• Article Type: General
• Product: MetaLib
• Product Version: 4

Description:
How can I delete a portal I created in MetaLib?

Resolution:
Version 3:
We currently do not have a utility for removing portals automatically in v3; please refer to the attachment for manual instructions.

Version 4:
Due to program changes in v4, deletion of a portal is now performed via a script on the server side by Metalib Support staff.
If you would like to remove one or more v4 portals, please submit a support incident and indicate which portal(s) you would like to have removed and on which server(s).
Please review the following information as you should be aware of the portal related components in a MetaLib instance that are removed by the "Delete Portal" procedure:

1. Institutional Settings
When creating a new institution or adding a new portal to a given institution, a record is created in the portal table (./vir00/PORTAL).
When deleting a portal, the record is removed from this table.

2. Portal Default Users
When creating a new institution or adding a new portal to a given institution, three default users are automatically created for the portal in the user table (./vir00/z312).
Similarly, when adding a new language to an existing portal, three more default users are added to the same table.
When deleting a portal, all the default users for all the languages are removed.
The users are defined in the following formats:
• <PORTAL-LNG>
• <PORTAL-LNG>-GUEST
• <PORTAL-LNG>-IN

3. QuickSets
Library-defined QuickSets for the default users (see Portal Default Users above) are created in the MySets table (./vir00/Z122) via /V interface – My Space>My Databases.
When deleting a portal, MetaLib removes the QuickSets for all the default users for all languages.

4. Category Display
The list of categories using the Category Display option of the Categories Admin module in the Management Interface is created in the Category Display table (./dat01/Z125).
When deleting a portal, MetaLib removes the records from the Category Display table for all languages.

5. Look and Feel
A portal is always associated with a user interface (ins<NN>).
Portals may share a common interface, or point to their own interface.
When deleting a portal, if the portal does not share the interface with any other portals, MetaLib removes the ins<NN> directory tree from the Unix directory structure.

6. IP Ranges/Portal Definitions
The ./vir00/tab/default_z312 file may contain records referencing the given portal, either by IP range or by portal code.
When deleting a portal, MetaLib only deletes the portal lines (for the "Change Portal" functionality).

7. End Users
End user (patrons) records contain a field that defines the default portal for the user.
This field is populated when a user record is created.
Users may change their preference via My Space > Preferences.
When deleting a portal, the procedure checks for the existence of end users who have the given portal as their default.
If records are found, the procedure prompts for changing the preference.
Similarly, the procedure also checks for the existence of the given portal in the ./ins<NN>/www_v_<lng>/portal-include file.
If it exists, the entry in the portal-include file is removed for the relevant instance.

8. Personalized Lists
End users may have created the following personalized lists when using MetaLib:
• My Databases (./vir00/Z122)
• e-Shelf folders (./vir00/Z119)
• History/Alerts (./vir00/Z325)
• My e-Journals (./vir00/MY_E_JOURNAL)

When deleting a portal, MetaLib removes all the associated records from the personalized lists, with the exception of end users that you choose to retain in the table (see #7, "End Users," above).

9. Change Portal Menu
Sites can customize the ./ins<NN>/www_v_<lng>/menu-portal files which server the "Change Portal" functionality for both guest and affiliated users.
When deleting a portal, MetaLib removes the portal definition from the menu-portal file only in the ./ins<NN> directory with which the portal is associated.

You should also be aware of some limitations when deleting a portal:

• If there is only one portal for a given institution, it cannot be deleted.
• If the user interface for the given portal is shared with other portals, the ./ins<NN> directory tree is not deleted from the Unix tree structure.
• If there are IP ranges defined in the ./vir00/tab/default_z312 table for the given portal, the delete portal procedure is terminated with an appropriate message.
The portal cannot be deleted until the records in the ./vir00/tab/default_z312 table are updated with a different portal definition, or removed from the table.
• If the given portal is referenced in the "Change Portal" menu/s of the associated instance, the portal code is changed to METALIB. If referenced in other instances, no changes are made since the portal code is not unique across institutions (the same portal code can exist in more than one institution).
• If there are end users whose default portal references the deleted portal, the procedure prompts you to select one of the following o