Global and Collection level Catalog Numbers

[sorosoro]

Hi,
In the Specify Setup Wizard post it says that:

Catalog Numbers can either be unique to each Collection, shared by several collections or used throughout the Institution. The Catalog Number chosen at this time will not affect where it is used relative to other collections, this will be configured from within the Specify application.

How and when can the scope of the Catalog Numbers be configured?

Thanks
Soraya

[Grant]

Hi @sorosoro,

This is something that we can configure for you on our end, but it requires manual edits for the database. I am planning on writing instructions for the larger community, but to put it simply, there are a few important tables:

When you create a field format in Specify that uses autonumbering, Specify creates a record in the autonumberingscheme table in your database.

Each auto-numbered field format has a scope at which it auto-numbers (e.g. Division, Discipline, or Collection). Each of these scopes keeps track of the auto-numbering format in a record in one of the respective tables:

Collection: autonumsch_coll
Discipline: autonumsch_dsp
Division: autonumsch_div

You can modify the autonumsch_coll to use the same autonumberingscheme ID as another autonumbered field in your database. This means both fields will increment together across collections. This can be applied to catalog numbers to make them shared between multiple collections.

If you share a copy of your database with us, we can make this customization for you, assuming all catalog numbers in both collections can fall within the same sequence (no duplicates). It is easier to configure this for new collections moving forward, but at this time all catalog numbers must be unique (at least until that becomes configurable in the next release of Specify).

[sorosoro]

Thanks for the explanation Grant! I tested this with 2 temporary fields (not on the real Catalog Number field) in 2 collections and it worked perfect. The temporary fields increased in sequence.

Just one thing. You wrote that:

When you create a field format in Specify that uses autonumbering, Specify creates a record in the autonumberingscheme table

This did not happen. I had to insert the necessary records in the autonumberingscheme and in the autonumsch_coll tables. Of course, that’s no a proble. It worked

At the moment, unifying catalog numbers across collections is only an idea. If a decision is made, I will probably get in touch again with you guys to make the change properly.

Thanks again!