Difference between revisions of "WebProtegeReleaseNotes"

Revision as of 17:21, August 15, 2009

WebProtege Release Notes

WebProtege 0.5 Alpha Series

Build 200 - August 15, 2009

Critical Changes (please read)

• Upgraded to GWT 1.7.
• We made some changes to the directory structure and Eclipse setup to conform to GWT 1.7. If you are installing WebProtege, please re-read the Administrator's Guide for updated instructions. Developers should look at the Developer's Guide - the setup for compiling and running WebProtege has been greatly simplified thanks to the Google Plugin for Eclipse.
• WebProtege now runs in "local mode" by default. Local mode means that WebProtege will load ontologies from a standalone instance of Protege in your Servlet container. WebProtege can also be configured to run in "external server mode" by setting a property value in the protege.properties file in the <your-servlet-container>/webprotege directory. External server mode means that WebProtege will load ontologies from a Protege server running outside of your Servlet container. The following additional configurations options can be set in protege.properties:

  # Defaults to false; change to true to run WebProtege in external server mode
  load.ontologies.from.protege.server=true
  
  # Use to specify an alternative location for the metaproject if running in local mode
  local.metaproject.path=/tmp/metaproject.pprj
  
  # Hostname of the Protege server if WebProtege is running in external server mode; can also contain a port number
  server.hostname=localhost
  
  # Username that WebProtege uses to connect to the Protege server if running in external server mode
  webprotege.user=webprotege
  
  # Password that WebProtege uses to connect to the Protege server if running in external server mode
  webprotege.password=webprotege
  
  # Automatic save interval for ontologies if running in local mode (we recommend the database back-end instead of file mode)
  server.save.interval.sec=120
  

  Values of properties listed above should be changed to match your custom WebProtege installation.

• Project configurations are now saved in the <your-servlet-container>/webprotege/projectConfigurations folder. The XML configuration files contain user interface layout information (tabs to display, number of columns in a tab, portlets to display in a tab, portlet properties, etc.). The default configuration file is "configuration.xml". New configuration files are automatically generated if a user saves the layout for a particular project. Configurations are stored per user, per project.
• Users can now open multiple ontologies in WebProtege. Each ontology is displayed in a separate tab.

Other Changes

• Search is now implemented, including the ability to jump to the location in the class tree of a selected search result (this functionality is not yet available for the properties tree). The search text field is located in the top toolbar.
• Added more support for editing; users with write permission on a particular project are now able to:
  • Create and delete classes in the Classes tab
  • Create and delete properties in the Properties tab
  • Edit string property values in the Properties portlet
  • Edit the domain and range of properties in the Properties tab
• A new portlet is available: the BioPortal search portlet that allows the searching of terms in the BioPortal repository and the import of the terms as reference in the WebProtege ontology
• A new portlet is available that allows a form-based editing of property values, called the PropertyFieldPortlet. The portlet can be configured to use different widget types for different properties (analogous to the slot widgets in Protege standalone editor). Available editing widgets include: textfield, textarea, HTML pane, instance grid (similar to the InstanceTable in standalone), external reference, multifield, combo-box (not working yet). The layout of the form has to be done manually for now in the xml configuration file. An example can be found in "configuration_example_property_field_portlet.xml" included in the distribution.
• Property Tab now shows different icons for the different property types
• The class tree in the ClassTree portlet can be now configured to show only a subtree in the ontology. The root class can be configured in configuration xml file of the project, by setting the topClass portlet property to the full name of a class. An example can be seen in the included project configuration: "configuration_example_property_field_portlet.xml".
• Web links are now opened in a new browser window
• Better logging in the web container logs and the Protege server logs if something goes wrong
• If WebProtege runs in client-server mode, it will handle cleanly the situation in which the Protege server becomes unavailable
• RPC calls are now available for creating/deleting classes and setting property values
• Support for multiple change events. Portlets can register listeners for class and property creation and deletion, and for property value changed