NAME

PICA::Record - Perl extension for handling PICA+ records

DESCRIPTION

Module for handling PICA records as objects. See PICA::Tutorial for an introduction.

METHODS

new ( [ ...data... ] )

Base constructor for the class. A single string will be parsed line by line into PICA::Field objects, empty lines and start record markers will be skipped. More then one or non scalar parameters will be passed to append so you can use the constructor in the same way:

  my $record = PICA::Record->new('037A','a' => 'My note');

If no data is given then it just returns a completely empty record.

copy

Creates a clone of this record by copying all fields.

all_fields()

Returns an array of all the fields in the record. The array contains a PICA::Field object for each field in the record. An empty array is returns if the record is empty.

field( $tagspec(s) )

Returns a list of PICA::Field objects with tags that match the field specifier, or in scalar context, just the first matching Field.

You may specify multiple tags and use regular expressions.

  my $field  = $record->field("021A","021C");
  my $field  = $record->field("009P/03");
  my @fields = $record->field("02..");
  my @fields = $record->field("039[B-E]");

subfield

Shortcut method for getting just the subfield's value of a tag (see PICA::Field). Returns a list of subfield values that match or in scalar context, just the first matching subfield.

These are equivalent (in scalar context):

  my $title = $pica->field('021A')->subfield('a');
  my $title = $pica->subfield('021A','a');

You may also specify both field and subfield seperated by '$'. Don't forget to quote the dollar sign!

  my $title = $pica->subfield('021A$a');
  my $title = $pica->subfield("021A\$a");
  my $title = $pica->subfield("021A$a"); # this won't work!

If either the field or subfield can't be found, undef is returned.

You may also use wildcards like in field() and the subfield() method of PICA::Field:

  my @values = $pica->subfield('005A', '0a');    # 005A$0 and 005A$a
  my @values = $pica->subfield('005[AIJ]', '0'); # 005A$0, 005I$0, and 005J$0

values

Shortcut method to get subfield values of multiple fields and subfields. The fields and subfields are specified in a list of strings, for instance:

  my @titles = $pica->values( '021A$a', '025@$a', '026C$a');

This method always returns an array.

You may also use wildcards in the field specifications, see subfield() and field().

main_record

Get the main record (all tags starting with '0').

local_record

Get the local record (all tags starting with '1').

copy_record

Get the copy record (all tags starting with '2').

is_empty

Return true if the record is empty (no fields or all fields empty)

delete_fields ( <tagspec(s)> )

Delete fields specified by tags. You can also use wildcards, see field() for examples Returns the number of deleted fields.

append ( ...fields or records... )

Appends one or more fields to the end of the record. Parameters can be PICA::Field objects or parameters that are passed to PICA::Field-new>.

    my $field = PICA::Field->new('037A','a' => 'My note');
    $record->append($field);

is equivalent to

    $record->append('037A','a' => 'My note');

You can also append multiple fields with one call:

    my $field = PICA::Field->new('037A','a' => 'First note');
    $record->append($field, '037A','a' => 'Second note');

    $record->append(
        '037A', 'a' => '1st note',
        '037A', 'a' => '2nd note',
    );

Please not that passed PICA::Field objects are not be copied but directly used:

    my $field = PICA::Field->new('037A','a' => 'My note');
    $record->append($field);
    $field->replace('a' => 'Your note'); # Also changes $record's field!

You can avoid this by cloning fields:

    $record->append($field->copy());

You can also append copies of all fields of another record:

    $record->append( $record2 );

The append method returns the number of fields appended.

replace( $tag, $field or @fieldspec )

Replace a field. You must pass a tag and a field. Attention: Only the first occurence will be replaced so better not use this method for repeatable fields.

sort()

Sort all fields. Most times the order of fields is not changed and not relevant but sorted fields are helpful for viewing records.

add_headers

Add header fields to a PICA::Record. You must specify two named parameters (eln and satus). This method is experimental. There is no test whether the header fields already exist.

to_string

Returns a string representation of the record for printing.

normalized()

Returns record as a normalized string. Optionally adds prefix data at the beginning.

    print $record->normalized();
    print $record->normalized("##TitleSequenceNumber 1\n");

to_xml

Returns the record in XML format (not tested, nor official).

INTERNAL METHDOS

_get_regex

Get a complied regular expression

TODO

The toString, to_xml, and normalized methods should be integrated into PICA::Writer or vice versa.

AUTHOR

Jakob Voss <jakob.voss@gbv.de>

LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2007 by Verbundzentrale Goettingen (VZG) and Jakob Voss

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.8 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.

cpanm PICA::Record

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install PICA::Record