Fun with DBD::ODBC

I'm trying to install DBD::ODBC so I can use ODBC-Sybase to make some interesting additions to our drab catalog. Sadly, it's becoming so much of a PITA that I'm already tempted to backtick a call to isql, which just seems like the Wrong Way.

Technorati tags: code4lib, perl, programming
 

Success!

My Perl script returns valid RSS for items added in the last 7 days at any given SunCat library. I need to make it cache results and use the cache, or else I can't share the URL without getting our database slammed by broken RSS aggregators querying once per minute. But I've got valid RSS, which is a good start.

Next parts of the project:

1. Get a scratch PAC working so we can monkey around with it.
2. Cache-ize the RSS script.
3. Add more useful information; currently it's only displaying an ISBN and an image.

Technorati tags: code4lib, perl, programming, libraries, RSS
 

Stylin'

With #code4lib's help, I've now got an XSLT stylesheet that lets browsers turn the existing RSS feed into something resembling HTML. This is a big step for all of the work I'm planning to do, since it means I can apply that knowledge to all the rest of the XSLT stuff.

Huzzah! I really need to cacheize the script so I can share the URL with everyone. I've gotten a lot done today and I'm proud of it.

From an email to the stakeholders (hey guys, put those stakes down, I haven't even got my game face on):
( A letter to the webmaster, my boss, and her boss )

Technorati tags: code4lib, perl, programming, libraries, RSS, XSLT