RELEASE NOTES FOR KOHA 23.11.02

29 Jan 2024

Koha is the first free and open source software library automation package (ILS). Development is sponsored by libraries of varying types and sizes, volunteers, and support companies from around the world. The website for the Koha project is:

• Koha Community

Koha 23.11.02 can be downloaded from:

• Download

Installation instructions can be found at:

• Koha Wiki
• OR in the INSTALL files that come in the tarball

Koha 23.11.02 is a bugfix/maintenance release with security fixes.

It includes 2 security bugfixes, 87 other bugfixes and 1 enhancement.

System requirements

You can learn about the system components (like OS and database) needed for running Koha on the community wiki.

Security bugs

• 34893 ILS-DI can return the wrong patron for AuthenticatePatron
• 34913 Upgrade DataTables from 1.10.18 to 1.13.6

Bugfixes

About

Critical bugs fixed

• 35504 Release team 24.05

Other bugs fixed

• 35584 Missing licenses in about page

Acquisitions

Critical bugs fixed

• 35634 Permissions mismatch for vendor issues

Architecture, internals, and plumbing

Critical bugs fixed

• 35687 Upgrade to 23.06.00.013 may fail

Other bugs fixed

• 34999 REST API: Public routes should respect OPACMaintenance

  This report ensures that if OPACMaintenance is set, public API calls are blocked with an UnderMaintenance exception.

• 35309 Remove DT's fnSetFilteringDelay
• 35405 MarcAuthorities: Use of uninitialized value $tag in hash element at MARC/Record.pm line 202.
• 35491 Reverting waiting status for holds is not logged
• 35629 Redundant code in includes/patron-search.inc
• 35702 Reduce DB calls when performing authorities merge

Cataloging

Other bugs fixed

• 33639 Adding item to item group from 'Add item' screen doesn't work

  This fixes adding a new item to an item group (when using the item groups feature - EnableItemGroups system preference). before this fix, even if you selected an item group, it was not added to it.

• 35651 Toggle for advanced editor should not show to staff without advanced_editor permissions This fixes the display of the button to access the advanced editor. It now only displays when the staff patron has the correct permissions ("Use the advanced cataloging editor (requires edit_catalogue)").

Circulation

Critical bugs fixed

• 33847 Database update replaces undefined rules with defaults rather than the value that would be used
• 35341 Circulation rule dates are being overwritten
• 35468 Bookings permission mismatch

Other bugs fixed

• 18139 'Too many checked out' can confuse librarians
• 35216 Use return variable names from CanBookBeIssued in circulation.pl for consistency
• 35310 Current renewals 'view' link doesnt work if renewals correspond to an item no longer checked out

  This fixes the current renewals information (shown under the statuses section) on the item page for records in the staff interface so that: 1. The current renewals row is only now shown if there are current renewals for the item (previously it was shown for all items, even if they had no renewals). 2. It only shows the number of current renewals for the current check out (previously the number shown would include all renewals, including for previous check-outs).

• 35587 Items lose their lost status when check-in triggers a transfer even though BlockReturnOfLostItems is enabled

  Sponsored by Pymble Ladies' College

• 35600 Prevent checkouts table to flicker

ERM

Other bugs fixed

• 35757 Sushi service and counter registry tests are failing

Hold requests

Critical bugs fixed

• 35322 AllowItemsOnHoldCheckoutSCO and AllowItemsOnHoldCheckoutSIP do not work
• 35489 Holds on items with no barcode are missing an input for itemnumber

I18N/L10N

Other bugs fixed

• 34900 The translation of the string "The " should depend on context
• 35475 Untranslatable strings in booking modal and JS
• 35476 Submit button for adding new processings is not translatable

  This fixes some submit buttons in the ERM and Preservation modules so that are now translatable.

• 35567 Host-item in "Show analytics" link can be translated

Installation and upgrade (command-line installer)

Other bugs fixed

• 35698 Wrong bug number in db_revs/220600084.pl

Installation and upgrade (web-based installer)

Other bugs fixed

• 35686 Case missing from installer step 3 template title

  This fixes a web browser page title for the web installer - from " > Web installer > Koha" to "Updating database structure > Web installer > Koha".

Lists

Other bugs fixed

• 35547 When using "Add to a list" button with more than 10 lists, "staff only" does not show up

Notices

Other bugs fixed

• 30287 Notices using HTML render differently in notices.pl

  This fixes notice previews for patrons in the staff interface (Patrons > [Patron account] > Notices), where HTML is used in the email notices. For example, previously if
  s were used then the preview would match the email sent, however, using

  s would add extra lines in the preview.

OPAC

Other bugs fixed

• 35488 Placing a hold on the OPAC takes the user to their account page, but does not activate the holds tab
• 35492 Suspending/unsuspending a hold on the OPAC takes the user to their account page, but does not activate the holds tab
• 35495 Cancelling a hold on the OPAC takes the user to their account page, but does not activate the holds tab
• 35496 Placing an article request on the OPAC takes the user to their account page, but does not activate the article request tab
• 35676 OPAC search results - link for "Check for suggestions" generates a blank page

Packaging

Other bugs fixed

• 25691 Debian packages point to /usr/share/doc/koha/README.Debian which does not exist
• 35713 Remove debian/docs/LEEME.Debian

Patrons

Other bugs fixed

• 25835 Include overdue report (under circulation module) as a staff permission
• 35493 Housebound roles show as a collapsed field option when checked in CollapseFieldsPatronAddForm, even if housebound is off
• 35756 Wrong use of encodeURIComponent in patron-search.inc

Plugin architecture

Other bugs fixed

• 35070 Koha plugins implementing "background_jobs" hook can't provide view template

Preservation

Critical bugs fixed

• 35759 Preservation module home yields a blank page

Other bugs fixed

• 35463 Link preservation module help to the manual

  This patch links the various pages of the preservation module to each specific section of the preservation module chapter in the manual.

• 35477 Adding non-existent items to the waiting list should display a warning

REST API

Critical bugs fixed

• 35204 REST API: POST endpoint /auth/password/validation dies on patron with expired password
• 35658 Typo in /patrons/:patron_id/holds

Other bugs fixed

• 32551 API requests don't carry language related information

Reports

Other bugs fixed

• 35498 SQL auto-complete should not prevent use of tab for spacing

Searching - Elasticsearch

Other bugs fixed

• 35086 Koha::SearchEngine::Elasticsearch::Indexer->update_index needs to commit in batches

  This enables breaking large Elasticsearch or Open Search indexing requests into smaller chunks (for example, when updating many records using batch modifications).

  This means that instead of sending a single background request for indexing, which could exceed the limits of the search server or take up too many resources, it limits index update requests to a more manageable size.

  The default chunk size is 5,000. To configure a different chunk size, add a directive to the elasticsearch section of the instance's koha-conf.xml (for example: 2000).

  NOTE: This doesn't change the command line indexing script, as this already allows passing a commit size defining how many records to send.

• 35265 Remove drag and drop in Elasticsearch mappings This removes the ability to drag and drop the order of the bibliographic and authorities search fields (Administration > Catalog > Search engine configuration (Elasticsearch)). This was removed as the feature has no effect on the search results when using Elasticsearch or OpenSearch as the search engine.
• 35618 catalogue/showelastic.pl uses deprecated/removed parameter "type" This fixes the display when clicking on "Show" for the "Elasticsearch record" entry for a record in the staff interface. Before this fix, a page not found (404) was displayed when viewing a record using Elasticsearch 7 or 8, or Open Search 1 ord 2. (Note that Elasticsearch 6 is no longer supported.)

Searching - Zebra

Other bugs fixed

• 35455 ICU does not strip = when indexing/searching

  This change fixes an issue with Zebra ICU searching where titles with colons aren't properly searchable, especially when used with Analytics.

  A full re-index of Zebra is needed for this change to take effect.

Serials

Other bugs fixed

• 28012 Error on saving new numbering pattern

  This fixes the serials new numbering pattern input form so that the name and numbering formula fields are marked as required. Before this, there was no indication that these fields were required and error trace messages were displayed if these were not completed - saving a new pattern or editing an existing pattern would also silently fail.

  NOTE: Making the description field optional will be fixed in bug 31297. Until this is done, a value needs to be entered into this field - even though it doesn't indicate that it is required.

• 31297 Cannot add new subscription patterns from edit subscription page

Staff interface

Other bugs fixed

• 32477 Hiding batch item modification columns isn't remembered correctly

  This fixes showing and hiding columns when batch item editing (Cataloging > Batch editing > Batch item modification). When using the show/hide column options, the correct columns and updating the show/hide selections were not correctly displayed, including when the page was refreshed (for example: selecting the Collection column hid the holds column instead, and the shown/hide option for Collection was not selected).

  Sponsored by Koha-Suomi Oy

• 35574 Bookings page should require only manage_bookings permissions
• 35592 Missing closing div tag in bookings alert in circulation.tt
• 35619 Change password form in patron account has misaligned validation errors
• 35772 Double escaping of patron fields in bookings modal

System Administration

Other bugs fixed

• 31694 MARC overlay rules presets don't change anything if presets are translated
• 34644 Add clarifying text to sysprefs to indicate that MarcFieldsToOrder is a fallback to MarcItemFieldsToOrder

  This updates the descriptions for system preferences MarcFieldsToOrder and MarcItemFieldsToOrder.

• 35293 Regression: Bug 33390 (QA follow-up) patch overwrote the template changes to bug 25560

  Sponsored by Catalyst

• 35395 Update description of DefaultPatronSearchMethod
• 35510 Non-patron guarantor missing from CollapseFieldsPatronAddForm options

  This adds Non-patron guarantor as an option to the CollapseFieldsPatronAddForm system preference - this section can now be collapsed on the patron form.

Templates

Other bugs fixed

• 35413 Terminology: differentiate issues for vendor issues and serials
• 35417 Update breadcrumbs and page titles for vendor issues
• 35517 Choose correct default header search tab according to permissions

  This fixes the display of the header search form on the staff interface home page so that staff patrons with different permissions will see the correct tab in the header search form. Previously, the default was to display the check out search - if they didn't have circulation permissions, the search tabs were initially hidden.

• 35523 Fix doubled up quotes in cash register deletion confirmation message
• 35524 Terminology: Bookseller in basket group CSV export
• 35525 Spelling: SMS is an abbreviation
• 35526 Terminology: Id, sushi and counter are abbreviations
• 35528 Avoid 'click' for links in system preferences
• 35529 Avoid 'click' for links in library administration
• 35557 LoadResultsCovers is not used (staff)
• 35602 Typo: AutoMemberNum
• 35650 'Check the logs' string dot-inconsistent This makes 'Check the logs..' messages more consistent across Koha, including the use of full stops. It also fixes up other related inconsistencies. These changes should make translations easier as well.

Test Suite

Other bugs fixed

• 35507 Fix handling plugins in unit tests causing random failures on Jenkins
• 35556 selenium/administration_tasks.t failing if too many patron categories
• 35598 selenium/authentication_2fa.t is still failing randomly

Tools

Critical bugs fixed

• 35696 Transit status not properly updated for items advanced in Stock Rotation tool

Other bugs fixed

• 35438 Importing records can create too large transactions
• 35579 marcrecord2csv searches authorised values inefficiently

  This significantly improves the speed of downloading large lists in CSV format. (It adds a get_descriptions_by_marc_field" method which caches AuthorisedValue descriptions when searched by MARC field, which is used when exporting MARC to CSV.)

• 35588 marcrecord2csv retrieves authorised values incorrectly for fields This fixes the CSV export of records so that authorized values are exported correctly. It ensures that the authorized value descriptions looked up are for the correct field/subfield designated in the CSV profile. Example: If the 942$s (Serial record flag) for a record has a value of "1", it was previously exported as "Yes" even though it wasn't an authorized value.
• 35641 Reduce DB calls when performing inventory on a list of barcodes

Web services

Other bugs fixed

• 34950 ILS DI Availability is not accurate for items on holds shelf or in transit

translate.koha-community.org

Critical bugs fixed

• 35428 gulp po tasks do not clean temporary files

Enhancements

Templates

Enhancements

• 35474 Add icon for protected patrons

Documentation

The Koha manual is maintained in Sphinx. The home page for Koha documentation is

• Koha Documentation As of the date of these release notes, the Koha manual is available in the following languages:

• Chinese (Traditional) (50%)

• English (100%)
• English (USA)
• French (39%)
• German (41%)
• Hindi (68%)

The Git repository for the Koha manual can be found at

• Koha Git Repository

Translations

Complete or near-complete translations of the OPAC and staff interface are available in this release for the following languages:

Partial translations are available for various other languages.

The Koha team welcomes additional translations; please see

• Koha Translation Info

For information about translating Koha, and join the koha-translate list to volunteer:

• Koha Translate List

The most up-to-date translations can be found at:

• Koha Translation

Release Team

The release team for Koha 23.11.02 is

• Release Manager: Katrin Fischer

• Release Manager assistants:

  • Tomás Cohen Arazi
  • Martin Renvoize
  • Jonathan Druart

• QA Manager: Marcel de Rooy

• QA Team:

  • Marcel de Rooy
  • Julian Maurice
  • Lucas Gass
  • Victor Grousset
  • Kyle M Hall
  • Nick Clemens
  • Martin Renvoize
  • Tomás Cohen Arazi
  • Aleisha Amohia
  • Emily Lamancusa
  • David Cook
  • Jonathan Druart
  • Pedor Amorim

• Topic Experts:

  • UI Design -- Owen Leonard
  • Zebra -- Fridolin Somers
  • REST API -- Tomás Cohen Arazi
  • ERM -- Matt Blenkinsop
  • ILL -- Pedro Amorim
  • SIP2 -- Matthias Meusburger
  • CAS -- Matthias Meusburger

• Bug Wranglers:

  • Aleisha Amohia
  • Indranil Das Gupta

• Packaging Managers:

  • Mason James
  • Indranil Das Gupta
  • Tomás Cohen Arazi

• Documentation Manager: Aude Charillon

• Documentation Team:

  • Caroline Cyr La Rose
  • Kelly McElligott
  • Philip Orr
  • Marie-Luce Laflamme
  • Lucy Vaux-Harvey

• Translation Manager: Jonathan Druart

• Wiki curators:

  • Thomas Dukleth
  • Katrin Fischer

• Release Maintainers:

  • 23.11 -- Fridolin Somers
  • 23.05 -- Lucas Gass
  • 22.11 -- Frédéric Demians
  • 22.05 -- Danyon Sewell

• Release Maintainer assistants:

  • 22.05 -- Wainui Witika-Park

Credits

We thank the following libraries, companies, and other institutions who are known to have sponsored new features in Koha 23.11.02

We thank the following individuals who contributed patches to Koha 23.11.02

We thank the following libraries, companies, and other institutions who contributed patches to Koha 23.11.02

We also especially thank the following individuals who tested patches for Koha

We regret any omissions. If a contributor has been inadvertently missed, please send a patch against these release notes to koha-devel@lists.koha-community.org.

Revision control notes

The Koha project uses Git for version control. The current development version of Koha can be retrieved by checking out the master branch of:

• Koha Git Repository

The branch for this version of Koha and future bugfixes in this release line is 23.11.x-security.

Bugs and feature requests

Bug reports and feature requests can be filed at the Koha bug tracker at:

• Koha Bugzilla

He rau ringa e oti ai. (Many hands finish the work)

Autogenerated release notes updated last on 29 Jan 2024 09:17:15.