Skip to main content
ExLibris
  • Subscribe by RSS
  • Ex Libris Knowledge Center

    Problems with API to automatically place holds on ILL items

     

    • Product: Aleph
    • Product Version: 20, 21, 22, 23
    • Relevant for Installation Type: Dedicated-Direct, Direct, Local, Total Care

     

    Description

    We have been working with an API to automatically place holds on ILL items. (See attached patron_hold_python_script.htm .)  Our ILL items are Item Status 30. The API has been running successfully ever since we changed tab15.lng for Item Status 30 Items to be displayed in the Web OPAC. Currently, the program is running but Holds are not being placed on some items because Aleph now has the error message "Item or like copy is on shelf. Cannot place hold request" 
    The "Specific Item" (in tab15) is set to "N" for Item Status 30 items. If this is changed to "Y" will the API be able to place holds on like copies? Is there another table setting that needs to be changed to avoid this error message and allow the API to run successfully? 

    [Later:] 
    So far our experiment with the item process status (IPS) has been unsuccessful. Here's the tab 15 settings for the IPS status we're having the API place on the items: 
    BOBST ## T3 L Temporary IPS 3 Y Y C N Y Y N Y N 00 N A 
    Here are the results from our test yesterday. All of the errors say "Pickup sublibrary does not exist".  These are for Patron Statuses that are not allowed to place holds on available items.

    Resolution

    When the tab15 Specific Item is set to "Y" the request is placed just for that one item, no like items.

    An item is considered available as long as it has "Y" in tab15.eng, column 6 ("Can be loaned"), and it's not on loan. Putting a particular item process status on an item won't make a not-on-loan item be considered unavailable. 
      But setting "C" in tab15.eng, column 8, for this (temporary) item process status will make the item requestable even though it's available. ("C" means: "Item can be always be requested, there is no availability check because hold requests are always allowed".)
      Note: As described in the article "Limiting holds by both patron & item statuses (for paging)", the patron Z305-HOLD-ON-SHELF comes into play only when the TAB15-SHELF-TYPE = "Y" or "R". If you have it set to "C", that won't be an issue. 

     

    As far at the " Pickup sublibrary does not exist"....
     The 9102 message (in error_eng) is issued by the www_f_item_hold_request_c progam: 
     www_f_heading:9102 L Pickup sublibrary does not exist 
    when it calls check_z37 and check_37 returns an error code of 202, indicating that the L-LOCATION (the Z37-PICKUP-LOCATION) is not matched with any BUF-LOCATION (I) .

     

    [From customer:]  We already had a line in place for Item Status 30 items, which seemed like it should have been enough: 
    BOBST 30 ## ## # BOBST NCOUR NIFA NISAW NREI NDIBN NYUAB NYUSX 
    Last week when we began experimenting with placing the T3 Item Processing Status on the items before the holds were placed, this was the only line in tab37 related to the T3 IPS: 
    BOBST ## T3 ## Y BOBST 
    In order to cover everything, I changed column 5 for IPS T3 from a "Y" to a "#" and added every possible pick up location for ILLs and moved both lines for IPS T3 and Item Status 30 higher in table from positions 247 and 248 up to lines 205 and 206 to now look like: 
    BOBST ## T3 ## # BOBST NCOUR NIFA NISAW NREI NDIBN NYUAB NYUSX 
    BOBST 30 ## ## # BOBST NCOUR NIFA NISAW NREI NDIBN NYUAB NYUSX 

    That last change managed to fix the pick up location problems. 
     

     

     


    • Article last edited: 6-Jun-2017
    • Was this article helpful?