[Koha] bulk import of authorised values?

[Paul]

At 12:38 PM 11/26/2010 -0500, Jared Camins-Esakov wrote:
>Is there a way to do a bulk import of "authorized values"? Â I have not been
>able to find KOHA user interface support for this.
>
>INSERT INTO authorised_values (category, authorised_value, lib) VALUES 
>('LOC', 'MILITARY', 'Military'), ('LOC', 'ANOTHER', 'Another location...');

Before I start adding more "Authorized values" to a near-production Koha 
db, a couple of questions:

a) The suggestion is ('LOC', 'ANOTHER', 'Another location...'), but should 
this not be ('LOC', 'ANOTHER', 'ANOTHER', 'Another location...') i.e a 
third data field, in order to populate the OPAC display?

b) The default sort order for Auth values appears to be alphabetical, 
despite the indexing in SQL. Does anyone know of a way to retain the bulk 
import order / SQL indexing?  (e.g most common to least common.)

c) If these are made "Mandatory" in a specific framework mapping from now 
on, I assume that previous non-compliant entries will not be wiped out. Am 
I correct?

d) Staff (who, with some of our volunteers, gave the system a test-drive 
yesterday) really want to use this as a "drop down choice" menu, and have 
come up with a lengthy list that will cover most cases. The manual says 
that if it's "Mandatory" you cannot leave a blank line to type in the 
occasional exception. Is there a way around this? Can it even be edited 
"outside" auth values after data entry. Assuming I'm correct in b) above, 
can they even be edited manually - say in a different framework that does 
not define them as "Mandatory"?

For background, this is for book condition, as in "vg/vg", "fair/none" or 
"fine half calf". But there will be the occasional "vellum" or "slipcased" 
- and the list of common combinations is already approaching the hundred mark.

Thanks,
Paul
Tired old sys-admin