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ABCD 3.5.0 What's New?

· 4 min read
Roger C. Guilherme
Roger C. Guilherme
Librarian and programmer at ABCD

We are thrilled to announce the release of ABCD Version 3.5.0! This major update brings a wide array of improvements focused on user experience, system performance, security, and empowering database administrators with better tools.

From flexible new OPAC layouts to real-time record manipulation, here is a detailed breakdown of everything new in this release:

⚡ Performance & Stability​

  • Optimized TXT Data Migration (#615): The TXT data import screen has been completely overhauled.
    • Real-time Progress: PHP now calculates the total number of migrated records and displays a percentage-based progress bar for clear visual feedback.
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  • Memory Management: We significantly improved memory handling to prevent browser crashes during heavy imports (files with more than 1,000 rows).
  • Enhanced Analysis: The display of raw records has been improved to give database administrators a clearer view during data analysis.
  • Cyrillic Dictionary Support (#616): We resolved a critical issue where clicking on a dictionary term containing Russian or other Cyrillic characters caused the search to crash. The A-Z alphabetical navigation is now fully stable for these languages.
  • Cleaner cgi-bin Directory (#619): Unused executables in the "ansi" folder have been removed from the top cgi-bin directory, keeping the installation cleaner and more lightweight.

🎨 Layout & User Experience​

  • Dynamic OPAC Visual Logic (#622): The OPAC layout structure now responds perfectly to the SIDEBAR parameter in your global_style.def configuration, giving you total control over the interface. Furthermore, the use of Facets is no longer a mandatory requirement.

  • SIDEBAR=Y: Applies the standard layout with the sidebar visible.

layout-sidebar
  • SIDEBAR=N: Applies a clean, full-width layout without the sidebar.
layout-nosidebar
  • SIDEBAR=SL: Applies a layout focused on a large, prominent search bar.
layout-search-large
  • Standardized, Cleaner Footer (#624): The system footer has undergone a complete standardization for a more professional look:
    • Reduced font sizes for a cleaner aesthetic.
    • Fixed the display logic for "Main Institution" and "Responsible Institution".
    • The ABCD Community logo is now fixed.
    • The language selector has been centered (Note: while useful for development testing, changing languages via the footer may not apply to all subpages due to current architectural limits).
    • The outdated "ONLY FOR TESTING - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION" watermark has been replaced with the official slogan: "Free software for library automation".

Footer v3.5.0

  • Seamless Module Navigation (#625): We fixed a persistent navigation bug that affected the OPAC settings, ensuring a smooth workflow when moving between different system modules. Module Navigation

🛠️ Advanced Administrator Tools​

  • Real-Time PROC Viewer (#618): We are introducing a brand-new .prc file editor for manipulating records using the PROC command. This innovative feature allows database administrators to view changes to fields in real-time as they write the formatting logic. (Learn more in our Field Manipulation with PROC documentation).

🔒 Security & Bug Fixes​

  • Uploads Folder Protection (#617): We added strict protections to the OPAC’s uploads folder. This ensures that vital institutional assets, such as custom logos and icons, are preserved and secured against unauthorized access.
  • PHP 8 Bug Fix in CodificaSubCampos (#621): Resolved a frustrating PHP 8 bug where an empty delimiter would swallow the first character of a field. This issue notoriously affected field 16 of the mm.fmt worksheet in the CEPAL (biblo) database, where the first character was incorrectly saved as a lowercase 'h'.
  • Repaired Image Display Errors (#623): Fixed a spurious bug in older installations where browsers would throw the error: "The image cannot be displayed because it contains errors." We implemented output buffer clearing (ob_end_clean) and strict Path Traversal security checks to ensure images are served safely and flawlessly.

📚 Default Database Enhancements​

  • CEPAL (Biblo) Database Cleanup (#626): Thanks to the outstanding collaboration of Jesus E. Jurado (Venezuela), the default CEPAL (biblo) database has received an extensive cleanup. Unwanted characters in the middle of worksheets, invalid column values, and various data entry validation errors have been entirely removed, making it perfectly tailored for testing and use in this current version.

Ready to upgrade? Check out our official documentation for update instructions and enjoy the most stable and customizable version of ABCD yet!