Removing “extra” Institutions from Login Screen

• Article Type: General
• Product: MetaLib
• Product Version: 3

Description:
How do I remove “extra” institutions from the PDS Login screen?

Resolution:
The login page’s institution drop down list is generated using the place holders visible in the HTML code of the ./pds/html_form/calling_system-metalib/login page.
The relevant section of the login file would be this:
<TD class="LoginLabel">Institution:&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD>
<SELECT name=institute class="form" style="width:180px">
<END_SECTION><!-- login-1 -->
<START_SECTION><!-- login-2 -->
<option value=$1000 $3000>$2000</option>
<END_SECTION><!-- login-2 -->
<START_SECTION><!-- login-3 -->
</SELECT>
</TD>

The contents used to populate these placeholders are ./pds/conf_table directory. All files that are named using the format tab_service.code are scanned (ignoring files in the format tab_service.code.xxx).

The DigiTool Institute is in the list because PDS is shipped with the default file tab_service.digitool. The file will not exist in the next version but in 3.13 it needs to be deleted manually (or renamed aside to something like tab_service.digitool.bak) in order to remove it from the drop down list.

IMPORTANT: The file tab_service.metalib cannot be deleted!; this file is required for the standard operation of Metalib with PDS. That said, there are at least two techniques to hide the "MetaLib Institution" from the dropdown list (if this is required).

The first option to hide the MetaLib Institution from the Login screen: A Metalib site can set the description (desc) parameter with the tab_institute.metalib to be empty.

Within tab_institute.metalib, the last "stanza" would be modified from this value:
[INSTITUTE_DISPLAY]
code = METALIB
lang = ENG
desc = Metalib Institution
[END]

to this modified value:
[INSTITUTE_DISPLAY]
code = METALIB
lang = ENG
desc =
[END]

Modifying the ./pds/conf_table/tab_service.metalib in this manner will create an empty entry in the drop down menu. There will be a blank line but no text displaying.

2nd option to hide the MetaLib Institution: For Metalib sites with a single institution, it is possible to modify the same ./pds/html_form/calling_system-metalib/login file to remove the Institution dropdown from view and "force" all patrons to authenticate using the single institution code.

For this second option, there is an HTML code change required in the ./pds/html_form/calling_system-metalib/login file.

In the example below, an institution code = STATECOLLEGE is used to demonstrate the specific changes required:

Steps:

1) Comment out the existing section (which relies on the $1000 $3000 and $2000 placeholders to confirm the institution codes and display names)
<!----- hiding the drop down menu on the login page ---------------

<TR STYLE="PADDING:0PX 0PX 6PX 0PX">
<TD CLASS="LableBoldDark">Password:</TD>
<TD><INPUT TYPE="password" maxLength=100 name=bor_verification class="form" style="width:203px"></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD CLASS="LableBoldDark">Institution:</TD>
<TD>
<SELECT name=institute class="form" style="width:203px">
<END_SECTION><!-- login-1 -->
<START_SECTION><!-- login-2 -->
<option value=$1000 $3000>$2000</option>
<END_SECTION><!-- login-2 -->
<START_SECTION><!-- login-3 -->
</SELECT>
</TD>
</TR>
------ replaced the code with the following --------->

2) Replace with the following HTML code:

<TR STYLE="PADDING:0PX 0PX 6PX 0PX">
<TD CLASS="LableBoldDark">Password:
</TD>
<TD><INPUT TYPE="password" maxLength=100 name=bor_verification class="form" style="width:203px"></TD>
</TR>
<TD>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD STYLE="PADDING:15PX 0PX 0PX 1PX">
<input type="hidden" name="institute" value="STATECOLLEGE" $$0300-STATECOLLEGE>
</TR>

<!----- end of hiding the drop down menu ----->

3) As the “metalib” user in a server session, restart the web servers with a start_w command.

THIS SHOULD SUFFICE. IF HOWEVER, THE CHANGE IS NOT SEEN PROCEED BELOW.

4) If the HTML display change is not immediately taken, the library staff testing the change may need to clear the browser’s cache or clear the MetaLib software’s utf_files cache (typically found within the $TMPDIR or located as a subdirectory at $metalib_dev).

After locating the /utf_files cache, the librarian can remove the utf_files (a cache of all Metalib configuration and display files stored in UTF-8 to speed display and performance) using this at the server command line:

>>rm –rf utf_files

In the example below, the librarian connected to a Metalib server session confirms the following:

4a) Located within the $TMPDIR or the $metalib_dev, the librarian can confirm the presence of the /utf_files cache using the command

“ls -lrt utf_files”

For example:

Metalib-server-m3_1-DAT01>>ls -lrt utf_files/
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