diff --git a/src/database.c b/src/database.c
index 2ff2356..a874095 100644
--- a/src/database.c
+++ b/src/database.c
@@ -250,6 +250,36 @@ simdb_record_used(simdb_t *db, int num) {
   return ret;
 }
 
+int
+simdb_record_add(simdb_t *db, int num, const char *path, int flags) {
+  simdb_urec_t *rec = NULL;
+
+  assert(db != NULL);
+
+  if (num < 0 || path == NULL)
+    return SIMDB_ERR_USAGE;
+
+  if (flags & SIMDB_ADD_NOEXTEND && num > db->records)
+    return 0;
+
+  if (access(path, R_OK) < 0)
+    return SIMDB_ERR_SYSTEM;
+
+  if (num > 0 && flags & SIMDB_ADD_NOREPLACE && simdb_record_used(db, num))
+    return 0;
+
+  if ((rec = simdb_record_create(path)) == NULL)
+    return SIMDB_ERR_SAMPLER;
+
+  if (num == 0)
+    num = db->records + 1;
+
+  num = simdb_write(db, num, 1, rec);
+
+  FREE(rec);
+  return num;
+}
+
 int
 simdb_record_del(simdb_t *db, int num) {
   simdb_urec_t *rec;
diff --git a/src/record.h b/src/record.h
index f60803b..1a5b3b7 100644
--- a/src/record.h
+++ b/src/record.h
@@ -18,4 +18,11 @@ typedef struct __attribute__((__packed__)) {
 
 typedef char size_mismatch_for__simdb_urec_t[(sizeof(simdb_urec_t) == SIMDB_REC_LEN) * 2 - 1];
 
+/**
+ * @brief Creates metadata record from given image
+ * @param path Path to source image
+ * @returns Pointer to allocated record or NULL on error
+ */
+simdb_urec_t * simdb_record_create(const char * const path);
+
 #endif /* RECORD_H */
diff --git a/src/samplers/dummy.c b/src/samplers/dummy.c
index bfc8488..a2a701c 100644
--- a/src/samplers/dummy.c
+++ b/src/samplers/dummy.c
@@ -2,13 +2,11 @@
 #include "../record.h"
 #include "../simdb.h"
 
-bool
-simdb_record_create(void *rec, const char * const source) {
-  assert(rec != NULL);
-  assert(source != NULL);
+simdb_urec_t *
+simdb_record_create(const char * const path) {
+  assert(path != NULL);
 
-  (void)(rec);
-  (void)(source);
+  (void)(path);
 
-  return false;
+  return NULL;
 }
diff --git a/src/samplers/magick.c b/src/samplers/magick.c
index 83c1c89..dd8c408 100644
--- a/src/samplers/magick.c
+++ b/src/samplers/magick.c
@@ -5,22 +5,21 @@
 
 #include <wand/magick_wand.h>
 
-bool
-simdb_record_create(void * r, const char * const source) {
+simdb_urec_t *
+simdb_record_create(const char * const path) {
   MagickWand *wand = NULL;
   MagickPassFail status = MagickPass;
   uint16_t w = 0, h = 0;
   size_t buf_size = 64 * sizeof(char);
   unsigned char *buf = NULL;
-  simdb_urec_t *rec = r;
+  simdb_urec_t *rec = NULL;
 
-  assert(rec != NULL);
-  assert(source != NULL);
+  assert(path != NULL);
 
   InitializeMagick("/");
   wand = NewMagickWand();
   if (status == MagickPass)
-    status = MagickReadImage(wand, source);
+    status = MagickReadImage(wand, path);
 
   if (status == MagickPass)
     w = MagickGetImageWidth(wand);
@@ -83,11 +82,12 @@ simdb_record_create(void * r, const char * const source) {
 
   if (status == MagickPass) {
     assert(buf_size == SIMDB_BITMAP_SIZE);
-    memset(rec, 0x0, sizeof(simdb_urec_t));
-    rec->used = 0xFF;
-    rec->image_w = w;
-    rec->image_h = h;
-    memcpy(rec->bitmap, buf, SIMDB_BITMAP_SIZE);
+    if ((rec = calloc(1, sizeof(simdb_urec_t))) != NULL) {
+      rec->used = 0xFF;
+      rec->image_w = w;
+      rec->image_h = h;
+      memcpy(rec->bitmap, buf, SIMDB_BITMAP_SIZE);
+    }
 #ifdef DEBUG
   } else {
     ExceptionType severity = 0;
@@ -99,5 +99,5 @@ simdb_record_create(void * r, const char * const source) {
   DestroyMagickWand(wand);
   DestroyMagick();
 
-  return (status == MagickPass) ? true : false;
+  return rec;
 }
diff --git a/src/simdb-write.c b/src/simdb-write.c
index d0f5631..18c76d2 100644
--- a/src/simdb-write.c
+++ b/src/simdb-write.c
@@ -83,13 +83,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     case add :
       if (num == 0 || sample == NULL)
         usage(EXIT_FAILURE);
-      if (!simdb_record_create(&rec, sample)) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "sampler failure\n");
-        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-      }
-      if ((err = simdb_write(db, num, 1, (void *) &rec)) < 1) {
+      if ((err = simdb_record_add(db, num, sample, 0)) < 0) {
         fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", simdb_error(err));
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+      } else {
+        fprintf(stderr, "added as record #%d", err);
       }
       break;
     case del :
diff --git a/src/simdb.h b/src/simdb.h
index ae6126d..ee3f6ae 100644
--- a/src/simdb.h
+++ b/src/simdb.h
@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@
 /* 3 used, 5 reserved */
 /** @} */
 
+/**
+ * @defgroup SIMDBAddModifiers Flags for simdb_record_add() call
+ * @{ */
+#define SIMDB_ADD_NOREPLACE 1 << (0 + 0)  /**< don't replace existing record */
+#define SIMDB_ADD_NOEXTEND  1 << (0 + 1)  /**< don't extend database if @a num greater than existing records count */
+/** @} */
+
 /**
  * @defgroup SIMDBErrors Database error codes
  * @{ */
@@ -114,11 +121,18 @@ int simdb_search(simdb_t * const db, int num,
 bool simdb_record_used(simdb_t *db, int num);
 
 /**
- * @brief Create record from image file
+ * @brief Create an record from image file
+ * @param db  Database handle
+ * @param num Number of record to add / replace
  * @param path Path to source image
- * @returns Pointer to newly created record or NULL on error
+ * @param flags Modifier flags. See @a SIMDBAddModifiers group for possible values.
+ * @retval <0 on error
+ * @retval  0 if @a num > 0, SIMDB_ADD_NOEXPAND flag set, but record not exists
+ *         or if @a num > 0, SIMDB_ADD_NOREPLACE flag set, and record already used
+ * @retval >0 if record added successfully
+ * @note setting @a num to zero means "append to end"
  */
-bool simdb_record_create(void * rec, const char *path);
+int simdb_record_add(simdb_t *db, int num, const char *path, int flags);
 
 /**
  * @brief Delete a record from database by num
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 3aef81d..1e09785 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,5 +4,5 @@ add_test("test/bitmap"   "test-bitmap")
 add_executable("test-record" "record.c")
 add_test("test/record"   "test-record")
 
-add_executable("test-io" "io.c" "../src/database.c" "../src/bitmap.c")
+add_executable("test-io" "io.c" "../src/database.c" "../src/bitmap.c" "../src/samplers/dummy.c")
 add_test("test/io" "test-io")