The front-end tries to keep the URLs looking sleek and easy to understand. They are described below.
Search queries are handled entirely by AJAX. The main URL for a search takes this form:
/search/query/filter.field1/filter.value1/filter.field2/filter.value2
There can be an arbitrary number of filters.
For example, a search for noah webster, filtered by location might look like this:
/search/noah+webster/geographic/amherst
Browsing works exactly like searching, except that the Solr request handler is configured to emulate 'browsing' behavior. Like with searching, browsing queries are handled exclusively by AJAX request. For example:
/browse/filter.field1/filter.value1/filter.field2/filter.value2
There can be an arbitrary number of filters.
For example, browsing the 'Art and Architecture' (PID=collection:vr) collection might involve a location like this:
/browse/collection/vr/geographic/london
Object viewing uses a very simple URI pattern:
/view/PID
TODO: carry over some state from the previous search/browse query in order to allow users to access the next search result item, such as:
/view/PID/search/noah+webster
Everything following the PID would be optional.
Much of the functioning of the site will consist of JSON requests. This is particularly true of the search and browse interfaces. Those pages will use the backend API for requesting data. These requests will follow this general format:
/api/{method}/{query}/{numResults}/{page}/{filter.field1}/{filter.value1}
Here is an example of a search request for the first 21 items matching the query 'noah webster' and filtered by 'mods.geographic:amherst'
/api/search/noah+webster/21/0/geographic/amherst
An example of a browse request for the second page of 21 items in the Art and Architecture collection, filtered by 'mods.genre:painting'
/api/browse/21/1/genre/painting/collection/collection:vr
Or, do the same query across all collections:
/api/browse/21/1/genre/painting
An example of 'related items', based on PID: vr:9310, requesting the first page of two items. In this case, there are no filters.
/api/similar/vr:9310/2/0