Fixed-length Codes File

To edit the Fixed-length Codes file you must be assigned permission 655 (Edit Fixed-Length Fields). If you are assigned permission 651 (View System Parameters) but not 655, you can view this file but cannot edit it. See Permissions Used by Sierra for more information.

If you are running Sierra 4.0 or later, you can edit item STATUS codes in the Item Status Codes table and MAT TYPE codes in the Material Types table.

The Fixed-length Codes file contains data that defines accepted values and the corresponding meaning of all single-character fixed-length fields, such as bibliographic BCODE fields or patron record MBLOCK fields.

You can access the Fixed-length Codes file via the following menu path:

Admin | Parameters | General | Fixed-length Codes

For information on modifying this table, see Maintaining System Parameter Tables.

Because the Fixed-length Codes file contains exactly one entry for each single-character fixed-length field, the Append, Delete, Copy, Insert, and Move tools are unavailable when editing this file.

Entries in the Fixed-length Codes file contain the following data elements:

Element Description
Name Name of the fixed-length field to which the code corresponds. This element is protected from editing.
Valid Codes

Table of possible values for the field specified in the Name element, along with their associated values.

The Valid Characters column contains up to 32 alphanumeric or punctuation characters that are acceptable values for this field. A hyphen ('-') indicates a value that has no associated meaning.

The Meaning column specifies a label for the value in the Valid Characters column (up to 25 characters). If your Innovative system has been set up to offer more than one language to users, you can select languages from the drop-down list above the Valid Character and Meaning columns and input a meaning for each language offered on your system.

To see changes you have made to labels in the WebPAC, restart the WebPAC server.

Note that when editing the Valid Codes table for the item STATUS field, certain values must not be edited or deleted. See Fixed-length Fields in Item Records for a list of reserved statuses. Also note that for checked-out items with a STATUS of '-', the system displays the item's due date instead of the meaning. For more information, see Viewing Item Status.

In this file, you can configure codes for the following fields:

Record Type Fields
Authority ACODE1, ACODE2, ASUPPRESS
Bib BIB LVL, BCODE3, MAT TYPE (Sierra 3.4 and earlier)
Course CCODE1, CCODE2, CCODE3
Holdings LABEL TYPE, SCODE1, SCODE2, SCODE3, SCODE4, UPDCNT
Invoice INV STATUS, NCODE1, NCODE2, NCODE3
Item ICODE2, IMESSAGE, OPACMSG, STATUS (Sierra 3.4 and earlier), STICKYSTS (Sierra 3.4 and earlier; uses the same codes as STATUS)
License ARCHIVES, AUTO RENEW, CONFIDENTL, DISABILTY, INDEMNIF, LAW&VENUE, LCODE1, LCODE2, LCODE3, PERPTL ACS, STATUS, SUPPRESS, TYPE, USER CONF, WARRANTY
Order ACQ TYPE, CLAIM, CODE1, CODE2, CODE3, CODE4, FORM, ORD NOTE, ORD TYPE, RACTION, STATUS, TLOC
Patron MBLOCK, NOTICE PREF, PCODE1, PCODE2, PMESSAGE
Program AUTOTRANSFR*, ECOMM REQ*, ELIGIBILITY, GCODE3, REGPOSSIBLE*
Resource ECODE1, ECODE2, ECODE3, ECODE4, PACKTYPE, RIGHTSTYPE, STATUS, SUPPRESS
Section STATUS*, ZCODE3
Vendor VCODE1, VCODE2, VCODE3

* Innovative does not recommend modifying codes marked with an asterisk.