New options added for Batch Mode

We've added an option called 'Brief Message Filter' to MARC Report's Batch Mode. The reason for the name 'Brief Message Filter' is that, when defined, this filter runs against the brief messages that the program returns whenever it finds an error.

There are many ways to customize the error messages that appear in MARC Report: using the Cancelled Message feature, customizing the cataloging checks table, etc. This new option behaves in exactly the opposite way as the Cancelled Message feature works. For example, if you specify a single tag (for example '100'), MARC Report will run as it usually does, but only error messages about this tag will be flagged or reported.

The purpose of this filter is to make it very easy to run the program against large files and look for specific problems, whether simply to review/research usage, or to undertake a subsequent cleanup project.

This filter accepts single tags, or multiple tags separated by commas: 

Example: 600,610,611,630,650,651

And this filter also accepts tag ranges, and XX tag specifications: 

Example: 600-651
Example: 6XX

(Note that each of the three examples given above is slightly different and may retrieve different results depending on the tags used in the file being reviewed).

It is easy to set up something like this and later forget that you have done so, especially with a transparent function like batch mode. For this reason, if a brief message filter is defined when you start a Batch Mode run, you will be prompted whether to activate it or not. If this prompt becomes annoying, simply clear the filter in the options.

In addition to Batch Mode, the brief message filter can be activated in MARC Report by selecting the 'Enable in MR' checkbox.

If a Brief Message Filter is assigned when you start MARC Report, instead of an 'Activation' prompt, a blue caption displaying the filter will appear at the bottom of the screen.

Please note that a Brief Message Filter cannot be used to generate perfect records :-(
If all error messages for a record are filtered out (ie. the record has errors, but none of them matched your filter), then the single message 'All messages removed by filter' will appear on the right, and the perfection picture will be blocked.

On the other hand, the 'red button' can be used to seek ahead to the next record with an error message that matches the tag(s) in your filter. Therfore, if you are just looking for a single problem, add a tag to the filter, then use the red button to jump through the file, stopping at only those records with matching tags.

If this option is selected, the brief message control number that we use internally for cataloging checks will be pre-prended to the head of the notes field in the report. This information may not be useful to the average user, but as we found it useful for troubleshooting new cataloging checks, we decided to include it–hence this note.