[Koha-devel] hacking Koha

[Daniel Holth]

I would like to enhance Koha and contribute my changes.  How should I
get started?  My issue is not so much Perl (shield my Pythonic eyes!),
it is that the downloaded source has an entirely different structure
than the installed program, and if I submit a patch what's the best way
to generate it, or, what is the preferred method for editing Koha?

I'm using Koha with my small (50 books in the database) library.  I
wanted to collect the LC Call numbers for all my books so I could
organize them that way.  I have and they're lovely.  Photo on request. 
Each book now bears a little label with its call number; some
unnecessarily have Koha-number barcodes fastened inside.  A declawed
CueCat (transmits barcodes in plaintext!) example: 314293 scans; since
my library doesn't circulate this is just for fun.  I think I'm using
RC7 right now, the database upgrade was a little scary but all in all I
like it.  Well, I can add members now, but my OPAC is broke.

FWIW, here's (a subset of) my wishlist in rough priority order:

- LC call numbers in database, display
- Properly ordered collection browsing
- ISBN code should handle Bookland ISBN, Bookland+5 (price) codes, then
the CueCat would be useful for acquisitions.  The Perl is difficult for
me here.

Way down the list:
- More interesting info for each book (like summaries).

It could be nice to be able to back up different parts of the database
separately (making upgrades easier) - perhaps books, members,
preferences.  The rationale would be to separate the version-specific
data from the more permanent data.

I imagine someone is already working on separating the data edit forms
into their own widget modules.  It's a good idea, because right now
there seem to be different versions of a couple of very similar forms.

On another note, the other day I went to the public library.  Mentioned
'free library system' to a librarian (after a futile quest to extract LC
Call No. related information from him), librarian responds "Koha?  I was
thinking about using it in my church.".

Great radio bit!

- Daniel Holth