Sustainable infrastructure for the integration of research software in data repositories
Complex research software often has high barriers to entry: Installation requires knowledge of the operating system; moreover, even simple changes, e.g. of parameters, often require programming skills. Architecture-dependent installation scripts, which often also assume special package versions, make it difficult to reproduce research results. The project "Sustainable infrastructure for the improved usability and archivability of research software on the example of the porous-media-simulator DuMux" aims at increasing the usability of the free research software DuMux. The target groups are scientists working with the software for the first time as well as experienced developers. In addition, the archivability of software applications with a link to a publication is to be made possible. The sustainable solution approach consists of extending and networking already existing services of the university (ViPLab, data repository) in such a way that an infrastructure solution is created that is independent of the research software used.
ViPLab is a virtual programming environment with a JavaScript-based editor for programming and development. Code written in the browser is sent to a server, executed there and results returned. Previously used primarily in teaching, ViPLab for research software would have the advantage that researchers can use and configure the software, initially without having to install it locally. The installation on the server can be realized robustly by container virtualization. Generalized from the experience with DuMux, guidelines for containerizing software should be developed so that it can be executed automatically in ViPLab.
The central point of interaction for gaining knowledge from research data is a repository. Here, data can be searched for and its processing can be traced and understood. Therefore, it is obvious to integrate research software into a repository as well. This is planned in the form of a ViPLab plugin for the repository software Dataverse. The web frontend for ViPLab will be extended according to the needs of the researchers. In addition to the editor, there will be further GUI elements that can be specified by the researcher, which will specifically allow the complexity of the interaction options to be reduced. This also allows the configuration of simple GUIs for research software that does not provide a GUI itself. The repository should ensure permanent availability and unambiguous citation. The description of the published software in the repository will be supported by appropriate metadata.
In summary, the research software DuMux gains usability, also by facilitated access. At the same time, the reproducibility of research data is facilitated and sustainably guaranteed.
