RE: loading patron records

["Gould, Christopher A." <GouldC@xxxxxxxxxx>]

<<
----Original Message-----
From: Lesha Fossey [mailto:L.Fossey@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2000 6:18 AM
To: INNOPAC@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: loading patron records

[snip]

We load files of patron records,[...]When these replacement records are
loaded, 
we are finding that up-to-date address information which we may have got
from 
the student is being overwritten by older, often inaccurate addresses which 
Registry has for them. And if any of the address fields are EMPTY in the 
replacement record, then our possibly more accurate information will be
deleted 
completely (i.e. "overwritten" with a blank field). 

I am thinking that the way to solve this would be to "protect" the address 
fields.>>

There are different kinds of overlay protection available. It seems that
what you are looking for is Overlay Protection with "d" Qualification for
your address field (see #3 below).

Overlay Options (using "Address" field as example)

1. No Overlay Protection

If the existing record has an address field, and the incoming record has an
address field, the incoming address field will overlay the existing address
field 

If the existing record has an address field, and the incoming record does
not have an address field, the existing address will be overlaid by a blank
field.

If the existing record does not have an address field, and the incoming
record has an address field, the incoming address field will load.

2. Straight Overlay Protection

If the existing record has an address field, and the incoming record has an
address field, the incoming field will be added to the existing field,
resulting in two address fields.

If the existing record has an address field, and the incoming record does
not have an address field, the address field from the existing record will
be retained.

If the existing record does not have an address field, and the incoming
record does have an address field, the address field from the incoming
record will be loaded.

3. Overlay Protection with "d" (Delete) Qualification

If the existing record has an address field, and the incoming record has an
address field, the address field in the existing record is kept, and the
address field in the incoming record is discarded.

If the existing record has an address field, and the incoming record does
not have an address field, the address field for the existing record is
retained.

If the existing record does not have an address field and the incoming
record has an address field, the address field on the incoming record is
loaded.

4. Overlay Protection with "k" (Keep) Qualification

If the existing record has an address field, and the incoming record has an
address field, the address field in the existing record is overlaid by the
address field in the incoming record.

If the existing record has an address field, and the incoming record does
not have an address field, the address field in the existing record will be
retained.

If the existing record does not have an address field, and the incoming
record has an address field, the address field in the incoming record will
be loaded.


If the above makes your head spin, please see the attached chart. Hope it
helps,

cag

Christopher A. Gould
Software Support Analyst
MOBIUS: Linking Missouri's Academic Libraries
573-882-7233 * 877-3-MOBIUS * FAX 573-884-3395
GouldC@xxxxxxxxxx

Overlay Protection Options.doc