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 |
XW |
no | portion of BV not yet posted, in cents |
XV |
no | days before the due date from which renewal is allowed |
XR |
no | renewability of each charged item, see below |
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, XD, XW, XV and XR are extensions of this profile; they are
described in detail under
extensions. XH and XD
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
For the two hold lists (AS and CD) only the short title follows the
identifier:
AS1140360000155<TAB>The Robber Hotzenplotz|
For the fee items (AV) it is not an item that matters but the charge. The
structure is the same, the meaning is different:
AV1140360000123<TAB>Overdue charge<TAB>03.08.2026<TAB>150|
│ │ │ └─ amount in cents
│ │ └───────────── date it was posted
│ └─────────────────────────────── reason for the charge
└─────────────────────────────────── item identifier,
empty if there is none
The amount is given in cents here, not with a separator as in BV: in a list a
device adds up, an integer is the safe choice.
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.
Renewability#
For every charged item the library system may state whether it can be renewed.
These details go in XR fields of their own, in the same order as the AU
fields:
XR1140360000123<TAB>J<TAB><TAB>22.09.2026<TAB>0|
Structure and meaning are described under
extensions. XR is only
sent together with the charged items, that is with position 2 of the summary.
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>