Extensions

ASReview extensions enable you to integrate your programs with the ASReview framework seamlessly, by using the Python API. These extensions fall into three different categories, and interact with the API in different ways.

  1. Model extensions

  2. Subcommand extensions

  3. Dataset extensions

The extensibility of the framework is provided by the entrypoints of setuptools. You will need to create a package and install it (for example with pip).

Did you develop a useful extension to ASReview and want to list it on the Discussion platform? Create a Pull Request or open an issue on GitHub.

For more information on the ASReview API for creating an extension, a technical reference for development is found under the API reference. This technical reference contains functions for use in your extension, and an overview of all classes to extend on.

Model Extensions

An extension of a asreview.models.base.BaseModel type class.

Model extensions extent the ASReview software with new classifiers, query strategies, balance strategies, or feature extraction techniques. These extensions extend one of the model base classes (asreview.models.balance.base, asreview.models.classifiers.base, asreview.models.feature_extraction.base, asreview.models.query.base).

The easiest way to extend ASReview with a model is by using the template for extending ASReview. Create a copy of the template and add the new algorithm to a new model file. It is advised to use the following structure of the package:

├── README.md
├── asreviewcontrib
│   └── models
│       ├── classifiers
│          ├── __init__.py
│          └── example_model.py
│       ├── feature_extraction
│          ├── __init__.py
│          └── example_feature_extraction.py
│       ├── balance
│          ├── __init__.py
│          └── example_balance_strategies.py
│       └── query
│           ├── __init__.py
│           └── example_query_strategies.py
├── setup.py
└── tests

The next step is to add metadata to the setup.py file. Edit the name of the package and point the entry_points to the models.

entry_points={
    'asreview.models.classifiers': [
        'example = asreviewcontrib.models.classifiers.example_model:ExampleClassifier',
    ],
    'asreview.models.feature_extraction': [
        # define feature_extraction algorithms
    ],
    'asreview.models.balance': [
        # define balance_strategy algorithms
    ],
    'asreview.models.query': [
        # define query_strategy algorithms
    ]
},

This code registers the model with name example.

Subcommand Extensions

An extension of the asreview.entry_points.base.BaseEntryPoint class.

Subcommand extensions are programs that create a new entry point for ASReview. From this entry point the Python API can be used in many ways (like plot or simulate).

Extensions in ASReview are Python packages and can extend the subcommands of asreview (see asreview -h). An example of a subcommand extension is ASReview Insights.

The easiest way to create a new subcommand is by defining a class that can be used as a new entry point for ASReview. This class should inherit from asreview.entry_points.base.BaseEntryPoint. Add the functionality to the class method execute.

from asreview.entry_points import BaseEntryPoint

class ExampleEntryPoint(BaseEntryPoint):

    description = "Description of example extension"
    extension_name = "asreview-example"  # Name of the extension
    version = "1.0"  # Version of the extension in x.y(.z) format.

    def execute(self, argv):
        pass  # Implement your functionality here.

It is strongly recommended to define the attributes description, extension_name, and version.

The class method execute accepts a positional argument (argv in this example). First create the functionality you would like to be able to use in any directory. The argument argv are the command line arguments left after removing asreview and the entry point.

It is advised to place the newly defined class ExampleEntryPoints in the following package structure: asreviewcontrib.{extension_name}.{your_modules}. For example:

├── README.md
├── asreviewcontrib
│   └── example
│       ├── __init__.py
│       ├── entrypoint.py
│       └── example_utils.py
├── setup.py
└── tests

Create a setup.py in the root of the package, and set the keyword argument entry_points of setup() under asreview.entry_points, for example:

entry_points={
    "asreview.entry_points": [
        "example = asreviewcontrib.example.entrypoint:ExampleEntryPoint",
    ]
}

After installing this package, ASReview is extended with the asreview example subcommand. See asreview -h for this option.

Dataset Extensions

An extension of the asreview.datasets.BaseDataSet class.

Dataset extensions integrate new datasets for use in ASReview. Adding datasets via extension provides quick access to the dataset via Command Line Interface or in ASReview LAB.

It is advised to place the new dataset your_dataset in the following package structure:

├── README.md
├── asreviewcontrib
│   └── dataset_name
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── your_dataset.py
├── data
│   └── your_dataset.csv
├── setup.py
└── tests

For minimal functionality, your_dataset.py should extent asreview.datasets.BaseDataSet and asreview.datasets.BaseDataGroup.

A working template to clone and use can be found at Template for extending ASReview with a new dataset.

Further functionality can be extensions of any other class in asreview.datasets.