Spike: Look at more broadly supported libraries that might replace BrowseEverything

[jeremyf]

The goal is to come back with a effort estimate on an alternate.

Let's look at https://samvera.slack.com/archives/CB750PLNN/p1668024866763329

For example https://github.com/transloadit/uppy/

Note it does not support SharePoint

[crisr15]

It does not look like it supports SharePoint, but it does mention One Drive which I think is the SharePoint app they were most interested in using.

[jeremyf]

Problem Statement

The Browse Everything gem is maintained by the Samvera Community; at present there is minimal resources available for it’s maintenance. And as of November 30th the community slated Browse Everything for deprecation.

In this research spike, we want to consider how to proceed with this knowledge.

Recommendation

Given the current state of Browse Everything and looming deprecation, I propose that we clarify the functional requirements that the British Libraries has. What specifically are the British Libraries looking for in regards to functionality provided by Browse Everything.

From that information gathering, we can begin to assess how to proceed along murky pathways.

Initial Discussion

The setup of Browse Everything is, as one contributor put it “I think I am realizing why everyone just forks it… it needs a lot of rethinking to work right and be usable from modern build processes.”

In the Browse Everything Slack channel there are conversations about possible replacements; however nothing has coalesced.

Even though it’s slated for deprecation, there are no immediate references to viable replacements. Indiana University is exploring replacing Browse Everything in Avalon with Uppy.io. There are alternatives to Uppy.

The assumption of Browse Everything does ripple through the current stack, see the details below for more information on present dependencies/references to Browse Everything in the British Library dependencies

Cursory Review of Uppy IO

Uppy IO lists the following sources:

• Drag & Drop: plain and simple drag-and-drop area
• Drop Target: drag-and-drop area on any element on the page
• File Input: even more plain and simple, just a button
• Audio: upload audio recordings
• Webcam: upload selfies or audio / video recordings
• Screen capture: upload selfies or audio / video recordings
• Box: import files from Box
• Dropbox: import files from Dropbox
• Google Drive: import files from Google Drive
• Facebook: import files from Facebook
• Instagram: import files from Instagram
• OneDrive: import files from OneDrive
• Zoom: import files from Zoom
• Unsplash: import images from Unsplash
• Import From URL: import files from any public URL

Missing from the list are AWS and SharePoint. There is a community package for AWS and Uppy but I’m unable to find a Share Point package.

Reviewing Current Stack Implementation Details

To generate the following lists, I used this script: rg "browse.?everything" -i app --files-with-matches

In Hyrax v2.9.6, the following ./app files reference the Browse Everything gem:

• app/assets/javascripts/hyrax.js
• app/assets/stylesheets/hyrax/_browse_everything_overrides.scss
• app/assets/stylesheets/hyrax/_hyrax.scss
• app/assets/javascripts/hyrax/browse_everything.js
• app/jobs/import_url_job.rb
• app/views/hyrax/base/_form_files.html.erb
• app/controllers/concerns/hyrax/works_controller_behavior.rb
• app/services/hyrax/default_middleware_stack.rb
• app/actors/hyrax/actors/file_set_actor.rb
• app/actors/hyrax/actors/create_with_remote_files_actor.rb
• app/actors/hyrax/actors/create_with_remote_files_ordered_members_actor.rb

In v3.5.1 of Bulkrax, the following ./app files reference the Browse Everything gem:

• app/views/bulkrax/importers/_xml_fields.html.erb
• app/views/bulkrax/importers/_browse_everything.html.erb
• app/views/bulkrax/importers/_bagit_fields.html.erb
• app/views/bulkrax/importers/_csv_fields.html.erb
• app/parsers/bulkrax/application_parser.rb
• app/jobs/bulkrax/download_cloud_file_job.rb

In the British Library application code there are the following ./app references to Browse Everything:

• app/services/hyrax/default_middleware_stack.rb
• app/assets/javascripts/application.js
• app/controllers/concerns/hyrax/works_controller_behavior.rb
• app/views/hyrax/base/_form_files.html.erb
• app/helpers/application_helper.rb

[jeremyf]

On 2022-12-06 SoftServ and British Libraries are slated to discuss the recommendation.

[jeremyf]

Given that @cziaarm has SharePoint working in BrowseEverything for another client, and there are no community suggested replacements, we're going to proceed with BrowseEverything as our intended technical delivery of @j-basford's stated functional needs.