rcedit – Programmatic access to Research Catalogue web interface

Important note:

The Research Catalogue (RC) API is not published and its protocol is not frozen! Therefore, this Python module targets the API at the time of its creation/update. Nevertheless, it can work as a point of departure to interact with future API versions.

Quick tour:

The RCEdit class provides access to many features of an RC exposition.

# Import editor class from rcedit module using
from rcedit import RCEdit

# create RCEdit instance with exposition ID as argument
rc = RCEdit(1234567)
# log in using RC credentials
rc.login(username='my@email.com', password='goodpassword')

# get general exposition info
info = rc.info_get()
# delivers a dict of {key: value, ...} pairs

# list all pages in exposition (weaves in RC jargon)
pages = rc.page_list()
print("Pages:", pages)
# will print a dict of {page_id: page_name, ...}

# list pages filtered by a regular expression
pages = rc.page_list(r"Page [123]", regexp=True)
print("Pages:", pages)

# add new page (aka weave) to exposition
# page_id = rc.page_add(page_name, description='all about my page')

# remove page
# rc.page_remove(page_id)

# Get page options
rc.page_options_get(page_name)

# list all media sets (shared among expositions)
mediasets = rc.mediaset_list()
print("Media sets:", mediasets)
# will print a dict of {mediaset_id: mediaset_name, ...}

# add media set
mediaset_id = rc.mediaset_add(mediaset_name, mediaset_genre, authors, copyright)

# remove media set (and contained media items!)
# will only work if media items are not used in an exposition
rc.mediaset_remove(mediaset_id)

# list media
# if mediaset_id is None (or omitted): list simple media (in an exposition)
# if mediaset_id is given: list media contained in a media set
media = rc.media_list(mediaset_id)
print(f"Media in set {mediaset_id}:", media)
# will print a dict of {media_id: (media_type, media_name), ...}

# add media (without actual data contents)
# if mediaset_id is None (or omitted): add to simple media
# if mediaset_id is given: add to media set
media_id = rc.media_add(media_name, copyrightholder, media_type, license, description, mediaset_id)

# upload media contents
rc.media_upload(media_id, filename)

# remove media
# if mediaset_id is None (or omitted): remove form simple media
# if mediaset_id is given: remove from media set
# will only work if media item is not used in an exposition
rc.media_remove(self, media_id, mediaset_id)

# list items on a page
items = rc.item_list(page_id)
print(f"Items on page {page_id}:", items)
# will print a dict of {item_id: (item_type, item_name), ...}

# add media item to a page 
# 'tool' refers to the media type: this could be deduced from the media item (but it is slow)
item_id = rc.item_add(page_id, tool, x, y, w, h)

# remove item from a page
rc.item_remove(page_id, item_id)

# get item parameters
item = rc.item_get(page_id, item_id)
# will print a tuple
# (item_type, {
#	'common': {'title', title}},
#	'style': {'left', x}, {'top', y}, {'width', w}, {'height', h}, ...},
#	'options': { ... }
#	})
# options are specific to the item type

# set item parameters
# the key word arguments can be
# common = {'title': title},
# style = {...},
# options = {...},
rc.item_set(page_id, item_id, **kwargs)

# fast item update (only positioning)
# either parameter can be omitted
rc.item_update(page_id, item_id, x, y, w, h, r)

# lock/unlock item
# lock if 'lock' is nonzero, else unlock
rc.item_lock(page_id, item_id, lock)