March 30th, 2012

Notes from Roadmap Meeting

• Drupal 7 API
  • Almost ready to go, JG has created 80 tests with 636 assertions as of today.
  • This will provide a good framework for everyone to do the same. All devs will have to adhere to this approach or code will not be accepted. Using PHP Unit provides a PHP testing framework that shows the % of the code that has tests. This will work well for the API, but may not be as appropriate for Drupal modules, SimpleTest will be the more appropriate tool.
  • We will integrate this into the Jenkins framework at the same time that the API code is released for review. Gervais will work with Jonathan to integrate this using the gear at DGI to minimize cost and provide for flexibility.
  • If in an EC2, it will need to spin-up 2 large (1 for Redhat and one for Ubuntu, for example) as a minimum, but 4-6 would not be inappropriate to allow multiple testing foundations. For example:
    • RedHat with Fedora on the same server
    • Redhat with Fedora on a separate server
    • Ubuntu with Fedora on the same server
    • Ubuntu with Fedora on a separate server
  • and then variations on this.
  • Documentation is not quite there, but this will not take much longer.
  • The current codename is Tuque and the code is in Jonathan's Git.
  • David will work with Jonathan to prepare an announcement. Jonathan will create a PDF of the docs. The date for getting this done is April 16. This will be a combined release of Tuque and the 1st 2012 Islandora 6 release.
  • Other ToDos
    • Jonathan will talk to Alan to see if he can test the new API in a 6 solution pack.
    • Jonathan will talk to Mitch and Paul re trying it in a 7 context.
  • Preservation Discussion
    • The key requirement here is to make a core set of "services" that ensure a complete representation of a complete PREMIS record: AUDIT trail; descriptive metadata; rights metadata; technical metadata; micro-services metadata; editorial workflow metadata; additional qualitative comments/notes from a staff member.
    • These PREMIS bits would be transformed "on the fly" to create a PREMIS record that could either be stored in a DS, or provided on request.
    • The challenge is how to create a generic approach to where the information is derived/stored. The best approach may be to create a CM-based approach to building the actions needed to construct the PREMIS record.
    • Fedora allows a comment to be associated with every action via the API, which thus gets stored in the AUDIT DS. We may need to modify the API to allow the same comment to be added to the AUDIT DS when the Islandora API is used.
    • Also need to decide which "actions" and agents are part of the PREMIS messaging is something that needs to be worked out. If we assume that these will be derived from information stored in Fedora then we should be able to craft a PREMIS solution.
    • Also need to resolve the question of whether we do this in Java or PHP. One issue here is how this would affect the question of Islandora sitting on top of Merrit. Need to resolve what would be the best approach here.
    • Paul will develop a proposal with Donald re the best approach to building the PREMIS component.
  • Handle Discussion
    • Where to store the URI continues to be an issue, but Donald is working on a proposal for the "best-practice" approach.