Release Notes

As of the current release, the following internally used software has been updated:

• Spring Boot
  Update to version 2.7.0
• ASM (library for analyzing and modifying Java byte code)
  Update to version 9.3

As of Release 2022.3, Java 17 has been officially approved for use with FirstSpirit. Java 11
continues to be the reference at this time. For the manufacturer, Java 17 is the LTS (Long-Term-Support) version, support for Java 11 is scheduled to end in September 2023.

In general, FirstSpirit only supports the last LTS version of OpenJDK and Oracle Java as well as the currently released version of OpenJDK. Furthermore, some of the third-party software components used by FirstSpirit will no longer run with Java 11 at the end of 2022 (e.g., Spring Boot 3.0, Jakarta/Java EE). FirstSpirit will then only run with Java 17.

If it has not already happened, e-Spirit therefore recommends that customers and partners switch to Java 17 as soon as possible. At present, there are no known problems related to the use of Java 17 with FirstSpirit. However, Java 17 should initially be used on test systems and potential problems should promptly be reported to e-Spirit.

The plan is to discontinue the support for a use of Java 11 with FirstSpirit at the end of 2022 and indicate Java 17 as a reference version.

In addition, it is planned at a later date to switch from Java EE to Jakarta EE, as some third-party software components used by FirstSpirit will no longer be executable with Java EE in their future versions (e.g. Spring Boot 3.0, Tomcat 10). This will only become relevant once FirstSpirit is switched to these newer versions. This switch will change the namespace (package) for all implemented APIs from javax.* to jakarta.*, e.g. javax.servlet.Servlet would become jakarta.servlet.Servlet. This also means a conversion of customer-specific modules, but is independent of the above-mentioned changeover to Java 17. No action is currently required here, a migration path will be communicated in good time.

All classes that implement the UrlFactory interface can now be configured with an additional parameter:

The new parameter

readOnlyRegistry

enables the pure Read use of URLs stored in the registry. New URLs are not stored after setting this parameter and deleted URLs are not removed.
With this method, it is possible to check if a URL already exists in the registry to use it. No new URLs are added to it. For example, this parameter can thereby be used for generations that are not intended to generate permanent URLs (e.g., generations of the current state to a test server).

To activate the Read-only mode, the value true must be transferred.
Example:

factorySettings = new HashMap();
factorySettings.put("readOnlyRegistry","true");
factorySettings.put("useWelcomeFileNames","true");
factorySettings.put("stripWelcomeFileNames","true");
context.setProperty("#urlCreatorSettings", factorySettings); 

The readOnlyRegistry parameter overwrites the useRegistry and removeDeleted parameters (value: false), if they are set.

Section references can be used in FirstSpirit to conveniently use contents over multiple pages.
Different from a copy, the changes to section references (or the so-called “source section”) affect all referenced sections at the same time.

Previously, section references could only be generated via FirstSpirit SiteArchitect.
With the latest release, section references can now also be created in the FirstSpirit ContentCreator.

This action is available in the navigation and in the preview under master copies in the “New section” dialog.

For more information, see also https://docs.e-spirit.com/contentcreator/editing-preview/sections/index.html.

The icon can be hidden via “Tailored UI”.
For more information about the “Tailored UI”, also see https://docs.e-spirit.com/odfs/template-develo/contentcreator/customization/standard-functi/index.html.

FirstSpirit 2022.8 supports the following module versions for “FirstSpirit Content Experience Tools”.

* These modules require FirstSpirit 2020-03 or higher from this version.

The FirstSpirit desktop apps (FirstSpirit SiteArchitect and ServerManager) are started and updated (rolled out) via the FirstSpirit Launcher.

The “FirstSpirit Launcher JRE” module enables customers and partners to easily switch between different Java versions for the operation of Java-based applications. The desired Java version can be selected server-wide for Microsoft Windows and macOS separately.

For documentation on the “FirstSpirit Launcher JRE” module see “FirstSpirit Launcher JRE” under FirstSpirit Online Documentation, Documentation / For administrators.

The included Java versions have been updated with the current release: In addition to the version delivered with the FirstSpirit Launcher, AdoptOpenJDK 11.0.11 “(Default)”, the Java variants Eclipse Temurin 17.0.3 are currently available.