FINDING REPORTING GOLD IN THE VOYAGER TABLES

BURIED TREASURE:

SESSION 9Alan Manifold

Systems Implementation Manager

Purdue University Librariesmanifold@purdue.edu

THE TOOLS

IN THE BLURB FOR THIS SESSION, I MENTIONED THREE TOOLS:

1. THE VOYAGER CLIENTS2. THE ENTITY-RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAMS

WHOOPS! THAT’S ONE SHORT. THE FINAL ONE IS:3. THE VOYAGER TABLES IN ACCESS

1. 2. 3.

VOYAGER CLIENTS

THERE’S NO BETTER PLACE THAN THE VOYAGER MODULES TO FIND THE RIGHT VALUES, AND THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS.

E-R DIAGRAMS

X

THE E-R, OR ENTITY-RELATIONSHIP, DIAGRAMS GIVE LOTS OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE TABLES AND HOW THEY RELATE TO ONE ANOTHER.

KEY

Looks like this now

TABLES IN ACCESS

LOOKING AT THE CONTENTS OF THE TABLES GIVES YOU A GREAT DEAL OF INFORMATION.

DESIGN VIEW, EVEN THOUGH YOU CAN’T

CHANGE IT, ALSO YIELDS LOTS OF INFORMATION.

THE CERTA-QUERY SYSTEM

1. Map out what results you want2. Create a strategy using the E-R diagrams3. Identify desired value in clients4. Pick a table from the E-R diagrams5. Compare table to clients6. Add the table and check links7. Make the query return enough data to verify it8. Verify results against all possible sources9. Repeat from Step 310.Clean up details

THE CERTA-QUERY SYSTEM (CLIENTS / E-R DIAGRAMS /

TABLES) FOR QUERY DEVELOPMENT IS AN ITERATIVE PROCESS. APPLY THE INNER STEPS TO ONE VALUE, THEN REPEAT THEM FOR EACH VALUE IN TURN.

STEP 1: MAP OUT RESULTS YOU WANT

EXAMPLE: WHAT TITLES COST LESS THAN $25, WHAT FUNDS DID I USE TO PAY FOR THEM AND HOW MUCH DID I PAY?

FOR EACH TITLE, I WILL WANT THE TITLE AND PERHAPS OTHER BIB INFO, THE LEDGER AND FUND NAMES AND THE AMOUNT PAID. FOR THIS EXAMPLE, WE WANT THE RESULTS FOR ALL TITLES IN OUR DATABASE FOR WHICH WE PAID UNDER $25.

STEP 2: CREATE A STRATEGY

USING THE E-R DIAGRAMS

I START WITH THE LEDGERS & FUNDS E-R DIAGRAM, SINCE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MONEY.

I FIND FUND AND INVOICE_LINE_ITEM_FUNDS, WHICH LOOK USEFUL, BUT I DON’T FIND A LINK TO THE BIB RECORD.

THE FUND TABLE SHOWS LINKS TO INVOICE AND TO PURCHASE_ORDER.

CREATE A STRATEGY USING THE E-R DIAGRAMS

THE PURCHASE_ORDER AND INVOICE CONNECTIONS LEAD ME TO THE PURCHASE ORDER & INVOICE E-R DIAGRAM. HERE, I FIND THAT PURCHASE_ORDER IS LINKED TO LINE_ITEM, WHICH CONTAINS A BIB_ID TO LINK IT TO BIB_MASTER AND OTHER BIB TABLES.

CREATE A STRATEGY USING THE E-R DIAGRAMS

THE PURCHASE ORDER & INVOICE DIAGRAM SHOWS AN INDIRECT LINK BETWEEN LINE_ITEM AND INVOICE_LINE_ITEM_FUNDS, WHICH GIVES ME THE ENTIRE CHAIN I NEED.

BIB INFOLINE ITEMSINVOICE LINE ITEMSFUND INFO

STEPS 3 AND 4

STEP 4: PICK A TABLE FROM THE E-R DIAGRAMS. SOME TABLES ARE IMPORTANT ENOUGH THAT YOU SHOULD JUST LEARN THEIR CONTENTS. BIB_TEXT IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THESE. IT CONTAINS THE BIB_ID, PLUS AUTHOR, TITLE, ISBN, PUBLISHER, PUBLICATION DATES, ETC. I’LL START WITH IT FOR THIS QUERY, SINCE I WANT THE TITLE.

STEP 3: IDENTIFY DESIRED VALUE IN CLIENTS. WE PICK A DESIRED RECORD IN THE ACQ MODULE AND NOTE ITS TITLE, AND WE SEE THAT THERE IS ALSO A “BIB RECORD ID” DISPLAYED.

STEP 5: COMPARE TABLE TO CLIENTS

THE “BIB RECORD ID” LOOKS LIKE A BIB_ID, SO I TRY IT, AND THE AUTHOR AND TITLE FOR THAT RECORD MATCH WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR, SO THIS IS THE RIGHT TABLE TO USE.

STEP 6: ADD TABLE AND CHECK LINKS

THE FIRST STEP IS JUST TO GET THE CHOSEN TABLE INTO THE QUERY. SINCE THIS IS THE FIRST TABLE, WE DON’T HAVE TO CHECK ANY LINKS, BUT THAT IS PART OF THIS STEP FOR SUBSEQUENT TABLES.

STEP 7: MAKE THE QUERY RETURN ENOUGH DATA TO

VERIFY IT

THE FIRST VERSION IS QUITE SIMPLE, BUT IT ASSURES ME THAT I’VE GOT THINGS RIGHT. I ADD THE BIB_ID SO I CAN VERIFY THE RESULTS AGAINST THE RECORD I KNOW. WHEN THE QUERY IS COMPLETE, I WILL REMOVE THAT FIELD AND ITS CRITERION.

STEP 8: VERIFY RESULTS AGAINST ALL POSSIBLE

SOURCES

SEEING THE BIB INFO FROM THE ACQ MODULE SHOULD BE ENOUGH, BUT IT CAN’T HURT TO LOOK AT CATALOGING, TOO.

STEP 9: REPEAT FROM STEP 3

3. IDENTIFY DESIRED VALUE IN CLIENTS

4. PICK A TABLE FROM THE E-R DIAGRAMS

WE HAVE BIB_ID, SO WE CAN LINK TO LINE_ITEM

REPEAT FROM STEP 3

5. COMPARE TABLE TO CLIENTS

6. ADD TABLE AND CHECK LINKS

7. RETURN ENOUGH DATA TO VERIFY THE QUERY

REPEAT FROM STEP 3

8. VERIFY RESULTS AGAINST ALL POSSIBLE SOURCES

WE REPEAT THIS FOR ALL TABLES, OFTEN RUNNING MORE THAN ONE TEST FOR EACH STEP. FOR INSTANCE, WE COULD REMOVE THE BIB_ID CRITERION FROM THIS QUERY AND SEE MORE RESULTS.

CONTINUING WITH EXAMPLE

THE JUMP FROM LINE_ITEM TO LINE_ITEM_COPY_STATUS DOESN’T GIVE ME ANYTHING I CAN VERIFY, SO I CONTINUE TO THE NEXT TABLE IN THE CHAIN, INVOICE_LINE_ITEM_FUNDS.

IN THAT TABLE I SEE THAT THE AMOUNT FIELD NEARLY MATCHES WHAT I EXPECT (OFF BY A FACTOR OF 100), SO IT LOOKS LIKE WE’RE OKAY.

ADD THOSE TWO TABLES AND GET SOME FIELDS

THE FUND_ID, LEDGER_ID AND AMOUNT FIELDS SHOW US THAT WE’RE STILL ON THE RIGHT TRACK.

THE FINAL LINKS IN THE CHAIN

THE LEDGER AND FUND IDS FROM THE INVOICE_LINE_ITEM_FUNDS TABLE POINT TO THE LEDGER AND FUND RECORDS I EXPECT.

FUND AND LEDGER ARE TWO MORE TABLES TO MEMORIZE IF YOU DO ACQ REPORTS.

ADD TABLES AND CHECK LINKS

WHEN WE ADD FIRST FUND, THEN LEDGER, THE LINKS ARE OBVIOUSLY NOT SUFFICIENT. THE FUND TABLE IS NOT LINKED AT ALL. ALSO, THE E-R DIAGRAMS SHOW THE LINK FROM INVOICE_LINE_ITEM_FUNDS GOING TO FUND, THEN TO LEDGER FROM THERE.

STEP 10: CLEAN UP DETAILS

FOR THIS QUERY, THE DETAILS INCLUDE REORDERING THE FIELDS, TAKING OUT THE FIELDS WE DON’T REALLY WANT, CONVERTING THE AMOUNT FIELD TO DOLLARS AND CENTS, AND ADDING THE AMT CRITERION.

FINAL COMMENTS

THE CERTA-QUERY SYSTEM IS NOT DESIGNED TO MAKE IT EASY TO CREATE QUERIES BUT TO HELP MAKE SURE THE RESULTS OF QUERIES ARE CORRECT.• THE EMPHASIS IS ON VERIFICATION OF RESULTS• THE PROCESS IS SLOW AND STEADY, MOSTLY SLOW• IF THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS, THIS SYSTEM

WON’T HELP MUCH

NOW GO OUT AND FIND THAT TREASURE!