Digital Object File Version order - feature or bug?

[Lynn Moulton]

Good afternoon fellow ASpace users,

We're running 4.1.0. We've just noticed a behavior that probably predates version 4, but we've only just noticed it. The behavior is that the order of the file versions impacts PUI functionality, even if the data in the file versions is unchanged. We have two file versions, one with the link to a thumbnail, and another with a link to our image viewer. We've just discovered that if the image viewer link is ordered as the first File Version on the Digital Object, the thumbnail in the view of the full Digital Object in the PUI isn't clickable. Swap the order of the file versions, and the thumbnail becomes a link to the viewer. (This is without any change to which version is set as representative.)  To us this is undesirable behavior, and we're wondering about others' experience. Is anyone aware of why this might be desirable? Is it a problem for anyone else? We'd love to hear from you!

Best,

Lynn Moulton

Processing Archivist 

John J. Burns Library

Boston College

[Samantha Evans]

Hello Lynn

 

Yes, we noticed this, and we haven’t yet upgraded to 4.1. We discovered it when trying to work out why some thumbnails were clickable and some not. We couldn’t see any reason for it and there’s nothing in the documentation so we think it must be a bug.

 

Best wishes

 

Sam Evans

Assistant Archivist (Archive Management System)

University Library

West Road

Cambridge

CB3 9DR

 

I work in this role Monday morning, Wednesday, and Friday

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[Kidd, Mary]

Hi Lynn,

I would characterize this behavior as not quite a bug, but more a quirk of how Make Representative logic works in versions 3.4 and higher.

Here the order of File Versions does affect the linking behavior of the representative image in the PUI, even when the representative flag itself does not change. This is noted in the ASpace documentation regarding Make Representative here: https://archivesspace.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ArchivesSpaceUserManual/pages/3364519945/Make+Representative+Functionality+as+of+v3.4

Specifically this line: "When a Digital Object or Digital Object Component record contains multiple published File Versions, the order of the File Versions affects the linking functionality of the representative image in the public user interface."

What seems to be happening is ASpace assumes the representative file version is both the visual representative and the primary link target. However if there are multiple versions, order is used as a kind of "tiebreaker" for determining what the representative file version links to. This is why swapping file version order can change whether the thumbnail is clickable even if the representative toggle stays the same.

I'll also take the opportunity to mention that Yale is hosting a Member Discussion tomorrow where we'll be discussing this behavior in case it's of interest.

I hope this clarifies what you're seeing, and I'd be curious to hear how others are handling this as well.

Mary

Mary Kidd (she/her)

Technical Lead, Archival Systems

Yale Library IT – Client Services and IT Operations

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From: 'Samantha Evans' via Archivesspace_Users_Group <Archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2026 8:58 AM
To: Lynn Moulton <lynn.m...@bc.edu>; Archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org <Archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org>
Subject: RE: [ArchivesSpace Users Group] Digital Object File Version order - feature or bug?

 

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