Release Notes

8.0 Release Notes

DSpace 8.0 contains new features :

• 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 customizable via HTML and CSS (Sass) and Bootstrap. For early theme building tips see User Interface Customization
• 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. Anything you can do from the User Interface is now also possible in our REST API. See REST API documentation for more details.
• 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 to manage your submissions & reviews, MyDSpace includes a new drag & drop area to start a new submission, and easily search your workflow tasks or in progress submissions to find what you were working on. (Login, click on your user profile icon, click “MyDSpace”). Find workflow tasks to claim by selecting “All tasks” in the “Show” dropdown.
• A new configurable submission user interface, featuring a one-page, drag & drop submission form.  This form is completely configurable and can be prepopulated by dragging & dropping a metadata file (e.g. ArXiv, CSV/TSV, Endnote, PubMed, or RIS. etc) or by importing via external APIs (e.g ORCID, PubMed, Sherpa Journals or Sherpa Publishers, etc) (video). Local controlled vocabularies are also still supported (video). See Submission User Interface for more details.
• 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 Configurable Entities.
• Dynamic user interface translations (Click the globe, and select a language).  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. Features available include:
  • Quickly create or edit objects from anywhere in the system. Either browse to the object first, or search for it using the Admin sidebar.
  • Processes UI (video) allows Administrators to run backend scripts/processes while monitoring their progress & completion. (Login as an Admin, select "Processes" in sidebar)
  • Administrative Search (video) combines retrieval of withdrawn items and private items, together with a series of quick action buttons.
  • Administer Active Workflows (video) allows Administrators to see every submission that is currently in the workflow approval process. 
  • Bitstream Editing (video) has a drag-and-drop interface for re-ordering bitstreams and makes adding and editing bitstreams more intuitive.
  • Metadata Editing (video) introduces suggest-as-you-type for field name selection of new metadata.
  • Login As (Impersonate) another account allows Administrators to debug issues that a specific user is seeing, or do some work on behalf of that user.  (Login as an Admin, Click "Access Control" in sidebar, Click "People".  Search for the user account & edit it. Click the "Impersonate EPerson" button.  You will be authenticated as that user until you click "Stop Impersonating EPerson" in the upper right.)
• Improved GDPR alignment (video)
  • User Agreement required for all authenticated users to read and agree to. (Login for first time, and sample user agreement will display. After agreeing to it, it will not appear again.)
  • Cookie Preferences are now available for all users (anonymous or authenticated). A cookie preference popup appears when first accessing the site. Users are given information on what cookies added by DSpace, including a Privacy Statement which can be used to describe how their data is used.
  • User Accounts can be deleted even if they've submitted content in the past.
• Support for OpenAIREv4 Guidelines for Literature Repositories in OAI-PMH (See the new “openaire4” context in OAI-PMH).
• Search Engine Optimization: Tested and approved by the Google Scholar team, DSpace still includes all the SEO features you require: a robots.txt, Sitemaps and Google Scholar "citation" tags.
• Video/Image Content Streaming (Kindly donated by Zoltán Kanász-Nagy and Dániel Péter Sipos of Qulto):  When enabled, DSpace can now stream videos & view images full screen, using an embedded viewer. (See the "mediaViewer" settings in the environment.common.ts to enable.)

• Basic Usage Statistics (video) are available for the entire site (See "Statistics" menu at top of homepage), or specific Communities, Collections or Items (Click on that same "Statistics" menu after browsing to a specific object

• Additional features are listed in the Beta release notes below.  Also, give it a try on our demo site & see what you discover!

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. See REST API v6 (deprecated)
• 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".  See Submission User Interface
• 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")
• The old BTE import framework in favor of Live Import Framework (features of BTE have been ported to Live Import)
• Apache Solr is no longer embedded within the DSpace installer.  Solr now MUST be installed as a separate dependency alongside the DSpace backend.  See Installing DSpace.
• A large number of old/obsolete configurations were removed. "7.0 Configurations Removed" section below.
• See Upgrading DSpace for more hints on the upgrade from any old version of DSpace to 7.x 

Additional Resources

• Video presentations / Workshops from OR2021 (June 2021) showing off many of the new features & configurations of DSpace 7: DSpace 7 at OR2021

7.0 Configurations Removed

With the removal of the JSPUI and XMLUI, a large number of server-side (backend) configurations were made obsolete and were therefore removed between the 6.x and 7.0 release.  Those Configurations removed included:

• Within the [dspace]/config/ directory, these are the configuration files which were deleted:
  • dc2mods.cfg
  • input-forms.xml / dtd (REPLACED BY submission-forms.xml, see Submission User Interface)
  • log4j.properties (REPLACED BY log4j2.xml)
  • log4j-console.properties (REPLACED BY log4j-console.xml)
  • log4j-solr.properties (no replacement as Solr now must be installed separately)
  • news-side.html
  • news-top.html
  • news-xmlui.xml
  • workflow.xml (REPLACED BY ./spring/api/workflow.xml)
  • xmlui.xconf / dtd
  • emails/bte_* (BTE import framework was removed in favor of Live Import from external sources)
  • modules/controlpanel.cfg
  • modules/elastic-search-statistics.cfg (Elastic Search support was removed in favor of Solr)
  • modules/fetchccdata.cfg
  • modules/publication-lookup.cfg
  • spring/api/bte.xml (BTE import framework was removed in favor of Live Import from external sources)
  • spring/oai/* (OAI is now part of the backend "server webapp" and needs no separate configurations)
  • spring/xmlui/*
• Within the dspace.cfg main configuration file, the following settings were removed:
  • log.init.config (replaced by log4j2.xml)
  • webui.submit.blocktheses
  • webui.submit.upload.html5
  • webui.submission.restrictstep.enableAdvancedForm
  • webui.submission.restrictstep.groups
  • webui.submit.enable-cc
  • webui.browse.thumbnail.*
  • webui.item.thumbnail.*
  • webui.preview.enabled
  • webui.strengths.show
  • webui.browse.author-field
  • webui.browse.author-limit
  • webui.browse.render-scientific-formulas
  • recent.submissions.*
  • webui.collectionhome.*
  • plugin.sequence.org.dspace.plugin.SiteHomeProcessor
  • plugin.sequence.org.dspace.plugin.CommunityHomeProcessor
  • plugin.sequence.org.dspace.plugin.CollectionHomeProcessor
  • plugin.sequence.org.dspace.plugin.ItemHomeProcessor
  • plugin.single.org.dspace.app.webui.search.SearchRequestProcessor
  • plugin.single.org.dspace.app.xmlui.aspect.administrative.mapper.SearchRequestProcessor
  • plugin.named.org.dspace.app.webui.json.JSONRequest
  • plugin.single.org.dspace.app.webui.util.StyleSelection
  • webui.bitstream.order.*
  • webui.itemdisplay.*
  • webui.resolver.*
  • webui.preferred.identifier
  • webui.identifier.*
  • webui.mydspace.*
  • webui.suggest.*
  • webui.controlledvocabulary.enable
  • webui.session.invalidate
  • itemmap.*
  • jspui.*
  • xmlui.*
  • mirage2.*

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

7.0 Acknowledgments

DSpace 7.0 was the largest release in the history of DSpace, with 1,026,797 lines of code changed and 79 unique individuals contributing to either the frontend or backend.

Major Contributing Institutions

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

• Atmire - also hosted/maintained DSpace 7 UI demo site from 2018-2023
• 4Science - also hosted/maintained DSpace 7 REST demo site from 2018-2023
• FCT / RCAAP

Financial Contributors

We gratefully recognize the following institutions who together have generously contributed financially to support the DSpace 7 staged release program (see DSpace 7 Release Goals), and individuals who devoted time to fundraising:

• Auburn University 
• Cornell University 
• Pascal Becker 
• Dalhousie University 
• Duke University 
• ETH Zurich, ETH Library 
• Fraunhofer Gesellschaft  
• Imperial College London 
• Indiana University–Purdue University, Indianapolis 
• LYRASIS 
• National Library of Finland 
• Beate Rajski 
• Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg – Carl von Ossietzky  
• Technische Universität Berlin 
• Technische Universität Hamburg (TUHH) 
• The DSpace-Konsortium Deutschland 
• The Helmut-Schmidt-Universität/Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg  
• The Library Code GmbH 
• The Ohio State University 
• Texas Digital Library 
• University of Arizona 
• University of Edinburgh 
• University of Kansas 
• University of Minnesota 
• University of Missouri 
• University of Toronto 
• World Bank 
• ZHAW 

Frontend / User Interface Acknowledgments

The following 55 individuals have contributed directly to the new DSpace (Angular) User Interface in this release (ordered by number of GitHub commits): Giuseppe Digilio (atarix83), Kristof De Langhe (Atmire-Kristof), Lotte Hofstede (LotteHofstede), Art Lowel (artlowel), Marie Verdonck (MarieVerdonck), Julius Gruber (Flusspferd123), Yury Bondarenko (ybnd), William Welling (wwelling and wellingWilliam), Yana De Pauw (YanaDePauw), Tim Donohue (tdonohue), Alessandro Martelli (alemarte), Michael Spalti (mspalti), Jonas Van Goolen (jonas-atmire), Laura Henze (lhenze), Dániel Péter Sipos (dsipos-dev), Samuel Cambien (samuelcambien), Bruno Roemers (bruno-atmire), Matteo Perelli (sourcedump), Bram Luyten (bram-atmire), Ben Bosman (benbosman), Terry Brady (terrywbrady), Raf Ponsaerts (Raf-atmire), Danilo Di Nuzzo (ddinuzzo), Andrea Chiapparelli (andreachiapparelli), Antoine Snyers (antoine-atmire), Corrado Lombardi (corrad82-4s), Courtney Pattison (courtneypattison), Àlex Magaz Graça (rivaldi8), Chris Wilper (cwilper), Christian Scheible (christian-scheible), Andrew Wood (AndrewZWood), Reeta Kuuskoski (reetagithub), Vítor Silvério Rodrigues (vitorsilverio), Alexander Sulfrian (AlexanderS), muiltje, José Carvalho (josekarvalho), Claudia Jürgen (cjuergen), fernandaruizm, Ivan Masar (helix84), Paulo Graça (paulo-graca), Philip Vissenaekens (PhilipVis), Nagy Akos (akoscomp), Kevin Van de Velde (KevinVdV), Sascha Szott (saschaszott), Mohamed Mohideen Abdul Rasheed (mohideen), David Cavrenne (davidatmire), Hardy Pottinger (hardyoyo), Luca Giamminonni (LucaGiamminonni), Mateus Mercer (MatMercer), Denijs Balodis (Denijsb), Pascal-Nicolas Becker (pnbecker), Mikus Zarins (MixonZ), marciofoz, Andrea Bollini (abollini), Martin Walk (MW3000). 

Out of the above list, the following individuals contributed a translation of the new interface (ordered alphabetically by language): Ivan Masar (Czech), Marina Muilwijk (Dutch), Reeta Kuuskoski (Finnish), David Cavrenne (French), Claudia Jürgen and Sasha Szott (German), Nagy Akos and Transylvanian Museum Society (Hungarian), Mikus Zarins (Latvian), Vítor Silvério Rodrigues and marciofoz (Brazilian Portuguese), José Carvalho (Portuguese) and Maria Fernanda Ruiz (Spanish). 

The above contributor lists were determined based on historical contributions to the "dspace-angular" project in GitHub until 7.0: https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/graphs/contributors?from=2016-11-27&to=2021-07-29&type=c

Backend / REST API Acknowledgments

The following 55 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), Tim Donohue (tdonohue), Andrea Bollini (abollini), Michele Boychuk (Micheleboychuk), Mark Wood (mwoodiupui), Marie Verdonck (MarieVerdonck), Ben Bosman (benbosman), Luigi Andrea Pascarelli (lap82), Terry Brady (terrywbrady), Tom Desair (tomdesair), Yana De Pauw (YanaDePauw), Chris Wilper (cwilper), Peter Nijs (peter-atmire), Kevin Van de Velde (KevinVdV), Bruno Roemers (bruno-atmire), Giuseppe Digilio (atarix83), Pasquale Cavallo (pasqualecvl), Jelle Pelgrims (jpelgrims-atmire), Andrew Wood (AndrewZWood), Samuel Cambien (samuelcambien), Antoine Snyers (antoine-atmire), Kim Shepherd (kshepherd), Yury Bondarenko (ybnd), Michael Spalti (mspalti), Alessandro Martelli (alemarte), Oliver Goldschmidt (olli-gold), Jonas Van Goolen (jonas-atmire), Kristof De Langhe (Atmire-Kristof), Alexander Sulfrian (AlexanderS), Patrick Trottier (PTrottier), Pablo Prieto (ppmdo), Hardy Pottinger (hardyoyo), Pascal-Nicolas Becker (pnbecker), William Tantzen (tantz001), Paulo Graça (paulo-graca), Luca Giamminonni (LucaGiamminonni), Ivan Masar (helix84), Hrafn Malmquist (J4bbi), Ian Little (ilittle-cnri), Anis Moubarik (anis-moubarik), Claudia Jürgen (cjuergen), Alan Orth (alanorth), xuejiangtao, Danilo Di Nuzzo (ddinuzzo), James Creel (jcreel), Marsa Haoua (marsaoua), Philip Vissenaekens (PhilipVis), Miika Nurminen (minurmin), Bram Luyten (bram-atmire), Christian Scheible (christian-scheible), Nicholas Woodward (nwoodward), József Marton (jmarton), Mohamed Mohideen Abdul Rasheed (mohideen), Saiful Amin (saiful-semantic), Àlex Magaz Graça (rivaldi8)

The above contributor list was determined based on contributions to the "DSpace" project in GitHub between 6.0 (after Oct 24, 2016) and 7.0: https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/graphs/contributors?from=2016-10-24&to=2021-07-29&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 (2016-2023) - This is the team behind the code
• DSpace 7 Entities Working Group (2018-19) - This team designed & implemented Configurable Entities
• DSpace 7 Marketing Working Group (2016-2020) - This team did all our DSpace 7marketing, press releases & announcements.
• DSpace Community Advisory Team (DCAT) - This team helped organize/lead the DSpace 7.0 Testathon (to bang on the system to find any last bugs), and they also provided us with advice on features, etc.

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. Acknowledgments to those left off will be made in future releases.