DSpace Importer

The application is used to batch add items to a collection in DSpace. The metadata for the items are entered into an Excel file.

The application is a desktop GUI application built using Python 3, using Qt for Python for the UI components. It uses the DSpace REST API to add the items to the collection. It uses the DSpace 7 REST API (it has been tested with version 7.6)

Installation

The application requires Python 3. It has been tested with Python 3.11 and 3.12. The recommended way to install the application is to use a virtual machine.

Steps:

1. Install Python 3.12

2. Download the application and extract the files.

3. Open a Terminal or Command Prompt and navigate to the directory the application files were extracted to.

4. Create the virtual environment. The following command creates a virtual environment called env in the application directory:

   python -m venv env

   The following steps assumes the virtual environment is called env.

5. Activate the virtual environment. Activating the virtual environment varies by operating system:
   Windows:

   .\env\Scripts\activate

   Mac/Linux:

   source env/Scripts/activate

6. Install the required dependencies.

   ./env/Scripts/pip install -r requirements.txt

7. Application configuration.
   The configuration values are stored in the file config.toml. The configuration keys and values present in the file are:

   Key	Description
   locale	The language the UI components are displayed in. Currently en is supported.
   wizardWidth	The width of the GUI window.
   wizardHeight	The height of the GUI window.
   dspaceRestURL	The URL of the DSpace REST server.
   metadataNotRemoveUpdate	A comma delimited list of metadata fields not to be changed or removed when an item is updated by the application. The following are set dc.identifier.uri, dc.description.provenance, dc.date.available, dc.date.accessioned
   provenance.enabled	A flag to indicate if to add provenance metadata when items are uploaded or updated. The key is set to true to enable or false for the application not to add the provenance metadata field.
   provenance.metadata-field	The metadata field that would be used to store the provenance information. This field is added to the metadata submitted to DSpace if provenance.enabled is set to true.
   provenance.add	The value of the provenance metadata field when items are added.
   provenance.update	The value of the provenance metadata field when items are updated.

   The following place holders can be used within the provenance.add and provenance.update strings:

   • {u} - This is replaced by the email address of the user logged on to the application.
   • {t} - This is replaced by the current timestamp (UTC).

   Edit the values to match the environment.

8. Start the application.
   The application is started using the command:

   ./env/Scripts/python main.py

   The application will attempt to connect to the DSpace REST URL and if successful a login screen is displayed. The login is a DSpace login.

9. The User Manual has details on using the application.