Chapter 24. SIP Communication

Table of Contents

01 Block Patron
09/10 Checkin
11/12 Checkout
15/16 Hold
17/18 Item Information
19/20 Item Status Update
23/24 Patron Status
25/26 Patron Enable
29/30 Renew
35/36 End Session
37/38 Fee Paid
63/64 Patron Information
65/66 Renew All
93/94 Login
97/96 Resend
99/98 SC and ACS Status
Fields

SIP generally communicates over a TCP connection (either raw sockets or over telnet), but can also communicate via serial connections and other methods. In Evergreen, the most common deployment is a RAW socket connection on port 6001.

SIP communication consists of strings of messages, each message request and response begin with a 2-digit “command” - Requests usually being an odd number and responses usually increased by 1 to be an even number. The combination numbers for the request command and response is often referred to as a Message Pair (for example, a 23 command is a request for patron status, a 24 response is a patron status, and the message pair 23/24 is patron status message pair). The table in the next section shows the message pairs and a description of them.

For clarification, the “Request” is from the device (selfcheck or otherwise) to the ILS/ACS. The response is… the response to the request ;).

Within each request and response, a number of fields (either a fixed width or separated with a | [pipe symbol] and preceded with a 2-character field identifier) are used. The fields vary between message pairs.

Pair

Name

Supported?

Details

01

Block Patron

Yes

01/Block_Patron - ACS responds with 24 Patron Status Response

09-10

Checkin

Yes (with extensions)

09/10_Checkin

11-12

Checkout

Yes (no renewals)

11/12_Checkout

15-16

Hold

Partially supported

15/16_Hold

17-18

Item Information

Yes (no extensions)

17/18_Item_Information

19-20

Item Status Update

No

19/20_Item_Status_Update - Returns Patron Enable response, but doesn’t make any changes in EG

23-24

Patron Status

Yes

23/24_Patron_Status - 63/64 “Patron Information” preferred

25-26

Patron Enable

No

25/26_Patron_Enable - Used during system testing and validation

29-30

Renew

Yes

29/30_Renew

35-36

End Session

Yes

35/36_End_Session

37-38

Fee Paid

Yes

37/38_Fee_Paid

63-64

Patron Information

Yes (no extensions)

63/64_Patron_Information

65-66

Renew All

Yes

65/66_Renew_All

93-94

Login

Yes

93/94_Login - Must be first command to Evergreen ACS (via socket) or SIP will terminate

97-96

Resend last message

Yes

97/96_Resend

99-98

SC-ACS Status

Yes

99/98_SC_and_ACS_Status

01 Block Patron

A selfcheck will issue a Block Patron command if a patron leaves their card in a selfcheck machine or if the selfcheck detects tampering (such as attempts to disable multiple items during a single item checkout, multiple failed pin entries, etc).

In Evergreen, this command does the following:

  • User alert message: CARD BLOCKED BY SELF-CHECK MACHINE (this is independent of the AL Blocked Card Message field).
  • Card is marked inactive.

The request looks like:

01<card retained><date>[fields AO, AL, AA, AC]

Card Retained: A single character field of Y or N - tells the ACS whether the SC has retained the card (ex: left in the machine) or not.

Date: An 18 character field for the date/time when the block occurred.

Format: YYYYMMDDZZZZHHMMSS (ZZZZ being zone - 4 blanks when local time, “Z” (3 blanks and a Z) represents UTC(GMT/Zulu)

Fields: See Fields for more details.

The response is a 24 “Patron Status Response” with the following:

  • Charge privileges denied
  • Renewal privileges denied
  • Recall privileges denied (hard-coded in every 24 or 64 response)
  • hold privileges denied
  • Screen Message 1 (AF): blocked
  • Patron