Drupal Release: 7.0-alpha1

TL;DR

Drupal 7.0-alpha1 marks a significant milestone in Drupal's evolution with major architectural improvements and new features. This release introduces the Entity API, Field API, and RDFa support, enabling more flexible content modeling and better semantic web integration. Performance improvements include menu caching, static caching, and database optimizations. The UI has been enhanced with the new Overlay module, improved administrative interfaces, and the Dashboard. While this is an alpha release with ongoing development, it represents the foundation of what will become a more powerful and developer-friendly Drupal platform.

Highlight of the Release

• Introduction of the Entity API for more flexible content modeling
• New Field API allowing fields to be attached to any entity type
• RDFa support for better semantic web integration
• Improved performance with new caching mechanisms and database optimizations
• Enhanced administrative interface with Overlay and Dashboard modules
• Better multilingual support with rebuilt locale module
• Improved accessibility for screen readers
• Enhanced search with better Unicode support for non-Latin scripts

Migration Guide

Preparing for Drupal 7

Database Changes

• Drupal 7 now defaults to InnoDB with transactions ON for MySQL
• The database abstraction layer has been completely rewritten
• Update your custom database queries to use the new db_select(), db_query(), etc.

Entity System

• Content is now managed through the Entity API
• Nodes, users, comments, and taxonomy terms are all entities
• Update custom code that directly accesses these objects to use the new API

Field API

• CCK has been moved into core as the Field API
• Fields can be attached to any entity type, not just nodes
• Update custom CCK field modules to use the new Field API

Theme System

• Template suggestions have been standardized
• The __ pattern for theme suggestions is now easier to use
• Update custom themes to use the new theme hooks and suggestions

JavaScript and AJAX

• The JavaScript API has been significantly improved
• AJAX framework now supports more complex interactions
• Update custom JavaScript to use the new Drupal.settings and AJAX commands

Taxonomy Changes

• Taxonomy has been completely rewritten
• The taxonomy_term_node table is gone; taxonomy uses fields now
• Update custom taxonomy code to use the new Field API integration

Menu System

• The menu system has been made pluggable
• Menu router items have changed structure
• Update custom menu items to use the new structure

Token System

• A new standardized Token API has been introduced
• Update custom token implementations to use the new API

Multilingual Support

• The locale module has been split and improved
• Update custom multilingual code to use the new APIs

Important Notes

• This is an alpha release - expect bugs and API changes
• The memory requirement has been temporarily raised to 40MB
• Test thoroughly before upgrading production sites

Upgrade Recommendations

As this is an alpha release (7.0-alpha1), it is not recommended for production websites. This release is intended for developers to begin testing and preparing modules for compatibility with Drupal 7.

Who should use this release:

• Module developers who need to update their modules for Drupal 7
• Theme developers who need to update their themes for Drupal 7
• Site builders who want to test and provide feedback on new features
• Contributors who want to help identify and fix bugs before the stable release

Who should not use this release:

• Production websites
• Sites that require stability and reliability
• Sites without experienced developers to handle potential issues

Preparation for eventual upgrade:

1. Begin auditing custom code for compatibility with Drupal 7 APIs
2. Test contributed modules you depend on to see if they have Drupal 7 versions in development
3. Create a development environment to test the upgrade process
4. Review the migration guide and API changes
5. Consider waiting for at least a beta or RC release before attempting upgrades on more critical sites

The upgrade path from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7 is being actively worked on, with several critical upgrade path bugs fixed in this release. However, more work is needed before the upgrade process is fully stable.

Bug Fixes

Menu and Navigation

• Fixed menu description XSS vulnerability (SA-CORE-2009-009)
• Fixed nested lists in theme_item_list()
• Fixed broken pager on taxonomy term pages
• Fixed access bypass in translation module (SA-CORE-2009-001)
• Fixed incorrect menu argument for IP address blocking
• Fixed 404 errors when adding certain pages as shortcuts

Content and Fields

• Fixed direct calls to node_view() not triggering field attach prepare view
• Fixed #after_build_done() being set after first after_build() function instead of all functions
• Fixed field_extra_fields() functionality
• Fixed node save insertion logic
• Fixed multistep node forms unable to change basic options

UI and Theming

• Fixed tables with style='width:auto;' rendering badly
• Fixed incorrect jQuery UI shake effect configuration
• Fixed Webkit browsers displaying customize dashboard screen incorrectly
• Fixed IE8 showing no content in overlay on manage field page
• Fixed overlay's loading spinner often not visible
• Fixed jumping page heights in Overlay

Search

• Fixed search incorrectly splitting some katakana words
• Improved Unicode support for search indexing

Performance

• Fixed CSS aggregator producing invalid code for @import files which breaks IE
• Fixed taxonomy static caching issues

Database

• Fixed drupal_write_record() inability to update a column to NULL
• Fixed DatabaseConnection::prepareQuery() ignoring arguments
• Fixed bug in SQLite's NextId() that prevented installation

Other

• Fixed incorrect multicall implementation
• Fixed list module incorrectly validating data
• Fixed PHP notices in various modules
• Fixed batch API issues in update.php

New Features

Entity API

The new Entity API provides a standardized way to work with different types of content. This allows for more flexible content modeling and consistent APIs across different entity types.

Field API

Fields can now be attached to any entity type, not just nodes. This enables more flexible content structures and reuse of field types across different entities.

RDFa Support

Built-in RDFa support allows for better semantic web integration, making Drupal content more machine-readable and interoperable with other systems.

Dashboard Module

A new customizable administrative dashboard provides quick access to important site information and common tasks.

Overlay Module

The Overlay module provides an improved administrative experience by displaying administrative pages in a modal overlay on top of the current page.

Shortcut Module

The new Shortcut module allows users to create personalized lists of commonly-used links for quick access.

Improved Database Abstraction

Enhanced database abstraction layer with support for transactions and better cross-database compatibility, including improved support for SQLite and PostgreSQL.

Enhanced Update Manager

The Update Manager now resolves dependencies when installing modules and provides better error handling.

Token API

A new standardized Token API provides consistent token handling across modules.

Improved JavaScript and AJAX Framework

Enhanced JavaScript and AJAX framework with better support for progressive enhancement and accessibility.

Security Updates

XSS Vulnerabilities

• Fixed SA-CORE-2009-009: Menu description XSS vulnerability
• Improved sanitization of HTTP_HOST to prevent potential attacks

Access Control

• Fixed SA-CORE-2009-001: Access bypass in translation module
• Improved permission handling in various modules

Authentication

• Hardened one-time login links against vulnerability from disclosure of SQL backups or SQL 'SELECT' injection
• Added support for more HTTP authentication settings in tests

User Management

• Prevented account cancellation for user ID 1 (admin account) to protect against privilege escalation

Input Validation

• Fixed list module incorrectly validating data
• Improved sanitization in various form handling functions

Performance Improvements

Menu System Optimization

• Cache results of menu_get_item(), making it possible to serve pages with no database hits when using alternate caching backends
• Reduced memory consumption of menu_rebuild() by splitting huge queries into multiple passes
• Made menu.inc pluggable to support high-performance options in contrib modules

Static Caching

• Implemented new static caching API with drupal_static()
• Updated various modules to use the new static caching API, including node, search, and locale modules
• Added static cache for taxonomy parent and children functions

Database Optimizations

• Default MySQL to transactions ON (with InnoDB)
• Replaced LOWER() with db_select() and LIKE() where possible for better performance
• Added missing index to taxonomy_get_term_by_name() query

Memory Usage Improvements

• Reduced RAM usage in Update module by only saving necessary attributes from .info files
• Split update status logic into a per-project helper to reduce memory footprint
• Optimized template_process() and template_preprocess() functions

Batch Processing

• Fixed scaling issues with batch API for better performance with large operations

JavaScript and CSS

• Optimized drupal_render() with conditional call to element_children()
• Improved CSS organization and reduced file sizes

Impact Summary

Drupal 7.0-alpha1 represents a significant architectural evolution with the introduction of the Entity API and Field API as its cornerstone features. These changes fundamentally alter how content is modeled and managed in Drupal, providing much greater flexibility and extensibility. The integration of CCK into core as the Field API means fields can now be attached to any entity type, not just nodes.

Performance has received substantial attention with new caching mechanisms, database optimizations, and memory usage improvements. The menu system can now serve pages with no database hits when using alternate caching backends, and the database layer has been completely rewritten with better cross-database support.

The user experience has been enhanced with new modules like Dashboard, Overlay, and Shortcut, providing a more intuitive administrative interface. Accessibility improvements make Drupal more usable for people with disabilities, particularly those using screen readers.

For developers, the new APIs (Entity, Field, RDFa, Token) provide more consistent and powerful tools for extending Drupal. The JavaScript and AJAX framework has been improved to support more complex interactions and progressive enhancement.

Multilingual support has been strengthened with a rebuilt locale module, and search functionality now better supports non-Latin scripts, making Drupal more globally accessible.

As an alpha release, this version is not yet ready for production use, but it provides a clear view of the direction Drupal 7 is taking. The significant number of changes (over 24,000) reflects the substantial evolution from Drupal 6, with important architectural improvements that will benefit the platform for years to come.