[Koha-devel] Serials management in KOHA

[Owen Leonard]

> Could anyone of you please expalin the N/[X,Y] formula for
> managing issues of serials?

It's a little confusing, but maybe an example will help:

Many serials are identified by a custom numbering formula like  "Vol. 4,
No. 7, Iss. 8" (Volume four, number 7, issue 8).  The serials numbering
formula calculator in Koha allows you to automate the updates of those
values according to each serial's special formula. In this case, your Koha formula would look like this:

Vol. {X}, No. {Y}, Iss. {Z}

Each number in the formula is replaced by a variable.  In the numbering
calculation table you set the rules for how each number is incremented as
each serial issue is acquired.  Let's say in this example that your serial
title releases 12 issues a year, that each 'number' collects 12 issues,
and each 'Volume' collects 10 'Numbers.'

It's easier if we start with the {Z} column:

Add 1 <-- Issue number increments by one
once every 1 <-- Issue number increments by one each time an issue is
published
When more than 999999 <-- Issue number should not reset to zero, so enter a
huge number here
The loop is for instance 0 <-- Where are we in the current sequence? Since
{Z} increments by one and does not reset, this value isn't needed.
Set back to  0 <-- In this case we hope it doesn't ever get set back
Last value 8 <-- The next issue should have this value

In the {Y} column:

Add 1 <-- Each 'Number' increments one at a time
Every 12 <-- 'Number' increments by one every twelve issues
When more than 10 <-- 'Number' resets every 120 issues (12 issues x 10)
The loop is for instance 7 <-- Indicates that we're starting at 7 of 10
Set back to 1 <-- reset to 1 every 120 issues
Last value 7 <-- The next issue should have this value for "No."

In the {X} column:

Add 1 <-- Volume is incremented by one
Every 120 <-- Volume increments by one every 120 issues
When more than 999999 <-- Volume number should not reset to zero
The loop is for instance 0 <-- Volume doesn't reset, so this can be left 0
Set back to 0 <-- Shouldn't ever be reset, we think
Last value 4 <-- The volume numbering should begin with 4

With those values entered, the numbering system for each new issue should
look like this:

Vol. 4, No. 7, Iss. 8
Vol. 4, No. 7, Iss. 9
Vol. 4, No. 7, Iss. 10
Vol. 4, No. 7, Iss. 11
Vol. 4, No. 8, Iss. 12
...
Vol. 4, No. 10, Iss. 36
Vol. 5, No. 1, Iss. 37

(If I got the math right)

I hope (even if I didn't get the math right), that this explanation is
clear, and that I didn't misinterpret the rules.  Hopefully one of the
developers of this feature will chime in if I got something wrong.

  -- Owen