Make Angular Staff Catalog the default for staff for EG-next (3.6)

[Bill Erickson]

Evergreen 3.5 / Wishlist

Proposal to make the new Angular staff catalog the default catalog for staff within the staff client starting with the next version of Evergreen (3.6).

Project documentation including work remaining:

https://wiki.evergreen-ils.org/doku.php?id=dev:browser_staff:angular_staff_catalog

Given consensus on the plan, I'd also like to propose the change be made early in the 3.6 release cycle so we can get more eyes on the interfaces and to ensure it's well integrated with any new features in development.

Working branch on the way for pointing catalog links to the new catalog where appropriate. The plan will be to retain entry points in the navigation menus for the current catalog as an escape valve for any unexpected issues that arise. The catalog links within the current catalog will also be unchanged so it can stay internally consistent.

[Bill Erickson (berick)]

Code to update the links and add some release notes:

https://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/user/berick/lp1869898-ang-staff-cat-default

[Bill Erickson (berick)]

Rebased to current master to resolve some merge conflicts:

https://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/user/berick/lp1869898-ang-staff-cat-default-2

[Bill Erickson (berick)]

Rebased and pushed a commit to respond to broadcast messages for holdings updates, so the holdings grid can refresh itself after changes are applied in volcopy, etc.

https://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/user/berick/lp1869898-ang-staff-cat-default-3

[Evergreen Bug Maintenance (bugmaster)]

A very minor detail: ui.staff.angular_catalog.enabled should presumably go away.

[Galen Charlton (gmc)]

Whoops, sorry - comment #4 was me.

[Jane Sandberg (sandbergja)]

A lightly rebased branch is here: user/sandbergja/lp1869898-ang-staff-cat-default-rebased, to account for the changes made in bug 1474874

[Jane Sandberg (sandbergja)]

Thanks, Bill! The catalog is looking very good, and I'm excited to get more eyes on it. My signoffs are force-pushed to that same branch, user/sandbergja/lp1869898-ang-staff-cat-default-rebased

I also have two thoughts that came up during my testing:

1) The Broadcast Channel in the Holdings View is very helpful. It would be nice to have it in the Item Table too (one common frustration with the traditional catalog is that staff will click on Edit or Add Holdings from the item table in the embedded OPAC, do their work, and then not see those changes reflected in the item table when they get back). This would be nice to have, but not necessary; we could open a separate bug for that after merging this.

2) Angular's SPA approach means that initial load time for the Angular client can be quite long, but subsequent navigation is very quick. We are getting to the point where many staff members (not just administrators) will have to flip between AngJS and Ang interfaces to complete routine workflows. This means that staff members will regularly have to wait for the Angular client to load, but will seldom reap any of the benefits of the subsequent navigation before heading back to AngularJS.

Clearly, the solution is *more* angular, not less. But I wonder if we can re-prioritize porting interfaces to Angular. If we port over more heavily used interfaces (say, patron search and patron record), it will provide a great performance increase to a large number of users. I'd love to get rid of the last remnants of dojo too, but the performance is a more pressing concern for me right now.

[Bill Erickson (berick)]

Thanks, Jane.

Branch pushed which adds broadcast support to the Item Table and a sign off for the banner change commit:

https://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/user/berick/lp1869898-ang-staff-cat-default-4

Agreed on #2. FWIW, bouncing around between Angular -prod builds is considerably better, but it would still be better not to have to.

[Galen Charlton (gmc)]

Noting that I plan on doing a final review on this as well in the next day or two.

[Bill Erickson (berick)]

Also need an SQL update to:

update config.print_template set active = true where name = 'holds_for_bib';

This allows holds to print from the catalog record detail page holds grid.

[Bill Erickson (berick)]

I'm going to rebase this now that Ang10 has been merged. I'll also add the SQL bits from previous comments.

[Bill Erickson (berick)]

Rebased branch:

https://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/user/berick/lp1869898-ang-staff-cat-default-5

No changes were required for Ang10.

I suggest we also merge bug #1889694 and bug #1889685, which I have marked as blockers, when this branch is merged. I can create a combo branch if it helps.

[Bill Erickson (berick)]

Here's a combo branch just in case:

https://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/user/berick/lp1869898-ang-staff-cat-default-5-1889694-1889685

[Galen Charlton (gmc)]

Pushed to master for inclusion in 3.6. Thanks, Bill and Jane!