Evergreen 3.0 Release Notes

New optional SMS text notification to be sent out 3 days prior to the due date of any circulating item for patrons who have an SMS text number and carrier stored in their accounts. This action trigger is disabled by default, but can be enabled and modified by going into Administration → Local Administration → Notifications / Action Triggers.

You may wish to make use of granularity so that these messages are batched and sent at the same time each day.

The circulation and hold policy configuration rules now each have a description field. This allows administrators to add comments to describe the purpose of each rule.

Apache configuration now supports a new variable which allows admins to specify the port used by Apache to handle HTTP traffic. The value is used for HTTP requests routed from Perl handlers back to the same Apache instance, like added content requests. Use this when running Apache with a non-standard port, typical with a proxy setup. Defaults to "80".

Administration → Server Administration → MARC Search/Facet Fields have 2 new configuration fields: Display Field? and Display XPath.

When Display Field is set to true, data from the field will be extracted from each record and added to a new table of display data for each bib record.

If a value is present in the Display XPath field, this XPath will be applied to the extracted data after the base XPath (from the XPath field) is applied to each field.

This data acts as a replacement for the various and sundry ways bib record data is currently extracted, including inline XPath in the TPAC, reporter views, real-time MVR compilation from MODS, etc. and will be available to the user interface, notification templates, etc. for rendering bib records.

The browser client gets a new service egBibDisplay which is capable of translating the display field data from various formats into data more suitable for JavaScript usage.

The database gets 3 new views for representing display data in various formats:

The existing permission was incorrectly created with a code of COPY_STATUS_LONGOVERDUE.override, while the event thrown requires a permission with a code of COPY_STATUS_LONG_OVERDUE.override. This update changes the permission code to match what the event requires.

The marc_export script has a new option, --descendants. This option takes one argument of an organizational unit shortname. It works much like the existing --library option except that it is aware of the org. tree and will export records with holdings at the specified organizational unit and all of its descendants. This is handy if you want to export the records for all of the branches of a system. You can do that by specifying this option and the system’s shortname, instead of specifying multiple --library options for each branch.

The --descendants option can be repeated, as the --library option can. All of the specified org. units and their descendants will be included in the output. It can also be combined with individual --library options when necessary.

The RTL stylesheet for the public catalog, templates/opac/css/style-rtl.css.tt2, has been merged into the LTR one (templates/opac/css/style.css.tt2). The combined stylesheet template will provide RTL or LTR styles based on the value of the rtl flag of the active locale. An rtl variable is also available in the template to allow the correct style to be chosen.

An obsolete and unused ingest.disable_metabib_field_entry internal flag was removed from the config.internal_flags table. It was rendered obsolete by the addition of the 3 flags to control the browse, search, and facet indexing.

The default cache expiration time for static assets (e.g., CSS, image, and JavaScript files) in the public catalog and the Kid’s PAC has been increased to one year. Links to all such assets now have a cache-busting value tacked on as a query parameter. This value is refreshed when autogen.sh is run, but it can also be manually set by adjusting the ctx.cache_key Template Toolkit variable.

Action/Trigger event definitions have a new field called Retention Interval. When an optional interval value is applied, events and template output data linked to the event definition will be deleted from the database once they reach the specified age.

Future versions of Evergreen will no longer contain automatic redirects from JSPAC URLs to TPAC URLs, with the exception of myopac.xml, given that the JSPAC is no longer supported. Existing sites, however, may wish to retain JSPAC redirects in their Apache configuration files since JSPAC URLs may still be used in the wild to access their catalogs.

The original JSPAC URL redirects are all retained in the file Open-ILS/examples/jspac_redirects.conf for reference.

The open-ils.auth service has a new API for requesting an authentication token. It performs the same steps as the open-ils.auth.authenticate.init and .complete APIs in a single call, using the bare password. No intermediate password hashing is required.

The paramaters are the same as the .complete call with a few modifications.

The following methods are used to mark patron contact fields as invalid by moving the invalid value to a standing penalty:

These methods now accept a fifth argument specifying the value of the contact field, e.g., a specific phone number or email address. If supplied, and if a specific patron ID (the first argument) is not supplied, all patrons with that specific contact value will have it marked invalid.

Public and staff catalog search is now both more accurate and faster by redesigning how the visibility of records is calculated.

Various improvements are made to support for authority records and headings browsing:

Copy tags will allow staff to apply custom, pre-defined labels or tags to copies. Copy tags are searchable in both the staff client and public catalog. This feature was designed to be used for Digital Bookplates to attach donation or memorial information to copies, but may be used for broader purposes to tag items.

Each copy tag can either be publicly-visible or visible only to staff. Copy tags also have types that can be used for restricting catalog searches on copy tags to particular types.

Copy tags are displayed in the copy table in the record summary page in the public catalog, and a new library setting can be used to add a "Digital Bookplate" search field. Copy tags can also be used as a search filter, e.g.,

All staff-side interfaces related to copy tags exist only in the web staff client. There are two new administration interfaces for managing copy tags and copy tag types. The copy editor now has a Copy Tags button for applying copy tags to copies; that interface can also be used to create new copy tags on the fly. Furthermore, the copy buckets interface now has an Apply Tags action for assigning tags to groups of copies.

The call number prefix and suffix, when present, are now included in subfields $k and $m of the 852 field when running marc_export with the --items switch. Similarly, when using Evergreen as a Z39.50 server configured to embed item data in 852 fields, the affixes are now included in subfields $k and $m.

There is a now a new interface analogous to the Copy Bucket interface to select and group a set of users into a User Bucket. The addition of users to a User Bucket is possible from the Patron Search interface by the use of a new grid Action, and directly on the User Bucket interface by user barcode. It is also possible to add users to a User Bucket by uploading a text file that contains a list of user barcodes.

From this interface it is possible to perform a set of specific batch update operations on user records.

It will now be possible to delete Hard Due Date Values for dates that have passed. Also, the Hard Due Date updater will no longer change Ceiling Dates to a past date. This allows editing Ceiling Dates directly in a Hard Due Date as well as scheduling Ceiling Date changes via Hard Due Date Values.

This feature allows staff members, when placing a hold on behalf of a patron in the web staff client, to search for patrons by names and other searchable patron information, rather than relying on barcode alone. In particular, after performing a catalog search or going to a specific bib record and clicking the Place Hold button, the form now includes a Patron Search button. This button will open a dialog allowing the staff member search for and select a patron record.

Adds a new library setting Number of Retrievable Recent Patrons (ui.staff.max_recent_patrons) that specifies the number of recently retrieved patrons that can be re-fetched from the staff client.

A value of 0 means no recent patrons can be retrieved. A value greater than 1 means staff will be able to retrieve multiple recent patrons via a new Circulation Retrieve Recent Patrons menu entry.

The default value is 1 for backwards compatibility.

The Simplified Pull List in the XUL client will now display subfields 245$n and $p in the title field. The addition will make it easier for staff to distinguish between different parts or seasons in a series.

Offline circulation is now available in the web staff client. In order to use the offline interface, users must first log into the web staff client, perform a patron search, select a user from the results, and open the patron editor interface to collect all the relevent configuration information for the workstation. In addition, the offline interface available from the Circulation menu provides a Download block list button for users who are logged in.

As is the case in the old staff client, users can check materials in and out, renew items, and create new patron accounts while offline. The patron fields available in the offline patron registration editor are the same ones that are available to staff when working online.

The circulation modifier field is added to the table of copies to make more information available to staff without having to open the Holdings View.

This change deprecates the existing Format Dates and Format Times settings and adds two settings for use with the webstaff client:

These settings use format strings as documented here:

https://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng/filter/date

There is overlap with how the Dojo formats worked, but also some differences.

The original Format Dates and Format Times settings worked together, but the new settings work independently. Certain field elements will use one, and certain field elements will use the other. These distinctions are hard-coded in the various UI templates, with the idea being that timestamp fields in which the date component alone is sufficient information (for example, date of birth) will use the Format Dates setting. Fields where the time component is important (for example, checkout time) will use the Format Date+Time setting.

When the settings Format Dates and Format Date+Time are unset, we will default to "shortDate" (M/d/yy) and "short" (M/d/yy h:mm a), respectively.

A new nosound.wav file has been added to the web client. The file can be used to globally disable audio alerts for a specific event on an Evergreen system.

For example, to silence the alert that sounds after a successful patron search:

Evergreen now supports checking out and placing holds on OverDrive and OneClickdigital ebook titles from within the public catalog. This is an experimental feature. It is not recommended for production use without careful testing.

When ebook integration is enabled, a "Check Out E-Item" link will be displayed when viewing an ebook title from a supported vendor in the catalog. Clicking on the link allows the user to check out and download that title from the vendor directly within the catalog.

If no copies are available for the title, a "Place Hold on E-Item" link is displayed instead, and the user may place a hold on the title. (Note that some vendors require the user’s account to have an email address before permitting a hold.)

My Account includes the ability to view current ebook checkouts and holds, download already-checked-out titles, and cancel holds.

For API integration to work, you need to request API access from the vendor, and the vendor must have a way of authenticating your patrons. Your Evergreen system also needs to be configured for ebook API integration, following the instructions in the command line system administration manual

This feature assumes that you are importing MARC records supplied by the vendor into your Evergreen system, using Vandelay or some other MARC import method. This feature does not search the vendor’s online collections or automatically import vendor records into your system; it merely augments records that are already in Evergreen.

The bill payment pages in the public catalog have been revamped to

Adds a URL field to the copy locations editor. When a URL is entered in this field, the associated copy location will display as a link in the public catalog summary display. This link can be useful for retrieving maps or other directions to the copy location to aid users in finding material.

Downloading checkout history as a CSV from My Account has been fixed for users with a large circulation history. Previously, this would time out for patrons with more than 100 or so circulations.

This feature no longer uses the action/trigger mechanism and the public catalog now generates the CSV directly. The old action/trigger code is still present in the database and should be removed at some point in the near future.

The Google Books Preview functionality in record detail pages has been rewritten to modernize its style and optimize its performance:

This release adds optional support for jQuery in the public catalog. This support is enabled by setting the ctx.want_jquery variable to a true value in the config.tt2 template.

New popularity parameters for in-house use over time and for count of distinct organizational units that own a title are now available. Evergreen sites can use these parameters to create new statistical popularity badges for sorting in the catalog by Most Popular or by Popularity-Adjusted Relevance.

The in-house use parameters will apply a badge to titles that have the most in-house use activity over time. The organizational unit count parameter will apply a badge to titles owned by the most number of libraries in a consortium. Ownership is determined by the copy’s circulation library.

Users now have the option to suspend a hold at the same time they place the hold. The Place Hold screen has a checkbox that can be enabled for users who want to suspend a hold at the time it is placed. There is also an option to set the activation date at the same time. This option is also available when placing holds on a batch of titles from My List and will apply to all the titles in the batch.

The reporter.classic_current_circ view, which is part of some extra views defined in Open-ILS/src/sql/Pg/example.reporter-extension.sql, has been fixed to not exclude loans for patrons who do not have a billing address set. Users of this view should rerun Open-ILS/src/sql/Pg/example.reporter-extension.sql during upgrade.

This source table allows you to construct a clever aggregate report template which will report bibliographic IDs where a library or a group of libraries no longer have a copy attached but had a copy attached. This is especially useful when a holdings sync is required with an external vendor.

Instructions for creating a report template with this source:

This template will only output bibliographic IDs where all of the copies for the specified branch(es) are deleted. Furthermore, it will only output bibs whose copies were edited (deleted) during the specified date range. Unfortunately the user will have to manually type the date range without the date picker. This view will also allow you to answer questions like "Show me bibs where I have one visible copy and more than two deleted copies."

The Provider reporting source now includes a link to the Provider Note reporting source.

The Working Location reporting source now has labels and it is now linked to the ILS User reporting source, allowing reports to display or filter on staff working location.

This report source will allow you to create a single report template for all of the following:

To distinguish between these different types of library use, it’s important to display these columns in your report templates:

A new form appears along the top of the reports interface for searching report templates. Once found, typical template actions (e.g. create new report) are available from within the results interface.

Searches may be performed across selected (visible) folders or all folders visible to the logged in user.

Searches are case-insensitive, any word order, with left-anchored words. All searched words must appear in at least one of the searched fields.

The serials module has been ported over to the web staff client, implementing a unified serials interface that combines ideas from both the serial control view and alternate serials control view from the old staff client.

In addition to carrying over functionality that was available in the old staff client, several new features are included:

The new serials interfaces can be accessed from the record details page via a Serials drop-down button that links to a subscription management page, a quick-receive action, and a MFHD management page. There is also a new Serials Administration page where prediction pattern and serial copy templates can be managed.

The combined fix for the above mentioned SIP bugs alters the way that SIPServer looks up the output encoding in the configuration file (typically oils_sip.xml). SIPServer now looks for the encoding in the following places:

Number 3 is provided to ease the transition to the new code. It is the current location of the encoding element in the sample configuration file and as such, where it is likely to be found in actual files. It is recommended that you alter your configuration to move this element out of the implementation_config element and into its parent institution element. Ideally, SIPServer should not look into the implementation config, and this check may be removed at some time in the future.