Developers Meeting on Thurs, August 28, 2025

Time/Location

28 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. Continuation from Last Week's Meeting.
        1. Giuseppe gave us an overview of Nx in his "Enhancing dspace-angular with Nx" Presentation. 
        2. We ran out of time for all the discussion that came up regarding both the modularization goal & Nx as a potential solution.
        3. Tim did a little digging around on Nx's support of Angular & activity on GitHub in general. See comment here: https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/pull/4019#issuecomment-3214939081
     2. Preparation PR (preparing for possible Nx migration): https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/pull/4629
     3. Original PR (example 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

DSpace–DSpace-CRIS merger:

• No major updates; both groups are still working toward a decision point.

• Q&A webinar planned for late September.

Webinars:

• Next week: First session in the new DSpace Deep Dive series 

  • Topic: DSpace 9.x Overview + Q&A (repeat of Open Repositories presentation).

  • Will be recorded and posted for later viewing.

• October: Planned webinar on migrating from bepress to DSpace.

• Call for presenters: Anyone interested in sharing DSpace work is encouraged to contact Holger and volunteer for upcoming webinars, or just fill out the form on the website

Main Topic: NX Migration Discussion

• Background:

  • Last week, Giuseppe presented why NX might be useful for DSpace.

  • Discussion continued due to limited time previously.

• Tim Donohue’s findings:

  • Looked into NX GitHub activity: appears healthy and active.

  • NX supports multiple Angular versions (last 3), offering flexibility.

• Kristoph feedback:

  • Suggested considering Angular CLI workspaces instead of NX.

  • Concern: NX migration may involve heavy restructuring, similar to previous Angular version transitions.

  • Believes Angular alone supports modularization and libraries without needing NX.

• Giuseppe:

  • NX provides useful additional features: incremental caching, dependency graph, tooling.

  • Angular CLI lacks some of these.

  • Prefers NX but open to discussion.

• Art:

  • Sees CLI workspaces as a possible intermediate step before NX.

  • Suggested experimenting with both approaches before deciding.

  • Proposed creating a simple prototype (e.g., adding a tab or menu) in both NX and CLI workspaces for comparison.

• Francesco:

  • Has ~2 years of production experience with NX.

  • Initial learning curve and rigid structure, but ultimately useful for modularization and shared components.

• Other concerns raised:

  • Pierre: Asked whether modularization will simplify or add complexity for new developers.

    • Tim: It may add slight complexity for contributors to DSpace core, but could make local customizations easier.

  • Mark:

    • Emphasized the need for clear documentation if new structures are adopted.

    • Documenting can assist with improving one's understanding and clarify questions.

Next Steps

• Preparation Pull Request (PR):

  • Current PR reorganizing imports and code paths is seen as a good first step, regardless of NX vs. CLI decision. https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/pull/4629

  • General agreement to move it forward with small adjustments.

• Future work:

  • Consider prototyping add-ons or overlays in both NX and Angular CLI workspaces for comparison.

  • Document structural decisions carefully to support contributors and institutions.

• Action Items:

  • Tim to summarize discussion and ensure feedback on current PR.

  • Giuseppe to clarify pathing decisions in PR (before his holiday or after return).

  • Art may explore a prototype comparison (depending on availability).

  • Community to continue discussion, aiming for clarity on benefits/complexity balance.

Summary

• No final decision yet on NX vs. Angular CLI. The group will continue testing and discussing, with preparation work proceeding in the meantime.

Action items