RePublisherPreprocess does not set mediatype

[JP]

right now, some items created by the Microfilm Uploader
(http://www.us.archive.org/OpenBookFactory/microfilm-upload.php)
do not end up with a mediatype tag in their meta XML, and
therefore cannot be edited with the Item manager.

eventually we may want to use the biblio tool to create meta
XML for these items, but we could also try using the Item
Manager, if the mediatype were set.

seems like the RePublisherPreprocess book_op should do this.

maybe this could/should be done in the original archive.php task.

fyi, so, the mediatype type will be set downstream ...

[danh (danh-archive)]

Per Steve, items with no media type cannot be easily edited,
and in fact should have a media type set at or near creation
time.

This is real easy to do in RePublisherPreprocess, which is invoked
by the microfilm uploader, so plan to do just that.

[raj (raj-archive)]

Not setting the media type was done on purpose, so people didn't stumble on items that hadn't been republished and derived.

We haven't needed to have mediatype set early in the process for normal microfilm workflow. What changed?

[raj (raj-archive)]

I guess now that we support noindex in meta.xml, we could just set noindex=true early in the process and get the same effect as not having a mediatype set.

[danh (danh-archive)]

I think the motivation for the change (setting mediatype to texts early in the process)
is that there are some operations you cannot perform if you don't have both
a mediatype and a collection set. For example, doing bookops from metamgr
requires both mediatype and collection to be set for the bookop to be launched.

If there's a problem with the work-in-progress being too visible, maybe we could
do something like set the mediatype to pre_texts, and maybe have the details
page have some disclaimer on it that the material is still being developed.
(Don't know how hard or easy that might be.)

In any event, luckily somebody apparently has already implemented Raj's
suggestion of setting noindex=true early in the process (it was already in
the code right where we currently set mediatype to texts).

[raj (raj-archive)]

Not being able to launch bookops via metamgr is a permissions issue, btw. I can do it, which is probably why i never found the motivation to set mediatype in preprocess.

It's such a small change. Go for it!

[siznax (siznax)]

thx. dan says right now, (May8 2008), the RePublisherPreprocess method sets mediatype=texts.