Question

Searching for a call number in the item bar using only a single numeric character for the search leads to a wrong result because the call number type is taken into consideration. Why?

Answer

The algorithm for searching the call number is VERY complicated but it works fine. Here is the full explanation:
Lets take an example which has call number TYPE "1" and the following call number: "1"
The FIRST priority of the call number search is an EXACT combination of the call number type AND the call number. This means that if you enter the following: "11" it will find the item (in this case if you search "1" it will also find the item). If it FAILS to find the item, it will try to search with the EXACT combination of the call number 2 TYPE AND call number 2. Then, if there is still no match it will try to get a match using tab_filing_call_no with ALL the types defined there (first for the combination of call number type + call number and then for call number 2 type + call number 2 ...) and if, at last, one of the combinations defined there finds a match, the item is displayed.
So it is a very long (and complicated algorithm) and the system "does its best" to find a match (and sometimes the results of this search are not as expected). Therefore, the BEST search option would be an exact combination of the call number TYPE AND the call number.

Category: Cataloging