Python tools for working with a PURLZ server
The create_single_purl.py script can be run to mint a single PURL for a digital object. The script can be used to create a new PURL or update an existing PURL to redirect to a new target URL. The script requires parameters be passed to it from the CLI. These include:
--host (URL of host PURL server)
--username (username for logging into the PURL server)
--password (password for logging into the PURL server)
--domain (domain of the PURL to be minted)
--id (id of the PURL to be minted)
--target (complete URL of the target the PURL will point to)
--purl_type (kind of PURL being minted, see PURL documentation for more information, default=302)
--maintainer (users responsible for maintaining PURL being minted, default=admin)
Note on updating pre-existing PURLS: to make an existing PURL redirect to a new target URL, enter the existing information for the --domain and --id options, and simply insert the new target URL for the --target option.
The status of the script (either success or failure) will print to the the stdout along with a message confirming whether a new PURL was created or just updated.
./create_single_purl.py --host https://yourfavpurlserver.org --username admin --password XXXX --domain purl_domain --id purl_id_01 --target https://www.python.org/
This will create the PURL https://yourfavpurlserver.org/purl_domain/purl_id_01 which will redirect to https://www.python.org/
The create_purls_from_csv.py script can be used to create PURLs in batches, where the values for the PURL domain, id, and target is specified by each row of a csv.
Similar to above, you pass values for --host, --username, and --password to the command, in addition to specifying a well-formatted --purl_csv file for the script to iterate over and create or update PURLs. Further, the script will output a new csv.results file that contains the original domain, id, and target values for each row in addition to new columns for purl (what the script mints) and status (success or failure). If the script fails at a PURL, it will perform a sys.exit, print a message to the stdout, and the csv.results file will be written up to that point.
Your --purl_csv file should look something like this:
domain,id,target
purl_domain,purl_id_01,https://www.python.org/
purl_domain,purl_id_02,https://github.com/
purl_domain,purl_id_03,https://www.wikipedia.org/
PURL servers don't like spaces or certain special characters in the id field (see create_purls_from_csv.py for a list of such characters), so avoid these in your .csv to help the script run smoothly. Generally, sticking to basic alphanumeric characters and dashes (-) or underscores (_) is a good guideline to follow. Be sure to double-check your .csv before running to ensure no duplicate id fields are present, as these duplicates can cause errors in the script and require manual remediation.
Additionally, PURL domains must be created directly on the server by an admin before minting PURLs within that domain, so be sure to do this before initiating a batch or single jobs.