Choosing Character Set and Attribute Checking

Use the Z39.50 Server menu option on the Z39.50 SERVERS screen to set whether your Z39.50 server:

uses the ISO Latin-1 character set
enforces attribute checking

The Z39.50 server program and Z39.50 client program are separately available products. Character set and attribute checking options apply to the Z39.50 server program product only. They do not apply to the Z39.50 client program product.

Bath Level 0 Compliance Requirements

To comply with Level 0 of the Bath Profile, you must enable the ISO Latin-1 character set and enforce attribute checking.

Advanced Word Searching is required to operate your Z39.50 server in compliance with Level 0 of the Bath Profile. All Sierra systems have Advanced Word Searching.

Changing the Character Set and Attribute Checking

Choose the Z39.50 server file option in Admin Corner. The Z39.50 SERVERS screen displays:

                                   Z39.50 SERVERS

      1 > RLIN
      2 > OCLC FirstSearch Databases
      3 > Univ. of Calif. MELVYL system
      4 > Univ. Wisconsin-Madison (NLC code)
      5 > Indiana Univ (NOTIS)
      6 > Penn State University
      7 > CARL Systems
      8 > Library of Congress
      9 > Acadia University
______________________________________________________________________________
Select server to edit or
A > ADD server        Z > Z39.50 Server     Q > QUIT
D > DELETE server     M > MOVE line
Choose one (1-9,A,D,Z,M,Q)

From the menu, choose the Z39.50 Server option. The system prompts:

Use ISO Latin I character set (Y/N): Y
To use the ISO Latin-1 character set, choose Y. Otherwise, choose N.
The system prompts:
Enforce Attribute Checking (Y/N): Y
To enforce attribute checking of queries against your Z39.50 server, choose Y. Otherwise, choose N.

About Character Sets

By default, the Z39.50 server uses the ALA character set.

If your Z39.50 server is configured to use a character set other than the ALA character set, the Z39.50 Server option cannot change it.

Using the ISO Latin I character set can create problems when retrieving records with diacritics.

About Attribute Checking

When the Z39.50 server enforces attribute checking, it accepts only search requests that contain supported search attributes. If it receives a search request that contains unsupported attribute(s), it sends the Z39.50 client a diagnostic message.

When the Z39.50 server does not enforce attribute checking, it accepts search requests that contain unsupported search attributes. If it receives a search request that contains unsupported attribute(s), it attempts to perform the search by using its default values. If the Z39.50 server is unable to complete the search, it sends the Z39.50 client a diagnostic message.

For a list of the search attributes that the Z39.50 server supports and its default values, see Search Attributes for the Z39.50 Server.