Matt,
First of all, I think it is AWESOME you are attempting to do this just for your daughter. That makes you an awesome dad, for sure! Would you mind sharing a few more details about how you intend to use the app? What platform will it be used on? Is it just a webpage she can go to that makes some calls to your local library public API’s? Is it a mobile app for Android or iOS? Do you intend for this to be a “reading list” of sorts, where she can keep track of the barcodes (or maybe better yet, bib id’s) for materials she has already enjoyed? Do you intend for this to be a way to keep her responsible with her borrowing (alert her if she has a book coming due or already overdue)? Or maybe some combination of both. While I may not be able to help write the app, I do know that these were the first questions that came to mind for me when considering how to respond to your message. Congrats on your drive to develop something like this, and for going above and beyond what the average library patron would even attempt. You are way cool for checking out Evergreen on a deeper level, rather than just using it as a patron. Major high five for that! Look forward to hearing more about what you are hoping your app to look like and what it will do for you and your daughter (and hey, maybe even other people around the world if you were to share it) and seeing how this progresses! Best of luck, Michael Peters Senior Systems Analyst Emerald Data Networks, Inc. Phone: 678.302.3000 x1013 Help Desk: 678.302.3000 x1500 www.emeralddata.net From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Matt Lewin Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2014 3:46 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [OPEN-ILS-DEV] Public API to Lookup Items By Barcode Hello, library-minded folks. I’m writing an app for my daughter that allows her to track her borrowing from our local library: Westford, MA, part of MVLC. For that last couple weeks, I’ve been beating my head against the wall trying to determine how to programmatically retrieve information about an item, using only the library-assigned barcode of the book (or movie, CD, DVD, whatever). It feels to me like I ought to be able to use unAPI, Opensearch or Supercat, but for the life of me, I can’t figure it out. I’ve plowed through the source code, though I’d be lying if I said I understood it all. I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time Googling around for “RESTful evergreen ils” and myriad combinations thereof. I’ve found the search grammar <http://wiki.evergreen-ils.org/doku.php?id=documentation:technical:search_grammar> , supercat examples <http://evergreen-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=backend-devel:supercat:examples> , and many other pointers in what feels like the right direction, but I can’t figure it out. I even went so far as to to setup a test Evergreen installation, though my hardware was not up to the task. I know there exists an efficient way to do this, because the “Numeric” pane of “Advanced” search provides this exact functionality to a human using a web browser. Basically, I’m looking for some means to accomplish this lookup by barcode <http://westford.mvlc.org/eg/opac/record/1563600?contains=contains;_special=1;qtype=item_barcode;query=31990004109968;locg=1> , but being able to apply one of the various “format” parameters you guys implement throughout the system. Thanks very much for whatever you can do. -Matt
