Drupal Release: 6.0-rc-3

TL;DR

Drupal 6.0 RC3 is a significant pre-release update that addresses numerous bugs and enhances stability before the final 6.0 release. This update includes critical fixes for color module functionality, table header behavior, form submission in Internet Explorer, menu handling, and OpenID implementation. It also improves performance with better caching strategies and fixes various UI and accessibility issues. This release candidate brings Drupal 6.0 much closer to production readiness with over 70 fixes and improvements.

Highlight of the Release

• Fixed critical OpenID 2.0 compliance issues (SA-2008-016)
• Improved form handling in Internet Explorer with fixes for radio buttons and form submission
• Enhanced menu system with fixes for parenting, dead items, and front page expansion
• Better performance with tableheader.js improvements and project module data caching
• Improved accessibility with language direction in HTML source and better color contrast

Migration Guide

• Database Requirements: MySQL requirements have been elevated to version 4.1.1 (though the first production MySQL 4.1.x was 4.1.5).

• File Directory Path: On upgrades, if the file_directory_path was not set, it will be set to the Drupal 5 default.

• Module and Theme Directories: The core modules and themes folders are only for core modules and themes. Custom modules and themes should be placed in sites/all/modules and sites/all/themes respectively.

• Menu System: Node type URLs have been migrated to a path model based on menu paths to prevent conflicts between action and node type names.

• Theme Development: The system now detects and resolves issues when blocks are assigned to invalid regions, which can happen during theme development.

• Form Handling: Element validators now receive the complete form, which may require updates to custom validators.

• Update Module: Sites that upgraded to RC2 with buggy block caching properties will be automatically updated.

Upgrade Recommendations

This release candidate (RC3) represents a significant step toward the final Drupal 6.0 release with numerous bug fixes and stability improvements. If you are currently running Drupal 6.0-RC2, upgrading to RC3 is strongly recommended due to the critical fixes for OpenID, menu handling, and form submission issues.

For sites still on Drupal 5.x, it's advisable to wait for the final 6.0 release before upgrading production sites, but testing your site with RC3 in a development environment is encouraged to identify any potential issues with your specific configuration or custom modules.

Developers working on Drupal 6 compatibility for modules and themes should update their testing environments to RC3 as it includes several API improvements and fixes that may affect module and theme functionality.

Bug Fixes

• Color Module: Fixed reversed parameters in strpos() that resulted in incorrect colors.

• Table Headers: Resolved issues with sticky table headers by targeting only Drupal output tables and improving performance.

• Form Handling:

  • Fixed radio button issues and Safari 2 crashing by reverting to cloning table headers only.
  • Corrected IE form submission button behavior.
  • Fixed collapse.js altering default submit buttons in forms in Internet Explorer.
  • Provided complete form to element validators (critical regression for CCK).

• Menu System:

  • Fixed menu item parenting when moving items.
  • Made dead menu items disappear on Drupal 6 upgrade.
  • Fixed menu items not expanding on front page.
  • Ensured menu item properties were properly passed along for theming.

• OpenID: Fixed incorrect claimed_id returned for OpenID 2.0 and other compliance issues (SA-2008-016).

• Forums:

  • Fixed forum node and comment counting, taking term revisioning into account.
  • Corrected form alter that was mistakenly dropping the parent field in all taxonomy forms.

• Update Module:

  • Fixed local .info file changes not being properly taken into account.
  • Corrected conditional to properly update schema versions when needed.

• Taxonomy: Fixed HTML validation problem with node term listings.

• File Handling: Corrected the replace parameter in file_save_upload() to work as documented.

• Database:

  • Fixed MySQL import error when the anonymous user becomes broken.
  • Corrected SMALLTEXT to TINYTEXT for valid MySQL type.

• Other:

  • Fixed missing initialization for placeholders array in drupal_write_record().
  • Resolved issue with resizable teasers processing before teaser.js is run.
  • Fixed broken display of OpenID links.
  • Corrected URL rewriter to work on base_url and fix urlencoding of front page URL with path prefix.

New Features

• PHP 5.2 Support: Added support for PHP 5.2's 'recoverable fatal errors' to improve error handling.
• Cache Management: Implemented new hook_flush_caches() for better cache control.
• User Role Editing: Improved usability by including a disabled checkbox for the authenticated role.
• Menu System: Migrated node type URLs to a menu path-based model to prevent conflicts between action and node type names.
• Update Module: Added support for aborting all updates of one module when a critical error occurs, preventing cascading failures.

Security Updates

• OpenID: Fixed incorrect claimed_id returned for OpenID 2.0 and other minor OpenID 2.0 compliance issues (SA-2008-016).

• Register Globals: Implemented more accurate register globals value checking for better security assessment.

• Security Documentation: Added documentation on how to hide CHANGELOG.txt and other files to slightly improve security.

• Anonymous Users: Fixed permission issues for anonymous users viewing personal contact forms by catching them early.

Performance Improvements

• Table Headers: Significantly improved tableheader.js performance in all browsers, resolving freezes in IE7.

• Project Module: Enhanced caching of project module data to reduce the burden on Drupal when generating admin pages.

• Menu Administration: Removed pager from menu admin page for better performance (for big menus, contrib modules will be needed).

• Cache Management: Improved cache flush handling by resetting the cache flush variable before the cache is flushed, preventing multiple simultaneous cache flushes on busy sites.

• HTML Processing: Added ability to clear drupal_html_to_text() URL list, enabling it to be used multiple times on a page without performance degradation.

Impact Summary

Drupal 6.0-RC3 delivers substantial improvements to stability and functionality across the entire platform. With over 70 fixes and enhancements, this release candidate addresses critical issues in core components including OpenID implementation, menu handling, form processing, and theme functionality.

The most significant impacts include:

1. Enhanced Stability: Critical fixes for form handling in Internet Explorer, menu item parenting, and OpenID 2.0 compliance make this release much more stable for production use.

2. Improved Performance: Optimizations in tableheader.js and project module caching reduce server load and improve responsiveness, particularly for administrative tasks.

3. Better Accessibility: Language direction in HTML source and improved color contrast in Garland error messages enhance the platform's accessibility.

4. Developer Experience: New hook_flush_caches() implementation, better error handling for PHP 5.2, and fixes for element validators receiving complete forms improve the developer experience.

5. Administrative Usability: Enhanced menu administration, better theme sorting, and improved update module functionality with the ability to abort updates when critical errors occur make site management more intuitive.

This release candidate brings Drupal 6.0 much closer to production readiness, addressing many of the issues discovered during RC2 testing while maintaining backward compatibility with the RC2 API.