ABLETM

 

Advanced Bindery Library Exchange

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference Guide

 

 

 

 

 

Volume 24

 

Import Service

(A-Link)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Version 6.6.1

June 9, 2003

     

 

 

 

 

ABLEä Ventures, LLC

     


Copyright by ABLEä Ventures, LLC

 

This reference guide is copyrighted and all rights are reserved.  This document may not, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced translated, reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without prior consent, in writing, from the ABLEä Ventures, LLC.

 

The information in this document is subject to change without notice. The ABLEä Ventures, LLC assumes no responsibility for errors that may appear in this document.

 

For more information visit the ABLEä web site:  http://www.programmingconcepts.com/able/

Or contact,

ABLEä Ventures, LLC

c/o Paul Parisi

ACME Bookbinding

100 Cambridge Street

Charlestown, MA  02129

 (800) 242-1821

 

For technical support contact:

 

Programming Concepts, Inc.

                                                                 

web site:               http://www.programmingconcepts.com/able/  

e-mail:                   able_support@programmingconcepts.com

telephone:              631-563-3800 x230

fax:                       631-563-3898

                                                                 

 

ABLEä Ventures, LLC

Acme Bookbinding

Information Conservation, Inc.

Kater-Crafts Bookbinders

Lehmann Bookbinding

Mekatronics Inc.

National Library Binding of Georgia

Ocker & Trapp Library Bindery Inc.

Programming Concepts, Inc.

 

 

 

ABLEä is a trademark of Mekatronics, Inc. / Bendror International Inc. 1987-2001

 


 

Table of Contents

 

 

1.  Introduction. 5

2.  Import Service. 5

3.  User Interface. 8

3.1       A-Link Dialog. 8

3.2       A-Link Catalog Table Dialog. 10

3.3       A-Link Catalog Table Maintenance. 10

4.0       AVIAC-ABLEä Mappings. 13

Appendix A: AVIAC Subset & Format 15

Appendix B: Import Format Using the AVAIC Subset 16

Appendix C: Selection Criteria Matching Rules. 18

 

 

Revision History

 

v1.0       Initial release for review

v1.1      Added search criteria and a bar code field to the subset of the AVIAC format. 

             Removed support fee.

             Removed Terms & Conditions Attachment C.

v1.2      Assigned a name to service – A-Link

v6.4      Changed copyright.

V6.5     Barcode field expanded to 25 character maximum.   Call number and Collection fields expanded to 45 character maximum.

 

 

References: 

 

AVIAC Subset – See Appendix A

                        

 


 

Volumes

 

The ABLEä Reference Guide is comprised of multiple volumes.  The collection of volumes describes the functional and operational characteristics of ABLEä.  The volumes are:                     

 

 

Volume

Reference Guide

File Name

1

Introduction

r6-intro.htm

2

Library User

r6-library-user.htm

3

User Interface

r6-user.htm

4

Title Composition

r6-title.htm

5

Text Fit Style Guide

R6-style.htm

6

Reports

r6-report.htm

7

Bindery Control Services

r6-control.doc

9

File Maintenance

r6-maint.htm

10

Bindery Transfer

r6-transfer.htm

12

Embosser Control

R6-emboss.htm

13

Help

r6-help.htm

15

Billing Statistics

r6-bill.htm

16

Preventive Maintenance

r6-pm.htm

19

System 3 Services

R6-s3.htm

20

Library Installation

r6-linstall.htm

21

Bindery Installation

r6-binstall.htm

22

EZ-Cut

r6-ezcut.htm

23

FTP

r6-ftp.htm

24

A-Link

r6-alink.htm

25

Z-Link

r6-zlink.htm

27

File Import Service

r6-file-import.htm

 

 

                                                                                                                 

                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

1.  Introduction

 

The ability to easily import simple title information into ABLEä is required for non-ABLEä Library accounts and for ABLEä Library accounts wanting to read information from their circulation system using a subset of the AVIAC standard. 

 

This proposal provides an ABLEä 6 Library Import and Bindery Import service, similar to the Z-Link service.  The service is called A-Link.

 

 

2.  Import Service

 

The ABLEä Import service provides an easy, industry standard, mechanism for importing AVIAC titles into ABLEä. 

 

The workflow is as follows:

 

      Prior to ABLEä 6 Bindery

 

The customer provides titles in AVAIC “standard” format (see Reference and Attachment B). 

 

For Non-ABLEä customers, the files are processed on a ABLEä 6 Library system in the bindery so that v5.1 floppies (or FTP) files can be produced for ABLEä Bindery v5.1.   This workflow is as shown in Figure 1.

 

For ABLEä Library customers, the files are processed at the Library using this Import Service.  The Lots are transferred to bindery the same way they are now.

 

     

 

 

Figure 1  -  Work Flow

 

After ABLEä 6 Bindery

 

The customer provides titles in AVAIC format as per the reference and Attachment B. 

 

For Non-ABLEä customers, the files are processed on the Bindery workstation used for processing Bindery Transfer Files (diskettes or FTP).

 

For ABLEä Library customers, same as above.

 

 


Import Service Operation

 

The Import Service operation is similar to Z-Link.  Instead of a Z-Link screen, an AVIAC screen is displayed. 

 

Volumes are retrieved from the import file one at a time.  As they are retrieved they are considered processed.  The count of items processed is displayed. 

 

The bar code scanning of the Library Bar Code, Call Number or ISBN/ISSN is also supported.  The Library Bar Code may be saved in the ABLEä Private Id field.  (Note: This may change when ABLEä  Bindery is completed.)

 

The entire process can be reset by entering the same File Name on the Import Service Screen (see below).

 

There is a table for mapping the AVIAC fields to ABLEä variable prompt fields similar to Z-Link mapping.  A format entered just as for Z-Link that is filled in when a AVIAC record is retrieved.

 

 

 

 


3.  User Interface

 

The ABLEä A-Link service is available when in the ABLEä Title Screen through the menu item

 

                      Window: A-Link [Alt-Shift-Z]     

 

The ABLEä A-Link service (including relevant menu items) is enabled through the use of the

 

                      Setup: User Parameters: Enable A-Link

 

selectable menu item (by default, enabled).

 

The current AVIAC-ABLEä mapping table is selected via the menu item

 

                      Setup: User Parameters: A-Link Table

 

while the creation and definition of these tables is accessible by the menu item

 

                      Window: File Maintenance: A-Link Mapping

 

 

3.1        A-Link Dialog

 

The A-Link window has the following screen fields:

 

File Source                    Editable text field allowing specification of the name of the AVIAC standard file to import and search through.

 

Browse…                      Button allowing the user to find the desired file using a standard file choice dialog box, which populates the Source field when used.

 

Selection Criteria         A pull-down list of available selection criteria to use, offering:

                                                                                                    

                                            Title ID (Library)

                                            Title ID (Bindery)                     

                                            Library Bar Code

                                            ISSN/ISBN

                                            Title                                                

                                            Call Number

 

                                      Depending upon the selection criteria currently chosen, the user may enter a selection criteria string to match against records (e.g., "T" for all titles having title text starting with 'T'). The most recent data for a particular selection criteria is remembered. See Appendix C: Selection Criteria Matching Rules for a description of selection criteria matching rules.

 

Select                            A button to select by the current selection criteria. After selecting any number of records, provided at least one record exists, the first record according to the selection criteria has its data displayed as well as the number of items retrieved (number of items processed is initially 1--the record being displayed).

 

                                      All selected records are sorted in order as determined by the selection criteria. For example, selecting by title text will sort records by title text, while selecting by call number will sort by call number.

 

Maximum Records       If specified, limits the number of records returned. If not specified, no limit is imposed.

 

There are Next and Previous buttons will retrieve the next available volume according to the selection criteria used at the time the Select button was chosen.

 

An Import button is available when an AVIAC record is displayed, allowing the user to import the data according to the currently selected AVIAC-ABLE mapping table and to dismiss the dialog box. AClose button will also be available, as well as a Help button.

 

There will also be an area for displaying the (noneditable) AVIAC fields for a title, including:

 

Title ID (Library)

Title ID (Bindery)

Library Bar Code

ISSN/ISBN

Title         

Sub-Title

Author

Series

Volume

Number

Months

Year

Page Numbers

Abstract Numbers

Call Number

Lot ID

Date Sent

Date Expected

Date Returned

Department

Collection

 

The following states are persistent as each is described below.

 

                      Selected Records  All records obtained by choosing Select (as well as the current 'position') are stored in memory until another Select is performed or until the dialog box is Closeed.

 

                      File Source          The file source is stored across ABLEä sessions.

 

                      Selection Criteria The selection criteria is stored across ABLEä sessions.

                                                                                                          

                      Criteria Data        The criteria data corresponding to the selection criteria chosen is stored across ABLEä sessions.                        

 

3.2        A-Link Catalog Table Dialog

 

The A-Link catalog table dialog allows the user to select a catalog system mapping table for use in processing AVIAC fields before they are imported into the ABLEä title screen. The dialog provides

 

                      Table                   A pull-down list of all currently available AVIAC-ABLE mapping tables defined (with the most recent confirmed selection initially selected).

 

An OK button allows the user to confirm the selection of the current table to use for mapping, while a Cancel button allows the user to cancel any selections previously made. Both buttons dismiss the dialog box. A Help button is also available, allowing the user access to the online help system.

 

 

3.3        A-Link Catalog Table Maintenance

 

A-Link Mapping Tables are used to translate AVIAC fields to ABLEä fields.  Multiple Mapping Tables may be defined.

 

Each table has a name (not more than 30 alphanumeric characters; spaces and special characters except the underscore character are not allowed).

 

In order to add rows, one can either:

 

(1)   choose the right mouse button menu item New,

(2)   strike the Insert key, or

(3)   strike the Enter key after finished editing an entire row.

 

In order to delete rows, one can either:

 

(1)   choose the right mouse button menu item Delete (which deletes the row clicked on), or

(2)   strike the Delete key (which deletes the currently selected row).

 

The Mapping Table is as follows:

 

ABLETM Field

AVIAC Fields

Truncate

Char.

Upper Case

Substitute

Field Editing

ISSN/ISBN

 

 

 

 

 

Private Id

 

 

 

 

 

Department

 

 

 

 

n.a.

Collection

 

 

 

 

 

*Variable

 

 

 

 

 

 

NA - Not applicable

* Variable denotes variable field as entered in title text area (user editable).

 

The Mapping Table fields are summarized as follows:

       

ABLETM Field                         ABLETM fixed or variable prompt field to define.

AVIAC Fields                        The AVIAC field to place into the ABLEä field.

Truncate Char.                       The rule to truncate the AVIAC information.

Field Editing                           The rule for placing the information into the ABLEä field.

Upper Case                            The rule for translating the information to upper case.

Substitute                               The rule for substituting a character for a space (e.g. line break)

 

 

ABLETM Fields

 

The fields that may be set to AVIAC fields (if the AVIAC fields are available) are fixed fields and variable prompt fields.  The fixed fields always appear in the Mapping Table but need not be used.  The variable prompt fields need to be entered in empty table rows. There is a maximum of 20 characters allowed to be entered into this field.

 

The variable prompts are user defined and should be defined as they are specified in the actual ABLETM prompt.  The naming rules are:

 

Exact names are required.                         Vol is different from V.  

 

The name is case insensitive.                     Title is the same as TITLE. 

 

Special variable prompt names                   Certain prompts are recognized in various ways by ABLEä and need only to be entered once in the table.

 

Title                    T or Title

Call                    C or Call

Imprint               I or Imp

                                                                            

See section 3.11.1 in the Title Composition Guide. 

 

Panel break prefix                                    The panel break prefix should not be entered since the character is ignored if it appears in the format used to populate the title screen.

 

AVIAC Field

 

AVIAC fields are any of the following, available from a pull-down list:

 

Title ID (Library)

Title ID (Bindery)

Library Bar Code

ISSN/ISBN

Title    

Sub-Title

Author

Series

Volume

Number

Months

Year

Page Numbers

Abstract Numbers

Call Number

Lot ID

Date Sent

Date Expected

Date Returned

Department

Collection

 

Truncate Char.

 

The character to truncate the AVIAC field data.  The valid values are (in a pull down list) are:

 

None                              No truncation to apply.

Space ( )                         Truncate on first space character.

Comma (,)                      Truncate on first comma character.

Periods (.)                      Truncate on first period character.

Dashes (-)                      Truncate on first dash character.

Colons (:)                       Truncate on first colon character.

Semi-colons (;)              Truncate on semi-colon character.

 

             The user may also type another character not available in the list if so desired.

 

Upper Case

 

Force the AVIAC data to upper case.  This option is enabled by way of a checkbox.

 

 

Substitute

 

The space characters are replaced by another character if this rule is applied. The valid values are (in a pull down list) are:

 

None                              No substitution to apply.

Periods (.)                      Substitute a period character.

Dashes (-)                      Substitute a dash character.

Colons (:)                       Substitute a colon character.

Semi-colons (;)              Substitute a semi-colon character.

Slash (/)                          Substitute a slash character.

Backslash (\)                 Substitute a backslash character.

Dollar Sign ($)               Substitute a dollar character.

Pound Sign (#)               Substitute a pound sign character.

 

             The user may also type another character not available in the list if so desired.

 

 

Field Editing

 

This rule indicates the editing actions to be taken on the ABLEä field.  The valid values are (in a pull down list) are:

 

(Empty field)                  Only add AVIAC data if field is empty.

Append                          Add to end of existing data if any

Insert                             Insert before the existing data

Replace                         Delete existing data and put in AVIAC data

 

Note that in the particular case when the (existing variable text) field is non-empty and field editing is unspecified (i.e., only add AVIAC data if field is empty), no further processing (as discussed below) takes place on the already existing string.

 

Available buttons include:

 

Delete                           Allows the user to delete the currently selected mapping table.

 

Apply                            Allows the user to save any editing applied to the current table.

 

Close                            Allows the user to close the dialog, applying any editing applied to the currently selected table.

 

Save As…                     Prompts the user with a dialog box to save the currently selected mapping table under a different name (possibly overwriting an existing table). To the new mapping table name, the user may respond OK or Cancel.

 

Cancel                           Allows the user to close the dialog box and cancel any editing applied to the current table.

 

Help                              Allows the user to summon the online help system.

 

 

4.0        AVIAC-ABLEä Mappings

 

The mapping of AVIAC fields to ABLETM fields and variable prompts is described in this section.

 

 

Field Processing

 

The order of processing the editing fields  is:

 

AVIAC Fields                        The AVIAC fields to place into the ABLEä field are retrieved. If a field is unavailable, an empty string is used.

Truncate Char.                       The rule to truncate the AVIAC information.

Upper Case                            The rule for translating the information to upper case.

Substitute                               The rule for substituting a character for a space (e.g. line break).

Field Editing                           The rule for placing the information into the ABLEä field.

 

 

Department

 

The ABLEä Department field will only accept a value as defined in File Maintenance (in order to have that choice ‘selected’). The value used is the entire AVIAC field, with any additional processing specified applied to it (except, of course, field editing operations).

 

If no Departments are defined or there is no match, then the AVIAC field value is not used.

 

 


Appendix A: AVIAC Subset & Format

 

Serials and Monographs have exactly the same format except for ISSN for Serials and ISBN for Monographs.

 

Title ID (Library)

Title ID (Bindery)

Library Bar Code *

ISSN / ISBN

Title

Sub-Title

Author

Variable Information: Series

Variable Information: Volume

Variable Information: Number

Variable Information: Months

Variable Information: Year

Variable Information: Page Numbers

Variable Information: Abstract Numbers

Call Number

Shipment (Lot) Number)

Date Sent to Binder

Expected Return Date

Date Returned to Library

Department (Library Location)

Collection

 

*  Not a part of the AVIAC subset.


Appendix B: Import Format Using the AVAIC Subset

 

All AVIAC data files should have the extension 'txt' (e.g., 'aviac.txt'), since they are ASCII text files (that is, they use the ASCII character set and are in a DOS-compatible format).

 

The file layout is any number of records (including none), each delimited by an End of Record sequence. The End of Record sequence is the two characters

 

             Carriage Return            (ASCII Character 13)

             Line Feed                      (ASCII Character 10)

 

Each record is a sequence of fields (detailed below), with each field separated by an End of Field sequence. The End of Field sequence may also optionally be used to delimit each field. The End of Field sequence is the single character

 

             Horizontal Tab (ASCII Character 9)

 

Note that the End of Field sequence may be used as a separator to allow the imporation of data as exported from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, if desired.

 

Note: Note that Microsoft Excel has been known to introduce blank records with empty fields towards the end of tab-delimited files--the AVIAC standard file format requires some fields to be specified, making this type of file data invalid. In order to correct this, ensure that no blank records are appended to the end of exported, tab-delimited files.

 

Each field is detailed below (variable maximum lengths and valid character labels are explained below).

 

Field  

Name

Description

Minimum Length

Maximum Length

Valid Characters

1.      

Title ID (Library)

Library Title ID

1

6

Numeric

2.      

Title ID (Bindery)

Bindery Title ID

1

6

Numeric

3.      

Library Bar Code

Library Bar Code

1

25

Line Printable

4.      

ISSN/ISBN

ISSN/ISBN

1

13

Line Printable

5.      

Title

Title Text

0

500*

Line Printable

6.      

Sub-Title

Sub-Title Text

0

500*

Line Printable

7.      

Author

Author

0

500*

Line Printable

8.      

Series

Variable Information: Series

0

500*

Line Printable

9.      

Volume

Variable Information: Volume

0

500*

Line Printable

10.    

Number

Variable Information: Number

0

500*

Line Printable

11.    

Months

Variable Information: Months

0

500*

Line Printable

12.    

Year

Variable Information: Year

0

500*

Line Printable

13.    

Page Numbers

Variable Information: Page Numbers

0

500*

Line Printable

14.    

Abstract Numbers

Variable Information: Abstract Numbers

0

500*

Line Printable

15.    

Call Number

Call Number

1

45

Line Printable

16.    

Lot ID

Shipment (Lot) Number

1

8

Line Printable

17.    

Date Sent

Date Sent to Binder

1

11

Line Printable

18.    

Date Expected

Expected Return Date

1

11

Line Printable

19.    

Date Returned

Date Returned to Library

1

11

Line Printable

20.    

Department

Department (Library Location)

1

6

Line Printable

21.    

Collection

Collection

1

45

Line Printable

 

* Given that ni is the actual length of the data found for field i, we have the additional restriction that å 5 £ i £ 14 (ni) £ 500.

 

The valid character labels are as follows:

 

Numeric            Numeric characters include the ten digits 0 through 9. Examples include '025', '1', etc.

 

Line Printable   Line printable characters include any ASCII characters between ASCII character 32 (space) and ASCII character 126 (tilde). Examples include 'War\And\Peace', and 'Title Text'.

 


Appendix C: Selection Criteria Matching Rules

 

Each field is governed by the following selection criteria matching rules.

 

Field  

Name

Selection Criteria Matching Rule

1.      

Title ID (Library)

Numeric

2.      

Title ID (Bindery)

Numeric

3.      

Library Bar Code

Prefix

4.      

ISSN/ISBN

Prefix

5.      

Title

Encoded Prefix

6.      

Sub-Title

Encoded Prefix

7.      

Author

Encoded Prefix

8.      

Series

Encoded Prefix

9.      

Volume

Encoded Prefix

10.    

Number

Encoded Prefix

11.    

Months

Encoded Prefix

12.    

Year

Encoded Prefix

13.    

Page Numbers

Encoded Prefix

14.    

Abstract Numbers

Encoded Prefix

15.    

Call Number

Encoded Prefix

16.    

Lot ID

Prefix

17.    

Date Sent

Prefix

18.    

Date Expected

Prefix

19.    

Date Returned

Prefix

20.    

Department

Prefix

21.    

Collection

Prefix

 

The selection criteria matching rules are as follows:

 

Numeric            If the selection criteria string is unspecified, all numeric fields are matched.

 

                         If the selection criteria string is specified and it represents a valid number n, all numeric fields representing n are matched.

 

                         In the case that either the selection criteria string or the field can not be recognized as a valid number, no match occurs.

 

Prefix                If the selection criteria string is unspecified, all prefix fields are matched.

                                

                         If the selection criteria string is specified, all prefix characters that begin with the selection criteria string (ignoring case) are matched.

 

Encoded Prefix If the selection criteria string is unspecified, all encoded prefix fields are matched.

                                

                         If the selection criteria string is specified, all encoded prefix characters that begin with the selection criteria string (ignoring case) are matched. Before comparison, all encoded line break characters (slash) are converted to space characters. E.g., 'T\' would match 't '.