Maximum length of MARC records in Voyager
- Product: Voyager
- Relevant for Installation Type: Multi-Tenant Direct, Dedicated-Direct, Local, TotalCare
Question
What is the maximum MARC record length in Voyager?
Answer
MARC 21 records have a maximum length of 99999 characters. This applies to both BIBs and MFHDs. This is the largest number that can be entered in the MARC 21 Logical Record Length field (Leader, character positions 00-04).
There have been reports from customers of issues with records exceeding 95,000 bytes.
Since the MARC record length is a 5-byte field, it's not possible for the length to exceed 99,999.
Additional Information
The following Prepackaged Access Reports queries might help you to identify records approaching this limit:
This is a query for MFHDs longer than 95,000 bytes:
SELECT MFHD_DATA.MFHD_ID, Mid([RECORD_SEGMENT],1,5) AS RecLeng
FROM MFHD_DATA
WHERE (((MFHD_DATA.SEQNUM)="1") AND ((Mid([RECORD_SEGMENT],1,5))>'95000'));
This is a query for BIBs longer than 95,000 bytes:
SELECT BIB_DATA.BIB_ID, Mid([RECORD_SEGMENT],1,5) AS RecLeng
FROM BIB_DATA
WHERE (((BIB_DATA.SEQNUM)="1") AND ((Mid([RECORD_SEGMENT],1,5))>'95000'));
Constructing custom SQL queries by request and troubleshooting unexpected results from customer-created SQL queries falls outside the scope of Support. The above has been posted for informational purposes. Voyager-L and Developer Network are useful resources for finding helpful custom SQL or obtaining assistance from peers in troubleshooting custom queries.
- Article last edited: 15-Sept-2021