Follett textbook file specifications

To be imported successfully into Follett Destiny® Textbook Manager, a textbook import file must be in the correct format. This topic provides detailed information about the file, the acceptable format, and the record and field contents.

File sources

Destiny Textbook Manager accepts an exported textbook file from Destiny Textbook Manager v5.x or laterand TextLink v4.x.

If you prefer to create your own file or edit a text file using a text editor, this topicexplains the formatting details for a textbook import file. You can create the file with any text editor, such as Notepad or Simple Text. Do not use Microsoft® Word or Apple TextEdit. Hidden characters created by these programs can cause the upload to fail.

note This information is provided to help you, your technical personnel, or your textbook vendor prepare a textbook file for import into Destiny. If you do not have experience creating or editing comma-delimited text files, you might want to seek additional assistance.

File requirements

Destiny Textbook Manager does not accept a textbook import file in the MARC21 format.

The textbook import file format is flat ASCII text, and is comma-delimited.

The file consists of a header record, records for each main title (ME), teacher's edition (TE), and/or resource kit (KIT), and records for each copy. Copy records must immediately follow their title record in the file. Teacher's editions or kits must immediately follow their main title or the main title's copies.

The file must meet the following requirements:

• The file must have one header record.
• Each title or copy record takes up one line of the file.
• Each record must end with a hard return (CR/LF).
• With the exception of the Header Identifier and Record Identifier, string (text) fields in the record must be surrounded by quotation marks (for example, "Algebra").
• Quotation marks must be straight quotes, not curly or "smart quotes".
• Numbers, including dates, are the actual numeric value. Do not surround numbers with quotation marks.
• Each field is separated from the one after it by a comma.

Before you begin

Import Textbooks performs several checks when importing your file. To ensure a successful import, be aware of the following actions that Import Textbooks takes:

• It checks the maximum length of each field.
  Any field larger than the maximum length is truncated when imported.
• It deletes any trailing spaces in string fields. It does not delete leading spaces.
• It applies date-field checking. Years must be between 1900 and 2037.
• It generates a line in the job summary for any record that is invalid, listing the textbook title
  (if possible) and a brief error message.

Header record

The first line in the import file must be a header line. It is a file identifier.

Every field, listed the following table, must exist in the header. If the header contains any more or less than seven fields, or if any field in the header exceeds the maximum length, the header is invalid.

Click here for specific information for each field

The following table contains the specific information for each field:

Field	Format	Maximum length	Example
Header identifier 1	String		HEADER
Site name	String	30	"Anytown Elementary"
Application name	String	25	"Destiny Textbooks"
Application version number2	String	10	"5.00"
File creation date	Number, yyyymmdd	8 (exactly)	20070915
Disk number 3	Number	1	1
Final disk? 4	String	1	"Y"
1 The only acceptable value is HEADER (no quotes). 2 Application version number must contain a value. The only acceptable value is one of the following: 9.70 For files that include fields 25-27 in the title records and only for Textbook Manager version 9.8 or later 5.00 For all earlier versions 3 If entered, the only acceptable value is 1 4 If entered, the only acceptable value is Y   Destiny does not accept a single file that spans multiple floppy disks.   If you are using floppy disks, make sure you create a textbook file that fits on a single disk.

 

Title records

For a successful import, make sure to conform to the following requirements:

• Each main edition, teacher's edition, or kit must have a title record, followed by its copy records (if any).
• Records for teacher's editions or kits must immediately follow their main title or its copies.
• Except for the first field (the Record Identifier) in the record, string fields must be surrounded by quotation marks.
• Records must contain the first 21 fields.
• Records cannot contain more than 27 fields.
• Fields in bold must contain values.

Click here for specific information for each title field

The following table contains the specific information for each title field:

	Field Name	Format	Maximum Length	Example
1	Record identifier 1	String		ME
2	Title	String	150	"Geometry"
3	Edition	String	150	"2nd ed."
4	Author	String	150	"Lang, Serge"
5	ISBN	String	13	"0387966544"
6	Copyright year 2	Number yyyy	4	2004
7	Material type 3	String	50	"Book"
8	Publisher name	String	150	"Springer-Verlag"
9	Vendor name	String	150	"FES"
10	Budget category	String	50	"Math"
11	State/Textbook ID	String	20	"1048723"
12	Year of state adoption 2	Number yyyy	4	2005
13	Year of district adoption 2	Number yyyy	4	2005
14	Vendor ID or catalog number	String	20	"1234567"
15	Replacement Price	Number	5 + 2 decimal places	44.95
16	Basic/Supplement indicator	String	1	"B" — Basic text "S" — Supplement text
17	Note 4	String	1,000	"Corrected 6th printing"
18	Grade Level (from)	String	20	"7""seven"
19	Year adoption ends 2	Number yyyy	4	2010
20	Publisher ID or catalog number	String	20	"0387966544"
21	User-Defined Field (or Course ID)	String	15	"2042083"
22	Resource URL 5	String		"http://myebook.com"
23	Grade Level (to) 5	String	20	"7""seven"
24	Additional Information 5	String	255	"Rental Fee - $25.00"
25	Instructional Classification 5 6	String	50	"Core"
26	(Field reserved) 5 6 Program 5 6	String	50	"""Mathematics"
27	Textbook Subject 5 6	String	50	"Mathematics"
1 The only acceptable value for Record Identifier is one of the following (no quotes): ME — main edition TE — teacher’s edition KIT — resource kit BUN — bundle 2 The four date fields–Copyright year, Year of state adoption, Year of district adoption, and Year adoption ends–can contain 0000 or nothing if year is unknown. 3 If no material type is specified, or if it is something other than those listed, Import Textbooks assigns Book by default. 4 Any note text that contains quotation marks must have those quotation marks preceded by a backslash, as in the following example: "This is a note with a \"quotation\" in it." 5 These fields are not available in TextLink. 6 If you include fields 25-27, you must enter "9.70" as the version number in the header.   You can only import files containing these two fields into Destiny Textbook Manager version 9.8 or later.

 

Title record examples

Click here for examples

ME,"Geometry","2nd ed.","Lang, Serge","0387966544",2004,"Book",
"Springer-Verlag","FES","Math","10423",2005,2005,"123456",44.95,"B",
"Corrected sixth printing","seven",2010,"0387966544","20423",
"http://myebook.com","eight","Rental Fee - $25.00",¶

The minimum valid title record would be:

ME,"Geometry","","","",,"","","","","",,,"",,"","","",,"",¶

note The paragraph symbol (¶) in the examples shows the hard return (CR/LF) at the end of the record. Normally, it would not be visible.

Copy records

Copy records are optional. If included, they must immediately follow the title record to which they belong. For a successful import, make sure to conform to the following requirements:

• Records must contain the first eight fields.
• Fields in bold must contain values.
• Except for the first field (Record identifier) in the record, string fields must be surrounded by quotation marks.
• Copy barcode numbers, of any symbology, cannot be longer than 14 characters.
• A single import file cannot contain copy records for multiple schools. Separate files must be created for each school.

Click here for specific information for each copy field

The following table contains the specific information for each copy field:

	Field Name	Format	Maximum Length	Example
1	Record identifier 1	String	Fixed	COPY
2	Barcode	String	14	"00000000000109"
3	Date Acquired	Number yyyymmdd	8	20000228
4	Purchase Price	Number	5 + 2 decimal places	44.95
5	Condition 2	String	50	"New"
6	(Field reserved)	String	15	""
7	Location	String	50	"Storeroom 423"
8	Note 3	String	1000	"Library binding"
9	(Field reserved)	String	10	""
10	Copy Budget Category	String	50	"Science"
1 The only acceptable value for Record Identifier is COPY (no quotes). 2 The only acceptable value for Condition is one of the following types. If no condition is specified, Import Textbooks assigns "New" by default. New Good Fair Poor Unusable 3 Any note text that contains quotation marks must have those quotation marks preceded by a backslash, as in the following example: "This is a note with a \"quotation\" in it."

Copy record examples

Click here for examples

COPY,"00000000000109",20000228,44.95,"New","","Storeroom 423","Library binding","","",¶

The minimum valid copy record would be:

COPY,"00000000004111",,,"","","","",¶

File example

Click here for file example

Header record	HEADER,"Dunlop ES","Destiny Textbooks","5.00",20071020,1,"Y",¶
Main edition title record	ME,"Geometry","2nd ed.","Lang, Serge","0387966544",2004,"Book","Springer-Verlag","FES","Math","10423",2005,2005,"123456",44.95,"B","Corrected sixth printing","10",2010,"0387966544","20423",http://www.myebook.com,"12","AP text",¶
Copy records of the main edition (above)	COPY,"00000000033316",20000228,44.95,"New","","Storeroom 423","Library binding","","",¶ COPY,"00000000033324",20000228,44.95,"New","","Storeroom 423","Library binding","","",¶ COPY,"00000000033332",20000228,44.95,"New","","Storeroom 423","Library binding","","",¶ COPY,"00000000033340",20000228,44.95,"New","","Storeroom 423","Library binding","","",¶ COPY,"00000000033357",20000228,44.95,"New","","Storeroom 423","Library binding","","",¶ COPY,"00000000033365",20000228,44.95,"New","","Storeroom 423","Library binding","","",¶ COPY,"00000000033373",20000228,44.95,"New","","Storeroom 423","Library binding","","",¶
Teacher’s edition record	TE,"Geometry","2nd ed.","Lang, Serge","0387966544",2004,"Book","Springer-Verlag","FES","Math","10420",2005,2005,"123450",49.95,"S","Corrected sixth printing","Tenth",2010,"0387966500","20423",¶
Copy records of the teacher’s edition (above)	COPY,"00000000033381",20000228,44.95,"New","","","","","",¶ COPY,"00000000033399",20000228,44.95,"New","","","","","",¶ COPY,"00000000033407",20000228,44.95,"New","","","","","",¶
Resource kit record	KIT,"Geometry","","","",0000,"Teaching Kit","","FES","Math","10429",0000,0000,"987654",23.95,"S","30 pages of looseleaf cards, suggested teaching activities, 13-minute video, bibliography, display Sheets.","Tenth",0000,"654123",¶
Copy record of the kit (above)	COPY,"00000000033209",20000228,23.95,"Good","","","","","",¶
The minimum valid file for one title with one copy would be:
	HEADER,"","","9.70","","","",¶ ME,"Geometry","","","",,"","","","","",,,"",,"","","",,"",¶ COPY,"00000000033191",,,"","","","","","",¶

note The paragraph symbol (¶) in the examples shows the hard return (CR/LF) at the end of the record. Normally, it would not be visible.