Hi Charles, Koha uses the "The ever popular do-nothing-approach". In theory, this is problematic and certainly bothers me, but in practice I think it's fairly rare that two staff members are working on the same record at the same time. Locking and lock timeouts come with a lot of complexity, and I think the majority of libraries would actually prefer risk accidental overwrites rather than lock contention and session timeouts. I would love to see a locking feature added, but I don't know if it's anyone's priority at the moment. David Cook Software Engineer Prosentient Systems Suite 7.03 6a Glen St Milsons Point NSW 2061 Australia Office: 02 9212 0899 Online: 02 8005 0595 -----Original Message----- Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2021 07:23:55 +0900 From: Charles Kelley <cmkelleymls@gmail.com> To: Discussion Group Koha <koha@lists.katipo.co.nz> Subject: [Koha] Koha Concurrent and Simultaneous Use of Records Message-ID: <CAM8F7wpRpmGDAsfd1DUNuz7ye=k5HEhnrbcFzVHsguCymPcazQ@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Hi, all! My library is preparing to migrate our Koha ILSA to the cloud. For reasons I shan't bore everyone with, I have a question about simultaneous and concurrent use of records: What happens if two or more parties try to access a bib. record or patron record at the same time? In my experience with other ILSs, there are several ways to handle such simultaneous use: - To lock the record when the first record accesses and queue up the rest for access in succession. - Party 1 works on the record and finishes -- the record is released. Every other party is blocked until the record is released. - Party 2 then works on the record and finishes -- the record is released. Every other party is blocked until the record is released. - Party 3 then works on the record and finishes -- the record is released. Every other party is blocked until the record is released. - To timestamp changes and then incorporate the changes based on the timestamp of the changes in a queued batch operation. A risk of data corruption. - The ever popular do-nothing-approach: to let multiple parties work on the same record simultaneously in real time, incorporating changes as they are submitted in real; another risk of data corruption. So if I may repeat my question: How does Koha handle simultaneous use of records? Many thanks, everyone! -- 気を付けて。 /ki wo tukete/ = Take care. -- Charles. Charles Kelley, MLS PSC 704 Box 1029 APO AP 96338 Charles Kelley Tsukimino 1-Chome 5-2 Tsukimino Gaadenia #210 Yamato-shi, Kanagawa-ken 〒242-0002 JAPAN +1-301-741-7122 [US cell] +81-80-4356-2178 [JPN cell] mnogojazyk@aol.com [h] cmkelleymls@gmail.com [p] linkedin.com/in/cmkelleymls <http://www.linkedin.com/in/cmkelleymls> Meeting Your Information Needs. Virtually.