As I continue to work on Biblios in anticipation of its release (soon, I hope!), it is about time to decide on an API.

I have already put into place a simple macro system for batch editing of bibliographic records. The language is Javascript and makes use of a MarcRecord javascript object to manipulate MARCXML records.

Here is a simple example (record is a MarcRecord instance):

// Check to see if record has 856.  If so, add subfield $u with url.  If not, add a new 856 with url.
if( record.hasField('856') ) {
    record.field('856').subfield('u', 'http://www.google.com');
}
else {
    record.addField( new Field('856', '', '', [ new Subfield('u', 'http://www.google.com')]) );
}

I would like to provide access to Biblios’ main functions for use by plugins. Here are a few ideas for API functions:

• Run a search
• Run the current search but limited to something
• Save all search results to a folder
• Save record with id n to a particular folder
• Edit record with id n
• Run a macro on all records in a folder

I’d be interested to hear what others think: what they’re used to in other cataloging software and what commands/tools that software might be missing which could be ultimately included in Biblios.