Questions about Guestbook at Request

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meghan.good...@gmail.com

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Apr 24, 2024, 12:35:48 PM4/24/24
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Hello there,

Does anyone have any experience enabling Guestbook at Request feature? We're a bit confused by the documentation (https://guides.dataverse.org/en/6.1/installation/config.html#dataverse-files-guestbook-at-request)

If this is turned on at the installation level, does that mean that all guestbooks will appear at file request (new behaviour)? Is it possible for end-users to decide what type of guestbook they would like in the UI? Or does it need to be turned off/on by a super user using the API?

Our systems admins haven't used the MicroProfile Config API before. Is there another way to configure this feature?

Thanks in advance for your help!
Best,
Meghan
(Borealis)

James Myers

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Apr 24, 2024, 12:53:49 PM4/24/24
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Meghan,

W.r.t. configuring, one microprofile option is just setting a JVM option so the usual bin/asadmin create-jvm-options -Ddataverse.files.guestbook-at-request=true (or false) and a restart should turn it on.

 

That setting allows guestbook-at-request to be turned on and sets the default for all collections/datasets. With the feature turned on, there’s also an option on the Collection page/Edit/GeneralInfo pane that lets you set how guestbooks work in that collection:

 

There’s also the superuser API to set it for an individual dataset, but the collection level option in the UI should be available to anyone who can manage that collection.

 

So for a minimal change, you can set the global setting to false so everything works as it is now, and then use the collection-level UI option to turn on guestbook-at-request for collections that want it.

 

-- Jim

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meghan.good...@gmail.com

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Apr 24, 2024, 1:06:55 PM4/24/24
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Thank you so much Jim!

Could you just clarify for the minimal change - how would you set the global setting to false and then use the UI option to turn it on for only the collections that would want it? Don't you need to turn on the global setting in order to see collection-level UI option?

Thanks,
Meghan

James Myers

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Apr 24, 2024, 1:23:26 PM4/24/24
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Yes – a dataverse.files.guestbook-at-request entry has to exist to turn on the feature, but explicitly setting it to false is different than not having it:

 

Setting doesn’t exist – guestbook-at-request is not available

Setting is false – the global default is false but the feature is enabled and can be turned on per collection

Setting is true - the global default is true and the feature is enabled and can be turned on per collection

meghan.good...@gmail.com

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May 6, 2024, 9:52:07 AM5/6/24
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Jim, thanks so much for your help on this! It's working as you described :)

fa...@kb.dk

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Aug 15, 2024, 7:04:26 AM8/15/24
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I have a few more questions about guestbooks that I think might fit in here:

- Is there a specific reason for having the same setting for all guestbooks in a collection? Could one also allow for different types of guestbooks within the same collection?
- Related to this: I would find it more intuitive if this setting could be found in the "Guestbook" pane of the UI instead of under "General Info".
- I've noticed that you can create a dataset with open files but activate a guestbook with the restricted setting (and the other way round). In these cases, the guestbook is not displayed to other users or visitors trying to access the files, but it automatically creates an empty entry in the guestbook. Is this the intended behavior?

I'd also be very interested in hearing your experiences with guestbooks so far (both restricted and unrestricted).

Philip Durbin

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Aug 21, 2024, 4:16:42 PM8/21/24
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Hmm, the last one about the empty entry in the guestbook sounds like it might be a bug. Please feel free to open an issue.

For the first one, I suppose no one foresaw the need but please feel free to create an issue for that too (a feature request).

For the UI question, the placement of the button, I'd suggest creating an issue in the new frontend repo: https://github.com/IQSS/dataverse-frontend



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fa...@kb.dk

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Aug 22, 2024, 4:36:33 AM8/22/24
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Thanks a lot, Phil.


I realize that this might be a lot more complicated than I thought and that my three questions above therefore are related:
Since guestbooks are managed for the whole collection, they cannot apply to different kinds of datasets within the same collection (1. dataset with open files 2. dataset with restricted files 3. dataset with mixed files).

Maybe, I'll have to rethink how to use guestbooks properly, but I'm still interested in hearing others' thoughts and experiences.

Steven McEachern

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Aug 22, 2024, 12:45:57 PM8/22/24
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Hi All,

Marina McGale and I were heavily involved in setting the requirements for the Guestbook at Request, based on work we did on a DV fork at the Australian Data Archive. The excellent work done by both Marina in the original development, and by Jim Myers through GDCC in updating for DV5.*, moved our core requirements into the DV core codebase.

Although I'm no longer involved*, it would be great to see this work continued and extended. We got the basics up and running, but as this thread indicates, we and others have future requirements that it would be great to progress. I also think this would be a good conversation to include in the Dataverse Sensitive Data group - the key reason we did this work was to enable the moderated access process we needed to managed restricted datasets effectively. Would be happy to be involved in a future conversation to see what else might be of interest into the future.

Regards,
Steve

** For those who aren't aware, I have moved from the Australian Data Archive to the UK Data Service - I'll still have some involvement in the DV community going forward though!!

Janet McDougall - Australian Data Archive

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Aug 22, 2024, 9:37:00 PM8/22/24
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hi Megan and All

I've been trying to get back to you to explain ADAs use cases but madly working on CTS at the moment.  Hopefully next week can test your scenarios and report back.  Thanks for you interest, and as Steve says Guestbook at Request enables decisions on restricted data.
Janet

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