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    Looking at doc records with SQL; Binary Large OBject format

    • Article Type: General
    • Product: Aleph
    • Product Version: 18.01

    Description:
    You are trying to look at bib, adm, hol, authority, or course reserve records in SQL. When you select "Z00_data", all you see is the first 80 bytes. You want to see the rest.

    Resolution:
    The Z00 is stored in Binary Long OBject (or Binary Large OBject) format. This is SQL data type "LONG RAW". By default, SQL will only display 80 bytes from a type LONG field. To see more of the record, in SQLPlus, enter this command: "set long 2000". This will enable up to 2,000 bytes of the Z00 to display.

    Alternatively, you can use the ALEPH "util f" /4 command, specifying "doc" as the File Name, to look at Z00/doc records. (The fields are formatted better / more readable when viewed under this utility.)

    Note: though you can, using the "select z00_data from z00;" command, display as many bytes of the z00 as you have specified in the "set long" command, you are *not* able --regardless of what "set long" is set to-- to anything like this:

    select substr (Z00_DATA, 1,7) from z00;

    or

    select * from z00 where z00_data like '0008FMT LBK%';

    These will not work ( you get the message: "ORA-00932: inconsistent datatypes") since SQL does not allow such queries against LONG-format data.

    In 15.2-up, the z00r table (if built) can be used for SQL queries. (See KB 9560.)

    If the field in question is author, title, call number, imprint or isbn/issn, you can do SQL on the Z13 record.

    Additional Information

    faq


    • Article last edited: 10/8/2013
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