Embargo Technology

=Overview=

The embargo system restricts access to bitstreams. It does not affect metadata. When an embargo is in effect, only curators and administrators can access bitstream content.

=Functionality=

When an item is under embargo, URLs to access the bitstreams will only work correctly if the user is logged in to a privileged account. The web pages for data packages and data files will not display links to the bitstreams. However, metadata about the bitstreams may still be available via some mechanisms.

Embargo information is stored in metadata. However, the actual act of "setting" an embargo takes place in the access control rules. Therefore, it is possible for the metadata and access control rules to become out of sync.

The embaro lifter process runs as a nightly cron job. It lifts the access control rules on any items that have passed their embargoedUntil date. However, it does *not* restore embargoes, so it cannot be used to correct an incorrectly lifted embargo.

=Workflow=

In Submission System
When a user uploads a data file, they can select an embargo setting. This particular setting is only stored in metadata. The setting is stored in dc.type.embargo. Possible values are:
 * (blank = no embargo)
 * untilArticleAppears
 * oneyear
 * custom

When the item is archived in the repository, the access control restrictions are set, and any dates are updated. (However, there usually is not a date for the system to process at this time.)

When the associated article is published, curators go to the administrative Item Embargo page and set the correct ending date for the embargo.

Command-line (and cron) Tools
/opt/dryad/bin/dspace embargo-lifter

With no options, this command lifts any embargoes that need to be lifted. It uses the class org.dspace.embargo.EmbargoManager. More options for the embargo lifter are below:

usage: org.dspace.embargo.EmbargoManager -c,--check        Function: ONLY check the state of embargoed Items, do                    NOT lift any embargoes. -h,--help         help -i,--identifier   Process ONLY this Handle identifier(s), which must be                    an Item. Can be repeated. -l,--lift         Function: ONLY lift embargoes, do NOT check the state of any embargoed Items. -n,--dryrun       Do not change anything in the data model, print message instead. -q,--quiet        Do not print anything except for errors. -v,--verbose      Print a line describing action taken for each embargoed Item found.

On Administrative Pages
The form for editing embargoes is EditItemEmbargoForm.java
 * The processing for this form occurs in FlowItemUtils.java

When an Embargo is Set/Updated

 * 1) metadata is removed from dc.date.embargoedUntil
 * 2) the new lift date is entered in dc.date.embargoedUntil
 * 3) the embargo is set in the DSpace DefaultEmbargoSetter
 * 4) for each bundle and each bitstream, the all READ policies are removed -- at the database level, this is "DELETE FROM resourcepolicy WHERE resource_type_id=< > AND resource_id=<> AND action_id= 0"

=Configuration=

Although the dspace.cfg contains configuration settings for embargo, these settings cannot be changed without careful analysis of the associated code. The Dryad-specific embargo code assumes that specific configuration settings are in place. If the configuration is changed without changing the associated code, embargoes will not work as expected.

=Relation to DSpace=

Dryad's implementation of embargo is a customization of the DSpace embargo system. See the Embargo section of the DSpace manual for more details.

= Design Documents =


 * Bitstream Security