Permalinks

Avalon includes hooks to allow institutions to define permalinks (e.g., using a Handle server, DOI, or other durable link generating system) for resources. These links show up on the item view page in the Share this resource tab.

Permalinks are generated only for published Media Objects. When a Media Object is published, or a published Media Object is modified, Avalon makes sure that a permalink exists for the Media Object (Item) and for each of its component files (Sections).

To define how permalinks are generated, create a file in config/initializers (e.g., config/initializers/generate_permalink.rb) following this template:

Permalink.on_generate do |obj,url_for_obj|
  # Create a permanent link resource that will resolve/redirect to 
  # url_for_obj and return that resource as a URL string. e.g., 
  return "http://permalinkresolver.example.edu/media/#{obj.pid}"
end

To create permalinks for Media Objects (Items) only, and not direct links to sections:

Permalink.on_generate do |obj,url_for_obj|
  if obj.is_a? MediaObject
    return "http://permalinkresolver.example.edu/media/#{obj.pid}"
  else
    return nil
  end
end

It's also possible to use a generic route for permalinks.  The pid for an object can be substituted into the object controller route (i.e. /object/avalon:1).  The controller will redirect the browser to the resource.

Permalink.on_generate do |obj,url_for_obj|
  if obj.is_a? MediaObject
    return "http://permalinkresolver.example.edu/object/#{obj.pid}"
  else
    return nil
  end
end