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Version: 3.5.X

Database Configuration Files

Two key files control how ABCD locates and interacts with its databases.

dbn.par (Database Parameter File)​

Located typically in the cgi-bin directory (or defined by the cipar parameter). This file maps a database name to its physical path on the server.

Example syntax:

users=%path_database%users/data/users
books=%path_database%books/data/books
log=%path_database%log/data/log

dr_path.def (Path and Advanced Definitions)​

Located inside each database folder (e.g., /bases/books/dr_path.def), this file contains a series of parameters used to activate special options for database management, file uploads, permissions, default sorting, and digital document routing.

General & System Parameters​

  • UNICODE: Establishes the character set used by the database.
    • 1: UNICODE (UTF-8)
    • 0 (or omitted): ANSI (ISO-8859-1)
    • Note: This is mandatory if the MULTIPLE_DB_FORMATS parameter is set in abcd.def.
  • CISIS_VERSION: Defines the version of CISIS to be used to manage the database. The combination of UNICODE and CISIS_VERSION determines the specific subfolder inside the cgi-bin directory from where the wxis executable will be invoked.
  • leader: The tag of the field where the "leader" information is stored for MARC records. If omitted, the leader information is stored starting at field 3000-.

Record Sorting Options​

These parameters define the default sorting behavior for database records:

  • SORTLENGTH: Defines the default sort key length. The value must be greater than zero (>0).
  • SORTBY: Determines the default sorting method. It can be set to sort by a specific Tag or by a custom Format.
  • SORTSPEC: Specifies the exact sorting criteria based on your SORTBY selection.
    • For Tag: Enter the integer tag number.
    • For Format: Enter the specific specification string (in ISIS formatting language) used to generate the sort keys.

Security & Access Control​

  • VALID_IP: Restricts access to the database based on the client's internet IP address. You can define valid IPs separated by commas (,). An empty value allows access from all addresses. Entering None strictly limits access to local network addresses.
    • Note: Link-Local Addresses are always allowed by design. * For detailed configuration instructions, please refer to the Database IP Access Control documentation.

Inventory & Barcodes​

  • inventory_numeric: Determines if leading zeros should be removed when scanning an item's barcode in the circulation module. (Y = strip leading zeros; N = keep leading zeros).
  • max_inventory_length: Indicates the maximum, fixed length of the inventory number. Missing positions are automatically padded with zeros (e.g., if set to 8, an entered value of 567 is saved as 00000567). This applies to the copies database.
  • max_cn_length: Indicates the maximum, fixed length of the control number, padded with zeros just like the inventory parameter. This is used when assigning control numbers via the database utilities.
  • barcode: Displays the barcode icon in the cataloging module toolbar to trigger the batch printing of barcodes and labels. (The operator must have the required permissions).

Thesaurus & Directory Browsing​

  • tesaurus: The name of the Thesaurus associated with the database.
  • prefix_search_tesaurus: The search prefix added to the thesaurus term when executing a search in the associated database.
  • dirtree: Enables (Y) or disables (N) exploring the database folder structure. To use this in the Utilities menu, the user must be a system admin, have central module permissions, or possess the EXBDIR=Y permission in their profile.
  • DIRTREE_EXT: Defines the allowed file extensions when browsing directories (bases, par, www, or wrk).
    • Default: *.def,*.iso,*.png,*.gif,*.jpg,*.pdf,*.xrf,*.mst,*.n01,*.n02,*.l01,*.l02,*.cnt,*.ifp,*.fmt,*.fdt,*.pft,*.fst,*.tab,*.txt,*.par,*.html,*.zip

User Interface (UI) Customization​

You can change the appearance and logo of the interface for a specific database folder:

  • CSS_NAME: The name of the folder containing the custom CSS style files.
  • LOGO: The path to the specific logo for this database (e.g., ../css/Folder_Name/Logo_Name.png).

Digital Documents & Storage​

  • ROOT: The absolute, full path specifying where digital documents are stored if they are located outside the server's root directory (e.g., ROOT=/bases/biblo/documents/).
  • collection: Specifies the subfolder used for storing digital objects linked to the records.

iAH Full-Text Access Control​

If you need to require a password to read the full-text version of protected documents via the iAH interface, the following parameters are used:

  • DB_PATH: The path where the respective database is located (required for iAH since it bypasses Central ABCD configs).
  • USER_SEARCH: The prefix used to locate the user's code.
  • USER_DISPLAY: The PFT format used to display the user's name.
  • DOCUMENT_DISPLAY: The PFT format used to display a brief reference to the selected document.
  • DOCUMENT_NAME: The PFT format used to extract the exact filename of the document to be shown.
  • HTTP_ACCESS: If documents are in the server root, this indicates the base URL to prepend to the filename.
  • FILE_ACCESS: If the document is outside the server root, this specifies the path to prepend before the document name. If omitted, the ROOT parameter path is used.