CMDBuild Newsletter nr. 76

The development activities which will lead to the new CMDBuild 3.2 version are proceeding, and the release is scheduled for the beginning of February 2020.

In this new version some functionalities present in CMDBuild 2.x and temporarily not present in CMDBuild 3.x will be reintroduced:

• dashboard management, with some specific improvements;
• configuration of Wizard Connector tasks, for synchronizing database tables;
• control of password definition criteria (described in details here below in the next news);
• Single Sign On authentication on LDAP systems, using the open source CAS service.

The new “Deadlines Archive” Management will then be available, which will be “powered” both automatically, by the insertion of data cards using pre-configured deadline calculation criteria, and also manually, by entering deadlines freely.

Among the other innovations, we would like to mention:

• new GIS implementations: completion of the thematisms, display of the objects present around a point on the map, search for an address;
• extension of user preferences: home page, presentation of data card lists (choice and width of columns, orders), default filter for each class;
• new types of permits in workflows;
• new role of “limited” Administrator, with the possibility of creating users on his own Tenant.

CMDBuild 3.2 will rely on the Java 11 platform (suggested OpenJDK 11 LTS), the most recent LTS version of the new generation JDK.

The new CMDBuild 3.2 version will include numerous improvements in the security aspects, some retrieved by CMDBuild 2, others identified by the platform developers, others detected with “assessments” carried out in collaboration with some customers.

Concerning the password management, it will be possible to define:

• the validity period of the password, by sending notice of expiry via email with a number of parameterizable days in advance, and with automatic redirection after expiration to the password change page;
• the form of the password, with restrictions on the length and on the presence of at least one numeric character / a capital letter / a lowercase letter / of a character different than letters and numbers;
• the constraint that the password is different from the previous passwords (in a configurable number) and from the username;
• blocking of users against multiple failed authentication attempts (configurable number) and automatic deactivation of credentials not used for several months (also configurable number);
• the request to recover forgotten credentials via email.

The following improvements will then be available in the CMDBuild code:

• use of the more secure PBKDF2 algorithm for storing passwords (maintaining backward compatibility with previous formats);
• management of “cookies” sessions with “HttpOnly” and “Secure” modes, reducing vulnerability to XSS attacks and malicious scripts uploaded by third parties;
• better configuration of the CORS system, which can be enabled or disabled or configured in customized mode;
• additional improvements on web service security.

The Italian Ministry of Health, with a decree of 30^th May 2017, activated at the Central Office of the IZSAM (Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise - Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Abruzzo and Molise) the National Reference Center for Genomic Sequences of pathogenic microorganisms (GENPAT).

One of the main tasks of the GENPAT is to create a national platform for the collection and conservation of genomic sequences of pathogenic microorganisms and for the execution of bioinformatics analysis and archiving and sharing of results, in order to improve the surveillance of problems related to infectious diseases of animals, including zoonotic and food-borne diseases.

The platform was built during this year using the new version 3 of CMDBuild.

CMDBuild helped to design a common open source platform for the collection and analysis of surveillance data, and data derived from zoonotic outbreaks, even of food origin.

The goal of the platform is to provide data that is rapidly available, usable and useful in epidemic situations and for risk assessment, also providing IT tools to do so.

The strengths of CMDBuild have been above all:

• the flexibility of the data schema, which is fundamental for facing new needs for data recording and sharing;
• the ability to import data from other sources and to provide an interoperability system for data access, allowing a close integration with the National database of animal registries (BDN) and with other national veterinary information systems;
• the possibility to extend the system interacting with other WEB applications.

The CMDBuild platform was also used in the European project OHEJP COHESIVE, in which IZSAM is involved.

The European project COHESIVE aims at a world with less incidence of diseases transmitted from animals to humans (defined as zoonotic), promoting a close collaboration, at all levels, between the veterinary and human sectors (“One Health” approach).

Following serious outbreaks in past years, such as the BSE in the United Kingdom and the Q fever in the Netherlands, in some countries this collaborative approach has been implemented and have been tested the advantages to tackle the new emerging zoonoses, among which antimicrobial resistance and food-borne zoonoses.

To stimulate the strengthening of the collaboration between human and veterinary health in all the countries of the European Union, it was necessary to have common procedures and tools, and in this context CMDBuild has been used to produce a prototype information system that each member state can now adopt.

At this link it is available the video presented at the XLIII Conference IEA - 2019.

We have presented openMAINT to the “3rd International VDI Conference - Digitization in the Process Industry 2019”, which was held in Amsterdam on the last 5^th and 6^th November.

The conference was aimed at experts and managers, as well as project and process engineers in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry and IT Companies offering digital solutions for the Process Industry.

Our intervention, entitled “The Digitalization of the Maintenance Manual” was focused on the following topics:

• Importance of a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) solution
• Data collection from sensors for an effective maintenance
• BIM (Building Information Modelling) integration in the facility management
• Case studies and project applications with an open source software solution

This is the page of the event on the openMAINT website.

On 26^th September a webinar was held to present the main new features of the new CMDBuild READY2USE 2.0 version, dedicated to the management of IT assets and services.

The video recording is available here.

Last 24^th October another webinar was held for the presentation of the main new features of the new openMAINT 2.0 version, dedicated to Facility Management.

The video recording is available here.

As we have showed during the webinars, both new applications include some new features and functionalities, as well as the migration to the new version of the CMDBuild 3 platform.

The new openMAINT and CMDBuild READY2USE websites are online, after a graphic and functional restyling.

For CMDBuild READY2USE a dedicated site is now available, rather than just a page within the CMDBuild platform site as in the previous version.

These two new websites, as well as the previous restyling of the Tecnoteca and CMDBuild sites, have been developed with the open source Plone CMS, and are based on a new graphic template that allows them to automatically adapt to mobile devices.