RE: Global updating commas in patron records

["Jackson, Richard" <rjackson@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Regular expressions are part of Create Lists; there is no way I know of to
use them directly in Global Update.  However, one thing you could do is use
a regular expression to create a list of those patron names that have only a
simple last name and first name, and then use Global Update to change the
one space between the names to a comma (or to comma space?).  I don't have
access to a patron file to test this on, but the following should work:

Patron name matches ^[^ ]+ [^ ]+$

(Translation:  find patron names that begin with one or more characters that
are not spaces, followed by a space, followed by one or more characters that
are not spaces, followed by the end of the field.)

If that doesn't work, try:
Patron name matches ^[a-z]+ [a-z]+$

For the rest -- those names with middle names, middle initials, or surnames
with spaces -- I  think you might have to add the commas manually.

I hope this helps.

Richard V. Jackson
Catalog Librarian / Database Manager
Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, Calif. 91108
rjackson@xxxxxxxxxx


 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Laura Gallucci [mailto:Laura_Gallucci@xxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent:	Friday, July 18, 2003 1:30 PM
To:	innopac@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject:	Global updating commas in patron records

	In working with a more refined authentication system for our
databases I am faced with the problem of refining the conformity of the name
field in our patron records.  The format needs to be Last name, first name.
I have several thousand records
that do not have the comma in between the names.
	I know I can do this in Millennium Global update if I enter the
right regular expression.  I cannot seem to find what that expression is.
The closest I can get is to replace all the spaces with commas, which is no
good. I would be most grateful if
anyone has any suggestions.  Thank you.   

Regards, 

Laura Gallucci, M.L.S.
URSUS Library Systems Manager
Raymond H. Fogler Library
University of Maine, Orono
Ph#: 207-581-1687
E-mail: laura.gallucci@xxxxxxxxxx

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