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OCLC PromptCat Service (PCAT)
Vendors Only

Sending Files to OCLC (PUT)

One-time transfers
Notify OCLC Customer Services Division (CSD) at (800) 848-5800 or (614) 793-8682, or e-mail support@oclc.org, or contact us via the web when you are ready to submit a file via Internet FTP. Follow the steps below to prepare a file.

Requirements for MARC LABEL file
You will need a DATA file, which contains MARC records, and a LABEL file, which contains characteristics of the MARC record file. Listed below are the five mandatory fields for the LABEL file.

Element Example Description

DAT

20040901000000.0

Date compiled
(Format exactly as shown: month and day should be two digits; ending zeros are required)

RBF

2564

Number of records in DATA file

DSN

DATA.D040901

DATA file name

ORS

[xxx]

OCLC Institution symbol

FDI

PCAT

Project ID

Using the following guidelines, create the LABEL file in NOTEPAD or any text editor software:

  • For every DATA file, there must be a corresponding MARC LABEL file.
  • The LABEL file must contain the five mandatory fields listed above.
  • Separate each field with two spaces, for example, DAT <space> <space>
  • Use line feeds or carriage returns within the file as necessary.
  • Assign a file name beginning with the word "LABEL" followed by a period and a specific file name extension, for example, LABEL.D040901.
  • Each file must be uniquely named if preparing multiple files, for example, DATA.D040901.FILE1 and DATA.D040901.FILE2.

Transferring files
The DATA file must always be transferred before the LABEL file. Each DATA file must not exceed 90,000 records.

Sending files
You may FTP files anytime, with the exception of the following maintenance times:

  • Sunday, 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time

For questions relating to your project, contact OCLC Batch Services at PCatVendors@oclc.org

Sending files via Internet FTP
A sample FTP session follows:

Step Example

1. Enter FTP address.

edx.oclc.org

2. Type logon.

t[xxx]1
(xxx = OCLC institution symbol)

3. Type password.

See passwords.

4. Change directory.

cd 'EDX.PCAT.[xxx].FTP'
(Enter single quote before and after directory name.
xxx = OCLC institution symbol)

5. Verify that your transfer type is set to binary.

bin

6. Complete the action to "put" the DATA file to OCLC.

put DATA.D040901
(The DATA file should be named DATA.D followed by the date in the YYMMDD format)

7. Complete the action to "put" the LABEL file to OCLC.

put LABEL.D040901
(The LABEL file should be named LABEL.D followed by the date in the YYMMDD format)

8. The system responds with a message when the transfer is complete.

(If the system does not respond with this message, see troubleshooting.)

 

9. End your FTP session.

 

FTP software considerations DOS/UNIX:
  1. Change the directory to the sub-directory where the file is to be downloaded.
  2. Set passive to off.
  3. Set transfer mode to binary.
  4. Send one file at a time.
WS_FTP:
  1. Set passive to off.
  2. Change the host type to IBM-MVS.
  3. Set transfer mode to binary.
  4. Unable to see files that have migrated. After three days, files are moved, or migrated, from the EDX server to a secondary storage area.

Sending files via OCLC Product Services Web

Step Action

  1.

Click File uploads.

  2.

Click OCLC PromptCat Service (for vendors only).

  3.

Enter your OCLC authorization and password.

  4.

Click Enter.

  5.

Use the Browse... buttons provided to select the file to be uploaded. You may upload three DATA and three MARC LABEL files at one time. If you have more than three files to upload, continue to browse and upload three files at a time (to a maximum of 19 DATA and 19 MARC LABEL files per day).

  6.

Click Upload Files to begin the transfer.

  7.

Click Log out when finished.