When reviewing the USMARC electronic file transfer specs this afternoon,
I noticed the following sentence (p.55):
"A file of USMARC records is transferred electronically *following* a label
file that identifies and characterizes the file of USMARC records..."
*-- emphasis added.
Are any sites making use of this prescription of the order of events? I
ask because we rely on things happening in the opposite order. The vast
majority of our record exchange is performed via FTP and is automated.
For incoming data, the system recognizes the arrival of the label file and
uses that as a trigger to run whatever jobs are necessary to convert and
load the records, which are presumed to have arrived. (In order to
preserve required formatting, the file into which the records are
put must be preallocated on the mainframe, and since that file is always
there in some form or other, its "arrival" can't be used as a trigger.)
The programs will verify the record counts and, where necessary,
coverage dates from the label file before continuing with processing.
Works like a charm.
Does anyone remember why the transfer order was specified the way it was?
Does anyone care? Thanks for refreshing my memory,
--Robin
Robin Wendler ........................ work (617) 495-3724
Office for Information Systems ....... fax (617) 495-0491
Harvard University Library ........... [log in to unmask]
Cambridge, MA, USA 02138 .............
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