Re: [CODE4LIB] Newbie asking for some suggestions with javascript

[Godmar Back]

Yes - see this email
http://serials.infomotions.com/code4lib/archive/2009/200905/0909.html

If you can host yourself, the stand-alone version is efficient and easy to
keep up to date - just run a cronjob that downloads the text file from JISC.
My WSGI script will automatically pick up if it has changed on disk.

 - Godmar

On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 4:08 PM, Annette Bailey  wrote:

> Godmar Back wrote a web service in python for ticTOC with an eye to
> incorporating links into III's Millennium catalog.
>
> http://code.google.com/p/tictoclookup/
>
> http://tictoclookup.appspot.com/
>
> Annette
>
> On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 12:34 PM, Derik Badman wrote:
> > Hello all,
> >
> > Just joined the list, and I'm hoping to get a suggestion or two.
> >
> > I'm working on using the ticTOCs ( http://www.tictocs.ac.uk/ ) text file
> of
> > rss feed urls for journals to insert links to those feeds in our Serials
> > Solution Journal Finder.
> >
> > I've got it working using a bit of jQuery.
> >
> > Demo here: http://155.247.22.22/badman/toc/demo.html
> > The javascript is here: http://155.247.22.22/badman/toc/toc-rss.js
> >
> > Getting that working wasn't too hard, but I'm a bit concerned about
> > efficiency and caching.
> >
> > I'm not sure the way I'm checking isbns against the text file is the most
> > efficient way to go. Basically I'm making an ajax call to the file that
> > takes the data and makes an array of objects. I then query the isbn of
> each
> > journal on the page against the array of objects. If there's a match I
> pull
> > the data and put it on the page. I'm wondering if there's a better way to
> do
> > this, especially since the text file is over 1mb. I'm not looking for
> code,
> > just ideas.
> >
> > I'm also looking for any pointers about using the file itself and somehow
> > auto-downloading it to my server on a regular basis. Right now I just
> saved
> > a copy to my server, but in the future it'd be good to automate grabbing
> the
> > file from ticTOCs server on a regular basis and updating the one on my
> > server (perhaps I'd need to use a cron job to do that?).
> >
> > Thanks for much for any suggestions or pointers. (For what it's worth, I
> can
> > manage with javascript or php.)
> >
> >
> > --
> > Derik A. Badman
> > Digital Services Librarian
> > Reference Librarian for Education and Social Work
> > Temple University Libraries
> > Paley Library 209
> > Philadelphia, PA
> > Phone: 215-204-5250
> > Email: dbad...@temple.edu
> > AIM: derikbad
> >
> > "Research makes times march forward, it makes time march backward, and it
> > also makes time stand still." -Greil Marcus
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] Newbie asking for some suggestions with javascript

[Annette Bailey]

Roy,

Just to clarify, you have to be an OCLC cataloging member to use this
beyond 100 uses per day, correct?

Thanks,
Annette

On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 4:48 PM, Roy Tennant wrote:
> This data (the Tic-Tocs RSS URLs) is also available via xISSN. For example:
>
>  &format=xml&fl=*>
>
> Look for the "rssurl" attribute. For information on xISSN see:
>
> 
>
> Roy
>
>
> On 6/11/09 6/11/09 € 12:36 PM, "Derik Badman"  wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 2:03 PM, Jon Gorman wrote:
>>
>>> I guess the first question is if it is really necessary to use a text
>>> file?  I'm not entirely clear on this process, but perhaps the text
>>> file could be imported into a database.
>>
>>
>> At this point the text file is a stop-gap api that ticTOCs is offering
>> (supposedly working an actual api), so this will probably be a temporary
>> situation. I could put all the data into mysql, though then I'd have to
>> figure out how to check the text file for changes and then update the
>> database accordingly.
>>
>>
>>> Then of course perhaps there's some way to add this to the Serials
>>> Solution database directly?  Then you don't need another javascript at
>>> all?
>>
>>
>> I'm so disillusioned with them, that I didn't even consider that...
>>
>>
>>
>>> cron + wget/curl would be a good first step it would seem.  You might
>>> want some sort of script that monitors changes or the like.  (Maybe
>>> send you an email if there's no updates in x days or something like
>>> that).
>>
>>
>> Thanks, I'll look into that.
>>
>
> --
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] Newbie asking for some suggestions with javascript

[Roy Tennant]

This data (the Tic-Tocs RSS URLs) is also available via xISSN. For example:



Look for the "rssurl" attribute. For information on xISSN see:



Roy


On 6/11/09 6/11/09 € 12:36 PM, "Derik Badman"  wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 2:03 PM, Jon Gorman wrote:
> 
>> I guess the first question is if it is really necessary to use a text
>> file?  I'm not entirely clear on this process, but perhaps the text
>> file could be imported into a database.
> 
> 
> At this point the text file is a stop-gap api that ticTOCs is offering
> (supposedly working an actual api), so this will probably be a temporary
> situation. I could put all the data into mysql, though then I'd have to
> figure out how to check the text file for changes and then update the
> database accordingly.
> 
> 
>> Then of course perhaps there's some way to add this to the Serials
>> Solution database directly?  Then you don't need another javascript at
>> all?
> 
> 
> I'm so disillusioned with them, that I didn't even consider that...
> 
> 
> 
>> cron + wget/curl would be a good first step it would seem.  You might
>> want some sort of script that monitors changes or the like.  (Maybe
>> send you an email if there's no updates in x days or something like
>> that).
> 
> 
> Thanks, I'll look into that.
> 

-- 

Re: [CODE4LIB] Newbie asking for some suggestions with javascript

[Derik Badman]

On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 2:46 PM, Tom Pasley  wrote:

> - Are you running on windows or unix on the server?



> -Are you able to install anything on the server - are you an admin or
>
similar?
> - Are you able to run a scripting language like PHP on the server?
> - Do you have access to a database such as MySQL or MSSQL, etc?


Its unix with php and mysql working on it. I'm not an admin though.


> it seems you're comfortable with javascript, so I think you'd
> be fine with something like Perl of PHP.


I can get by with php, probably moreso than with javascript at this point.

-- 
Derik A. Badman
Digital Services Librarian
Reference Librarian for Education and Social Work
Temple University Libraries
Paley Library 209
Philadelphia, PA
Phone: 215-204-5250
Email: dbad...@temple.edu
AIM: derikbad

"Research makes times march forward, it makes time march backward, and it
also makes time stand still." -Greil Marcus

Re: [CODE4LIB] Newbie asking for some suggestions with javascript

[Derik Badman]

On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 2:03 PM, Jon Gorman wrote:

> I guess the first question is if it is really necessary to use a text
> file?  I'm not entirely clear on this process, but perhaps the text
> file could be imported into a database.


At this point the text file is a stop-gap api that ticTOCs is offering
(supposedly working an actual api), so this will probably be a temporary
situation. I could put all the data into mysql, though then I'd have to
figure out how to check the text file for changes and then update the
database accordingly.


> Then of course perhaps there's some way to add this to the Serials
> Solution database directly?  Then you don't need another javascript at
> all?


I'm so disillusioned with them, that I didn't even consider that...



> cron + wget/curl would be a good first step it would seem.  You might
> want some sort of script that monitors changes or the like.  (Maybe
> send you an email if there's no updates in x days or something like
> that).


Thanks, I'll look into that.


-- 
Derik A. Badman
Digital Services Librarian
Reference Librarian for Education and Social Work
Temple University Libraries
Paley Library 209
Philadelphia, PA
Phone: 215-204-5250
Email: dbad...@temple.edu
AIM: derikbad

"Research makes times march forward, it makes time march backward, and it
also makes time stand still." -Greil Marcus

Re: [CODE4LIB] Newbie asking for some suggestions with javascript

[Tom Pasley]

Hi Derik,

This looks good... I suppose the question to some of your questions is
what's in your toolbox?

Specifically:

- Are you running on windows or unix on the server?
- Are you able to install anything on the server - are you an admin or
similar?
- Are you able to run a scripting language like PHP on the server?
- Do you have access to a database such as MySQL or MSSQL, etc?

I agree with Jon - it'd be much more efficient to store this in a database,
and your looking at a simple table to store the ticTocs data.

Answers to these questions will help listserv members come up with suitable
suggestions - it seems you're comfortable with javascript, so I think you'd
be fine with something like Perl of PHP.

cheers,

Tom

On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 4:34 AM, Derik Badman  wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> Just joined the list, and I'm hoping to get a suggestion or two.
>
> I'm working on using the ticTOCs ( http://www.tictocs.ac.uk/ ) text file
> of
> rss feed urls for journals to insert links to those feeds in our Serials
> Solution Journal Finder.
>
> I've got it working using a bit of jQuery.
>
> Demo here: http://155.247.22.22/badman/toc/demo.html
> The javascript is here: http://155.247.22.22/badman/toc/toc-rss.js
>
> Getting that working wasn't too hard, but I'm a bit concerned about
> efficiency and caching.
>
> I'm not sure the way I'm checking isbns against the text file is the most
> efficient way to go. Basically I'm making an ajax call to the file that
> takes the data and makes an array of objects. I then query the isbn of each
> journal on the page against the array of objects. If there's a match I pull
> the data and put it on the page. I'm wondering if there's a better way to
> do
> this, especially since the text file is over 1mb. I'm not looking for code,
> just ideas.
>
> I'm also looking for any pointers about using the file itself and somehow
> auto-downloading it to my server on a regular basis. Right now I just saved
> a copy to my server, but in the future it'd be good to automate grabbing
> the
> file from ticTOCs server on a regular basis and updating the one on my
> server (perhaps I'd need to use a cron job to do that?).
>
> Thanks for much for any suggestions or pointers. (For what it's worth, I
> can
> manage with javascript or php.)
>
>
> --
> Derik A. Badman
> Digital Services Librarian
> Reference Librarian for Education and Social Work
> Temple University Libraries
> Paley Library 209
> Philadelphia, PA
> Phone: 215-204-5250
> Email: dbad...@temple.edu
> AIM: derikbad
>
> "Research makes times march forward, it makes time march backward, and it
> also makes time stand still." -Greil Marcus
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] Newbie asking for some suggestions with javascript

[Jon Gorman]

On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Derik Badman wrote:
> Hello all,

> I'm not sure the way I'm checking isbns against the text file is the most
> efficient way to go. Basically I'm making an ajax call to the file that
> takes the data and makes an array of objects. I then query the isbn of each
> journal on the page against the array of objects. If there's a match I pull
> the data and put it on the page. I'm wondering if there's a better way to do
> this, especially since the text file is over 1mb. I'm not looking for code,
> just ideas.


I guess the first question is if it is really necessary to use a text
file?  I'm not entirely clear on this process, but perhaps the text
file could be imported into a database.  You could attempt to use some
sort of function that cleans up ISBNs and use that as the lookup.  You
might run into occasional issues such as ISBNs not being unique, but
it sounds like you could run into that issue in any case.

Then of course perhaps there's some way to add this to the Serials
Solution database directly?  Then you don't need another javascript at
all?

>
> I'm also looking for any pointers about using the file itself and somehow
> auto-downloading it to my server on a regular basis. Right now I just saved
> a copy to my server, but in the future it'd be good to automate grabbing the
> file from ticTOCs server on a regular basis and updating the one on my
> server (perhaps I'd need to use a cron job to do that?).
>

cron + wget/curl would be a good first step it would seem.  You might
want some sort of script that monitors changes or the like.  (Maybe
send you an email if there's no updates in x days or something like
that).

Jon Gorman