4 August 2000 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Release Notes for general release of WebSPIRS v4.2 for Sun Solaris, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Red Hat Linux =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= WebSPIRS v4.2 has been developed to improve performance in several key areas. Among the changes that have contributed to the improvements are: * Better caching of images and JavaScript for optimizing display of frequently used pages. * A reduction in the amount of HTML required to generate key WebSPIRS pages. * A reduction in the required level of interaction with the dbserver as well as with the browser. * Improvements to the server processes to reduce the load on the server, so that the same machine can support more users. This combination of factors will result in all users experiencing some level of performance improvement in common operations such as displaying the Database Selection page; opening databases; and all types of searching. The relative improvement in WebSPIRS performance when comparing WebSPIRS v4.2 to WebSPIRS v4.11 will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the bandwidth of the connection being used to access WebSPIRS; the number of database volumes being searched; and the number of simultaneous users. The most significant improvements will be experienced by users accessing WebSPIRS over narrow bandwidths, such as modems or in networks with poor connect times, as well as in systems with high numbers of simultaneous users. In these environments, internal testing has indicated performance gains in the area of 50% over the course of a typical search session. Even higher performance gains will be experienced in specific areas of the interface, such as the time it takes to display the list of available databases, and time to display results following the execution of a search. New features in WebSPIRS v4.2 include a reduction in the number of windows that open when printing and saving records, and the ability to re-size the window that opens when users click on the Check for Holdings button. It is now possible for users to view records containing full text links or records that are available locally at the top of the results list, by choosing FTXT or LHM as sort fields on the Change Display page. WebSPIRS v4.2 lets customers choose to display Publication Year limits on the main search screen without impacting performance. Additional information about these and other functional improvements in WebSPIRS v4.2 are summarized in section 5 below. Alternative language versions of WebSPIRS v4.2 are available in English, French, German, and Spanish. Full instructions for installing and configuring these versions are included in the WebSPIRS v4.2 Administrator's Guide. You should also note the information in Section 3 below about upgrading from earlier versions of the French, German, and Spanish versions. ========================= About these Release Notes ========================= These Release Notes should be read together with the WebSPIRS v4.2 Administrator's Guide. This is available in PDF and HTML format from the SilverPlatter website, or from the ftp site: ftp.silverplatter.com/software/webspirs42/w42adgdR.pdf You will need a copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader (available from http://www.adobe.com)to view the PDF version. You can view the HTML version in a browser, starting with file wsig_toc.htm. A copy in HTML format is installed as part of the WebSPIRS installation package, and placed in the webspirs/url/doc/directory. Please check the SilverPlatter web site for revised versions of this document. The WebSPIRS v4.2 Administrator's Guide contains full details of how to install and configure WebSPIRS v4.2. You should download that document before you start to install WebSPIRS. These Release Notes contain the following additional information (along with other items listed in the Contents): * Some downloading and installation information that is specific to the general release. * Any late-breaking information about WebSPIRS that has not yet been included in the WebSPIRS v4.2 Administrator's Guide. * Details of features that are new or are changed in this release. * Details of known issues in this release. Additional WebSPIRS Documentation --------------------------------- In addition to these release notes, and the Administrator's Guide, the following other items are available: * There is a short readme file, at /webspirs/bin/readme.txt, which is installed with the software. This file gives a brief summary of the user documentation available with WebSPIRS. * WebSPIRS online help system: provides detailed,user-oriented information on searching with WebSPIRS v4.2. * WebSPIRS 4 QuickStart: shows users how to get started with basic WebSPIRS searching. You can find this guide (available in HTML and PDF) on SilverPlatter's web site (http://www.silverplatter.com). * WebSPIRS 4 Quick Reference Card: You can find this guide (available in PDF format) on SilverPlatter's web site (http://www.silverplatter.com). =-=-=-=- Contents =-=-=-=- 1. Downloading the software and the WebSPIRS Administrator's Guide 2. Requirements 3. Installing and Configuring WebSPIRS v4.2 4. Late-Breaking Information 5. New Features and Changes in this release 6. Linking to BIBSYS and Pica 7. Known Issues 8. Contacting SilverPlatter Technical Support =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. Downloading the software and the WebSPIRS v4.2 Administrator's Guide =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= If you have not yet got a copy of the WebSPIRS v4.2 software and WebSPIRS Administrator's Guide, this is how you download them: Downloading the General Release software with a web browser: ------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Access the software download page on the SilverPlatter web site; http://www.silverplatter.com/support/registration.html 2. Choose the WebSPIRS 4.2 check box and select your platform from the drop-down menu. 3. Fill in the registration details, and click Submit Request. 4. The download package contains the following files: The compressed software (ws42), depending on the platform. These release notes (relnotes.txt) The Administrator's Guide, in PDF format (w42adgdR.pdf) Downloading the General Release software using ftp: --------------------------------------------------- 1. Use anonymous ftp to connect to SilverPlatter's site: ftp.silverplatter.com 2. Login with user-id anonymous and enter your email address as a password. 3. Change to the /software/webspirs4.2 directory. (To do this, enter cd/software/webspirs4.2) 4. Change to the directory for your platform (Solaris, Linux, Windows NT, or Windows 2000). 5. Make sure you will download the files as binary files. (To do this, enter bin) 6. Download all the files from the directory. (To do this, enter mget *. You are prompted to enter y to download each file.) The files will download into whatever is your local directory. The files are: The compressed software (ws42), depending on the platform. These release notes (relnotes.txt) The Administrator's Guide, in PDF format (w42adgdR.pdf) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2. Requirements =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Full details of the hardware requirements for installing and running WebSPIRS are given in the WebSPIRS v4.2 Administrator's Guide. Please also check the SilverPlatter web site: http://www.silverplatter.com/erl/erlgatewayreq.htm for any changes. This release has been tested on the following supported platforms: NT 4 with service pack 6 Windows 2000 Solaris 2.6, 7, and 8 Red Hat Linux 6.1 and 6.2 The following is a summary of the requirements: * ERL 4.06 or higher * 10 MB of hard disk space * 3 MB RAM + 4 MB RAM per simultaneous user * A WebSPIRS-compatible browser: WebSPIRS v4.2 has been tested using browsers running on the following platforms: * Netscape Navigator 4.x (32-bit) or higher for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT (4.0 or higher), or Windows 2000, or Netscape 4.x or higher for the Macintosh. NOTE: We recommend Netscape 4.08 or later for a 68K Macintosh. * Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 (32-bit) or higher for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT (4.0 or higher), or Windows 2000. (IMPORTANT: Internet Explorer for the Macintosh is not a supported web browser.) To ensure optimal performance of the WebSPIRS v4.2 gateway, we recommend that it is used with browsers running on these platforms. You may experience problems using browsers on other platforms such as Windows 3.1 or X Windows. NOTE: The browser's JavaScript capabilities must be enabled at all times. Java must be enabled only if you subscribe to SilverPlatter full text databases that use the Table of Contents feature. NOTE: Because WebSPIRS v4.2 is not CGI-based, it does not require a separate web server to run. However, using WebSPIRS v4.2 will not prevent you from using your preferred web server for all your other web-based applications. * You will be asked to provide the following ERL server information during the WebSPIRS installation: * Hostname or IP address of the ERL server you want WebSPIRS to access. * (UNIX only) The user account name and group name that you want to own WebSPIRS. (You can use existing user account and group names or you can create new ones.) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3. Installing and Configuring WebSPIRS v4.2 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= NOTE: It is possible to run WebSPIRS v4.2 in parallel with older versions of WebSPIRS on the same machine, provided you run the different versions on different port numbers. This is true for all three platforms that supported previous versions of WebSPIRS (NT, Solaris and Linux). For detailed information please check the Technical Tips section of the SilverPlatter Technical Support website, which you can access at: http://www.silverplatter.com/support/faq_html/ws1007.html This section covers the following important items: * Installing WebSPIRS * Upgrading from an earlier version Installing WebSPIRS =================== Details of how to install the WebSPIRS software are given in Chapter 4 of the WebSPIRS v4.2 Administrator's Guide (w42adgdR.pdf). This includes information about installing and configuring the alternative language versions. Upgrading from an earlier version ================================= 1. Re-using old configuration files ----------------------------------- If you install WebSPIRS over an earlier version, WebSPIRS puts a copy of your existing configuration files (webspirs_user.cfg, theme.cfg, webspirs.net, erlclnt.cfg, webspirsd.cfg bl.cfg, cisti.cfg and ill.cfg) into a directory webspirs/oldconfig, and puts new, default versions of the files into the webspirs/bin directory. Any existing .cfg files are also backed up when you install a new version of WebSPIRS. You can use the copies of your old configuration files to restore your previous values, for those settings that are the same in the current as in the previous version of WebSPIRS. IMPORTANT You must make the following changes to ALL webspirs_user.cfg files that you restore, including any webspirs_user.cfg files in user-specific directories. If you reuse webspirs_user.cfg to restore previous values, it is vital that you do the following: 1. Remove the section of SETID mappings, (the section headed [ ], which starts with 01= and ends with ZZ=) from the reused webspirs_user.cfg file. This is important if your users are to gain from the performance improvements in WebSPIRS v4.2. 2. Add the following setting to the [SP] section of the webspirs_user.cfg file : webspirs.jsdir.p=/javascript/ This setting specifies the location of the WebSPIRS javascript (.js) files. 3. Edit the webspirs.version setting in the [SP] section of the webspirs_user.cfg file to read as follows: webspirs.version=4.2. Build 20000720 4. If you are upgrading from WebSPIRS 4.1 and you are re-using a webspirs_user.cfg file you must also add the following lines at {SP LANGUAGE]: option1.name.p=English option2.name.p=French option3.name.p=Spanish option4.name.p=German option5.name.p=Italian This sets the labels for the language limits check boxes on the Search page. If you subsequently install WebSPIRS again, any files in webspirs/oldconfig are overwritten by copies of the configuration files that WebSPIRS finds in webspirs/bin. 2. Upgrading to WebSPIRS v4.2 and retaining the same URL --------------------------------------------------------- One reason for the performance improvements in WebSPIRS v4.2 is the change in the way WebSPIRS v4.2 handles images. However, if you upgrade from an earlier version of WebSPIRS and retain the same URL and port number, your users will not get these full performance benefits if they are using a browser with images cached from the previous version. There are three solutions to this situation: Solution 1: If you only have a small number of browsers through which users are accessing WebSPIRS you may choose to empty the cache in each of those browsers. Solution 2: Run WebSPIRS 4.2 on a different port to the previous version. Solution 3: Change the name of the images directory, and the associated alias that is defined in websprirs_user.cfg. To do this, follow these instructions: 1. Create a new directory (called "i" )for images: /url/i 2. Copy the images from the current directory: /url/images to the new directory: /url/i 3. In webspirs_user.cfg change the following setting: webspirs.imagedir.p=/images/ to webspirs.imagedir.p=/i/ 3. Installing alternative language versions -------------------------------------------- If you are installing one of the alternative language versions, and already have an alternative language version of WebSPIRS v4.11 installed, we recommend you create a fresh installation. If you install over v4.11 you must check that the settings for the language check boxes are correct. (This is explained in the WebSPIRS v4.2 Administrator's Guide at page 4-8.) Please contact Technical Support if you have any difficulties. Upgrading from WebSPIRS v4.11 on Windows 2000 ============================================ Please note that WebSPIRS v4.11 was not supported on Windows 2000. It is not possible to update WebSPIRS v4.11 to v4.2 on that platform: you must make a fresh install. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 4. Late-Breaking Information =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The WebSPIRS v4.2 Administrator's Guide, available in PDF and HTML format when downloading the software, or from the SilverPlatter website, has been updated since the beta releases, to include references to Windows 2000 support, and the addition of the configuration setting for the Publication Year check boxes (search.show.py.limits.p=1).You can view the HTML version of the Guide, in a browser, starting with file wsig_toc.htm. This revised version supersedes the version of the Administrator's Guide that is included in the WebSPIRS 4.2 software package. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 5. New Features and Changes in WebSPIRS v4.2 General Release =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- --------------------------- Changes Since WebSPIRS v4.1 --------------------------- On the Database Selection page, the checkbox next to the Database Headings has been replaced by an icon. Clicking on the icon selects all the members of a database group or family. Users can then unselect and reselect individual members of the database group or family as they wish. Note that the group selection feature is a webspirs_user.cfg option, and is turned off by default Note that this option is NOT available to Internet Service customers. Clicking on a link in a descriptor field in a record now searches for instances of that term in that field in all open databases that include that field. (Formerly, clicking on hyperlinked descriptor terms brought the user to the corresponding term in the database thesaurus.) This change allows descriptor terms to appear as hyperlinks even when multiple databases have been selected for searching. WebSPIRS turns all items marked up as http://, https://, gopher://, or ftp:// into URL-style hyperlinks. (This treatment of https://, used in SPORTDiscus database, is new in WebSPIRS v4.2) WebSPIRS v4.2 does not present the Print Preview screen during the Print process, reducing the number of windows and number of steps required to print results. Saved record files are now named download.dat, not download.txt, by default. Users can change the file name in the Save dialog box. Allowing users to select the Publication Year (PY) limit controls on the Search page no longer has a significant impact on performance. You can set WebSPIRS to display publication year check boxes by changing the following setting in the [SP] section of webspirs_user.cfg: search.show.py.limits.p=1 SilverPlatter Internet Service customers should contact Technical Support to request this change. Administrators may also wish to be aware of the following changes. They form part of the performance improvements, but do not affect the way users use WebSPIRS. A new directory in the webspirs/url directory contains the JavaScript files, ensuring their more efficient use. Changes have been made to theme.cfg to remove the setting of background images. webspirs_user.cfg no longer contains a list of 600 set ids, and performs more efficiently because of this. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of WebSPIRS, as explained at section 3 above, you should read the information at IMPORTANT. ---------------------------------------------------- Problems Corrected in WebSPIRS v4.2 General Release: ---------------------------------------------------- WebSPIRS v4.2 General Release contains a number of significant functional improvements, some of which were associated with reported bugs. Problems with saving records in IE: 9912 ----------------------------------- Intermittent problems when saving records in IE have been fixed. Saving records in IE now behaves the same as in Netscape: that is, users see the browser's Save dialog as soon as they click the "Save Records" button in the Options window. Users are no longer presented with an additional dialog and preview window. To implement this improvement the default filename has changed from download.txt to download.dat. However, users can change this filename in the Save dialog if they wish. The format of the saved file has not changed. FTXT and LHM fields not included in the sortable fields: 11027 ------------------------------------------------------- The FTXT (SilverLinker) and LHM (Local Holdings) fields are now included in the list of sortable fields for all SilverPlatter databases that support these features. This allows users to display records with Full Text links or records that are held by the library at the top of their results list. Note that the Sort feature is accessible only from the Change Display page. Also, there is a maximum limit on the number of records that can be sorted. Find Relevant Databases: 10496, 11016 ----------------------- When searching to identify databases that contain the specified search term, WebSPIRS skips over databases that cannot be opened because the number of logins to the database has exceeded the number allowed in the license. These databases are noted in the resulting list. (Previously, WebSPIRS reported "Zero hits in all databases" if a single database in the list failed to open.) Also, a problem that prevented some databases from ever being searched has been fixed. SilverPlatter recommends that customers who wish to make this feature available to their users be running ERL dbserver v4.11. Word wrapping of long search terms: 7583, 11022, 10926, 10965 ---------------------------------- Word wrapping now works correctly when users select long search terms: in the Index or the Thesaurus for example, or when making lateral searches. Display Results by Database in Search History: (9636. 10165) --------------------------------------------- WebSPIRS navigation buttons now operate correctly within specific databases when users have elected to "Display Results by Database" in the Search History. Search History improvements: 10248, 10672, 11024 --------------------------- It is now possible to re-run searches with 0 results, from the Search History, when a new database has been selected. Large search histories (> 4096 characters) can be loaded correctly after saving. Combine Checked works correctly on long search terms including explosions. ILL orders mailed to incorrect address: 10873 -------------------------------------- The problem with email addresses and ILL order email addresses has been fixed. IE not displaying warning when creating an SDI with an existing name: 10922 -------------------------------------------------------------------- IE now displays a warning if a user tries to create an SDI with a name that already exists. Losing limits with Search Builder: 10986 --------------------------------- Settings (language and publication years) are no longer lost if a user moves between the Search page and Search Builder. SDIs created in French and German WebSPIRS disappear if edited: 10994 -------------------------------------------------------------- SDIs edited in the French or German language versions of WebSPIRS no longer disappear. Problem with printing SilverLinker links: 10319 ---------------------------------------- The problem where printing records that contain SilverLinker links to full-text articles in Netscape made problems with printing has been fixed. Intermittent problem with document delivery: 10423 -------------------------------------------- The problem with document delivery and the MEDLINE Advanced database has been fixed. Index term list may display inconsistently if you switch Indexes: 8135 ---------------------------------------------------------------- A problem that happened when a user switched indexes on the Index page without typing a term in the Term: field first has been fixed. Update Code not available if all Medline Advanced databases open: 10960 ----------------------------------------------------------------- The problem with displaying the Update Code for Medline Advanced Databases has been fixed. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6. Linking to BIBSYS and Pica =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Links to the BIBSYS service ------------------------------ Members of participating libraries can link to BIBSYS to request loans or article copies. This facility is initially available only with SilverPlatter's Medline databases. When BIBSYS links are enabled, a hotlink of the form "ORDER from BIBSYS" displays under each Medline record. Clicking on this link opens a browser window to the BIBSYS system, preset with the bibliographic details from the record. Users are prompted for a BIBSYS Patron ID and password. You enable the links to the BIBSYS service by making the appropriate settings in the webspirs_user.cfg configuration file: 1. Open the file webspirs_user.cfg in a text editor, and locate the [SP.ILL] section. 2. Edit the enableBibsys line: To enable links to BIBSYS edit the line to read: enableBibsys=1 To disable the links edit the line to read: enableBibsys=0 3. Edit the bibsysLang line to set the language of the BIBSYS interface to English or Norwegian: For English, edit the line to read: bibsysLang=?lang=E For Norwegian, edit the line to read: bibsysLang=?lang=N 4. At the bibsysPrompt line, you can change the wording of the hotlink, by changing the default wording "ORDER from BIBSYS". 5. Save and close the file. Links to the Pica service ------------------------- Members of participating libraries can link to Pica to request loans or article copies. This facility is initially available only with SilverPlatter's Medline databases. When Pica links are enabled, a hotlink of the form "Bestel via PiCarta - NCC" displays under each Medline record. Clicking on this link opens a browser window to the Pica system, preset with the bibliographic details from the record. Users are prompted for a Pica Patron ID and password. You enable the links to the Pica service by making the appropriate settings in the webspirs_user.cfg configuration file: 1. Open the file webspirs_user.cfg in a text editor, and locate the [SP.ILL] section. 2. Edit the enablePica line: To enable links to Pica edit the line to read: enablePica=1 To disable the links edit the line to read: enablePica=0 3. Edit part of the line picaURL2Lang=/LNG=EN/CMD?ACT=SRCH&TRM= to set the language of the Pica interface to English or Dutch: For English, edit the LNG part of the line to read: LNG=EN For Dutch, edit the LNG part of the line to read: LNG=NE 4. At the picaPrompt line, you can change the wording of the hotlink, by changing the default wording "Bestel via PiCarta-NCC". 5. Save and close the file. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 7. Known Issues and Points to Note =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The following issue was identified in the beta 1 release of WebSPIRS v4.2: * Hits field not printing: 10988 ----------------------- When users mark records from a search with a large number of hits, the hits information is not retained, for performance reasons. Sorting results can also result in the loss of hits information. The following issues have been identified in earlier versions of WebSPIRS v4.2 and are still relevant: Browser issues -------------- * Error message may appear when searching the Thesaurus with IE 4.0: ------------------------------------------------------------------ (10553) We are aware that if a user selects a large number of terms in the Thesaurus, or a complex search history, they may see an error message saying that IE cannot open the relevant Internet site, and that the connection with the server was reset. In fact, the search does take place, and if the user clicks OK on the message box, they can proceed. SDI/Alerts issues ----------------- * Problems with running saved SDIs and Alerts: (9628) ------------------------------------------- We are aware of problems loading and running saved SDIs from a workstation. As implemented, "Load" loads the search and runs it against the databases that are open currently. "Run" loads the search string into the Find: text entry box. Running an alert loads and runs the search against the databases that are open currently. These actions are not as described in the online help. Search History issues --------------------- * Account names for search histories are case sensitive: (10202) -------------------------------------------------------------- WebSPIRS does not distinguish between lower and upper case letters during login. However, the account name attached to a search history is case sensitive. That means a user sees only the search histories for the account name that has the same lower and upper case letters that the user entered when they logged in for the session during which they created those search histories. Other issues ------------ * Windows 2000 and NT Only: Enabling document delivery ---------------------------------------------------- Windows 2000 and NT Only: the directory bin/docdev/users (described in the Administrator's Guide at Enabling Document Delivery) is not created automatically. If you wish to set up a user-specific directory for personal document delivery settings, you must create the users directory, and then create personal user subdirectories. * Using the Back button after a "jumpstart" into WebSPIRS (10530) -------------------------------------------------------- If a user connects to WebSPIRS by a jumpstart, then closes WebSPIRS, and clicks on the Back button, they see a WebSPIRS message about "Zero hits in all databases". The correct way to return to the previous WebSPIRS session is as follows: IE - Right-mouse click on the Back button, or click on the downwards pointing arrow next to the button, then select the WebSPIRS session from the drop-down menu. Netscape - Right-mouse click on the Back button, then select the WebSPIRS session from the drop-down menu. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8. Contacting SilverPlatter Technical Support =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= If you need further assistance with the WebSPIRS software, please send an e-mail to support@silverplatter.com or contact one of SilverPlatter's regional offices: UNITED STATES: SilverPlatter Information, Inc. 100 River Ridge Drive Norwood, MA 02062 Tel: 800-343-0064 781-769-2599 Fax: 781-769-8763 ---------------------------------- LONDON: SilverPlatter Information Ltd Merlin House, 20 Belmont Terrace Chiswick, London W4 5UG England Tel: +44 (0) 20-8585 6400 Fax: +44 (0) 20-8585 6640 ---------------------------------- AMSTERDAM: SilverPlatter Information BV Nieuwe Herengracht 49 1011 RN Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 (0)20-625 96 50 Fax: +31 (0)20-623 74 08 ---------------------------------- BERLIN: SilverPlatter Information GmbH Guentzelstrasse 63 D-10717 Berlin Germany Tel: +49 (0)30-857799-0 Fax: +49 (0)30-857799-99 ----------------------------------