June 2002 - Koha-devel - lists.koha-community.org

Couple of nasty bugs in 1.2.0
by Chris Cormack 17 Jun '02

17 Jun '02

Hi guys I was thinking due to the 3 nasty bugs in 1.2.0 which have now been fixed. That it might be good to get a 1.2.1 bug fix release out promptly. I could tar up a 1.2.1 release candidate in the next day or so. Bugs that im aware of installer.pl set a wrong variable in koha.conf -- fixed (thanks mike) missing table definitions in koha.mysql and/or updatedatabase -- fixed errors in the admin scripts -- fixing now Any I have missed? Chris -- Chris Cormack chris(a)katipo.co.nz Programmer 025 500 579 Katipo Communications www.katipo.co.nz

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Koha 1.2.0 Released
by Pat Eyler 15 Jun '02

15 Jun '02

Its finally here! Nearly a year since the last release, we have a new stable release of koha. 1.2.0 The main new features in this version are: - Can search by dewey number - Keyword Searches can be restricted by a dewey number - Can restrict a catalogue search by a class of items - Simple acquisitions module - Deleting borrowers checks their accounts for reserves, current issues, and fines - New catalogue maintenance section - MARC importing from a file, and from z39.50 Main Bugfixes: - Keyword searches are a lot faster - Combined author and title search is now also searching series title - Combined author and title search is now also searching series title - Adding children and institutions works as advertised There have been numerous little fixes and a lot of code clean up. The structure of the tarball has changed to a more sensible layout, and the INSTALL document has been rewritten. There is also now a installer script, as well as a functioning database update script. All this should mean its the easiest Koha to install or upgrade yet. The next release wont take nearly as long, 1.2.1 is well underway. Also keep your eyes open for the upcoming 1.4 series with full MARC compatability. Chris Cormack Pat Eyler 1.2 Release Manager Kaitiaki/Manager the Koha Project the Koha Project

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bugs in 1.2.0 distribution ?
by paul POULAIN 14 Jun '02

14 Jun '02

no branches in koha-html [17:20:29] <paul> i just realise there is no branches in koha-html. So, i think templating is in the tar.gz [17:20:43] <pate> yes, in some things (i think) [17:20:47] <paul> it's not used, as the perl scripts are 1.2, and don't use them... [17:21:17] <paul> it's a shame, as i've copied a LOT of images in the french theme... [17:21:26] <paul> (all images in fact...) [17:21:59] <pate> sigh ... another reason for us to do a quick 1.2.1 (brown bag release) [17:22:51] <paul> i think we should create branches in koha-html too... [17:23:03] <pate> yeah, you're right DB tables [17:35:07] <paul> pate : another problem : [17:35:22] <paul> it seems the uploadedmarc table isn't in the package ? [17:35:36] <paul> can't find his structure anywhere... [17:37:55] <paul> and now i've downloaded the package to be sure. grep "uploaded" */*... shows nothing interesting [17:45:05] <paul> same problem for marcrecorddone it seems... [17:46:14] <paul> it seems the z3950 tables are created (updatedatabes) -- Paul

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Status of branches?
by Alan Millar 14 Jun '02

14 Jun '02

Sorry, I'm still a little confused on the branches. I'm working successfully on the 1.2 branch, but I have a few more questions: - What is the CVS command to list available branches? I couldn't find that in the docs. - Where is MARC development being done? In the main branch, or a forked 1.4 branch? If it is in a forked branch, what is the main branch for? - How will the 1.2 branch be rolled in or reconciled with the main branch? Should I be putting important changes into more than one branch? Thanks - Alan ---- Alan Millar --==> am12(a)bolis.com <==--

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XML MARC Schema
by Pat Eyler 14 Jun '02

14 Jun '02

interesting post from www.usrlib.info LC's MODS XML Schema Updated By ksclarke, Section Standards Posted on Tue Jun 11th, 2002 at 10:59:16 AM EST There is a new release (as of June 6, 2002) of the LC MODS (Metadta Object Description Schema) schema. The web page hasn't been updated to reflect the new version, but the online version of the schema is now at version 1.15 (the web page still says 1.0). LC has also updated the MARC to MODS mapping file (as of June 8, 2002) simplifying some of the more difficult mappings. The example files do not seem to have been updated yet as they do not validate against the new schema. [editor's note, by jaf] The link to the MODS homepage is http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/

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From the Kaitiaki
by Pat Eyler 14 Jun '02

14 Jun '02

14 June, 2002 To the Koha community; Hola, As you can guess from my switch from Maori to Spanish, we've picked up some new interest in Latin America. I'm looking forward to seeing the translation of documentation and our interface. We hope that our new volunteers will also want to jump in and start coding. If you're interested in helping in this effort, please feel free to contact me directly or to jump onto the developer's mailing list[1] and get to work. Beyond reaching out to Latin America, we're trying to reach out to other communities as well. The OSS4Lib[2] community has been very welcoming, and while we won't be attending their pre-ALA conference this weekend we do hope to get to their next gathering. The good folks working on MARC::Record[3] have also been open and encouraging. I hope that we'll be able to contribute back to them. A final note on reaching out, I'm hoping that we can start a dialog with the developers (and users) of the other Free Software Library Systems that are out there. While we've taken a number of different approaches, I think there is a lot of room for cooperation. We've got a great opportunity to come together as a larger community, in a way that no commercial system vendors could. I hope that we'll take advantage of it to create better, faster, more useful software for libraries of all sizes. 1.2 Congratulations to Chris and everyone else who's been involved in this push. 1.2.0 is out and the developers are diving in to 1.2.1! 1.2.0 represents a number of big improvements over the 1.1 series, we've got an installation script, real documentation, improvements to searching, some clean ups of the database, more tests, and maybe a bug fix or two. You can get your very own copy at <https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=16466> 1.4 Paul Poulain and Steve Tonnesen are continuing to work on the foundations of 1.4. They've started working with the MARC API, and are starting to integrate the MARC::Record toolkit. Now that the 1.2 series has hit the streets, look for things to pick up in 1.4! Translations While I've already mentioned the news about our progress on the Spanish side, we're continuing to look for volunteers to pick up more languages. If your native language hasn't been mentioned so far let me know, I'd be happy to put you on our list of translations. If a translation has already been started, I'm sure your contributions would be welcome. Documentation Nicholas Rosasco has been hard at work on the new Koha Manual. He's managed to put together a great book in a very short time. He's got big plans for where to go next too. Look for the documentation to just keep getting better! I hope this note has found you all in good health and good spirits. Enjoy our new release, and enjoy the start of summer! Mucho gusto, -pate Pat Eyler Kaitiaki of the Koha Project [1] Please use the tools at <http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=16466> to subscribe to our development and/or announcement mailing lists. [2] See <http://www.oss4lib.org> for more information about this project. [3] See <http://marcpm.sourceforge.net> for more information

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Oddball idea
by Nicholas Rosasco 14 Jun '02

14 Jun '02

This may be the ravings of a sleepless madman, but bear with me for a sec... Someone asked about cross references (ie, look for Cinema -under-> Motion Picture) I (think) we have a feature to store URLs as items in the catalog, right? Couldn't we do a workaround? File cross refs in the catalog as URLs pointing _back to the catalog (ie, the CGI header)_ for the topic they should look under? Nick ...might just be crazy, might just be a genius.

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Koha search tables
by Alan Millar 13 Jun '02

13 Jun '02

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wiki discussion about free software and libraries (fwd)
by Pat Eyler 13 Jun '02

13 Jun '02

just seeding discussion, your two bits are welcome as well, -pate ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 11:36:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Pat Eyler <pate(a)eylerfamily.org> To: oss4lib-discuss(a)lists.sourceforge.net Subject: wiki discussion about free software and libraries I've just posted a short blurb about free software and libraries to <http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FreeSoftwareForLibraries>. I'd encourage ppl to go and read it. Then edit, append, fold, spindle, or mutilate. The C2 wiki is home to a number of very smart people and is project, software, and community minded. I'd love to get them thinking about (and contributing to) free software in libraries. A healthy discussion about the topic would certainly draw some eyes. thanks, -pate

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Re: MyLibrary@NCState Important Update
by Pat Eyler 12 Jun '02

12 Jun '02

On Wed, 12 Jun 2002, Rhyno Art wrote: > > > > Hi there, > > I'm the kaitiaki/manager of the Koha Project (www.koha.org) We just > > saw that NCState is phasing out of its leadership and support roles > > for Mylibrary. We're not sure what your status is in terms of what > > NCState provides, but we'd like to offer any help we could. The Koha > > participants come from a fairly similar background (a mixed > > business/nonprofit/govt/volunteer group) and also use Perl to write > > Open Source library related software. If we can be of any assistance > > in terms of your collective "next move", please don't hesitate to ask. > > > Hi Pat, > > Our paths have crossed on the "usr-lib-info" site and I have corresponded > with Steve Tonnesen about MARC in an RDBMS. I was intrigued by your offer > on MyLibrary and wondered if there were any other systems that you would > consider hosting. Hosting is probably not the right word, I'd be happy (as would some others I've talked with) to help MyLibrary (or other groups) get themselves running on Sourceforge or Savanah, help them build community, and offer advice or help. It may even be that some Koha developers (or companies) may want to help in the development of MyLibrary to add more depth and breadth to their koha offering. > I am giving a session on a booking system called WIBS > <http://wibs.sourceforge.net> on Friday at a preconference and have heard > from numerous libraries that are interested in this type of application. It sounds like this too may make an interesting adjunct to a Koha (or Avanti, or ...) system. > But I worry about the long-term care and feeding of this application, my > employer is sympathetic to the value of OSS but we are pretty stretched to > keep everything running and I have yearned for something like a "Red Hat" > in the library world that is more focused on OSS. I share your yearning, but I'd rather see another GNOME Foundation or Apache Foundation. If we could gather many small companies (like Katipo) who are interested in the library market, I think we'd be much healthier than having a single large company trying to drive the 'industry'. > I don't know what your > relationship is to Katipo Communications and whether there is a view > towards expanding its list of OSS options, but it strikes me that they have > the integrity to become a type of "Red Hat" for libraries. If someone is going to be the 'Red Hat', I think they'd do a good job. If there is going to be a coalition/foundation, I hope that they are a part of it. > > So I basically have two questions: > > 1) Would WIBS be of any interest to you? I will help other libraries out to > my dying day but it competes with many other priorities and I think a > company with roots in OSS could do wonders with the system. Plus, my > impression is that commercial options for internet station booking systems > are quite expensive so there is probably room for consulting if that is > the business model that any of your group desires/needs. I should mention > that it is based on MRBS and, by extension, PHP, I don't know if non-Perl > systems are problematic for you. > I think that there may be members of the Koha community who would be very interested in using/helping develop WIBS. Katipo may even be interested in working on it, though I am not a part of Katipo, and can't speak for them. As Koha rounds the corner on our current development efforts (1.2 and 1.4), it may make sense for us to look at developing a more turnkey library system with functions beyond OPAC, CIRC, and the like. At that poking at WIBS may make sense. As to the Perl v PHP thing, I don't know how other people feel about it. Personally, I'd rather we did all our work in Ruby ... but that's not going to happen any time soon. > 2) I have done a lot of changes to the database structure for Pytheas and I > don't know if it would be useful for you to take a look at the new schema. > Pytheas is very java-centric, but the table mappings are completely > generic. I think Steve looked at one of the original mappings and don't > know how out of date it might be. Steve, Paul, and Sergey may want to take a look at it. I know that they've done a lot of work on our schema, but there may be room for further optimization in either direction. I'll leave this to them. > > I am leaving in the morning for Atlanta and won't be back online until Monday, > but Koha is a great achievement and if there is anything I can do that > would help it along I would be glad to contribute. Enjoy ALA. I wish I were going to be there. We can certainly talk about contributing and/or cooperating/collaborating when you get back. -pate > > Regards, > > art > --- > Art Rhyno, Systems Librarian > Leddy Library, University of Windsor > Internet: arhyno(a)uwindsor.ca > Tel: (519) 253-4232, EXT. 3163 > FAX: (519) 973-7076 > WWW: <http://www.uwindsor.ca/library/leddy/people/art> >

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