Version history
This page summarises the new functionality and defects fixed for each release of Talis Alto. The defect ID is also given.
Talis Alto 4.3
New functionality :
The Talis Alto online help has been updated to provide easier navigation, and a facility to 'bookmark' help topics.
In Circulation
- Borrowers can now have credit on their records. This may be created either by overpayments in a self-service payment kiosk that is unable to give change, or by ‘loading’ money into the account. In Talis Alto, charges may be paid from the credit, or a refund given.
- When viewing a Reservation, two new fields show the date the first item is due back, and the reservation’s position in the queue. When viewing a Reservation via the Reservations tab in Issue, Renew, Discharge or Borrower, the ‘more’ buttons are now active, allowing pop-up forms to be viewed. The Work Reservations and History tabs are also displayed.
- Smartcard numbers are no longer held in the ID field on the borrower form. This means that a borrower can now have both a Smartcard number and a Registry System ID number if required.
- When viewing a borrower’s loan history, the most recent loans are now displayed.
In Cataloguing
- Cataloguers may now perform an automatic standard identifier search of external databases if required, instead of using the Bibliographic Search form.
- It is now possible to repeat a search against a different target without having to reselect the required search attributes and structures. For example, if a search of the Local catalogue does not produce any results, the search can be repeated against one of the Talis Base databases simply by selecting the required target.
Defects fixed:
- 3443 (Circulation) Performing an address search in Borrower with an invalid postcode now produces an ‘Invalid postcode’ message, rather than ‘Unspecified error’
- 3516 (Circulation) Performing an address search in Borrower no longer upper-cases the data that was input (such as house names)
- 4418 (Circulation) A new environment variable has been introduced, to prevent the highlighted row of an exceptions list being opened when Return is pressed. This caused problems at some sites, mainly if a new barcode is scanned while the exceptions list is displayed, as the Return is sent by the scanner.
- 5544 (System Configuration) In Parameter Management | Rules | Reservation filter rules, it is no longer possible to set a “Pub res default site type” without setting the “Default Collection Site”
- 5894 (Circulation) On a Reservation that was created via Prism, the ‘Created by’ value is no longer changed when the reservation is edited in Alto
- 6119 (Circulation) Performing an address search in Borrower with a housename, comma, postcode correctly returns the house name in the first address line, and the street name in the second line.
- 6215 (Circulation) An error ‘Could not convert variant of type (null) into type (integer)’ is no longer displayed when adding items to rotation plans. This used to occur only if both these conditions were met: 1) the item’s site was not in the rotation plan; 2) the ‘roll’ value for the rotation rule was set to yes
- 6334 (Circulation) Items are no longer intermittently issued to the site’s opening time instead of closing time
- 6345 (Cataloguing) When merging two identical authority records, the non-host heading is now deleted
- 6367 (Cataloguing) When selecting a Name/title authority record to ‘use’ in a bibliographic record 100, 110 or 111, the indicators on the 240 field are no longer updated to the same values as the indicators of the 1xx field.
- 6370 (Circulation) Reservation charges are now calculated correctly when the reservation is collected. This was an occasional defect that only affected a few libraries.
- 6378 (Acquisitions) When a Fund is edited, the ‘Last edited by’ field is now updated to show the operator who made the edit
- 6424 (Cataloguing) When a MARC 21 bibliographic record is saved after amending the Leader Type of Record, the WORKS.TYPE_OF_WORK value is now updated.
- 6480 (Acquisitions) The VAT amount is now shown correctly on the Payment form for an item with split-rate VAT, when the values have been entered correctly on the invoice (either by creating the invoice manually or from an EDI invoice)
- 6550 (Circulation) The automatic unblocking of a blocked borrower now works if fines are paid via the finance tab of the borrower record, and the borrower record is closed without saving.
- 6557 (Bibliographic) Search For a user who is not enabled to Import from Talis Base or from external databases, the Import button is now correctly disabled on the Full Record tab
- 6579 (Cataloguing) It is now possible to open an Item record if the WORK_ID to which it is attached has no MARC 21 record
- 6584 (Acquisitions) The Tab order of the fields and buttons on the Order form has been corrected
- 6591 (Acquisitions) Linking or re-linking a bib record to a standing order check-in row no longer leaves the bib record locked
- 6592 (General) When a bib search is performed via the ‘Bib Search’ button from any area in Talis Alto, and a Bib ID is returned from the search, any text entered in the Standard Identifier field is cleared, in the same way as the other search fields.
- 6597 (Batch) The work_logdelete script now correctly sets WORK_UPDATE.STATUS to 130 when it deletes a record, not 30 as before.
- 6600 (Cataloguing) The Contribution type is no longer reset when a record is edited in Quick Manage Work
- 6601 (Cataloguing) It is now possible to open an Item record that is not attached to a WORK_ID
- 6609 (Cataloguing) When adding a valid 978-prefixed 13 digit ISBN to a record in Quick Manage Work, the full 13 digits are now saved in the MARC 21 record, not the 10-digit equivalent
- 6610 (Acquisitions) When creating a bib record in Quick Manage Work with a 979-prefixed ISBN, the ISBN is now carried back to the Product Identifier field in the Order, not the TalisMARC control number
- 6613 (Cataloguing) A user who does not have the ‘Edit work’ enablement is no longer able to save changes by responding ‘Yes’ to the ‘Save changes?’ dialog.
- 6616 (Circulation) The Satisfy and Transit buttons on the reservation queue form are now correctly reset when the reservation queue is displayed for the next item that is discharged
- 6621 (Cataloguing) An Access Violation no longer occurs consistently when copying an authority record. There may still be an intermittent problem for some customers
- 6625 (Cataloguing) An “Invalid column name” error no longer appears when saving a record that has an old-style TalisMARC control number starting with ‘x’. This defect only affected libraries whose MARC Organisation code does not contain a hyphen (e.g. UkBU)
- 6626 (Batch) The filenames of files used by orr_import now include a year element
- 6630 (Circulation) The last useful date of a reservation is no longer reset to 01/01/1970 if the reservation is viewed via Item Request and then saved.
- 6631 (Income Manager) The spelling of ‘Transaction’ is now correct on Income Manager till receipts
- 6636 (Circulation) Existing Analysis codes are no longer lost when the Smartcard Import function is used
- 6638 (Acquisitions) If a Quick Manage Work record is created in an order record, and is used to overwrite an existing bib record, the order record is now correctly attached to the WORK_ID of the overwritten record.
- 6658 (Circulation) The ‘Status’ column of the reservation queue is now displayed by default, and a check is made to prevent more than one copy being placed into transit to satisfy the same reservation
- 6669 (Income Manager) Long PC names (15 characters or more) no longer cause problems when running TillSetup.
- 6670 (Acquisitions) On the Open Order Payment form, the F2 Paste function now works on the Note field
- 6675 (Income Manager) An arithmetic overflow error no longer occurs when paying a reservation charge on collection of the reserved item. The charge is now shown correctly on the receipt and is included in the Z report
- 6690 (Acquisitions) The Service VAT amount is now shown correctly on the Payment form, when the values have been entered correctly on the invoice (either by creating the invoice manually or from an EDI invoice)
- 6695 (Cataloguing) An Access Violation is no longer produced when removing a field in a bib or authority record, if the user brings up the menu by right-clicking on the “+” or “-“ sign to the left of the MARC tag
Talis Alto 4.2.0.54 Scottish Smartcards (released 30/11/07)
Scottish customers can now use smartcard readers to read the borrower's number from the National Entitlement Card, and load details from the card into Talis Alto.
Talis Alto 4.2 (released 07/09/07)
New functionality
Throughout Alto, references to the TalisMARC ‘Control Number’ have been removed. The Bib ID is used to link to the bibliographic record, and quick searching by standard identifiers is available.
In Acquisitions:
When creating new orders, open orders, standing order check-in rows or Interloans, autosearch functionality will import a record, if it does not already exist on the local database.
In Cataloguing:
- Exact reference counts can be obtained on the list of authorities displayed from the ‘Check Authority’ button
- A new option for the Authority Report allows users to choose whether only unauthorised headings should be reported
- Cataloguing Source details are now set correctly when creating a new bibliographic or authority record using ‘Copy record’ (008/39 is set to ‘d’ and field 040 $a contains the library’s MARC organisation code)
- The library’s MARC organisation code is added to field 040 $d when a record is edited.
- The MARC21 code lists and field definitions have been updated to reflect the latest published changes
- The process for contributing records to Talis Base has been improved.
In Circulation:
- When paying or waiving borrower charges, the oldest is cleared first
- Setting and unsetting satisfy and transit flags on the Reservation Item Queue list has been made clearer
In Interloans:
- The BLDSC PTW requirement codes may now be used to request delivery of unencrypted PDF files to the requester’s email address.
- Borrower email addresses of up to 99 characters may now be sent to the BLDSC when requesting direct delivery via email. Previously the limit was 33 characters.
- The ‘RENEWED’ code is now recognised by the ill_memo_confirm script
In Searching:
Alto can now be configured to request a specific element set. This fixes the problem of non-display of classification data in local bib search where an external z-target has been set up.
System Management:
- There is a new version of the PLR script, which handles ISBN-13 and produces output in the new format required by PLR
- There is a new version of the top5 script, that correctly reports out the database usage in cases where the largest table cannot be reindexed
- The upgrade will change occurrences of the datatype TIME to TALISTIME. This is required for Sybase 12.5.
Defects fixed
- 6039 (Circulation) Details of a different item are no longer displayed in the QMW form when creating a new item if a standard identifier or Bib ID was entered on the Items form.
- 6340 (Interloan) Details on the Requester Address tab can now be saved using a function key as well as by clicking the button
- 6374 (Interloan) The ‘Do you want to save changes?’ message no longer appears when no changes have been made
- 6375 (Interloan) Enablements for using the ILL QMW form have been corrected
- 6383 (Cataloguing) The Overwrite function now correctly updates the edit date of both records, so that they will be re-indexed or removed from the indexes as appropriate.
- 6384 (Cataloguing) Fully authorised bibliographic records can now be contributed to Talis Base. Contribution is no longer triggered by running the authority report.
- 6385 (Cataloguing) The CONTRIBUTION_STATUS value in AUTHORITY_REPORT is now updated correctly when a record is processed for contribution.
- 6413 (Acquisitions) If a publisher’s number containing one or more spaces is selected as the Product Identifier, the whole number is now used. It no longer cuts off at the first space.
- 6427 (Cataloguing) The authority report now excludes records that have no authorisable fields
- 6429 (Cataloguing) When a record is updated by re-importing, any fields flagged as local (i.e. containing a subfield #) are only preserved if the subfield # contains the library’s own MARC organisation code.
- 6430 (Cataloguing) When a record is updated by re-importing, any fields containing a subfield 5 will be preserved if the subfield 5 contains the library’s own MARC organisation code.
- 6431 (Cataloguing) Very long records (more than 4KB) no longer cause a ‘Could not deserialize Soap message’ when being saved.
- 6466 (Bibliographic Search) A user not enabled to search Talis Base is no longer able to do so (there was a path that left the Search button enabled after doing a local search).
- 6548 (Bibliographic Search) Local searches for words containing the pre-combined character for lower case e and circumflex fail if the search is entered with just the letter e. (N.B. The Zebra indexes will need to be rebuilt in order for the fix to be applied to existing records.)
Talis Alto 4.1 (released 30/03/07)
New functionality
Version 4.1 introduces MARC 21 Authority control, improvements to record matching and the facility to contribute records to Talis Base 2. It represents the third phase of the Lyra programme. In this version you can:
- See the flags for authority control against the appropriate bibliographic tags in the bibliographic editor form, and see counts of records linked to an authority record.
- Interactively authorise tags in the bibliographic record.
- Merge authority headings and automatically have the change reflected back into the attached bibliographic records
- View a report online that shows the authority status of bibliographic records
- Find out whether a record matches an existing record more quickly. Control numbers are now stored in a database table which has resulted in improvements in the record matching functionality
Defects fixed:
- 4083 (Acquisitions) A standing order row now correctly displays ‘Actioned’ when the ‘Claim’ button is clicked
- 4246 (Bibliographic Search) When viewing the full item form via Other | Bib Search | Full record | Show item, if the user does not have ‘Circulation Edit Item’ permissions the Save button is now greyed out
- 4360 (Bibliographic Search) This defect has been closed, as the search results display has been re-written
- 4430 (Item) The status of an item may no longer be changed if it is on loan
- 4450 (Cataloguing) This defect has been closed, as the TalisBase autosearch no longer exists
- 4583 (MARC 21) Bibliographic The buttons on the MARC21 Bibliographic form are no longer mis-aligned
- 4588 (Check-in) The error ‘Could not convert variant of type (Null) into type (String) no longer appears when trying to check in a subscription
- 4644 (Cataloguing) This defect has been closed, as the ‘send to TalisBase only’ option no longer exists
- 4647 MARC 21 Bibliographic It is now possible to switch between tag numbers and tag labels view while a field is in edit mode
- 4660 (Inter Library Loans) If an ILL item has been discharged in offline or mobile, discharging the item again in Alto now correctly updates the ILL status to ‘discharged’
- 4695 (Bibliographic) Problems with Overwrite in earlier versions of Alto have not been reproduced in Alto 4.1
- 4710 (Bibliographic) This defect has been closed, as multi-level 248 fields are not created by the MARC 21 to TalisMARC conversion
- 4718 (Acquisitions) It is now possible to create an invoice-level allowance for a fund that is overcommitted
- 4747 (Bibliographic Search) This defect has been closed, as it related to searching Talis MARC records
- 4777 (Bibliographic Search) This defect has been closed, as potential TalisMARC control numbers are no longer assigned when displaying search results
- 4778 (Bibliographic Search) The 001 and 035 fields are no longer updated on the Bibliographic Search full record display if the record is imported
- 4831 (MARC 21 Bibliographic) This defect has been closed, as it is no longer possible to delete a MARC21 record (i.e. switch to editing the Talis MARC record)
- 4876 (MARC 21 Bibliographic) When creating a new record, setting the ‘Type of record’ to Serial now leads to a serial control number being allocated
- 4877 (MARC 21 Bibliographic) The message ‘Error importing UKMARC record’ should no longer be seen when saving a MARC 21 record
- 5202 (Bibliographic Search) This defect has been closed, as it related to the old Talis MARC ‘Copy Work’ function from bibliographic search
- 5214 (Cataloguing) When a serial MARC 21 record is created, the TalisMARC record now has its 008 data correctly stored in SER_008
- 5240 (MARC 21) Bibliographic Local fields are no longer duplicated when importing a MARC 21 record that contains the same data as the existing local field
- 5240 (Cataloguing) When a MARC 21 record is saved, any fields flagged as ‘local only’ in the TalisMARC record are no longer retained. This was causing problems in Alto 4.0, as there was no way of updating or emoving local fields in the TalisMARC record, which could still be included in letters, ILLs etc
- 5272 (Reservation) Alto now correctly shows the item’s current site when viewing item details from “Similar Title” in reservations
- 5279 (Reservation) When satisfying a reservation following a particular path, the reservation queue is now displayed
- 5309 (Reservation) The correct title details are now displayed when paying a reservation charge
- 5310 (Import bulk M21) In the import profile edit form, fields with drop-downs now correctly display white text on blue
- 5315 (Acquisitions) Fund splits are now displayed correctly for multiple subscriptions
- 5397 (Bibliographic) This defect has been closed, as the TalisBase autosearch checkbox no longer exists
- 5404 (MARC 21) Bibliographic Subfield codes entered in upper case will now be reported as invalid
- 5429 (Acquisitions) Check-in rows are now inserted correctly where SEQUENCE_NO = 0
- 5437 (Check in) Input of a check-in Note is now correctly limited to 200 characters=
- 5494 (Parameter management) Slashes are now accepted in ILL report codes
- 5689 (Circulation) The pound sign no longer appears when part paying a charge
- 5754 (Cataloguing) The record matching rules now take account of the 1st indicator value for field 024
- 5767 (Cataloguing) The standard numbers in a MARC 21 record (ISBN, ISSN) are now stored in a database table, which is used for record matching instead of the search sub-system indexes. This removes the risk of duplicate records being saved.
- 5770 (Claims Outstanding) claims are now displayed correctly in cases where there is a deleted status work record with the same control number as the one that has claims against it
- 5820 (System Configuration) Edits to enablement rules no longer update more than one profile, if the code of the profile being edited matches the start of another profile’s name
- 5900 (Bibliographic) An error is no longer displayed when trying to open a bibliographic record with a hotlink attached, if any of the URL fields are null
- 6110 (Orders) The ‘Last claim’ field is no longer cleared when any other edit is made on the Order form
- 6133 (Indexing) An ‘ISB’ field is now generated correctly by the marcgrabber process. This holds the 10-digit equivalent of any 978-prefixed ISBN-13 in the record, and vice versa, to maximise search hits.
- 6141 (Bibliographic Search/Cataloguing) It is now possible to export the contents of the new-style grids (including the Authority and Bibliographic editor forms) to a .csv file, via the right-click menu.
- 6143 (Cataloguing Services) If a new record is not imported because the existing record is set to ‘Local protect’, the row is no longer left in the SEARCH_WORKS table, so the import is not attempted again the following day.
- 6156 (Indexing Deleted) and suppressed records are now handled correctly by the indexing process
- 6158 (Acquisitions) The Product Identifiers form now displays the additional information, such as (pbk), (hbk), not just the number
- 6159 (Cataloguing Services) Searches are now performed using both the 10-digit and equivalent 13-digit ISBNs
- 6167 (Quick Manage Work) When a record is created in QMW or ILL QMW, a row is no longer added to WORK_UPDATE as status 203. The new authorisation report correctly takes account of whether TAL_QMW_ATY_EXCL or TAL_ILL_ATY_EXCL are set.
- 6168 (Circulation) The setting of TAL_BOR_LOAN_DISCH, which controls which loans display in the Borrower Loan History tab, is no longer case sensitive (N.B Defect 5490 has not yet been fixed)
- 6169 (Circulation) A user is no longer able to resolve an item query if they do not have the ‘Resolve Item Query’ enablement. Previously this was possible if the item was not on loan.
- 6171 (Cataloguing) Numbers in 028 are now included in record matching checks
- 6174 (Bibliographic Search) The Classification column is no longer displayed for Talis Base searches (previously it was displayed, but empty)
- 6175 (Bibliographic Search) ‘View index’ now works for ISBN and Standard Identifier searches
- 6176 (Cataloguing Spurious) ‘Search has timed out, please re-submit search’ messages are no longer seen. These were being caused when a results set included a record that had no ‘TMC’ field. If a record has no TalisMARC control number, a dummy TMC field is generated containing ‘NOTMC’.
- 6185 (Import Manager) MARC Import Manager now correctly sets WORKS_META.TEST to ‘False’, not ‘True’
- 6200 (Cataloguing) The Tag column has been reduced in width
- 6219 (Acquisitions) The Format field on the Open Order form is no longer cleared when tabbing through it.
- 6231 (Cataloguing) When a MARC record is copied, the ‘date on file’ value in the 008 field of the new record is now set to the current date, rather than being copied from the original record.
- 6233 (Import Manager) MARC Import Manager should no longer fail to import some records in a file without reporting an error.
- 6240 (Acquisitions) When a multivolume order is created, dummy rows are now inserted into the WORKS_META table for each ‘child’, so that the auto-conversion process can convert the TalisMARC records.
- 6289 (Cataloguing) When overwriting an existing record, the TalisMARC control number is now re-set to match the contents of the overwriting record, where possible, or set to a local control number. Previously it was possible to end up with a MARC 21 record containing one ISBN, while the TalisMARC control number was a different ISBN.
- 6292 (Cataloguing) The subfield code used to hold a warning where an invalid subfield code has been passed through the MARC 21 to TalisMARC conversion has been changed from ‘a’ to ‘s’. It now also shows the contents of the original subfield.
- 6315 (Cataloguing) Authority edits are now correctly written to the AUTHORITY_EDIT_LOG table, and subsequent edits are not blocked.
- 6318 (Cataloguing) Headings containing diacritics are now matched correctly (this was a fix in the Authority Web Service, which has been updated on your systems).
- 6321 (Cataloguing) Services If the existing record is ‘Local protect’ it is no longer left locked after the Cataloguing Service import reports that it cannot update the record.
- 6322 (Cataloguing) The WORK_UPDATE status is now correctly set to 130 for records imported via Import Manager. This means that it is no longer necessary to run the old authorisor_dae.
- 6327 (Interloans) Records imported via Interloans are now correctly recorded in the AUTHORITY_REPORT table.
- 6328 (Acquisitions/Interloans) When the environment variables TAL_QMW_ATY_EXCL or TAL_ILL_ATY_EXCL are set to YES, records imported via Acquisitions or ILL are no longer reported in the Authority Report.
- 6329 (Cataloguing) The ‘Authority Report’ option is now greyed out on the Cataloguing menu if the TAL_AUTHORITY_SERVICE_URL environment variable is not set.
- 6333 (Cataloguing) When editing and saving an existing record, the record matching checks no longer look for the record’s own Bib ID in other records.
- 6334 (Circulation) Items should no longer be issued to the library’s opening time.
- 6336 (Cataloguing) An alarm is no longer displayed when saving a record if the user does not have the ‘Contribute to Talis Base’ enablement.
- 6337 (Cataloguing) The Authority Report is no longer saved to the folder one level up in the path set in the TAL_AUTHORITY_REPORT environment variable.
- 6338 (Cataloguing) An Access Violation message is no longer produced when using the ‘Overwrite’ button in the bibliographic editor form.
Known defects
Known defects in Talis Alto 4.1(PDF)
Talis Alto 4.0 (released 27/11/06)
New functionality
This version builds on the features introduced in Talis Alto 3.0 supporting MARC 21 (the new cataloguing standard) and ISBN13 (the new format for the International Standard Book Number). Together with Talis Prism 2.1 and further improvements to Talis Base 2.0, it represents the second phase of the Lyra programme. In this version you can:
- Search for newly catalogued items within minutes of the record being saved
- Create and edit MARC 21 Authority records
- Apply authority control to headings in bibliographic records
- Create MARC 21 records using ‘quick cataloguing’ in Acquisitions and Circulation
- Import MARC 21 records to support the Cataloguing Service
- Find MARC 21 records quickly and easily from Talis Base
Defects fixed
- 4083 (Acquisitions) A standing order row now correctly displays ‘Actioned’ when the ‘Claim’ button is clicked
- 4246 (Bibliographic Search) When viewing the full item form via Other | Bib Search | Full record | Show item, if the user does not have ‘Circulation Edit Item’ permissions the Save button is now greyed out
- 4360 (Bibliographic) Search This defect has been closed, as the search results display has been re-written
- 4430 (Item) The status of an item may no longer be changed if it is on loan
- 4450 (Cataloguing) This defect has been closed, as the TalisBase autosearch no longer exists
- 4583 (MARC 21 Bibliographic) The buttons on the MARC21 Bibliographic form are no longer mis-aligned
- 4588 (Check-in) The error ‘Could not convert variant of type (Null) into type (String) no longer appears when trying to check in a subscription
- 4644 (Cataloguing) This defect has been closed, as the ‘send to TalisBase only’ option no longer exists
- 4647 (MARC 21) Bibliographic It is now possible to switch between tag numbers and tag labels view while a field is in edit mode
- 4660 (Inter Library Loans) If an (ILL item has been discharged in offline or mobile, discharging the item again in Alto now correctly updates the ILL status to ‘discharged’
- 4695 (Bibliographic) Problems with Overwrite in earlier versions of Alto have not been reproduced in Alto 4.0
- 4710 (Bibliographic) This defect has been closed, as multi-level 248 fields are not created by the MARC 21 to TalisMARC conversion
- 4718 (Acquisitions) It is now possible to create an invoice-level allowance for a fund that is overcommitted
- 4747 (Bibliographic) Search This defect has been closed, as it related to searching Talis MARC records
- 4777 (Bibliographic) Search This defect has been closed, as potential TalisMARC control numbers are no longer assigned when displaying search results
- 4778 (Bibliographic Search) The 001 and 035 fields are no longer updated on the Bibliographic Search full record display if the record is imported
- 4831 (MARC 21 Bibliographic) This defect has been closed, as it is no longer possible to delete a MARC21 record (i.e. switch to editing the Talis MARC record)
- 4876 (MARC 21 Bibliographic) When creating a new record, setting the ‘Type of record’ to Serial now leads to a serial control number being allocated
- 4877 (MARC 21 Bibliographic) The message ‘Error importing UKMARC record’ should no longer be seen when saving a MARC 21 record
- 5202 (Bibliographic Search) This defect has been closed, as it related to the old Talis MARC ‘Copy Work’ function from bibliographic search
- 5240 (MARC 21 Bibliographic) Local fields are no longer duplicated when importing a MARC 21 record that contains the same data as the existing local field
- 5272 (Reservation) Alto now correctly shows the item’s current site when viewing item details from “Similar Title” in reservations
- 5279 (Reservation) When satisfying a reservation following a particular path, the reservation queue is now displayed
- 5309 (Reservation) The correct title details are now displayed when paying a reservation charge
- 5310 (Import bulk MARC 21) In the import profile edit form, fields with drop-downs now correctly display white text on blue
- 5315 (Acquisitions) Fund splits are now displayed correctly for multiple subscriptions
- 5397 (Bibliographic) This defect has been closed, as the TalisBase autosearch checkbox no longer exists
- 5404 (MARC 21 Bibliographic) Subfield codes entered in upper case will now be reported as invalid
- 5429 (Acquisitions) Check-in rows are now inserted correctly where SEQUENCE_NO = 0
- 5437 (Check in) Input of a check-in Note is now correctly limited to 200 characters
- 5494 (Parameter management) Slashes are now accepted in ILL report codes
- 5689 (Circulation) The pound sign no longer appears when part paying a charge
- 5770 (Claims) Outstanding claims are now displayed correctly in cases where there is a deleted status work record with the same control number as the one that has claims against it
- 5900 (Bibliographic) An error is no longer displayed when trying to open a bibliographic record with a hotlink attached, if any of the URL fields are null
- 5820 (System Configuratio) Edits to enablement rules no longer update more than one profile, if the code of the profile being edited matches the start of another profile’s name
- 6110 (Orders) The ‘Last claim’ field is no longer cleared when any other edit is made on the Order form
- 6141 (Bibliographic Search/Cataloguing) It is now possible to export the contents of the new-style grids (including the Authority and Bibliographic editor forms) to a .csv file, via the right-click menu.
Known defects
Known defects in Talis Alto 4.0 (PDF)
Talis Alto 3.0 (released 01/03/06
Talis Alto 3.0 provides continued support for TalisMARC cataloguing, for those libraries who are not yet ready to convert. Bibliographic staff will notice some changes to TalisMARC cataloguing workflow to reflect the introduction of MARC 21 cataloguing options. Protected editing prevents editing in TalisMARC when a MARC21 record exists - which ensures that cataloguers don’t make conflicting edits in different formats. Dual format views enable staff to easily move between the MARC21 and TalisMARC version of a record. UKMARC and TalisMARC records will continue to be available from the Talis Base 2.0 record supply service.
New functionality
Catalogue in MARC 21: Talis Alto 3.0 includes new MARC 21 cataloguing tools that work alongside existing TalisMARC facilities, with appropriate alerts to ensure the integrity of both environments. You can catalogue in TalisMARC or MARC 21 on a record by record basis. Dual format views within the cataloguing editor, Quick Manage Work form, and bibliographic search results, allow you to easily move between the MARC21 and TalisMARC version of a record. In Alto 3.0, each MARC 21 record is automatically duplicated to create an equivalent TalisMARC record, which is available for use throughout Talis and can be searched in the usual way. When using Talis Alto 3.0, MARC 21 takes precedence, so it is not possible to edit the TalisMARC record if a MARC21 equivalent exists. Control over the publication of MARC 21 records within Talis Prism enables you to choose whether to publish the MARC 21 version of all records, and/or suppress individual MARC 21 records from display.
Catalogue diverse resources in their native script: Unicode support now allows a vast range of characters and scripts to be imported, entered, edited and stored, with a variety of input methods including on-screen keyboard and character picker. Unicode is the widest and most interoperable character set for cataloguing and display. This enables you to provide an OPAC with better support for a multi-cultural audience, presenting diverse resources including Arabic, Hebrew and Chinese in their native script.
Import batches of MARC 21 records online: Alto 3.0 comes with a new MARC Import Manager utility, which makes it easy for bibliographic staff to import batches of MARC 21 records in their native format into the local catalogue. This gives staff greater control over this increasingly important aspect of catalogue maintenance, enabling cataloguers to quickly import MARC 21 records provided from external sources (such as CURL, RLIN, or suppliers of e-serials and e-books).
Find MARC 21 records quickly and easily from Talis Base 2 : Talis Alto 3.0 also enables MARC 21 records to be sourced from the enhanced Talis Base 2.0 records supply service. Talis Base 2.0 extends the data sets of Talis Base 1.0 and offers faster, more powerful searching. Where possible, data sets have been refreshed from source in MARC 21 format, rather than converting them from Talis Base 1.0. Talis Base 2.0 provides high performance searching with extensive search types and options based on the Z39.50 search and retrieve protocol Bath Profile and the US National Profile (Z39.89). New precision search options include exact match and first word in field for title, personal author and corporate author, and new flexible search options include keyword with right truncation and unanchored phrase for title searches. UKMARC and TalisMARC records will continue to be available from the Talis Base 2.0 record supply service.
Defects fixed
- 4387 (Acquisitions) If the environment variable TAL_QMW_ATY_EXCL is set, works imported via Acquisitions are no longer processed by the authorisor daemon.
- 4452 (Circulation) When issuing a reserved Project box from the reservation shelf to the reserver the system no longer displays the message “Parent item already on loan”. The user can now proceed as usual with the issue.
- 4547 (Interloan) If the Delivery type on an existing Interloan is changed, the new delivery type is now saved.
- 4623 (Claims) oor_claim_letter will now pick up the delivery site.
- 4630 (Reservation) When placing a reservation in circulation, part paying 40p of a 60p charge no longer generates a message saying charge payment exceeds charge owing.
- 4632 (Bibliographic Search) If the environment variable TAL_NO_CLASS=ON is set, the Classification column in the search results grid for local searches is now hidden.
- 4654 (EDI Invoices) The Item Value field on the Payment form should be editable for EDI invoices - this is currently disabled.
- 4685 (Loans) If a manual due date is used to issue an item, then the user moves to discharge and discharges an item; renewing any remaining items using the Loans tab (in Discharge) no longer results in the items being renewed to the manual due date when the environment variable TAL_MANUAL_DATE_CLEAR=YES.
- 4691 (Circulation) Project loans can now be satisfied to the Reservation Shelf when a reserved project loan is discharged.
- 4711 (Item Request) The ITEM_QUERY table is now updated correctly with the edit operator and location.
- 4713 (Booking) An exception message is now shown when trying to renew an item that has been booked by another borrower for the next slot.
- 4715 (Check In) Incorrect syntax errors are no longer generated in standing order check-in when entering a control number that does not exist on the local database but does exist on Talis Base.
- 4760 (Item) When viewing Loan History where an item is still on loan with a potential fine, the subsequent rows in Loan History no longer show a fine of the same amount as this potential fine.
- 4780 (Circulation) When TAL_AUTOCHOP is set to YES and the borrower’s expiry date is set to today’s date, items are no longer issued to a date in the future.
- 4782 (Reservation) In the Reservation item queue, the reserver’s name is now displayed as surname, first name.
- 4784 (Borrower) Automatic unblocking is now correctly applied where the reason for the unblock is an overdue book being discharged.
- 4785 (EDI Invoices) If an EDI invoice shows zero-rate tax against a charge, and the supplier codes this as 'Tax amount = 0', the amount taxable is now being set correctly by inv_import.
- 4788 (Funds) It is no longer possible to link two funds if they are already linked elsewhere in a hierarchy.
- 4817 Loans On the finance history page, data is now mapped correctly in the columns that are normally hidden.
- 4819 (Batch Script) Running import_MARC21 - records contain an underscore character as part of the URL in 856. This character is no longer being converted to ß during import.
- 4875 (Inter Library Loans) In Alto Set Config (Parameter management) the Default Sequences for Interloans no longer get erased when a change is made to any one of the Sequences.
- 4885 (Borrower) When creating a new borrower, if F4 Add Address is input before any address details are added, that address now shows up on the Borrower Search page.
- 4932 (Booking) When looking at Work bookings in circulation item it is now showing all the different charts involved.
- 4933 (Borrower) A logic error no longer appears when using Postcode Search.
- 4944 (Renew) The Alto session no longer hangs when attempting to renew by item barcode (reported at Lancashire).
- 4962 (Logon) Users can no longer press the F5 Key to change the Alto password when the button is disabled.
- 4987 (Invoices) If there is more than one payment for the same order on an invoice (i.e. more than one invoice line with the same order number), the invoice counts for Items/Subs paid now match Items/Subs invoiced, so the invoice balances.
- 5004 (Acquisitions) The data entered in a reason for credit field on an open order is no longer being lost after saving.
- 5148 (Item) When creating a new item immediately after adding a rotation plan to an existing item, the message "Item is in rotation" no longer appears when trying to change the Home Site in the new item.
- 5157 (Loans) With the variable TAL_RENEW_AT_ISSUE_SITE set, the original issue site is no longer recorded as the BORROWER_CREDIT.CREATE_LOC if a charge is incurred and paid when renewing at a different site.
- 5167 (Item Request) When using Clear F6 to remove an item request, Talis Alto is no longer inserting the Name of the site into RES_REQUEST_LOG instead of the code.
- AED133 (EDI) When processing EDI files for proposed orders, acknowledgements and invoices, and Catalogue Services files, the filenames now include a year element. This is to prevent problems encountered when processing a file on the same date as a file processed in a previous year.
Known defects
Known defects in Talis Alto 3.0
Talis Alto 2.1 (released 21/06/05)
New functionality
Support for multiple tax rates: This version delivers new support for importing and detailing multiple tax rates for a single invoice line item. This enables EDI invoice processing for items made up of separate components which each incur different rates of tax, for example, if a book incorporates a CD and the book incurs zero rate VAT while the CD incurs tax at a standard rate.
Option to subscribe to EDI Invoices: This additional support for EDI Invoices, completing the range of invoice enhancements delivered in Talis Alto 2.0, now enables you to subscribe to this brand new Talis EDI service. EDI Invoices can substantially reduce the cost and effort involved in the procurement process, by eliminating manual copying of data from paper invoices into the LMS. With invoice data delivered complete and ready for payment into your system, it also dispenses with the need to deal with payment during receipting. Instead payment can be carried out in bulk separately. This removes the dependency on specialist skills for processing new stock, which in turn accelerates the receipting process and speeds the flow of stock onto the shelves. To find out more about EDI Invoices, speak to your Account Manager, or contact sales@talis.com.
Item field repositioned in reservations: In response to feedback from our Reservations Focus Group in March, this version repositions the Item field as the first field at the Reservation prompt, making it quicker and easier for you to wand in a batch of reserved items to satisfy the reservations and prepare them for collection.
Improved reservation exception messages: Improvements to the wording of selected reservation exceptions make them easier for staff to understand, enabling them to respond more quickly at the issue desk, and reducing the potential for mistakes through misinterpretation. “Waiting reservations” has been changed to “Reservation(s) waiting collection”. “Active reservation” has been changed to “Item is reserved”. “Already has loan(s) has been changed to “Title already on loan to borrower”.
Improved help: There are numerous enhancements to the Talis Alto help as a result of improved work flows and customer feedback. For example, there are now instructions for systems that need to identify public request orders. The ‘What’s new in this release’ topic now easier to find, being the default topic displayed whenever staff go into the Talis Alto Help. This should make it easier for all Alto users to find out about the benefits of each new version. Encourage your colleagues to keep up to date with the information in this section, so they can see how they can take advantage of new features.
Defects fixed
3226 (Acquisitions) Alto no longer hangs when trying to save the Quick Manage Work form with the ‘Suppress from OPAC’ box checked
3568 (Batch) The email_xfer.pl script now handles email addresses containing a single quote.
3680 (Acquisitions) On the Payment form, amounts for Discount and VAT are recalculated and refreshed to reflect the percentage value that will be saved in the database.
3906 (Inter Library Loans) A warning about the ‘Collect by’ date being in the past is no longer displayed when saving an existing interloan, unless the ‘Collect by’ field has been amended.
4079 (System configuration) In Loan Rules, the Reservation charge now defaults to 0,00
4265 (Acquisitions) Commitment discrepancies no longer result if invoice level charge payments do not use the same amounts as the charge itself and/or associated tax. E.g. if a VAT amount is entered against a charge, but is not included in the payment.
4300 (Acquisitions) The invoice status is now correctly reset to ‘Potential’ when the only payment against that invoice is unpaid.
4380 (Inter Library Loans) Multiple invoice charges are no longer created if the ‘Total charges’ form is edited while creating a new Interloan.
4386 (Circulation) Printed receipts for reservation charges now show the detail of the work reserved.
4400 (Acquisitions) The Credit reason field on a new payment form is now cleared correctly, so it no longer shows the value from the previous payment form viewed.
4429 (Circulation) When trying to reserve a work with no reservable items, the borrower details from the previous borrower are no longer displayed on the form behind the warning message.
4432 (Circulation) In loan history, items returned using a self discharge machine now show "Self return" rather than just ‘Discharged’.
4434 Acquisitions If there is more than one open order for a control number, and one of them is status ‘Closed’, when an item for that control number is checked in, the status of the Closed open order is no longer updated to ‘Active’.
4438 (Circulation) When creating a new reservation, if the ‘Last useful date’ is not set in the parameters in Borrower type rules, the ‘Last useful date’ is no longer left blank, causing an error message when the reservation is saved.
4440 (Cataloguing) Validation of LC class numbers for the University of Sussex now works on Alto in the same way as in Text.
4442 (Bibliographic) Search The "Work exists in local catalogue with main control number ..." message is now correctly refreshed when switching between different records.
4443 (Inter Library Loans) In Talis Alto when a user assigns the report code SHIPPED COPY to an ILL request, the status of the ILL is now correctly changed to completed.
4445 (System configuration) It is now possible to include a space in ILL Report Codes, e.g. "SHIPPED EL".
4447 (Circulation) The warning "Item is in transit but not for this reservation - do you wish to satisfy?" no longer erroneously displays if the previous reservation satisfied had an item in transit.
4458 (Acquisitions) The warning about overcommitment of a fund now correctly displays if the fund is changed on an open order.
4466 (Acquisitions) When a new invoice is created, the history of the previous invoice viewed is no longer displayed on the History tab of the new invoice.
4467 (Acquisitions) When creating an invoice line, if you enter an invalid subscription reference, the order number field is no longer cleared after closing the error message.
4471 (Bibliographic Search) Keyword searches that include more than one stopword now work correctly when searching the local database.
4497 (Inter Library Loans) It is no longer possible to use an Inactive fund when creating an Interloan.
4501 (Inter Library Loans) The Total Charges grid now correctly displays the amount paid.
4502 (Inter Library Loans) On the Charges form the button no longer displays as ‘Unpay F6’ when it should say ‘Pay F6’.
4505 (System configuration) When editing Parameters/Paramater Management/Rules/Bookings/Booking Chart existing rows are no longer deleted.
4510 (General) CILLA control numbers such as ‘vz0044653x’ are now validated correctly.
4514 (Acquisitions) When invoice lines or charges are added to an invoice, the Summary tab is now updated to show the new values.
4519 (Acquisitions) The ‘X’ close button now works correctly on the Tax form within Invoices.
4522 (Acquisitions) When creating an invoice charge, the system allows no longer allows the user to start creating tax details before specifying the charge amount.
4527 (Acquisitions) In Serial Check-in attempting to Unreceipt a row where the subscription is Closed status no longer resets the issue to ‘Expected’.
4542 (Inter Library Loans) The supplier code is no longer carried forward from one ILL to the next when receipting a series of ILLs.
4546 (Inter Library Loans) The supplier is now saved correctly when creating a new ILL record.
4548 (Acquisitions) When making payments, Alto now stores the amount in PAYMENT.ITEM_COST to four decimal places, as Text did, instead of rounding to two decimal places.
4555 (Inter Library Loans) Charges with an amount of 0.00 are no longer created when creating an Interloan.
4556 (Inter Library Loans) An extra charge is no longer created if the supplier is changed when creating an Interloan.
4561 (Inter Library Loans) The ‘Received from’ supplier is now being saved correctly when an Interloan is receipted.
4564 (Acquisitions) If an automatic Talis Base search fails when creating a new order or open order, a warning is now displayed to tell the user that the search failed, rather than saying that no record exists on Talis Base.
4576 (Circulation) It is now possible to make a Booking for the current slot.
4587 (Circulation) An error message is no longer displayed when viewing a borrower’s loan history, if one of the loans has no title.
4592 (Inter Library Loans) Fund commitment values are now updated correctly when the ILL charge paid amount is different from the amount originally committed.
4593 (Inter Library Loans) Fund commitments are now updated correctly when a default charge is applied to a new ILL.
4607 (Cataloguing) The WORKS.AUTHOR_DISPLAY is now generated when a record with a corporate author is created in Quick Manage Work.
4609 (Acquisitions) If the supplier in an order is changed (before the order is sent) from one whose orders are printed to one that is an EDI supplier, the order generation method is now changed.
4672 (Acquisitions) It is no longer possible to call up the Payment form for an invoice-level charge before the charge has been saved.
4696 (Acquisitions) The order payment form now calculates the VAT percentage correctly when paying an invoice line (EDI or created manually) that includes VAT on only a proportion of the price.
Known defects
Known defects in Talis Alto 2.1 (PDF)
Talis Alto 2.0 (released 3/03/05)
New functionality
Email integration: For the first time, Talis Alto 2.0 enables emails to be generated directly from within Alto by simply clicking on an email address. With one click Talis Alto will generate a new blank email to the borrower/supplier using your default email client, enabling you to simply input the relevant details and send.
Configurable font size in the Cataloguing editor: In response to your feedback we have introduced a new facility for Cataloguers to pick the font size at which bibliographic records are displayed within the Cataloguing and authority editor. A new right click ‘Font’ option offers a set of alternative font sizes, from 8 point (Small) to 16 point (Largest), giving users more control over the display. Font face is fixed since a Unicode compliant font is required for correct display of records. In addition, a new environnment variable allows you to specify at system level the default font size at which bibliographic and authory records are displayed. Individual users can then modify the display on their own PC to suit their requirements.
Connections manager: This important new addition to SetConfig: the Talis Alto configuration tool, enables system managers to secure the database more effectively during system upgrades and maintenance. Talis Connections manager allows you to view a list of currently connected users and their location, send a timed warning to all system users, shutdown all current sessions with a countdown prior to taking the system down, and prevent users from logging in to Alto until they are given permission to do so.
Database capacity warning: This small but important enhancement provides a valuable early warning if your database is approaching capacity. This avoids unnecessary downtime and allows you to schedule any necessary remedial work to clear space. Two new environment variables, TAL_DATA_SPACE_USED and TAL_LOG_SPACE_USED, allow you to set the capacity level at which the system warning will display. Together with the Connections manager this continues our ongoing work to simplify LMS system management.
ILL email address handling enhancement: In Talis Alto 1.2 we introduced Improved borrower email address handling. This separated out Borrower email addresses from property addresses, enabling several email contact addresses to be recorded for use in customer communication. This further enhancement brings use of email addresses within ILL requests in line with those new email handling features in Circulation. In particular, this means that it will be possible to use the new BL SED codes with email addresses stored in the new email address fields.
Browser choice: Talis Alto 1.0 introduced the Web menu: a menu which you can configure to offer links to other relevant web sites and applications from within the Alto Window - applications like Talis Prism and UnityWeb. Previously these were automatically launched within an Internet Explorer browser window, now Talis Alto 2.0 allows you to use your browser of choice, launching the links within that chosen default browser.
Invoice handling enhancements: A range of enhancements in Invoices support the display of imported electronic invoice data through our new EDI Invoices service, but the additional reporting views, and increased detail and accuracy in recording and viewing invoice data will also be of substantial benefit to staff working with paper invoices.
Performance enhancements: Improved performance in exceptions handling (issue, renew and borrower), item request, and displaying the borrower loans list.
Defects fixed
- 279 (Acquisitions) Order numbers with the format ‘M + 9 digits’ can now be retrieved.
- 2412 (Cataloguing) If you delete a field in the MARC record and then try to overtype the next field with a new tag number, it should now overtype correctly.
- 2427 (Cataloguing) A hint associated with a MARC tag should no longer 'stick' - i.e. be visible over the top of other applications.
- 2515 (Acquisitions) When creating a non-standard Issue prediction pattern, the Basic rows per sequence and Number of rows fields are no longer set to zero on exiting the Type field.
- 2707 (Cataloguing) Adding a classmark to a serial holding now adds that class number to the work (i.e. it creates a row in CLASS_WORK_LINK).
- 2813 (Cataloguing) When importing works, the warning that asks about overwriting should no longer just flash up briefly then disappear, without importing the record.
- 2938 (Circulation) Viewing a long list of borrower loans no longer produces a ‘timed out’ error.
- 3147 (Cataloguing) The 'Cannot focus a disabled or invisible window' error should no longer appear if the user tries to move off the Cataloguing/Item list before all items have been displayed.
- 3187 (Acquisitions) An order with item(s) cancelled before the order has been sent now shows as status Cancelled.
- 3237 (Circulation) Various problems with editing an interloan via the Borrower interloans list have been fixed.
- 3250 (Cataloguing) Validation of Library of Congress classnumbers is now the same in Alto as in Text.
- 3335 (Item) Alto now displays the number of overdues in the Loan details form in the same way as Talis Text.
- 3363 (Acquisitions) Subscription start and end dates on the payment form are now validated correctly.
- 3507 (System Configuration) It is now possible to set a barcode validation rule that will generate a check-digit for a number entered without one.
- 3508 (General) The print button on the menu bar now performs the ‘Print form’ function, i.e. the equivalent of pressing Shift+F11.
- 3546 (Cataloguing) If the record for a serial is edited, the edits are now copied through to the records for serial volumes.
- 3553 (Cataloguing) An Access violation message should no longer be seen if you create an authority record from within a bibliographic record, close the authority record, and then say ‘Yes’ to the ‘Do you want to save your changes?’ warning.
- 3559 (Cataloguing) When the items editable list is called from Cataloguing - Item (by entering a control number), the list now has the 'Insert' and 'Insert and Copy' buttons.
- 3584 (Cataloguing) An error message ‘Could not convert variant of type null into type string’ should no longer be seen when closing the item edit form and returning to the items tab of the bibliographic record, if any
- alues (sequence,suffix etc) are null.
- 3614 (Circulation) It is no longer possible to save an email address without a name by quitting and saying ‘Yes’ to save changes. The check that the email address has a name is now performed.
- 3618 (Circulation) The last copy warning no longer appears erroneously when changing an item to a not in stock status.
- 3879 (Circulation) The Borrower search fields now reflect changes made to field names on the Borrower form using environment variables.
- 3954 (System Configuration) If the exchange rate for a currency is changed, any unpaid invoice charges using that currency are now recalculated.
- 3998 (Acquisitions) If an open order record exists that is linked to a work that no longer exists on the database, the open order can now be retrieved in Alto. This situation may happen as a result of an old problem with hidden link numbers.
- 4001 (Cataloguing) One can now enter the character 'i with breve' (hex code 83) by the alternative F7 method when in the Authority MARC list it appears as a normal 'i'.
- 4018 (Circulation) The resupdate.pl script no longer sets a COMPLETED_DATETIME value if the reservation is Not Yet Effective status.
- 4032 (System Configuration) In Parameter Management, Names, Messages, using the F7 function key now sets all messages to Yes.
- 4048 (System Configuration) Problems with spurious rows being visible in Parameters/Rules/ILL/Sequence Rules have been resolved.
- 4069 (System Configuration) In Rules, Circulation, Fine rules if time is set and days is 0 or empty the system no longer displays the message “'either days or time must be greater than zero'” when it should not.
- 4075 (Circulation) In circulation on the borrower form, entering a borrower’s surname into the guarantor field and pressing Sh+F2 no longer results in the message: "Cannot make a visible window modal", with a blank borrower search form underneath.
- 4087 (Acquisitions) When generating the next sequence of issues in check-in, the Year field now increments correctly on the Prediction Defaults form.
- 4093 (Circulation) A newly created borrower record no longer displays the borrower photo from the last record viewed.
- 4101 (Circulation) When adding a borrower to a Limited Access site, there is no longer a problem with the site being recognised when the borrower record is saved.
- 4102 (Acquisitions) Receipting via Bulk order options now takes into account the environment variable TAL_RECEIPT_STATUS. NB There is still a problem in Talis Text – items are always set to status ‘Received’ by bulk receipt.
- 4118 (System Configuration) It is now possible to export the contents of grids in Set Config, by right-clicking on the grid, as well as in Alto.
- 4121 (Acquisitions) A mistake in the help topic "Reviewing Claims" has been fixed.
- 4122 (Circulation) When renewing numerous items one after the other in Circulation > Renew, the Borrower Renews field is now incremented.
- 4125 (System Configuration) Course codes with non-alphanumeric characters such as "_" (underscore) are no longer rejected.
- 4195 Circulation A blank message is no longer added to a borrower if the user quits out of adding a message.
- 4277 (Inter Library Loans) Request numbers for renewed requests are now handled correctly.
- 4281 (Cataloguing) Control numbers starting with 'A' are no longer treated as invalid in Alto. Example reported by University of Sussex was 'ABE-59492'
- 4290 (Acquisitions) In the Quick Manage Work form, pressing F4 on the Check-In Messages tab no longer calls up the Hotlink form.
- 4326 (Cataloguing) When checking the authority index from the bibliographic record, for fields linked to an authority type that is of the format ‘title’ (e.g. uniform title or series), the 2nd indicator value is now used to remove initial articles before positioning in the Authority index.
- 4336 (Orders) It is now possible to change the control number in an order, even when the two control numbers are very similar.
- 4342 (Invoices) It is now possible to set invoice default values (for discount, service, VAT etc) to zero, and for these zero values to be applied during bulk payment.
- 4349 (System Configuration) In SetConfig, Parameters, Rules, existing values are no longer overwritten with default values in cases where the same table is updated via two different Rules forms. This applied to Borrower Rules/OPAC Reservations and to OPAC General rules/Security rules.
- 4354 (Search) The error message generated when an expert search is incorrectly formatted has been improved.
- 4357 (Circulation) The note field in the Borrower form no longer has a space at the beginning.
- 4363 (Search) The ‘Restrictor’ fields at the bottom of the search screen are now correctly removed when a Talis Base or external search target is selected, so the message box is now visible.
- 4370 (Cataloguing) BNB control numbers in the format 'b<uppercase letter><numerics>' e.g. bA003323 can now be searched correctly.
- 4375 (Circulation) Placing a reservation on a work (using the Use Title F8 button) now correctly selects works with an “&” in the title.
- 4376 (Search) Performing a local keyword search using a ‘format’ restrictor now correctly limits the results returned.
- 4377 (Cataloguing) It is now possible to delete a work in cataloguing if the only items attached to the work are deleted status, as in Talis Text.
- 4379 (Circulation) There is no longer an access violation if you try to change a borrower’s PIN via the Record tab on the Issue form.
- 4380 (Inter Library Loans) It is now possible to edit the default charge when creating a new ILL record.
- 4381 (Inter Library Loans) It is now possible to edit the Amount of an ILL charge, provided that it has not yet been paid.
- 4388 (Circulation) The address details now display correctly on the Borrower Search grid if the address is added via the Add Address F4 button when creating a new borrower.
- 4390 (Cataloguing) On the Items tab within the Bibliographic record, the Item type and Item status fields in the grid are no longer blanked out after viewing the Item form.
- 4391 (Cataloguing) Searching for Subject-type Authority records now works correctly when more than one word is entered (as in Talis Text). Hyphenated words may also now be input, and find the matching term.
- 4393 (Item Request) Adding a note to an item query now correctly updates the operator and location fields.
- 4398 (Acquisitions) Bulk payment will now take all the values for discount, VAT, service, service VAT, other charges and other charges VAT from the same source for each invoice line. For example, if the user has input a service charge on the invoice line, the bulk payment routine will now only look for discount, VAT etc on the invoice line, and not try to find values in other places. In order of precedence, it checks for values set in 1) the invoice line, 2) invoice defaults, 3) price per copy, 4) supplier defaults.
- 4403 (Circulation) Alto now correctly shows all overdues sent for a particular loan.
- 4406 (Acquisitions) The error message 'Could not convert variant type (null) into type (string)’ no longer appears when trying to view the payment form for an item with a null barcode.
- 4415 (Search) The Item form, when accessed via the ‘Display item Sh+F3’ button on the Full record display, no longer displays blank values if the item has no barcode.
- 4426 (Parameter Management) The ‘Enable F6’ button on the Parameter Management, Permissions, Rules form now toggles to ‘Disable’ when an enabled entry is highlighted and vice versa.
Known defects
Known defects in Talis Alto 2.0 (PDF)

