[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Importing holdings data

[John Morris]

Ok, trying to import data.  Users was pretty easy.  Reading the official
manual on the subject of holdings reminds me of South Park's underpants
gnomes.  Step one, put your information in a table.  Step two.... Step
Three, run your script, Yay! Profit!  No real decription of what happens
in step two.

Which seemed kinda odd, especially since there appears to be a batch
import/export in the staff client.  The total lack of a mention of it in
the manual should have been my clue.  So I did something that is
apparently dumb, I assumed that I could put in a record, export it and
look at the way the holding was presented and make my records look like
that.  After all, "Evergreen export format" is an option to import in
and as a general rule programs read their own format best.  Nope.  I
ain't getting any love from it. Which is a shame since the records that
come OUT of Evergreen have just about every bit of information you could
want.  Odd that export was completed before import, making it easier to
migrate from eg than into it.

I'm currently on 1.6.0.8.  Would installing a newer version fix the
problem?

I see a way to modify what it imports but no documentation as to what I
might change, where is a list of the values to add so that I can set
items as reference, holdable, circulating, location, etc.

Other options, find some documentation on what is involved in the
mysterious Step Two above.  Is there any documentation that describes
exactly what one would put where to create a holding in the database
from scratch?  The schema documentation isn't quite enough info.

Another off the wall idea came to me reading the manual where it says:

"Once you have your records in Open-ILS JSON ingest format, you then
need to use pg_loader.pl to convert these records into a set of SQL
statements that you can use to load the records into PostgreSQL. The –
order and –autoprimary command line options (bre, mrd, mfr, etc) map to
class IDs defined in /openils/conf/fm_IDL.xml."

Looking in that xml file one finds the vii class which look like just
the thing to add a holding.  If I spent enough time figuring out JSON
and such could I actually get a holding registered through that path?

What I'd really like is some way that ends up getting MARC holdings
pushed in via some sort of documentable and automated method.  Seems
like it would solve a major problem with adoption.
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