Difference between revisions of "WebProtegeReleaseNotes"

Revision as of 17:39, 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
• New portlet is available; the BioPortal Search portlet allows users to search for terms in the BioPortal repository and import the terms as references in WebProtege ontologies.
• New portlet is available; the PropertyFieldPortlet allows form-based editing of property values. The portlet can be configured to use different widget types for different properties (analogous to slot widgets in Protege standalone). Available widgets for editing include:
  
  
  • textfield
  • textarea
  • HTML pane
  • instance grid (similar to the InstanceTable in Protege 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 is available in the "configuration_example_property_field_portlet.xml" included in the standard distribution.
• The Properties tab now shows different icons for the different property types.
• The Class Tree in the ClassTreePortlet can now be configured to only show a subtree in the ontology. The root class can be configured in the configuration XML file of the project, by setting the topClass portlet property to the full name of a class. Please see the example configuration file for exact syntax: "configuration_example_property_field_portlet.xml".
• Web links are now opened in a new browser window.
• Better logging in the Servlet container and Protege server logs if something goes wrong.
• If running in external server mode, WebProtege will cleanly handle situations 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, deletion, and for property value changed.