Project

General

Profile

1
#
2
#  '$RCSfile$'
3
#   '$Author: tao $'
4
# '$Revision: 9902 $'
5
#     '$Date: 2016-08-24 10:05:27 -0700 (Wed, 24 Aug 2016) $'
6
#
7

    
8
Metacat: XML Metadata and Data Management System
9
------------------------------------------------                      
10

    
11
Version: 2.8.0 Release
12

    
13
Send feedback and bugs to: metacat-dev@ecoinformatics.org
14
                           http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org
15

    
16
Contributors: Matt Jones (jones@nceas.ucsb.edu)
17
              Chad Berkley (berkley@nceas.ucsb.edu)
18
              Jing Tao (tao@nceas.ucsb.edu)
19
              Jivka Bojilova (bojilova@nceas.ucsb.edu)
20
              Dan Higgins (higgins@nceas.ucsb.edu)
21
              Saurabh Garg (sgarg@nceas.ucsb.edu)
22
              Duane Costa (dcosta@lternet.edu)
23
              Veronique Connolly (connolly@nceas.ucsb.edu)
24
              Chris Jones (cjones@msi.ucsb.edu)
25
              John Harris (harris@nceas.ucsb.edu)
26
              Callie Bowdish (bowdish@ecoinformatics.org)
27
              Will Tyburczy (tyburczy@ecoinformatics.org)
28
              Matthew Perry (perry@nceas.ucsb.edu)
29
              Chad Burt (underbluewaters@gmail.com)
30
              Ben Leinfelder (leinfelder@nceas.ucsb.edu)
31
              Chris Barteau (barteau@nceas.ucsb.edu)
32
              Shaun Walbridge (walbridge@nceas.ucsb.edu)
33
              Michael Daigle (daigle@nceas.ucsb.edu) 
34
              Lauren Walker (walker@nceas.ucsb.edu) 
35

    
36
Patch contributors:
37
              Andrea Chadden (chadden@nceas.ucsb.edu)
38
              Johnoel Ancheta (johnoel@hawaii.edu)
39
              Owen Jones (owen.jones@imperial.ac.uk)
40

    
41
Metacat is a flexible database storage system for XML formatted
42
documents and associated binary files. Metacat models the structure of the
43
XML document, therefore allowing storage of XML documents with arbitrary
44
schemas. Metacat supports several databases on the back-end, including Oracle,
45
PostgreSQL and SQL Server (limited).  The server supports XML document
46
storage, retrieval, query, validation, and transformation (using the XSLT
47
stylesheet language).  In addition, there is a mechanism for replicating the
48
database to other metacat instances for backup and load balancing purposes.
49
Metacat currently uses an LDAP database for authenticating users, but was
50
written to accomodate other authentication services as well.
51

    
52
Installation
53
------------
54
See the file "docs/install.html" for detailed instructions
55
for your OS.
56

    
57

    
58
Release Notes for 2.7.2:
59
------------------------
60
Bugs fixed in this release:
61
* Legacy Metacat "shortcut" url does not work if revision is omitted
62
* Migrate metacat build to use EML git repo
63
* All links on the registry page should open up in a new tab 
64
* Metadata/data objects which have obsoletedBy field ignore the resource map index
65
* Metacat creates an Invalid Content-Disposition value for some filenames
66
* External links in the registry should open in new tab
67
* Remove the support of Oracle on documentation
68
* Changing a Metacat member node's synchronization value on the d1 admin page doesn't work  
69

    
70
Release Notes for 2.7.1:
71
------------------------
72
* Fixed several bugs on the data registry form
73
* Support the onedcx schema
74
  - Fixed several onedcx stylesheet issues
75

    
76
Relese Notes for 2.7.0:
77
------------------------
78
* Use different format ids to identity variants of the schema with same namespace
79
* Add EML 2.1.1 to Darwin Core supporting for OAI-PMH provider  
80
* Bugs fixed include:
81
  - Series head resolution should use obsoletes field as part of determination(7020)
82
  - The InputStream (parameter) in the CN/MN.create and MN.update method is not closed(7005)
83
  - Use the AutoCloseClientInputStream class in the d1_libclient_java in Metacat replication(7004)
84

    
85
Release Notes for 2.6.0:
86
------------------------
87
This release supports token-based authentication in the data registry
88
as well as:
89
* MetacatUI 1.11.0
90

    
91
Release Notes for 2.5.1:
92
------------------------
93
This a minor release that improves:
94
* Authentication token handling for the DataONE API
95

    
96
Release Notes for 2.5.0:
97
------------------------
98
This major release adds DataONE V2 API support
99
as well as:
100
* MetacatUI 1.8.1
101
* Data registry bug fixes
102

    
103
Release Notes for 2.4.3:
104
------------------------
105
This release includes:
106
* Support for large file uploads
107
* Recording User-Agent when logging requests
108

    
109
Release Notes for 2.4.2:
110
------------------------
111
This release includes:
112
* Updates to improve character encoding handling
113
* Updated SOLR index and UI to use geohashes for map rendering
114
* Note: this is the last release of Metacat that will support Java 6
115

    
116
Release Notes for 2.4.1:
117
------------------------
118
This is a patch release that addresses the following:
119
* Allows LDAP authentication using aliased referrals
120
* Re-indexes previous document revisions in SOLR when
121
new revisions are added on update
122
* Allows authentication in SANParks skin
123
* Enables OpenLayer.js mapping plug-in over https
124

    
125
Release Notes for 2.4.0:
126
------------------------
127
These release adds a new default file-based authentication mechanism
128
that allows administrators to more easily deploy Metacat without a
129
LDAP server.
130
Other enhancements include:
131
* Correct use of DataONE 'archive' flag
132
* Access policy synchronization with the DataONE Coordinating Node
133
* Indexing support for EML singleDateTime coverage values
134
* Indexing support document read/download events
135
* Improved package download structure and file naming conventions
136

    
137
Release Notes for 2.3.1:
138
------------------------
139
This is a minor patch release to fix an issue that arises when
140
Metacat is operating as a DataONE Coordinating Node.
141
* See: https://projects.ecoinformatics.org/ecoinfo/issues/6315
142
* Updated MetacatUI with support for spatial query criteria
143
* Updated account/identity management script
144

    
145
Release Notes for 2.3.0:
146
------------------------
147
This release adds solr indexing features to metacat-index 
148
for querying and sorting by authors and taxonomic coverage.
149
Also includes:
150
* Control over the log level from the SOLR libraries using Metacat's
151
log4j file.
152
* access_log DB indexes for better log reporting performance 
153
via the DataONE API
154
* Provide 'reindexall' action instead of 'reindex' without a 'pid' parameter.
155

    
156

    
157
Release Notes for 2.2.1:
158
------------------------
159
This is a critical patch release of Metacat that includes addresses
160
a bug in file stream handling. It is recommended for all Metacat deployments.
161

    
162
Release Notes for 2.2.0:
163
------------------------
164
This is a major release of Metacat that includes a new customizable UI and 
165
improved LDAP account management features
166

    
167
Release Notes for 2.1.1:
168
------------------------
169
This is a minor patch release of Metacat that addresses
170
a bug in DOI publishing.
171

    
172
Release Notes for 2.1.0:
173
------------------------
174
This is a major release of Metacat that includes a SOLR-based search feature
175
* Optional SOLR search index
176
* Client certificate delegation (using a service provider like CILogon)
177

    
178
Release Notes for 2.0.8:
179
------------------------
180
This is a patch release for Metacat
181
* Enforce DataONE prohibition on whitespace in identifiers
182
* Use unique filenames for Registry data uploads
183

    
184
Release Notes for 2.0.7:
185
------------------------
186
This is a patch release for Metacat replication
187
* Replication SQL performance enhancement
188
* Comply with DataONE schema for SystemMetadata.submitter
189

    
190
Release Notes for 2.0.6:
191
------------------------
192
This patch release focuses on Metacat support for DataONE-enabled Morpho clients
193
* MN.generateIdentifier() support for UUID and DOI
194
* DOI registration support using EZID service
195
* Pathquery support for specifying multiple document owners
196

    
197

    
198
Release Notes for 2.0.5:
199
------------------------
200
This patch release focuses on Metacat support for Oracle
201
*SystemMetadata table names have been shortened to comply with Oracle limits.
202
*SANParks/SAEON spatial zip file download fixed
203
*Pathquery performance fix
204
*Hazelcast 2.x upgrade
205
*Correct handling for deleted and archived objects for both Metacat and DataONE APIs
206

    
207
Release Notes for 2.0.4:
208
------------------------
209
This patch release focuses on Metacat-Metacat replication.
210
*Allows Metacat to stream replication update information between servers to avoid connection timeout issues
211
*Allows Metacat replication when source host does not provide SystemMetadata (DataONE)
212
*Fixes an access control issue that could allow search results to include protected documents
213

    
214
Release Notes for 2.0.3:
215
------------------------
216
This is another critical patch release of Metacat 2.0.
217
*Addresses a bug that prevented Metacat replication from completing (timeout error)
218
*Uses more efficient SystemMetadata synchronization using shared Hazelcast map
219

    
220
Release Notes for 2.0.2:
221
------------------------
222
This is a critical patch release of Metacat 2.0.
223
*Addresses a bug that prevented updates to DataONE identified datapackages (e.g., using DOIs)
224
*Addresses a bug that prevented the use of the Metacat API 'getaccesscontrol' action
225
*Updates the Foresite ORE library to correctly serialize resource map documents
226

    
227
Release Notes for 2.0.1:
228
------------------------
229
This is a minor patch release of Metacat 2.0. Please see the previous release notes for complete information.
230
*Addresses an identifier issue during ORE generation for DataONE services
231
*Increases compatibility with older EML content and the Xalan XSLT processor
232
*Removes XSLT 2.0 support (Saxon)
233

    
234
Release Notes for 2.0.0:
235
------------------------
236
This major release includes support for DataONE.
237
*The DataONE v1.0.0 Member Node service APIs are now the preferred method for communicating with Metacat
238
*The existing EcoGrid and Metacat Servlet APIs are deprecated but still available.
239
*EML-embedded access control rules using permOrder="denyFirst" are no longer supported (https://redmine.dataone.org/issues/2614) 
240
*Replication now utilizes client certificates to establish SSL connections between replication source and target servers
241
*Access control rules now apply to objects on a per-revision basis rather than per-docid
242
*Bugs fixed include:
243
-SANParks skin/TPC (5561, 5530, 5533, 5542, 5543, 5544, 5551, 5563, 5566, 5567, 5569, 5353)
244
-Registry (5114, 5244)
245
-Replication (4907, 5537, 5536, 5534, 5520, 5519, 3296)
246
-Spatial cache regeneration can be skipped during reconfiguration/redeployment/upgrade (3811)
247
-Pathquery support for temporal search criteria (2084)
248
-Character encoding of XML now respected (internationalization) (2495, 4083, 3815)
249

    
250

    
251
Release Notes for 1.9.5:
252
------------------------
253
This release fixes those bugs:
254
*Metacat could not download the included schemas in an external schema file during inserting.
255
*Workflow scheduler could not work since the metadata standard of kepler kar file was changed. 
256
*Earthgrid could not transform the Earthgrid query with concept "/" to the Metacat path query correctly.
257
*Document access rules are now preserved when documents are archived during the 'delete' action.
258

    
259
Release Notes for 1.9.4:
260
------------------------
261
This release fixes bugs in the FGDC data package upload and download interface utilized
262
by the SANParks and SAEON skins.
263

    
264
Release Notes for 1.9.3:
265
------------------------
266
This release fixes a harvester bug that prevented the EML harvester from processing
267
harvest lists.
268
The Kepler skin has been updated to support KarXML 2.1.
269
Ecogrid query services now support multiple namespace searches.
270

    
271
Release Notes for 1.9.2:
272
------------------------
273
This release primarily holds the addition of the Threshold of Potential
274
Concern workflow functionality (TPC).  The following issues were addressed:
275

    
276
* Create a properties file for use by JUnit Tests (Bug 2994)
277
* security issue with skins (Bug 3368)
278
* reorganize classes into a more functional specific structure (Bug 3510)
279
* Add admin names as dropdown in configuration login (Bug 3729)
280
* KNB metacat replication error log file is empty (Bug 3885)
281
* Create TPC Report web browse/search pages (Bug 4165)
282
* Create archive extraction functionality (Bug 4166)
283
* Create Workflow Scheduler (Bug 4167)
284
* metacat didn't update xml_path_index table while a document was updated (Bug 4367)
285
* Enforce permissions for tpc workflow viewing and scheduling (Bug 4420)
286
* Fix cross platform TPC GUI issues (Bug 4556)
287
* TPC Sanparks page content lenth issue (Bug 4557)
288
* Create validate and isAuthorized unit tests (Bug 4558)
289
* Cannot insert replication server via gui (Bug 4594)
290
* Timed Replication takes many hours and drives the load up on KNB (Bug 4616)
291
* [ESA] Update fails when document rev number is missing (Bug 4627)
292
* fails to catch some insert and update failures (Bug 4637)
293
* must support java 1.6 (Bug 4641)
294
* Convert build to pull eml from svn instead of cvs (Bug 4644)
295
* handleGetRevisionAndDocTypeAction should search both xml_documents and xml_revisions table (Bug 4645)
296
* Metacat couldn't update a document from client, which previous versions only stay in xml_revisions table (Bug 4649)
297
* metacat runs out of memory (Bug 4658)
298
* ESA skin links are hard coded to data.esa.org (Bug 4698)
299
* Update release 1.9.2 release notes (Bug 4707)
300
* Handle writing a text node > 4000 characters to the db. (Bug 4708)
301
* Metacat should run against Tomcat 6 (Bug 4716)
302

    
303
Release Notes for 1.9.1:
304
------------------------
305
The 1.9.1 release holds the bug fixes found after releasing 1.9.0 beta.  
306
These bugs were primarily replication issues.  There is no difference 
307
in functionality between 1.9.0 and 1.9.1 
308

    
309
Release Notes for 1.9.0:
310
------------------------
311
This release focuses on simplifying the Metacat installation process by 
312
creating a binary (war) installation.  The need to build the application
313
on the server has been removed (although the option is still available).
314
In order to facilitate this method of installation, a few major modifications
315
were made to the code:
316

    
317
  -- Ant token replacement was removed for all non-build variables in the 
318
     application (most of this was already done in 1.8.1).
319

    
320
  -- The Metacat properties confguration was moved into the application
321
     itself.
322

    
323
  -- Database schema version detection and install/upgrade utilities were 
324
     added to the application.
325

    
326
Also, this release includes several enhancements:
327
  -- it supports the new EML 2.1.0 version.  
328

    
329
  -- Documents are now stored on the local filesystem as well as in the 
330
     database in order to preserve document integrity.
331
     
332
  -- Metacat verifies new schemas when they are added.
333

    
334
  -- Additional access is propegated with documents during replication.
335

    
336
High priority bugs were addressed in this release as well.
337

    
338
The enhancements/bugs addressed are:
339

    
340
* escaped "less than" in inlinedata causes invalid eml output (Bug 2564)
341
* need to set filename for download files (Bug 2566)
342
* add ability for search engines to index metacat documents (Bug 2826)
343
* EML citation section should include both organizationNames and individualNames (Bug 3059)
344
* refactor skins to get organization list from metacat getOrganizations() function (Bug 3114)
345
* Update dataknp.sanparks.org packageId attributes to match Metacat Ids (Bug 3258)
346
* New documents explicitly set as public access don't show up correctly (Bug 3262)
347
* Modify confguration utility in metacat (Bug 3371)
348
* Integrate perl token replacement changes (Bug 3372)
349
* Create skin specific configuration utility (Bug 3373)
350
* Add authentication for configuration utility (Bug 3374)
351
* Create a sorted properties utility (Bug 3375)
352
* Add DB upgrade/install functionality to java code (Bug 3376)
353
* Create ANT install target for developers (Bug 3377)
354
* Create LSID server installation (Bug 3380)
355
* Create unit test code for 1.9 additions (Bug 3381)
356
* create simple turnkey installer for metacat Phase I (Bug 3461)
357
* Maps do not display in Firefox version 3 (Bug 3462)
358
* Replicate access rules in replication (Bug 3464)
359
* Metacat casesensitive="true" option in pathquery expressions is broken (Bug 3472)
360
* Add full schema checking when metacat register new schema (Bug 3474)
361
* Incorporate EML 2.1.0 access changes in metacat (Bug 3495)
362
* getprincipals action returns invalid XML document (Bug 3527)
363
* Update knbweb to serve new metacat install (Bug 3545)
364
* Replication should write to disk (Bug 3554)
365
* Update acknowlegements in metacat readme (Bug 3588)
366
* Validate the ldap administrator field. (Bug 3616)
367
* Allow for different authentication services in metacat configuration (Bug 3680)
368
* Tag utilities module and have metacat check out that tag (Bug 3685)
369

    
370
Release Notes for 1.8.1:
371
------------------------
372
This release focuses on bug fixes. In this release, the problem that Metacat 1.8.0 and previous 
373
versions use illegitimate EML 2.0.1 schemas is addressed: first, Metacat 1.8.1 comes with
374
legitimate EML 2.0.1 schemas; second, existing invalid EML 2.0.1 documents will be 
375
automatically fixed while maintaining their package ID during the Metacat 1.8.1 upgrading process. 
376
Details please see:
377
http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3239
378
http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3241
379

    
380
Note: after upgrading the Metacat to version 1.8.1, some replication issues may be seen, e.g., the 
381
EML 2.0.1 documents from Metacat 1.8.0 or ealier verions may be rejected since Metacat 1.8.1 uses
382
different EML 2.0.1 schemas (see bug 3239). If this is case, Metacat administrators should notify
383
their counterparts to upgrade previous version Metacats to 1.8.1. 
384

    
385
The fixed bugs include:
386

    
387
*Character set (charset) problem when filling out form (Bug2797)
388
*Charset bug: > "less than" symbol does not display correctly (Bug2517)
389
*Metacat performance issue in Sanparks skin (Bug 3174)
390
*Metacat using illegitimate versions of EML schema (Bug 3239)
391
*Update older invalidated eml201 document in Metacat (Bug 3241)
392
*Verify existing token changes to skins (Bug 3176)
393
*The edit feature in the NCEAS Data Repoistory does not work (Bug 2644)
394
*Expose permission options for registry uploads (Bug 3014)
395
*ESA registry doesn't have LTER in login dropdown menu (Bug 2647)
396
*Data Catalog Map is slow when selecting (Bug2732)
397
*Only one attribute per element returned with pathquery results(Bug 2999)
398
*The field "skinconfigs" in the MetacatUtil class is public (Bug 3057)
399
*Generalize the reading of skin.configs in DBTransform (Bug3058)
400
*The query example in metacatquery.html document need to be changed (Bug3137)
401
*Add upload method into Metacat tour (Bug 3139)
402
*Query resultset doesn't show component name in kepler skin (Bug 3178)
403
*Add fields used in Morpho search to the default indexPaths property (Bug 3259)
404
*Private data cannot be downloaded from metadata display page (xsl) (Bug 3263)
405
*An error message happen during the metacat start up (Bug 3279)
406
*Replication: Timed replication failures occur twice instead of once (Bug 3304)
407
*Inline Data does not work correctly without the <pre> tag (Bug 3088)
408
*Include FGDC metadata in KNB and NCEAS skin search results (Bug 3146)
409

    
410
Release Notes for 1.8.0:
411
------------------------
412
This release focuses on improving query performance.  Both the selection 
413
and access control queries were rewritten to execute efficiently.
414
To improve search performance, a query caching mechanism was introduced. 
415
Cached queries are currently supported only for public users.
416

    
417
New Features:
418
* Data registries now support uploading of data objects along with data 
419
  packages (Bug 1982)
420
  
421
Bug Fixes:
422
* Metacat Performace: Rewrite the xml_nodes queries (Bug 2155)
423
* Metacat Performace: Rewrite the xml_access part of the query (Bug 2557)
424
* Query cache mechanism (Bug 2905)
425
* Metacat Performance: updates from Morpho of data packages are taking 
426
   longer than five minutes (Bug 2805)
427
* Metacat Performance: Optimize Postgres and Tomcat (Bug 2157)
428
* Metacat Performace: Upgrading hardware setup (Bug 2175)
429
* Metacat Performace: Add/drop indices on key columns (Bug 2153)
430
* Display of metadata documents reorganized, including a new citation format,
431
  obvious download options, and a redesigned data table layout (Bugs 2981, 2832)
432
* I.E. display fixes on default skin (Bug 2579)
433
* Web Address links fixed (Bug 2147)
434
* NCEAS skin redesigned to use IFRAME-less layout, match new website.
435
* Spatial query:  data packages must be fully contained by the selection 
436
  bounding box in order to appear in the search results (Bugs 2972, 2732).
437
* FGDC support: upload, delete, update, access control, and download
438
  (Bugs 2807, 2925, 2926, 2929, 2030).
439
Compatibility Notices:
440
* Tomcat 3 and 4 are no longer tested or supported. Users are 
441
  highly encouraged to upgrade to Tomcat 5.5
442

    
443
Release Notes for 1.7.0:
444
------------------------
445
This release features only a few minor changes to the core Metacat engine. 
446
The major focus of this release is the addition of the spatial functionality.
447
The geographic coverage of metadata documents can now be cached in a GIS-
448
accessible format and published via web mapping services and an online
449
interactive map. 
450

    
451
New Features:
452
* Three new open source libraries have been integrated with Metacat:
453
  - Geoserver:  A standards-compliant web map server to publish
454
                geographic data to the web.
455
               (http://docs.codehaus.org/display/GEOS/Home)
456
  - GeoTools:   A java-based GIS toolkit to programatically
457
                manipulate spatial datasets.
458
                (http://geotools.codehaus.org/)
459
  - Mapbuilder: A javascript application to provide an interactive
460
                web map front-end to Geoserver.
461
                (http://docs.codehaus.org/display/MAP/Home)
462
* Spatial Caching/Indexing mechanism; documents with geographic
463
  coverages will be added to the spatial cache.
464
* Spatial Query action in metacat servlet. 
465
* Interactive Web map to visualize and query the spatial 
466
  distribution of metadata documents.
467
* Experimental python, ruby and php client libraries to interface with metacat.
468
* Preliminary process in place for web based configuration of metacat.
469

    
470
Compatibility Notices:
471
* Tomcat 3 and 4 are no longer tested or supported. Users are 
472
  highly encouraged to upgrade to Tomcat 5.5
473

    
474
Bug Fixes:
475
* Metacat administrators are able to modify and delete documents 
476
  created by other users.
477
* Fixed problems with indexing XML attributes, see bug 2469
478

    
479

    
480
Release Notes for 1.6.0:
481
------------------------
482

    
483
This release comes with more performance improvements, initial support for 
484
LSIDs (Life Sciences Identifiers) and FGDC standard, more controls for 
485
Metacat administrators and bug fixes. Below is the list of bug fixes and
486
performance improvements.
487

    
488
Bug Fixes: 
489
* Improved the indexing algorithm. Earlier indexing failed for some documents 
490
  randomly and used to take a lot of time to complete for others. The 
491
  code for indexing was changed to take care of both these problems.
492
* Earlier, xmlns prefix was used to determine the namespace of the document. 
493
  Now schemaLocation is used instead xmlns prefix to determine the namespace 
494
  of the document as that is a better indicator of document type. 
495
* INSTR was used in some SQL statements and it is not supported by Postgres. 
496
  So SQL statements were modified so that INSTR is not used.
497
* Replication was changed to include replication of deleted documents also.
498
* Fixed bug in squery which didnt allow use of not-contains 
499

    
500
New Features:
501
* Added FGDC schema and XSLT so that Metacat can handle FGDC standard
502
* Added support for LSID. This includes modifying the stylesheets to 
503
  display the LSIDs, modifying the build to include a new target 
504
  'install-ldap'.
505
* Added following access control levels to Metacat:
506
    1. Administrators - users who can do the following:
507
       a. Run replication
508
       b. Delete any document
509
       c. Modify any document
510
       d. run indexing for any document
511
       e. check the logs
512
    2. allowedUsers - User who are allowed to submit
513
    3. deniedUsers - Users not allowed to submit
514
* Added a new skin for Ecological Society of America. 
515
* Created an Advanced search servlet which can be used from the web. 
516
* Various connections have been modified to be secure. e.g. connection between 
517
ldaps is made secure now, replication is done over secure channels.  
518

    
519
Performance:
520
* Reduced size of xml_nodes by creating a new table for holding nodes from 
521
  deleted documents and old revisions of the documents. 
522
* Provided a new variable in metacat.properties where more frequently searched 
523
  for paths can be specified. Seperate indexes are created for these paths 
524
  - so that search is faster.
525
* Included log4j for logging and debuging to prevent wasting of time in printing log statements. 
526

    
527
Release Notes for 1.5.0:
528
------------------------
529

    
530
This release comes with performace improvement, user interface enhancements,
531
and bug fixes. Below is the list of bug fixes and performance improvements. 
532

    
533
Bug Fixes:
534
* Modify property values of harvester registration servlets to match the
535
  servlet-mapping URL values in web.xml. The old values used the servlet
536
  class names. This worked in Tomcat 4 but seems to break in Tomcat 5 on
537
  Windows. The new values use the servlet-mapping URL values. This should
538
  work in both Tomcat 4 and Tomcat 5. (Bug 162)
539
* Re-implement logic to prune old log entries from the HARVEST_LOG and
540
  HARVEST_DETAIL_LOG tables. The old logic caused integrity constraint
541
  violations in the database because it tried to delete parent records from
542
  HARVEST_LOG prior to deleting child records from
543
  HARVEST_DETAIL_LOG. (Bug 162)
544
* In data registry, minor bugs fixed like the error page shows the link back
545
  to the form when error page was generated because of a document read
546
  request from search results page,  the successful delete button leading
547
  to a blank screen and the old ACL overwritten by the registry.
548
  (Bugs 1307, 1310, 1322, 1344, 1551)
549
* Changed the code to support insertion of following characters: ', `,
550
  charcters in the Numeric Character Reference format (&#xyz;) and
551
  characters like µ. Characters like µ will be converted to and stored in
552
  Numeric Character Reference format(&#xyz;). They will also be returned
553
  in Numeric Character Reference and it is upto the client to convert them
554
  and display them accordingly in the application. Partial fix provided by
555
  Johnoel Ancheta. (Bug 1538,1711)
556
* Spatial search failed on Oracle because of invalid entries made by
557
  some documents in the nodedata column of xml_nodes for paths involving
558
  'eastBoundingCoordinate', 'westBoundingCoordinate',
559
  'northBoundingCoordinate', 'southBoundingCoordinate'. A new column
560
  nodedatanumerical was added to xml_nodes table such that all the numerical
561
  nodedata is stored in this column and this column is now used for spatial
562
  search. (Bug 1703, 1718)
563
* In the default skin, clicking on the keywords on the home page did not
564
  result is a search being done. Fix provided by Owen Jones. (Bug 1768)
565
* Metacat generated a success message even when a document which didnt
566
  exsist was requested for deletion. This has been fixed. (Bug 1850)
567
* "packagetype" in xml-relation table was entered as eml200 namespace when
568
  an eml201 document was inserted. This is fixed now so that "packagetype"
569
  in xml-relation table points to eml201 namespace. (Bug 1979)
570
* System_id in xml_catalog pointed to http://knb.ecoinformatics.org/knb/
571
  earlier. Fixed such that it points to the locally installed metacat url. 
572
  (Bug 1986)
573
* Changes to the Query subsystem fix bugs that prevented attributes from 
574
  being expressed solely in the xpath query statement and the returnfield 
575
  values. For instance, a query URL may now include search strings like 
576
  '@packageId=sbclter%25' and return strings like 'returnfield=@packageId'.
577
  Previously, the attribute had to be appended to an element: 
578
  '/eml/@packageId=sbclter%25'. These fixes change DBQuery.java, 
579
  QuerySpecification.java, and QueryTerm.java (Bug 2052)
580
* Search query failed in case of Oracle if number of documents in the result
581
  were more than 1000. This has been fixed. (Bug 2000)
582
* Removed any occurence of enum which is now a keyword in Java 1.5
583

    
584

    
585
Enhancements:
586
* Major improvements done in user interface for the data registeries and
587
  various other skins. Improvements done based on suggestions from Mark
588
  Stromberg, Laura Downey and others. Improvements also done in resultset.xsl,
589
  the default skin and ldap templates. (Bug 1948)
590
* Coded added such that administrator can delete documents irrespective of
591
  who the document belongs to.
592
* Performance impovement done in searching of datasets. A part of the search
593
  time was taken up because of generation of resultset after the search had be
594
  done. So this was the sequence of events in earlier metacat
595
  1) Search for the given text
596
  2) A list of docids generated
597
  3) For each of the docids
598
     3a) Use xml_index and xml_nodes table to generate the string descibing
599
         the document including the returnfields requested in the search
600
  4) Add all the strings from step 3a to send back the resultant
601
     document. Here a decent amount of time was being taken by step 3a. 
602
  The algorithm is now modified by addition of two tables xml_queryresult and
603
  xml_returnfields and a user defined parameter xml_returnfield_count. The
604
  new algorithm works as follows:
605
  1) Search for the given text
606
  2) A list of docids is generated
607
  3) For the given set of return fields generate a unique string and check
608
     if that string exists in xml_returnfields
609
     3a) If string does not exist in xml_returnfield, then enter a new
610
         record usage_count as 1 and returnfield_string as the unique string
611
         generated above.
612
     3b) Else if the string exists, increment usage_count
613
  4) Given the docids from step 2 and the id of the returnfield record from
614
     step 3, query for any docids that already exist in xml_queryresult.
615
     For the docids that do exist, get the queryresult_string.
616
  5) For rest of the docids from step2 which were not found in step 4, do
617
     the following for each of the documents:
618
     5a) Use xml_index and xml_nodes table to generate the string descibing
619
         the document including the returnfields requested in the search
620
     5b) If usage_count of the record from step is more than
621
         xml_returnfield_count set in metacat.properties, then store the
622
         string in xml_queryresult as a record which has the returnfield_id
623
         representing the set of returnfields, docid representing the
624
         document and the string as queryresult_string.
625
  6) Add all the strings from step 4 and step 5a to send back the resultant
626
     document
627
  So the results from step 3a in previous algorithm are effectively cached
628
  and hence same computation is not done again and again for each search.
629
  When a document is deleted, all the entries for that document in
630
  xml_queryresult table are also deleted. When a document is updated, all
631
  the entries for that document in xml_queryresult table are deleted. This
632
  works fine because those entries will be generated and cached again the
633
  next time the document is part of a search is requested.
634
* Performance impovement done for % search.
635
* Following new functions added to metacat client API: a method to set access
636
  on an xml document and a method to get newest version for a given document.
637
* Implement a new HarvesterServlet for running Harvester as a servlet. This
638
  eliminates the need to run Harvester in a terminal window. By default, the
639
  HarvesterServlet is commented out in lib/web.xml.tomcat(3,4,5). The user
640
  documentation will be modified to instruct Harvester administrators to
641
  uncomment the HarvesterServlet entry.
642
* Minor enhancement to support multiple email addresses for harvester
643
  administrator and site contact. Each address is separated by a comma or
644
  semicolon.
645
* Increase number of rows in Harvest List Editor from 300 to 1200.
646
* Changed default maxHarvests value to 0. Added logic to ignore maxHarvests
647
  value when it is set to 0 or a negative number. This allows Harvester to
648
  run indefinitely without shutting down after reaching a maximum number of
649
  harvests. The previous default value of 30 would cause Harvester to
650
  terminate after 30 harvests.
651

    
652
Details of all changes can be found in the bug database here:
653
http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org/buglist.cgi?product=Metacat&target_milestone=1.5
654

    
655

    
656
Release Notes for 1.4.0:
657
------------------------
658

    
659
This is a major release, and is the first to introduce many new features to
660
Metacat.  Some of the major new features in this version of Metacat include:
661

    
662
* Added a new 'Harvester' that allows documents to be periodically pulled
663
  from distributed sources into metacat, useful for interfacing with other
664
  system types. See the Metacat Tour for details.
665
* Added new 'skins' capability to allow the GUI for the metacat web interface
666
  to be more easily customized to fit into site needs.  The skin is based on
667
  a flexible mix of XSLT, CSS, and Javascript.
668
* Added a web-based metadata entry form for submitting limited EML documents
669
  as part of a data registry.  The GUI for the registry is customizable and 
670
  is integrated with the 'skins' system for the main metacat interface.  The
671
  registry subsystem is written in Perl, and can simultaneously be used to 
672
  present multiple 'registry' interfaces.
673
* A new 'client API' has been developed and implemented in Java and in Perl 
674
  so that metacat functions can be accessed from any program in those
675
  languages.  The client API supports the major metacat servlet actions,
676
  including login(), logout(), query(), insert(), update(), delete(), and 
677
  upload(). See the Metacat Tour for details.
678
* Added a new 'getlog' action that produces a usage history for all major
679
  events.  So now an XML report can be generated for document reads, inserts,
680
  deletes, etc.  See the new section in the Metacat Tour.
681
* Added a new 'buildindex' action that can rebuild the index entries for any
682
  document in the database.
683
* The configuration file for metacat (metacat.properties) has been moved out
684
  of the jar file and into the WEB-INF directory, allowing far easier changes
685
  to the configuration parameters.
686
* Results in default web interface are sorted by title in the XSLT 
687
  (configurable)
688
* Many bugs were fixed.
689

    
690
Details of all changes can be found in the bug database here:
691
http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org/buglist.cgi?product=Metacat&target_milestone=1.4
692

    
693
Release Notes for 1.3.1:
694
------------------------
695

    
696
This is a simple interim bug fix. No major functionality changes. Bugs fixed 
697
include:
698
 1) Metacat 1.3.0 doesn't work in Java 1.3 because a subtle API differnce in 
699
    Java 1.3 and Java 1.4. Currently, Metacat 1.3.1 will work in both Java 1.3 
700
    and Java 1.4.
701
 2) Distribution package size was reduced.
702

    
703

    
704
Release Notes for 1.3.0
705
------------------------
706

    
707
In 1.3.0 release, the structure of the xml_access table was changed and a new
708
table, xml_accesssubtree was added. If you try to update a previously 
709
installed Metacat, you should run a script file to updated the table structure 
710
before installation.
711
For Oracle user: At the SQLPLUS prompt type the following -
712
@src/reviseformetacat13.sql
713
For Postgresql user: At install directory prompt type the following -
714
psql exp < src/reviseformetacat13_postgres.sql
715
(where 'exp' is the database name).
716

    
717
After installation, user should run "ant schemasql" command to register EML2
718
schema in xml_catalog table.
719

    
720
If you are a new Metacat user, this step is unneeded.
721

    
722
Note: 1) We recommend to use Tomcat 4 and JAVA 1.4 to run Metacat. Otherwise, 
723
         it will cause potential replication issues.
724
      2) Delete the xercesImpl.jar and xmlParserAPIs.jar files 
725
         which are in $CATALINA_HOME/common/endorsed. They are old version and
726
         don't support XML schema validation.
727

    
728
New Features in 1.3.0
729
  1) Partialy support EML2 document. User can store, query, read and write
730
     EML2 documents. However, Metacat only support access control in resource
731
     level. The subtree level access control will be ignored.
732
  2) Support other xml document base on namespace/schema.
733
  3) Support query for attribute value
734
  4) Assign MIME type to data file base on metadata when user try to read it.
735
  5) Owner can assign access rules to a document which does not have access 
736
     document to apply it.
737
  6) Support exporting single file, not only whole package
738
  7) Resupport Microsoft SQL Server.
739

    
740
Fixes in 1.3.0:
741
  1) Couldn't finish delta T replication for large set of documents.
742
  2) Couldn't create access control during delta T replication.
743
  3) Eorr will be written to a seperated log file if some documents
744
     were failed in replication.
745
  4) Decrease the time to create access rules during insert or update 
746
     a package.
747
     
748
Documentation
749
-------------
750
See the docs directory for detailed documentation and installation
751
instructions.
752

    
753
Details of the Metacat architecture can be found on the website for
754
the Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB):
755

    
756
  http://knb.ecoinformatics.org/software/metacat/
757

    
758
Contributions to this work are welcome.  Please see the above web site
759
for details on how to contribute.
760

    
761
Major Known Bugs or Feature Requests (see http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org)
762
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
763
If you discover a bug please report it, either by email (above) or by using
764
our bug tracking system (http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org). There is a
765
list of currently unimplemented features in Bugzilla that we are working on
766
for the next release.
767

    
768
Legalese
769
--------
770
This software is copyrighted by The Regents of the University of California
771
and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
772
and licensed under the GNU GPL; see the 'LICENSE' file for
773
details.
774

    
775
This material is based upon work supported by the
776
National Science Foundation under Grant No. DEB99-80154, DBI99-04777, and
777
0225676 for SEEK.  Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recomendations 
778
expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily 
779
reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
780

    
781
This software is partially supported by a grant from the Andrew W. 
782
Mellon Foundation.
783

    
784
This product includes software developed by the Apache Software
785
Foundation (http://www.apache.org/). See the LICENSE file in lib/apache
786
for details.
787

    
788
The source code, object code, and documentation in the com.oreilly.servlet
789
package is copyright and owned by Jason Hunter. See the cos-license.html file
790
for details of the license.  Licensor retains title to and ownership of the
791
Software and all enhancements, modifications, and updates to the Software.
792

    
793
This software includes the JDBC driver for PostgreSQL.  See the 
794
postgresql-license.txt file for details.
(2-2/7)