Release Process for 7.0, spacing out major features over a series of smaller Beta releases & delaying some low priority features for later 7.x releases. Paid/funded development began.	DSpace Release 7.0 Status
(March 2020) Beta 1 released	Beta 1 Release Notes
(April 2020) Beta 2 released	Beta 2 Release Notes
(July 2020) Beta 3 released	Beta 3 Release Notes
(Oct 2020) Beta 4 released	Beta 4 Release Notes
(April 2021) Beta 5 released	Beta 5 Release Notes
Testathon	April 19 - May 7, 2021
OR2021 Talks / Workshop	June 7-10, 2021
Final bug & accessibility fixes prior to 7.0 release	See 7.0 work board
(Aug 2, 2021) 7.0 release	DSpace 7 Press Release Release Notes
(Nov 1, 2021) 7.1 release	Release Notes
(Feb 7, 2022) 7.2 release	Release Notes
(June 27, 2022) 7.3 release	Release Notes
(October 10, 2022) 7.4 release	Release Notes
(February 20, 2023) 7.5 Release	Release Notes
(June 26, 2023) 7.6 Release	Release Notes
(November 15, 2023) 7.6.1 Release	Release Notes
7.6.x Ongoing Maintenance: With the release of DSpace 7.6 in June 2023, the 7.x platform has moved into maintenance mode. This means that all future 7.x releases will only include bug or security fixes and will adopt a "7.6.x" numbering scheme.	RoadMap

A full list of all changes / bug fixes in 7.x is available in the Changes in 7.x section.

7.0 Acknowledgments 

Major Contributing Institutions

The following institutions have been major code contributors to the DSpace 7 release (in general)

• Atmire
• 4Science
• FCT / RCAAP

Frontend / New User Interface Acknowledgments

The following individuals have contributed directly to the new DSpace (Angular) User Interface in this release (ordered by number of GitHub commits): Lotte Hofstede (LotteHofstede), Giuseppe Digilio (atarix83), Kristof De Langhe (Atmire-Kristof), Art Lowel (artlowel), William Welling (wwelling and wellingWilliam), Michael Spalti (mspalti), Laura Henze (lhenze), Jonas Van Goolen (jonas-atmire), Marie Verdonck (MarieVerdonck), Terry Brady (terrywbrady), Andrea Chiapparelli (andreachiapparelli), Ben Bosman (benbosman), Antoine Snyers (antoine-atmire), Matteo (sourcedump), Bram Luyten (bram-atmire), Courtney Pattison (courtneypattison), Àlex Magaz Graça (rivaldi8), Tim Donohue (tdonohue), Chris Wilper (cwilper), Christian Scheible (christian-scheible), Alexander Sulfrian (AlexanderS), Paulo Graça (paulo-graca), Mohamed Mohideen Abdul Rasheed (mohideen), Philip Vissenaekens (PhilipVis), Pascal-Nicolas Becker (pnbecker), Hardy Pottinger (hardyoyo), Mateus Mercer (MatMercer), Martin Walk (MW3000), Julius Gruber (Flusspferd123)

The following individuals have contributed a translation of the new interface: Marina Muilwijk (Dutch), Claudia Jürgen (German), Maria Fernanda Ruiz (Spanish), Vítor Silvério Rodrigues (Brazilian Portuguese), Ivan Masar (Czech)

The above contributor lists were determined based on historical contributions to the "dspace-angular" project in GitHub: https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/graphs/contributors

Backend / REST API Acknowledgments

The following individuals have contributed directly to the DSpace backend (REST API, Java API, OAI-PMH, etc) in this release (ordered by number of GitHub commits): Raf Ponsaerts (Raf-atmire), Andrea Bollini (abollini), Mark Wood (mwoodiupui), Luigi Andrea Pascarelli (lap82), Terry Brady (terrywbrady), Tom Desair (tomdesair), Ben Bosman (benbosman), Tim Donohue (tdonohue), Marie Verdonck (MarieVerdonck), Chris Wilper (cwilper), Michele Boychuk (Micheleboychuk), Jelle Pelgrims (jpelgrims-atmire), Kevin Van de Velde (KevinVdV), Andrew Wood (AndrewZWood), Peter Nijs (peter-atmire), Michael Spalti (mspalti), Patrick Trottier (PTrottier), Pablo Prieto (ppmdo), Alexander Sulfrian (AlexanderS), Hardy Pottinger (hardyoyo), Kim Shepherd (kshepherd), William Tantzen (tantz001), Jonas Van Goolen (jonas-atmire), Pascal-Nicolas Becker (pnbeker), Ivan Masar (helix84), Kristof De Langhe (Atmire-Kristof), Paulo Graça (paulo-graca), James Creel (jcreel), Ian Little (ilittle-cnri), Alan Orth (alanorth), Claudia Jürgen (cjuergen), Miika Nurminen (minurmin), cdelacroix, Giuseppe Digilio (atarix83), Hrafn Malmquist (J4bbi), Bram Luyten (bram-atmire), Christian Scheible (christian-scheible), ssolim, santit96, Julius Gruber (Flusspferd123), Saiful Amin (saiful-semantic), Mohamed Mohideen Abdul Rasheed (mohideen), József Marton (jmarton), marsaoua, Àlex Magaz Graça (rivaldi8)

The above contributor list was determined based on contributions to the "DSpace" project in GitHub since 6.0 (after Oct 24, 2016): https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/graphs/contributors?from=2016-10-24&to=2020-03-03&type=c  Therefore this list may include individuals who contributed to later 6.x releases, but only if their bug fix was also applied to 7.0.

Additional Thanks

Additional thanks to our DSpace Leadership Group and DSpace Steering Group for their ongoing DSpace support and advice.  Thanks also to LYRASIS for your leadership, collaboration & support in helping to speed up the development process of DSpace 7.

Thanks also to the various developer & community Working Groups who have worked diligently to help make DSpace 7 a reality. These include:

• DSpace 7 Working Group
• DSpace 7 Entities Working Group
• DSpace 7 Marketing Working Group
• DSpace Community Advisory Team (DCAT)

We apologize to any contributor accidentally left off this list. DSpace has such a large, active development community that we sometimes lose track of all our contributors. Our ongoing list of all known people/institutions that have contributed to DSpace software can be found on our DSpace Contributors page. Acknowledgments to those left off will be made in future releases.