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SBC-Standard The data standard for libraries

63 Patron information

Request
63
Response
64
Set
core
Position in BX
7

Patron information is the detailed version of the patron status: It supplies the same details about card and blocks, and in addition how many items the patron has charged, which of them are overdue, what they owe and – on request – the individual items with title and due date.

A self-checkout unit builds its account overview from this; an account terminal lives on this command alone.

Request 63#

63<language><timestamp><summary><AO...><AA...><AC...><AD...><XL...><XP...>
Field Length Required Content
language 3 yes language of the patron, 000 unknown, 003 German
timestamp 18 yes date and time on the device
summary 10 yes which item list is to be supplied, see below
Identifier Required Content
AO yes institution identifier
AA yes patron identifier
AC no terminal password
AD no patron password
XL no type of patron identifier in AA: BAR, ACC or UID
XP no PIN of the patron

The summary#

The ten positions of the summary correspond to one item list each. One position carries Y, all others a space – only one list is ever requested. Whoever needs several asks several times.

Pos. List Field in the response
0 hold items, available AS
1 overdue items AT
2 charged items AU
3 fine items AV
4 recall items BU
5 hold items, not yet available CD

Ten spaces request no list at all – the counters and the fee balance still come. For the account overview of a self-checkout unit this is the normal case, because it only needs figures.

Response 64#

64<patron status><language><timestamp><6 counters><AO...><AA...><AE...><BL...>
  <CQ...><BH...><BV...><BW...><BE...><XH...><XD...><BZ...><CA...><CB...>
  <item list><AF...><AG...>
Field Length Required Content
patron status 14 yes block reasons as under patron status
language 3 yes language from the request
timestamp 18 yes date and time on the library system

Six counters of four digits each follow, with leading zeros, in this order:

Counter Meaning
1 available holds
2 overdue items
3 charged items
4 fine items
5 recall items
6 holds not yet available

The counters are independent of the summary: They always come, even if no list was requested.

Identifier Required Content
AO yes institution identifier
AA yes patron identifier
AE yes name of the patron
BL yes Y the card is known
CQ yes Y password or PIN is correct
BH no currency, e.g. EUR; only together with BV
BV no outstanding fee amount
BW no expiry date of the card
BE no e-mail address of the patron
XH no number of items charged today
XD no date of the next item due
BZ no hold items limit, 0000 if not limited
CA no overdue items limit, 0000 if not limited
CB no charged items limit, 0000 if not limited
AF no message for the screen
AG no message for the receipt

XH and XD are extensions of this profile. They answer the two questions asked most often at a self-checkout unit – "have I already charged this?" and "when do I have to come back?" – without the device having to request and evaluate the entire item list for them.

The item list#

Every item of the requested list occupies a field of its own; the field therefore repeats as often as there are items. Which identifier is used depends on the summary (see the table above).

The content begins with the identifier of the item. Four additional details may follow, each separated by a tab character (09):

AU1140360000123<TAB>Momo<TAB>25.08.2026<TAB>1<TAB>Book|
                │   │        │           │  └─ media type
                │   │        │           └──── number of renewals
                │   │        └──────────────── due date
                │   └───────────────────────── short title
                └───────────────────────────── item identifier

A device that only needs the identifier reads up to the first tab character and discards the rest. A device that wants to display an account list, on the other hand, saves itself one query per item – which is why these details exist.

The additional details are optional, but not individually omissible: Whoever supplies them supplies all four separators, even where a detail stays empty.

Example#

Request for the account with the list of charged items (position 2 of the summary):

6300320260728    143012  Y       AOBVS|AA1140360000042|AY4AZF362<CR>

Response with three charged items:

64              00320260728    143012000000000003000000000000AOBVS|AA1140360000042|AESmith, Jane|BLY|CQY|BHEUR|BV2.50|XH1|XD25.08.2026|BZ0000|CA0000|CB0000|AU1140360000123<TAB>Momo<TAB>25.08.2026<TAB>1<TAB>Book|AU1140360000131<TAB>The Neverending Story<TAB>25.08.2026<TAB>0<TAB>Book|AU1140360000148<TAB>Jim Button<TAB>08.09.2026<TAB>0<TAB>Book|AF|AG|AY4AZB3E0<CR>

This page was translated automatically from the German original. If anything reads oddly or looks wrong, please let us know — the German edition prevails.