accessdb Database

Contents

Introduction
Document Conventions
Tables in accessdb
   authos Table Structure
   inst Table Structure
   instdbill Table Structure
   dbs Table Structure
   userdb Table Structure
   resources Table Structure
   userresource Table Structure
Database Table Relationships
Sample Data for accessdb

Introduction

The accessdb database, part of the Access component, stores patron authentication, authorization, and initialization data for WebZ users. This topic presents the schema for the accessdb database by describing the purpose of each table, the structure of each table, and the relationships among the tables. It also explains how a sample data file included with WebZ for both UNIX and Windows NT systems illustrates some possible uses of this database.

Document Conventions

• <WebZ_root> refers to the location of your installed WebZ environment.
• Version 4.0.x refers to any SiteSearch version prior to 4.1.0; that is 4.0.2, 4.0.1, 4.0.0a, and 4.0.0.
• tablename.columnname refers to a column in a specific database table. For example, authos.pwd refers to the pwd column in the authos table.
• (Required) denotes required tables and required columns in database tables.

Tables in accessdb

The accessdb database includes six tables, as follows.

You have considerable latitude in modifying accessdb to meet your site's needs. As long as you include the required tables and the required columns in these tables, you can remove other tables and columns.

If you remove tables and/or columns, however, note that you must modify the [TablePurpose] and [ColumnPurpose] sections of AccessServer.ini accordingly to reflect the structure of accessdb.

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authos Table Structure

The authos table contains authentication data for your WebZ patrons (an autho, or a unique authentication value and, if appropriate, the password associated with this autho for each patron or patron group). At a minimum, it associates each autho or autho/password combination with the databases available to this patron(s) (through the userdbkey column) and the number of open sessions it can have. You can also associate autho and autho/password combinations with the resources they can access (through the userresourcekey column), with the interface style shown to the patron(s) who log in using this autho, and other identifying information (name, status, address, and so on).

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inst Table Structure

The inst table stores information about institutions with which your patrons are affiliated. It is designed to save information pertinent to interlibrary loan (ILL) requests that patrons initiate using WebZ's interlibrary loan processing options. This information includes the autho and password an institution uses to access OCLC's ILL server, and the institution's delivery and billing addresses for materials borrowed through ILL.

Information from this table for a particular instsym overrides a site's default ILL information, as specified in the [ILLServer], [IllInfo], [LibraryDeliveryInfo], and [LibraryBillingInfo] sections in the IllService.ini file, located in <WebZ_root>/ini/servers.

Storing ILL information in the inst table is most useful if patrons are affiliated with different institutions. If all patrons are associated with the same institution, it makes more sense to use the defaults in the appropriate ILL server configuration file instead.

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instdbill Table Structure (beginning with version 4.1.2)

The instdbill table contains a list of the ILL services that each institution wishes to use for each database in the WebZ environment for which you have enabled patron-initiated ILL. This table allows you to set up ILL profiling on a per-institution, per-database basis. To apply profiling for a particular database, you set the value of its IllService variable to profiled in the [database] section of its database configuration file. When a patron makes an ILL request, the Access component finds the instkey value associated with the patron's autho/pwd combination in the authos table. The record associated with this instkey contains an illdbkey value. The illdbkey and the dbname columns are the keys to the instdbill table. By locating the row in in instdbill associated with a database and an institution, the Access component determines the ILL service to use for the this institution/database combination from the illserver value. Similarly, the doublecheckcontinue column indicates whether a patron can submit an ILL request for an item that his/her home library already owns.

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dbs Table Structure

The dbs table contains a list of each database in your WebZ environment. The dbid links a database to a user group with access to the database through the userdb table.

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userdb Table Structure

The userdb table links the authos and dbs tables via the userdbkey column in the authos table and the dbid column in the dbs table. It allows you to specify the databases available to an autho or autho/pwd combination. For example, if faculty and staff can use all of your databases and students can use only a subset of these databases, you could set up two userdbkeys: one for faculty/staff (facstaff) and one for students (student). Then you would create a separate row in the table for each each database the facstaff group can use and and additional rows for the databases the students can use.

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resources Table Structure

The resources table contains a list of each resource (typically servers) in your WebZ environment that you wish to restrict to specific patrons. The resources table can contain a row for any applicable server, such as Z39.50 servers and ILL servers. The resourceid column links a resource to a user group with to the resource through the userresource table.

If different groups of patrons access the same resource with different autho/password combinations:

• Set up multiple rows for the resource, each with a unique resourceid, the same resourcename, and an applicable autho/password combination in the resourceautho and resourcepwd columns.
• Link each resourceid with a userresourcekey in the userresource table and use this userresourcekey in the appropriate rows in the authos table.
• Leave the autho and password variables blank in the resource's server configuration file.
• Set the CheckNameAuthos variable to true in the [ZBase] section of in the Access.ini configuration file to enable ZBase name authorization. If you do not enable ZBase name authorization, the autho and/or password associated with a specific resource and authos value do not get passed to the resource when a patron tries to search a database hosted by the resource.

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userresource Table Structure

The userresource table links the authos and resource tables via the userresourcekey column in the authos table and the resourceid column in the resources table. It allows you to specify the resources available to an autho or autho/pwd combination.

For example, if use of some resources is limited to a specific group, such as the faculty and students in a specific department, you could set up a row for the resource in the resources table and a row in the userresource table with a userresourcekey for the department and the resourceid for the resource, and add the userresourcekey to every autho/pwd eligible to use this resource in the authos table.

Beginning with version 4.1.2a, the userresource table has three new optional columns (dbid, db_autho, and db_password) that allow you to specify the autho and password to use to access a specific database. This may be useful when there are multiple authorizations for the same database server and you wish to define which authorization to use when someone from a patron group wishes to access a specific database.

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Database Table Relationships

The following graphics show each table in accessdb, its columns, and its relationships to other tables. Column titles in dark blue bold text link the tables to one another, as shown by the lines that connect them. There is one graphic for accessdb beginning with SiteSearch 4.1.2a and another for accessdb for SiteSearch 4.1.1 and earlier versions. The only difference between the database tables in SiteSearch 4.1.2 and 4.1.2a is that the userresource table has three additional columns – dbid, db_autho, and db_password – in SiteSearch 4.1.2a.

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Sample Data for accessdb

The Access component includes a sample data file that you can use to create the accessdb database and populate it with sample data. The following table shows the name and location of the sample data file in different operating systems and SiteSearch versions.

You can examine the sample data file with any text editor. The procedures Configuring the Access Component for WebZ (UNIX) and Configuring the Access Component for WebZ (Windows NT) describe how to configure the Access component and create a sample accessdb database using this file.

The sample data in accessdb illustrates several ways in which you can use the Access component to customize access to your WebZ environment:

• authorization by IP address or DNS in the authos table
• specifying an interface style for an autho in the authos table
• setting up userdbkeys in the userdb table and assigning them to authos to limit access to selected databases to specific groups of patrons
• using the instsym column in the authos table and the inst table to link authos to ILL data for their institution

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See Also

Access Component Overview
Access Client Configuration Files
Access Server Configuration Files
Configuration Files that Support the Access Component
Configuring the Access Component for WebZ (UNIX)
Configuring the Access Component for WebZ (Windows NT)
SQL Scripts and Templates (UNIX)
WebZ and Interlibrary Loan
IllService.ini Configuration File
The updateSQL.pl Utility