custom permission level

[Paul Warner]

Hi,

Can I add a custom permission level to the standard read, write, delete, etc. list?  I want to specify if anonymous users can stream an mp3 or all mp3's in an item, so 'stream' would be a likely name.

I searched for the answer, but could not find it...

Best regards,

Paul

[Paul Warner]

Hi again,

I found the answer to my question: it is basically, no.  The permissions (they are called actions in the authorization process) for DSpace are listed in the file dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/core/Constants.java, along with other constants of various types.  They are not in the database.  So the code has to call for the field it needs directly from Constants.  This means that in order to allow the head librarian in our project to open up some files for streaming, we have to agree on some combination of existing permissions values, and set them for that file, and say that when the group is anonymous, and these permissions are set, then the anonymous user can stream the audio file.

If anyone has a better idea, please let me know.  Sigh.

Thanks,

Paul

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[Tim Donohue]

Hi Paul,

Yes, what you've discovered is unfortunately true. It's not easy to override or customize DSpace permission levels without a lot of code changes.

Your workaround seems reasonable.  Another possible workaround could be to have some sort of custom metadata field/value to designate items that are "streamable".  DSpace's metadata fields are quite easily customizable.  So, one could imagine a field like "local.streamable" = "true"  or "local.streamable" = "[Group Name]" (where Group Name is a DSpace Group who can stream it).  Then, you could check this metadata value(s) and/or the user's groups to see if they are allowed to stream a specific file/item.

It's still obviously not ideal, as permissions don't really belong in metadata. But, it's something else to consider as a workaround.  (If you do go this route, I'd recommend creating a "local" metadata schema, or similar, and not using the default "dc" schema. That'd just ensure this field doesn't automatically appear in OAI-PMH or similar.)

- Tim

On Wed, Nov 29, 2017 at 7:37 AM Paul Warner <paulw...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi again,

I found the answer to my question: it is basically, no.  The permissions (they are called actions in the authorization process) for DSpace are listed in the file dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/core/Constants.java, along with other constants of various types.  They are not in the database.  So the code has to call for the field it needs directly from Constants.  This means that in order to allow the head librarian in our project to open up some files for streaming, we have to agree on some combination of existing permissions values, and set them for that file, and say that when the group is anonymous, and these permissions are set, then the anonymous user can stream the audio file.

If anyone has a better idea, please let me know.  Sigh.

Thanks,

Paul

On Fri, Nov 24, 2017 at 11:44 AM, Paul Warner <paulw...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi,

Can I add a custom permission level to the standard read, write, delete, etc. list?  I want to specify if anonymous users can stream an mp3 or all mp3's in an item, so 'stream' would be a likely name.

I searched for the answer, but could not find it...

Best regards,

Paul

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Tim Donohue
Technical Lead for DSpace & DSpaceDirect
DuraSpace.org | DSpace.org | DSpaceDirect.org

[Paul Warner]

Thanks for this tip, Tim!  I will try out the metadata suggestion, and post back how it worked out.

Best regards,

Paul

On Wed, Nov 29, 2017 at 9:56 PM, Tim Donohue <tdon...@duraspace.org> wrote:

Hi Paul,

Yes, what you've discovered is unfortunately true. It's not easy to override or customize DSpace permission levels without a lot of code changes.

Your workaround seems reasonable.  Another possible workaround could be to have some sort of custom metadata field/value to designate items that are "streamable".  DSpace's metadata fields are quite easily customizable.  So, one could imagine a field like "local.streamable" = "true"  or "local.streamable" = "[Group Name]" (where Group Name is a DSpace Group who can stream it).  Then, you could check this metadata value(s) and/or the user's groups to see if they are allowed to stream a specific file/item.

It's still obviously not ideal, as permissions don't really belong in metadata. But, it's something else to consider as a workaround.  (If you do go this route, I'd recommend creating a "local" metadata schema, or similar, and not using the default "dc" schema. That'd just ensure this field doesn't automatically appear in OAI-PMH or similar.)

- Tim

On Wed, Nov 29, 2017 at 7:37 AM Paul Warner <paulw...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi again,

I found the answer to my question: it is basically, no.  The permissions (they are called actions in the authorization process) for DSpace are listed in the file dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/core/Constants.java, along with other constants of various types.  They are not in the database.  So the code has to call for the field it needs directly from Constants.  This means that in order to allow the head librarian in our project to open up some files for streaming, we have to agree on some combination of existing permissions values, and set them for that file, and say that when the group is anonymous, and these permissions are set, then the anonymous user can stream the audio file.

If anyone has a better idea, please let me know.  Sigh.

Thanks,

Paul

On Fri, Nov 24, 2017 at 11:44 AM, Paul Warner <paulw...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi,

Can I add a custom permission level to the standard read, write, delete, etc. list?  I want to specify if anonymous users can stream an mp3 or all mp3's in an item, so 'stream' would be a likely name.

I searched for the answer, but could not find it...

Best regards,

Paul

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