Changing Loan Type on Current Loans
I need to change the Loan Type on some loans. Is it as straightforward as:
update LOAN
set LOAN_TYPE=..
where LOAN_ID=..
Or are there other implications to consider?
Just to add some context to this. We charge fines of 10p per day on Normal Loan items. Around 59 days overdue we need to increase the fine to £10, as the fine ceases to be a library fine becomes a University debt. Currently we are trying to manage by changing the Number of Repeats in the Fine Rule – this is proving next to impossible to manage because of Dead Days and delays in forwarding some of these debts. By altering the loan type I was hoping to isolate the increase to £10 to only those fines which had been passed to the University.
Chris Langham
Deputy Systems Librarian
Birmingham City University
Updating loan type
The SQL you gave will update all rows connected to the LOAN_ID and not the current issue or renewal row. This may not be a problem but it might be better to include the lines
and CURRENT_LOAN='T'
and STATE in (0,1)
I'm not sure where you are getting the LOAN_ID value. I assume you are not going to run the SQL manually for each affected loan.
However you have to be careful with loans that are renewed. If there is a fine due on renewal the loan type as calculated from the parameters will be used and not the value in the current loan row for the loan. I'm guessing you will not be renewing such long overdue loans but it is possible.
In discharge the loan type from the current issue/renewal row in the LOAN table is used.
Unfortunately the loa_long_odue script doesn't allow the loan type to be changed. It is possible to change the item status and to add item and/or borrower messages. These could be used to flag up on the return of the item that an additional charge needs to be added or potentially the script could be used to change the loan type or add a miscellaneous charge.
You should also be aware that the changes could affect the results of any analysis of data by loan type.
Thanks
Brian Crampton
Developer, Talis
Updating loan type addl
Thanks for your prompt reply.
LOAN_ID - I will get this from the LETTER_SNT table. I'll write a perl program to extract all of the loans which generated a final overdue X days ago, ignoring all those which have been subsequently returned (or renewed!).
You are right in that these loans should not have been renewed, but there has been at least one incident where the item has been renewed. I wasn't aware that there was a difference in fine calculation between discharge and renewal, but since we currently only change the loan type for recalled items (these shouldn't be renewed), the problem hasn't been spotted.
Many thanks for your help.
Chris Langham
Deputy Systems Librarian
Birmingham City University