General topics: external sources as friendly databases

Approaching external sources as friendly databases

Five so-called gateways (HTTP handlers) to external sources (third-party databases), are made freely available by Axiell. In your applications you can point to those external sources in the shape of friendly databases. This allows you to derive records from these sources, so that you don’t need to enter that data yourself anymore.
The external sources which are currently available, and the accompanying URL to the gateway for each of them, are the following:

•	Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Dutch Royal Library): http://gateway.adlibsoft.com/dutch-royal-library/gate.aspx?search=

•	British Library: http://gateway.adlibsoft.com/british-library/gate.aspx?search=

•	Library of Congress: http://gateway.adlibsoft.com/library-of-congress/gate.aspx?search=

•	German National Bibliography: http://gateway.adlibsoft.com/deutsche-nationalbibliothek/gate.aspx?search=

•	Gemeinsamer Verbundkatalog (GVK - German) http://gateway.adlibsoft.com/german-gvk/gate.aspx?search=

Such external sources (if they aren't present already in your application) can be set up as friendly databases in Designer, either manually or semi-automatically. The manual way is as follows:

1.	Create a friendly database in the data source in which you wish to be able to derive records from the external source, for instance the Books data source in a library catalogue.

2.	In the Folder property of the friendly database, enter the desired URL: pick one of the above.

Per friendly database you have to set three applicable screens, one to be able to search the external source, one to display a found record and a link screen. Which fields (may) appear on those screens, depends on the relevant external source. We have already made default screens (qbf_ext.fmt, lnk_ext.fmt en zm_ext.fmt) for the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the Britisch Library, the Library of Congress, the German National Bibliography and the GVK. Contact Axiell ALM Netherlands to receive these screens by e-mail if they are not present already in your \screens folder. First, put all received screens in your own Axiell \screens subfolder. Then set the proper three screens in the Screens properties of the friendly database, for example:
Search screen: ../screens/qbf_ext
Search result screen: ../screens/lnk_ext
Zoom screen: ../screens/zm_ext

4.	The Remove original record after retrieval option must of course be left unmarked, since you can’t delete original records from the external sources.

5.	Save the application structure, recycle your Collections IIS application pool and log in to Collections again. You are now ready to derive title descriptions from the external sources you've just set up.

However, Axiell Designer can make these settings automatically as well:

1.	Right-click the data source in which you wish to be able to derive records from the external source, for instance the Books data source in a library catalogue.

2.	In the pop-up menu that opens, you should find the Choose friendly databases option. If this option is missing, Designer was not able to retrieve the necessary data for making the settings from the internet, and you have to apply the manual settings anyway. Choose the mentioned option.

The Select services from gateway.adlibsoft.com window opens. Simply mark the external sources that you like to set up, and then close the window. The required screens will be downloaded automatically and set up as well (if the download doesn’t succeed, you can continue only using the manual settings).

4.	Save the application structure and restart your Collections application. You are now ready to derive title descriptions from the external sources you’ve set up.