Export to CSV in Administrator Workflow

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mad...@udel.edu

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Nov 29, 2022, 10:17:28 AM11/29/22
to DSpace Technical Support
Hi All,

I have version Dspace 7.4 running on a RHEL 9 system. I've tried to create a new process in the Administrator Workflow area but I'm getting a CSV file with zero results. I am able to create other metadata exports in the Process tab.

Thanks
Keith

Paige Morgan

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Nov 29, 2022, 6:37:58 PM11/29/22
to mad...@udel.edu, DSpace Technical Support
To add on to this, I get the exact same response when I try this on the https://demo7.dspace.org/ site.

I go to Administer Workflow (while logged in as administrator); it shows 1-10 of 67 total items in process. On the righthand side, there's an icon to export search results as a CSV. When I click that, the process starts, and finishes normally, and offers me a CSV that I can download (titled metadataExportSearch). The spreadsheet is 14b, and its only content is a top row for id and collection -- no other info is included.

It seems like this might be a more widespread bug -- can anyone confirm?

Thanks,
Paige

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Meeting/regular work hours: Monday - Thursday, 9am-5pm; limited email on Friday mornings.

Dr. Paige C. Morgan

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Digital Publishing and Copyright Librarian,
Head of Digital Initiatives & Preservation
University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press (on Lenape land)
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pai...@udel.edu
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Tim Donohue

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Nov 30, 2022, 3:36:38 PM11/30/22
to Paige Morgan, mad...@udel.edu, DSpace Technical Support
Hi Paige & Keith,

I can confirm this is happening locally for me as well.  It looks like a possible bug.  This "Export to CSV" works fine in normal search results & also in the "Your submissions" part of MyDSpace.  But, I can verify that it doesn't work when viewing "Workflow tasks".

That said, I admit, I wonder if that "Export to CSV" link should even appear on the "Workflow tasks" page, as it's not really possible to perform batch metadata editing on "Workflow tasks". (The Export to CSV feature is primarily used for Batch Metadata Editing purposes)

So, this is all to say, I think there's a bug here.  But, the bug might be that the option even appears on this page.  Is this a specific use case you had for wanting to export Workflow Tasks to CSV?  Just curious as maybe there's a way to get this possibly accidental feature "working" rather than remove it altogether.  Either way, I do think this is a bug, I'm just not sure which fix is appropriate yet (remove it, or fix it).

If you have time, please feel free to submit a bug ticket to https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/issues   I'm assuming you likely want it "fixed" (rather than removed), so it'd be useful to understand your use cases in this ticket. 

Thanks!

Tim

Tim 

From: dspac...@googlegroups.com <dspac...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Paige Morgan <pai...@udel.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2022 3:35 PM
To: mad...@udel.edu <mad...@udel.edu>
Cc: DSpace Technical Support <dspac...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [dspace-tech] Export to CSV in Administrator Workflow
 

Paige Morgan

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Nov 30, 2022, 3:57:55 PM11/30/22
to Tim Donohue, DSpace Technical Support, mad...@udel.edu
Hi Tim,

Thanks for this response! For use cases, I would find it helpful to have in process workflow items exportable as a way of tracking what’s going on with items that are in process, and/or that have been orphaned. When we were running DSpace 5.3, there was no way for an administrator to even see broadly what was happening, and what workflow items *were* in process. We have a number of items that have been hanging out in that space, and this is the first time that I've actually been able to see them.

My hope is that I can work on cleaning those up, and then not have so many sitting around -- but I would find it very helpful to be able to check and export a CSV periodically, just to check in with folks who use the workflow setup.

Does that make sense as a use case?

Thanks again,
Paige

Tim Donohue

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Nov 30, 2022, 4:11:20 PM11/30/22
to DSpace Technical Support
Hi Paige,

Yes that makes sense. It's clear that in your use case this "Export to CSV" is not for "Batch Metadata Editing"... it's just to generate a basic "status report" of items in workflow.

If you would, could you or Keith submit a bug ticket to https://github.com/DSpace/dspace-angular/issues ?   I'd recommend adding the step by step instructions for reproducing the error. Then add in some basic details of how you'd like to use this feature.   I can then see if I can find someone to work on this in the near future, with the hope that we can fix it (instead of remove it).  They will have to investigate the underlying issue though to see if it's easier to fix quickly.. or remove it (to solve the bug) temporarily & fix later.   

Overall though, the more I look at this feature, the more I think this was accidental & never meant to appear on that page. :)  So, it may turn out to be a happy accidental feature!

Tim

Emilia Lobo

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May 27, 2024, 9:54:09 AMMay 27
to DSpace Technical Support
search-export-metadata

Hello!, 
This process indicates that it completed successfully but I don't see where to download the completed script from the administrator account.
I don't see any link to recover that generated file.
What can be?
Thanks,
Emilia

Morgan, Paige

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May 28, 2024, 9:18:24 AMMay 28
to Emilia Lobo, DSpace Technical Support

Hi, Emilia--

Are you running 7.1? I remember when I encountered this problem myself – it turned out that the export button had been written into the interface, but it didn't actually have any functionality behind it. 

I did, at Tim Donohue's suggestion, put in a ticket suggesting that functionality be built in, but I don't think anything has happened with that, and in more recent versions (7.4), the icon/button has been removed.

Good luck!
Paige

---------------------
Meeting/regular work hours: Monday - Friday, 9am-4:30pm

Dr. Paige C. Morgan

(she/they)

Digital Publishing and Copyright Librarian,
Head of Digital Initiatives & Preservation
University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press (on

** I observe email-free evenings and weekends. **

From: dspac...@googlegroups.com <dspac...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Emilia Lobo <emili...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, May 27, 2024 09:54
To: DSpace Technical Support <dspac...@googlegroups.com>

Emilia Lobo

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May 28, 2024, 10:27:59 AMMay 28
to DSpace Technical Support
Thanks for your answer. I am using version 7.6.1 of DSpace. The button is still not shown.

Emilia.-
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