Release Notes

The Axiell EMu Ideas Portal allows you to view and submit ideas to a pool of ideas for future EMu development, vote for ideas, or ask us development questions:

https://emu.ideas.aha.io/

Since EMu 9.0 a number of web tools and services that were separately licensed add-ons to EMu are now bundled with EMu. The EMu 9.1 release has seen many improvements to these web tools, as well as improvements to EMu itself. There is also a new add-on feature for EMu, Axiell Move, an app designed to track and manage the location and relocation of your collection items via barcode scanning.

Integration with Axiell Move

The Axiell Move app, which available on Android and iOS devices, has been integrated with EMu. The app is designed to track and manage the location and relocation of your collection items via barcode scanning, with EMu updated behind-the-scenes:

Details about the Axiell Move app and how to use it can be found here.

Note: The Axiell Move app is an add-on product sold separately to EMu. Please contact your account representative for purchase details.

A new Standards Registry entry: Extension Repeater Registry entry

When exporting to a Standard (e.g. Darwin Core for object data) and an extension (e.g. Audubon Core for multimedia data), if one of the fields in the extension is a table of values, the values in that table are exported as a single pipe-delimited value. With the Extension Repeater Registry entry, each value in the table can be exported independently of the other values.

Details about the Extension Repeater Registry entry can be found here.

Axiell Sapphire 9.1: new features and improvements

EMu version 9.1 bundles our Collections Management System with a suite of web tools, including Axiell Sapphire, a web based rapid data entry tool supporting simple task definitions. The EMu 9.1 release has seen many improvements to Axiell Sapphire, including:

• Technology upgrade and enhanced security.
• Geolocation: record a location with what3words.
• New Query page element: generate a result set and print to PDF.
• Sorting records returned by a search.
• Date value validation and dynamic date filtering for Statistics.
• Image control changes.
• Image carousel.
• Drop list of values when searching.
• Sample Forms and Tools bundled with a new Sapphire installation.
• Various other improvements and resolved issues.

Release notes for Sapphire 9.1 can be found here.

Axiell Go version 9.1: new features and improvements

EMu version 9.1 bundles our Collections Management System with a suite of web tools, including Axiell Go, an app providing web-based and mobile access to your EMu Collections Management System (CMS). The EMu 9.1 release has seen many improvements to Axiell Go, including:

• Option to hide / show session and record data on the Dashboard.
• New Account options: account information, change group and language.
• Search improvements: New search button.
• Active Record Section retained as you navigate between records.
• Unsaved changes notification.
• Resizable panels.
• A record can only be edited in one workspace.
• Copy link.
• Multimedia improvements.
• Grid and Nested grid improvements.
• Lookup List improvements.
• Various other improvements and resolved issues.

Release notes for Axiell Go 9.1 can be found here.

• Standards export data order

  The Standards export mechanism exported data for Term Definitions in alphabetical order, which meant that similar grouped data could not be viewed together. The export order has been altered so that Terms are now exported in the order in which they are attached in the Standard definition record.

  Details about Standards and Term Definitions can be found here.

• EMu loads and solr

  EMu runs some startup scripts whenever the EMu server is rebooted to ensure that the system is ready and operational for users. When running solr indexing it was possible that the solr startup had not completed before the EMu startup scripts ran, which meant that not all of EMu's loads could start. The reboot processing has been altered so that the EMu startup is delayed until it receives confirmation that solr is operational.

• Open ID redirect to a static port

  When using Open ID Connect (OIDC) some OIDC providers require the redirect URL to use a specific port. An additional OIDC configuration element redirect_port has been added to allow for the specification of a specific port to use for the response redirect URL:

  {
     "name": "Azure Identity Provider for EMu",
     "discovery": "https://login.microsoftonline.com/xxx/v2.0/.well-known/openid-configuration",
     "client_id": "xxx",
     "issuer": "https://login.microsoftonline.com/xxx/v2.0",
     "redirect_port": "54321",
     "jwksfile": "azure-emu.jwks"
  }

  The EMu Server configuration details for OIDC can be found here.

• Reload data improvements

  As part of running an upgrade it is possible that some records need to be touched to update data elements. This may need to occur for every record but at times it may only be required for a subset of records. This process has been altered so that a subset of records can be updated when necessary rather than the entire database.

• Height and Width settings on the Report Properties Multimedia tab

  It could be difficult to enter height and width Resolution settings on the Multimedia tab of the Reports Properties box due to space characters padding. The space padding has been removed from these fields allowing only the entry of digits.

• Additional image types available for reports

  The following image file extension have been added to the list of image file types able to be used within reports: .heic, .pict and .pct.

• Bulk tools with multiple languages

  When performing bulk operations (recondition / relocate / revalue) on records it was a requirement that the default language display order was used for that data. Bulk operations can now be performed using any language order.

• Tasks tab now available in the Parties module

• The tool tip for Bibliography BHL search had a spelling error. The correct spelling is now in place.
• On occasion radio buttons appeared as read-only when they should have been editable. All radio buttons are now in their correct state.
• It was possible when the Security tab set a record to read-only that when moving to the next non read-only record, a radio button could remain in a read-only state. The radio button now becomes editable when moving to a non read-only record.
• When using the Registry perl module to update Registry settings it was possible for the update to fail if one of the data elements contained an apostrophe. Updates with data elements containing apostrophes are now successful.
• When a Partial Index Registry entry was set it was possible that the partial indexing was not set on the specified columns. Partial indexing is now correctly set on the columns.
• On occasion client requested changes to column types or Lookup List names were not reflected in the Field Help. The column and Lookup List changes are now correctly reflected in the Field Help.
• When using the Windows scale display option it was possible for the text contained in some controls to not scale correctly. The text in the controls now scales correctly when the scale is changed.
• It was possible that when updating a location the Internal Movements record did not show all of the holder information. All of the holder information is now shown.
• If an email address contained a single quote character, emails from EMu did not send correctly. All emails are now correctly sent.
• When using field shortcuts to move to a field, if the field was a grid it was possible for the cursor to be in the wrong column for the field name. The cursor is now always in the correct column for the field name.
• It was possible for a standard password login to fail immediately after an Open ID login had failed. The standard password login is now successful.
• The Attributed Notes tab for the Conservation module had a different layout to other modules. The layout in the Conservation module is now consistent with other modules.
• When running the upgrade script it was possible that the solr path was incorrectly set. The solr path is now correctly set.
• A number of Catalogue tabs with reference grids had large amounts of white space at the bottom of the page. The number of rows in these grids has been increased to reduce the amount of white space.
• When upgrading EMu and reloading the Field Help, locally added field help could be lost. All local Field Help is now retained and reloaded with an upgrade.
• It was possible with local audit filters in place that update audit records contained new values for columns that had not changed. These would then incorrectly update columns when Record Recall was used. Only changed new column values are now written to the update audit records.
• It was possible for some audit data to be truncated when populating the Audit module. The audit data is now loaded correctly.
• Attempting to cut, copy or paste text into the Narrative's Description field using the tools available in the Ribbon resulted in nothing changing. The text is now cut, copied or pasted correctly.
• It was possible for the Defaults box to show with truncated buttons. The dialogue box now correctly displays the full buttons.
• The process to build the sync map file could report errors when processing double nested columns. Double nested columns are now processed correctly.
• When maximizing and then restoring the Movements module to its previous size it was possible for some fields on the Information 2 tab to overlap. The fields now display correctly.
• It was possible for some fields in Parties, Bibliography and Rights to not appear read-only when they should have. These fields now appear read-only.
• On occasion when using the right-click menu retrieve option for a Static Group all of the module records would be retrieved. Only the records in the Static Group are now retrieved.
• It was possible that when a mandatory error was displayed, the cursor did not return to the mandatory field. The cursor now correctly returns to the mandatory field.
• When the default prompt language was not English, it was possible for the Recall>Current Record Ribbon item to not be translated. The Ribbon item is now correctly translated.
• The label for Pest Events in the Traps module was incorrectly labelled as Trap Events. It has been corrected to Pest Events.
• It was possible for fields controlled by the Format Registry entry to be modified when the Recondition / Relocate / Revalue tools were used. These fields are no longer modified.
• New tasks were not able to be added to the Thesaurus module. Tasks may now be added to the Thesaurus module.
• Some queries which used an Also Search field did not generate the correct query. The query now generates correctly returning the correct results.

EMu version 9.1 bundles our Collections Management System with a suite of web tools that were previously add-ons licensed separately to EMu. The bundle consists of:

• Go: a web based client interface to EMu.
• IMu: a web browser search facility used to explore the collection.
• RestAPI: a REST API server providing access to the collection.
• Sapphire: a web based rapid data entry tool supporting simple task definitions.
• Server: the traditional EMu back-end server.

Details about how to install / upgrade the bundled version of EMu can be found on the EMu Support site.

Consolidated upgrade notes

A single set of install and upgrade notes replace all of the version specific notes previously available from the EMu Support site (one set of notes for each previous EMu release); the new upgrade notes are designed for upgrading any previous version of EMu to the latest version. The earlier install and upgrade notes pages on the EMu Support site are no longer available and any bookmarks to these pages will be broken. Going forward, the location of installation and upgrade notes will remain the same:

https://emu.axiell.com/support/downloads/emu/install-upgrade-notes/latest

The Axiell EMu Ideas Portal allows you to view and submit ideas to a pool of ideas for future EMu development, vote for ideas, or ask us development questions:

https://emu.ideas.aha.io/

• Enhancement of the Condition Checks module

  Over time the purpose of the Condition Checks module has changed significantly from simply providing an object condition audit mechanism. Given this change, it is now possible to view all attached multimedia as thumbnails (using on the Multimedia tab) and to include Extended data Extended data is a combination of fields selected to display a meaningful summary of a record. It is more detailed than Summary Data and displays in its place. In Details View, select Thumbnail on the View tab of the Ribbon to display Extended Data. Re-select Thumbnail to remove the tick and revert to Summary Data. Which field or combination of fields is used to make up a module's Extended Data can be specified by each institution (and implemented by Axiell developers).:

  

• BHL attachment records are now readonly

  Records inserted into the Bibliography module through the use of the BHL API are readonly. Attachments (Parties and Rights) made to these Bibliography records have also been made readonly and have their Source set to BHL:

  

• Notifications are now available for the Traps module

  Notifications have been added for Tasks entered in the Traps module.

• Attach Show List View Registry entry

  When attaching records in EMu the attachment module opens in Details View by default. With the new Attach Show List View Registry entry it is possible to open the attachment module in List View instead.

• Preserve Index Registry entry

  EMu 8 configured the number of columns being reindexed to match the set of columns used by an institution's client for reduced rebuild down time. To allow for additional columns to be reindexed (web specific columns, for example) the Preserve Index Registry entry was added.

• The subject line of emailed logs now includes the server name

  When multiple EMu environment are present on the same server or replicated across multiple servers, log messages received via email from EMu's logging subsystem now contain both the hostname (taken from the HOST environment variable) and the EMu environment (taken form the EMUCLIENT environment variable) to allow recipients to identify where they came from.

• Occasionally a cannot display resource error would display when opening a new window. The error message no longer displays and the window opens successfully.
• When entering a URL that contained an equals (=) character in the Related Information of the Field Help, the related link would not display correctly. The link now displays correctly.
• When loading query defaults and the language order did not match the system language order, the defaults were loaded in the system language order. The defaults now load in the selected language order.
• When using a dual language system and copying values from List View in the Lookup Lists module, the value for the second language could be incorrect. All copied values for the second language are now correct.
• When changing fonts it was possible for the font in some fields to not change correctly. The font now changes correctly across all fields.
• Occasionally the Thesaurus could add terms to a field when an attachment was cancelled. Terms are no longer added when an attachment is cancelled.
• At times server performance could be effected by the syncserver processing unnecessary syncs. The syncserver now only processes required syncs.
• When running solr indexing with a configured proxy server, system performance could be impacted. Performance is no longer impacted by a configured proxy server.
• Occasionally scheduled operations would not run due to authentication errors. The operations now successfully run.
• When keying notes in the Narratives Interview Notes field, any text keyed after a carriage return could be lost. A carriage return is no longer allowed to be inserted in the Interview Notes field.
• Notifications from EMu could be sent ignoring the configured from email address. Notifications are now always sent using the configured from email address.
• When running an export error messages could appear in the logs leading to the belief that the export did not run successfully. These error messages no longer appear.
• When swapping languages it was possible for local language translations to not display. The correct language translations now display.
• Occasionally an access violation could occur if, when creating a group, the Security tab was accessed after declining to insert a new value in the lookup tables. The Security tab now correctly displays.
• When creating a new group the Security Insert permission could be ignored. The insert permission is now correctly applied when the Group is inserted.
• Occasionally the generic Bibliography query column data could be duplicated. The query column data is no longer duplicated.
• If auditing login and logout operations, the security settings did not allow the viewing of these audit records by users. These records can now be viewed by members of Group Admin and the users to whom they apply.
• Occasionally an access violation could occur when selecting the File>New Record menu option. The access violation no longer occurs and the module is displayed.
• Occasionally a popup message indicating that a resource could not be loaded could be shown when trying to update a record. The resource is now correctly found and the popup is no longer displayed.
• Occasionally a newly created group did not appear in the Groups list. All created Groups now appear in the list.
• Occasionally when solr indexing is being used, a reindex with compact failed to complete. All reindexes with compacts now successfully complete.
• An EMu upgrade could fail to complete if the perl module File::Copy was not installed on the server. All upgrade now complete with or without the perl module installed.
• Occasionally in Multimedia reports the title did not display correctly. The title now displays correctly in the Multimedia reports.
• When swapping languages it was possible that a default language string displayed rather than a client specific one. The client specific translation now correctly displays.

EMu version 9.0 is the first version to bundle our Collections Management System with a suite of tools that were previously add-ons licensed separately to EMu. The bundle consists of:

• Go: a web based client interface to EMu.
• IMu: a web browser search facility used to explore the collection.
• RestAPI: a REST API server providing access to the collection.
• Sapphire: a web based rapid data entry tool supporting simple task definitions.
• Server: the traditional EMu back-end server.

Details about how to install / upgrade the bundled version of EMu can be found on the EMu Support site.

The Axiell EMu Ideas Portal allows you to view and submit ideas to a pool of ideas for future EMu development, vote for ideas, or ask us development questions:

https://emu.ideas.aha.io/

Solr Indexing Support Added

Support for the use of Solr as the indexing mechanism for EMu has been added. Benefits of moving to Solr indexing are:

• Improved query performance on simple and complex queries.
• Reduced disc space overhead.
• Ability to scale.

Details here.

GUID Document View

A Document View button has been added to the GUIDs grid:

When the cursor is in a row that contains a URL, the button is enabled and can be clicked to launch the associated application to view the document.

Redesigned Bibliography module

A redesigned Bibliography module is now available, offering two simplified models: a flattened model or a simplified hierarchical model. Institutions already using the established Bibliography module can continue to do so, or they can adopt one of the new models.

Apart from the Reference (1) tab, the tabs used by the Hierarchical and Flat models are otherwise the same. As the names suggest, the difference between the two is in the ability to construct a hierarchy of Bibliography records. The Hierarchical model includes the Parent field, an attachment field A field in a module that can be linked (attached) to a record in the same or another module. When an attachment has been made, the target record's Summary Data displays in the attachment field. used to link the current record The record currently displayed in Details View or highlighted in List View (there is a faint dotted line around it). It is only possible to have one current record at a time. to a parent Bibliography record (if the current record is for an article, you could link to the record for the journal in which the article is published, for instance). This allows a hierarchy of Bibliography records to be constructed:

The Flat model does not allow for construction of a hierarchy of Bibliography records, but does provide Lookup Lists Also known as a Pick List or Authority List, a Lookup List is a list of the values that have either been used or are suggested for use in a field. Rather than keying a value into the field, it is possible to pick a value from the Lookup List; the selected value will populate the field. for referencing other titles:

Adopting one of the new layouts also provides the option to populate records with bibliographic information drawn directly from the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL); in this case, BHL data on the Reference (1), Reference (2) and Citations tabs will be read-only and updated if changes are made to the data held by BHL.

As part of the upgrade to EMu 8.0 an institution can choose to move to one of the new models, in which case existing Bibliography data will be reloaded to match the new layout.

More details here.

Information for System Administrators

When an institution adopts one of the new Bibliography models introduced with EMu 8, it is possible to populate records with bibliographic information drawn directly from the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL):

• Configuring EMu to access BHL requires an API key and various Registry entries to be set. Details here.

• Details about keeping BHL populated records up to date can be found here.

• When selecting a multiple language default value from a lookup list, the language terms were not correctly quoted. The language terms are now correctly quoted.
• When using the Registry to update indexing characteristics, it was possible for an incorrect indexing type to be set. The indexes are now correctly set.
• When saving data for the Era depth fields in Sites, it was possible for this data to be removed. The data is now correctly saved.
• Notifications from the EMu system were still branded as KE. The KE branding has been removed from all notifications.
• On some dialogue boxes the date and time values did not display using the system specified formats. The dates and times now display in the correct format.
• Some French translations were missing from some of the Options dialogue box tabs. The translations have now been added.
• Some module window titles did not display the correct French translation. The correct translation is now displayed.
• On occasion the background around radio buttons would not redraw correctly leaving the buttons looking incorrect. The background now correctly draws.
• An intermittent TexAPI error could be shown when running reports on a system installed in Azure cloud. The TexAPI error no longer occurs.
• When the exporting data step of a report was being performed, it was not possible to stop the report. The report is now able to be stopped.
• Some aspects of the EMu components were not able to have translations associated with them. All aspects can now have translations.
• The audit Info field did not appear in the audit summary display. The Info field has been added to the summary display.