by Andrew Fuerste-Henry on May 6, 2020
[17168] Add a command line script for updating patron category based on status
This enhancement extends the cronjob used to update patrons from child to adult patron categories based on their age. It can now also change patrons from one category based on their fine total, registration date, or any other field in the borrowers table. This is a huge jump up in functionality and we're excited to see how it gets used! This development was sponsored by our partners at the Round Rock Public Library.
[11529] Add subtitle, medium and part fields to biblio table
This patch creates four new fields in the biblio table and maps them to MARC fields. The new fields subtitle, medium, part_number, and part_name are connected to the 245$b, 245$h, 245$n, and 245$p, respectively. This accomplishes a few things. First, those values will all be a lot easier to find in reports -- for instance you can now just say "SELECT biblio.subtitle" rather than using "extractvalue(metadata,'//datafield[@tag=245]/subfield[@code="b"]')" to query the MARC. Additionally, this makes it easier to pull those values into various Koha screens. For example, our OPAC & Public Services post discusses bug 7074, which makes these fields visible at checkout and checkin.
Prior to 19.11, subtitle could be set up in the Keyword to MARC Mapping page in Administration. That page has been removed in favor of these new fields and mappings.
These changes will only apply to records created or saved after your site is upgraded to 19.11. To force an old record to update to use these fields, simply open and save it in the record editor.
This enhancement was sponsored by the National Library of Finland.
[20292] Filter/censor info sent via SIP
This enhancement allows a library to limit the patron information that is sent to third-party vendors via SIP, in the interest of increased patron privacy. The setup for this feature is done in the SIP configuration file on your server, so please let us know if you need to make changes here.
This enhancement was sponsored by Duchesne County Library and Uintah Library System.
[20954] Add ability to set syspref overrides in SIP as we can in Apache
This patch allows libraries to override system preferences in their SIP configuration in order to make SIP-connected devices behave differently from the Koha staff interface. For example, with this enhancement a library could use the AllFinesNeedOverride system preference in the staff client so that staff always get an alert when checking out to a patron with a fine, but set up their SIP configuration to make their SIP-connected self-check machines not generate this alert. The setup for this feature is done in the SIP configuration file on your server, so please let us know if you need to make changes here.
This enhancement was sponsored by Southeast Kansas Library System.
[23197] Add more batch operation options to SQL report results & [23206] Batch patron modification from reports which return cardnumber
These enhancements both expand on the 19.05 feature that allows us to send items to batch item modification from a report when itemnumbers are returned. With these new patches we can do the same for batch item deletion, batch record modification and deletion when return biblionumbers, and batch patron modification when returning cardnumbers. Biblionumbers can also be sent to a list. To top it all off, the button got fancier looking!
[23390] Add placeholder syntax for column names
With this patch, all those fun batch actions described above can also be used when you've renamed your columns! Follow the syntax "[[(actual field)|(new name)]]." So to get itemnumbers and allow them to be used for batch functions but call the column "checked_out," you'd say "[[itemnumber|checked_out]]."
[11529] Add subtitle, medium and part fields to biblio table
[23626] Add a system preference to limit the number of rows of data used when charting or exporting report results and [23624] Count rows in report without (potentially) consuming all memory
Our partners at the Fenway Library Organization and Higher Education Libraries of Massachusetts sponsored these two developments to prevent very large reports from overloading a Koha server.
Changes to Accountlines
Several patches worked together to overhaul how the accountslines table records credits and debits in patron accounts. Reports will need to be adapted to the new data structure. See details of the changes here.
[18928] Move holdallowed, hold_fulfillment_policy and returnbranch into the circulation_rules table & [18930] Move ‘refund lost item fee rules’ into the circulation_rules table
We don’t see a lot of partners using reports to look at their circulation rules, but it comes up occasionally and I recently wrote a blog post breaking down which tables that data is stored in. In 19.11, that gets a lot simpler as everything moves into the circulation_rules table. The “rule_name” field distinguishes what type of rule it is. If you have any circ rule reports, they’ll need to get updated.
We are hosting two Q&A Sessions in June - to further prepare you for the upcoming 19.11 release. If you would like to send us any questions you have regarding 19.11 features, email us at:
19.11upgrades@bywatersolutions.com
All questions received will be answered during our Q&A Session and posted on our Q&A page.
Read more by Andrew Fuerste-Henry