[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] conversion of overdue items to lost -- very basic

[Dan Wells]

Hello Sheila,

Lost marking in Evergreen is handled by a flexible (but somewhat complex) "Action Trigger" system.  The event definition for lost marking in a stock install can only be easily configured for number of days overdue, not for individual circ modifiers, so any checkout which is, for instance, 90 days overdue will be marked as lost.  I should also note that this event is disabled in a stock install.

Before the "action" (in this case, marking the item lost) happens, though, it must pass a "validation" step.  The stock event simply verifies that the circ is overdue, but I would think it is possible to write a validator which would check for certain circ modifiers.  If you did that, you could then define multiple triggers with different overdue requirements and different validators to achieve the effect you are after.  Creating a new "validator" involves writing some Perl code, if I remember correctly.  While not "easy", this type of code isn't terribly intense, and many people here or in IRC could provide guidance if you or someone on your staff with some basic Perl understanding wanted to take a crack at it.

It's been quite a while since I worked with setting up out Action Triggers, but I expect others will chime in if I am too far off.

Hope this helps,
Dan

-- 
*********************************************************************************
Daniel Wells, Library Programmer Analyst dbw2 at calvin.edu
Hekman Library at Calvin College
616.526.7133


>>> On 7/23/2012 at 10:23 AM, "Kearns, Sheila" <Sheila.Kearns at state.vt.us> wrote:
> Looking for some quick guidance and hoping the terminology is correct.
> 
> Is there a single point at which all items (regardless of circ modifier) are 
> converted to lost or can that be different for different circ. modifiers?
> 
> -----------------------------------
> Sheila M. Kearns
> Vermont Dept. of Libraries
> 109 State St.
> Montpelier, VT 05609
> 802-828-6952
> sheila.kearns at state.vt.us 
> -----------------------------------