Support
If you’d like to reach us, feel free to give us a call, send us an email, or come stop by Houchen Bindery.
We’re glad you came here where you can get in touch with us and we can help answer your questions. Make sure to check out our FAQs, where we may have already answered your question. If you’d like to reach us, feel free to give us a call, send us an email, or come stop by Houchen Bindery.
General Support
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I order from Houchen Bindery Ltd.?
After clicking “Order” from the top menu, browse through the guidelines, instructions and information about our specific services to learn about order preparations and how to order from Houchen Bindery.
All order forms are found on the right side of the “Order” page. Download the appropriate form(s), complete and print them, then send them to us along with any materials required for binding (double check Order Instructions before sending materials).
Can I get a quote for my project before ordering?
On Demand Printing
Frequently Asked Questions
What needs to be done to my manuscript before sending it to print?
- Must be a PDF document.
- Only one PDF document will be accepted, up to 50mb in size.
- Must be ready to print, as is. We will not alter your document for you.
- All pages must be either 8.5″x11.5″, in either a landscape (wider) or portrait (taller) orientation. The document must be the same size and orientation as selected when ordering your book.
- DOUBLE-SIDED PRINTING: If wanting page numbers, the number must be included in the document if you want them printed in the book. We will not add them for you. We recommend having them centered.
- If you require a paper stock other than what we provide, please contact us. You can then either send us the paper stock for us to print on or send us the printed pages on the paper stock you want.
- If you have signature pages that need to be inserted within the book, please indicate that as a special instruction of the order.
Can I have a logo on the cover?
What cover colors do you offer?
Can I navigate through the ODP sections?
- On the bottom of the form are buttons that allow you to do this: Previous, Next, and Back to The Last Page.
- On the top of the form are listed the name of each section you can navigate through. Note: You have to enter information in a section to go directly to it.
NOTE: Using the traditional website browser back button or F5 will delete all information entered into the form.
ABLE
What (specific) version of ABLE 7.0 am I running?
There are actually two ways you can find this out: on the login screen, the version number is displayed (e.g., ABLE Library 7.0), or by choosing About ABLE from the Help menu, the version number should be displayed in the resulting dialog box (e.g., ABLE Library 7.0).
What ports are required to be allowed in our company firewall to access ABLE?
If you are having trouble connecting to HFGroup NE ABLE server, you may need your IT department to allow TCP 80 and TCP 9000.
Title Composition
How do I create variable prompts in the title composition screen's title text area (e.g., a title prompt)?
How do I search for a list of records?
Catalog System
How come when I choose Alt-Z, the ZLink window doesn't come up?
Another (not so simple) possibility is that a certain file cannot be found, one that is needed to display the ZLink window. To see if this is the case, type the following at an MS-DOS command prompt:
set | more
You should see a line similar to the following (but maybe not exactly like it):
CLASSPATH=c:\swing\swing.jar;c:\swing\windows.jar;c:\swing\zlink.jar
If your line doesn’t include these three files
c:\swing\swing.jar
c:\swing\windows.jar
c:\swing\zlink.jar
then you need to edit your c:\autoexec.bat file and let us know at able_support@programmingconcepts.com. But, to do this, open c:\autoexec.bat for editing (e.g., with Notepad), and find the line that looks like
set CLASSPATH=…
(where … is some text).
Change this line to
set CLASSPATH=c:\swing\swing.jar;c:\swing\windows.jar;c:\swing\zlink.jar
apply the changes, and then restart your machine.
Note: We have had some reports where the win command was present in the c:\autoexec.bat file; in particular, occurring before the set CLASSPATH command. Note that the win command is not necessary for Windows 95, 98, or NT, but if you still want to include in this file, make sure it appears after the set CLASSPATH command.
I want to connect with a Z39.50 server to import MARC data, but I don't know what information to fill in for a new database in the ZLink window.
Pretty Name
Host
Port
Database
Pretty Name can be any name that you want to refer to this database as. Host can be the domain name (or IP address) of the Z39.50 server that you want to connect with. Port is the port number used with the host specified, and Database is the name of the database to search over with the host specified.
For example, for testing, you can try the Library of Congress LC Voyager Z39.50 test server, which means you would enter the following parameters for a new database (with Pretty Name set to any name you want):
Host ilssun2.loc.gov
Port 7090
Database Voyager
(You also have the option of entering the IP address 140.147.127.13 for Host if you prefer.) The above data was obtained at http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/lcserver.html.
A good resource for finding other Z39.50 servers to connect with can be found at http://www.indexdata.dk/targettest/targetstat.shtml (this is like an A to Z compilation).
Why do I get an error message when trying to connect to a database?
Are the Parameters Entered for the Database Correct?
Make sure the data you entered when creating the database in the ZLink window is correct. You could try the most recent Library of Congress test server to see if this is the problem (see ZLink Databases).
Is the Machine Connected to the Internet?
Make sure that you establish an Internet connection before attempting to use ZLink (ZLink will not attempt to make this initial connection for you). You could check that you are ‘online’ by using your web browser to check out a remote web site, e.g., http://www.programmingconcepts.com/able/.
Is it a Domain Name Server (DNS) Problem?
If you entered a domain name for Host when specifying the database, make sure your DNS isn’t causing problems. You can avoid DNS services by specifying the IP address instead of the domain name (e.g., 140.147.127.13 versus ilssun2.loc.gov).
Is the Host Alive?
It’s possible that the host may be down. In order to see if this is the case, type the following at an MS-DOS prompt:
ping -n 3 hostaddress
(where hostaddress is the domain name or IP address of the host you’re trying to connect to). If the host is alive and routing is correct, you should see something like the listing below (the result of pinging IP address 140.147.254.1).
Pinging 140.147.254.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 140.147.254.1: bytes=32 time=80ms TTL=47
Reply from 140.147.254.1: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=47
Reply from 140.147.254.1: bytes=32 time=71ms TTL=47
Is the Port Number Correct?
It’s also possible that you have the incorrect port number specified in the database entry you created in the ZLink window. To see if anybody is even listening at that port, launch telnet, and choose Remote System… from the Connect menu. Enter the following parameters:
Host Name hostaddress
Port portnumber
Term Type ansi
(where hostaddress is the host you’re trying to connect with, with port number portnumber). If the port number is correct, you should be able to connect (in which case, you can choose Disconnectfrom the Connect menu).
Why Still Can’t I Connect?
At this point, you should contact us at able_support@programmingconcepts.com!
Why is it that when I import MARC data using ZLink, the results I get aren't what I expected?
Phase I
As stated in the File Maintenance reference guide, operations are done in the following order (see further below for post-Phase I release information):
- MARC field is placed into ABLE field according to Editing parameter (e.g., Insert); If the MARC field is unavailable, the ABLE field is used as it is.
- Any truncation is then performed on field resulting from (1).
- Any uppercase conversion is performed on above result from (2).
- Any substitution (of spaces) is performed on above result from (3).
This gives (4) as the final result. So, depending upon which data is actually imported and how you have your catalog system mapping table set up, you may get results you didn’t expect. A few examples follow below (for insertion editing, truncating on spaces).
Example 1
ABLE Call field: DEF
MARC data: ABC 123
Step 1 (Editing): ABC 123DEF
Step 2 (Truncation): ABC
Result: ABC
Example 2
ABLEä Call field: DEF
MARC data: ABC-123
Step 1 (Editing): ABC-123DEF
Step 2 (Truncation): ABC-123DEF
Result: ABC-123DEF
Phase II (and Beyond)
But, the above only applies to Phase I. In Phase I, the order of operations has been changed to:
- The MARC field is obtained (if unavailable, an empty string is used).
- Any truncation is then performed on field resulting from (1).
- Any uppercase conversion is performed on above result from (2).
- Any substitution (of spaces) is performed on above result from (3).
- Result from (4) is placed into ABLE field according to Editing parameter (e.g., Insert).
The examples now become as shown below (with insertion editing, and truncating on spaces).
Example 1
ABLE Call field: DEF
MARC data: ABC 123
Step 1 (Extraction): ABC 123
Step 2 (Truncation): ABC
Step 5 (Editing): ABCDEF
Result: ABCDEF
Example 2
ABLE Call field: DEF
MARC data: ABC-123
Step 1 (Extraction): ABC-123
Step 2 (Truncation): ABC-123
Step 5 (Editing): ABC-123DEF
Result: ABC-123DEF
Help System
Why do tooltips appear when the mouse is over a label (e.g., next to a text field), but not when over the text field itself?
This is simply by design.