This article provides an overview of the different controls and options for managing appointments and reading room calendars in the Aeon Web Interface.
Appointment Scheduling Web Pages
Once the appointment scheduling web pages have been implemented, patrons will be able to use the following web pages to view, edit, and create appointments.
Appointments Page
The Appointments page (ViewAppointments.html) is accessed by clicking on the Appointments link in the navigation bar. This page will display a list of the user's appointments and offer a range of options to manage those appointments.
- The Appointments link in the navigation bar will bring users to this page.
- The Schedule Appointment button will bring up the scheduling tool, allowing users to create a new appointment unassociated with any requests.
- The Details button is available for each of the user's appointments. Clicking this button will bring the user to the appointment details page for that specific appointment.
- The Actions menu is available for each of the user's appointments with the following options:
- If the appointment is still editable, the Edit Appointment and Cancel Appointment options will display here (see Canceling and Rescheduling an Appointment for more information).
- The Download iCalendar option will be available for all appointments (see Downloading an Appointment for more information).
Appointment Details Page
Clicking on the Details button or the name of an appointment on the Appointments page will bring the user to a more detailed page (ViewAppointment.html) containing all of the relevant information for that appointment and some management options. This page will also list all of the requests associated with that particular appointment.
Individual appointment details are displayed using the <#APPOINTMENT> tag. This tag is currently only supported for use on ViewAppointment.html.
- If the appointment is still editable, the Edit Appointment and Cancel Appointment options will display at the top of the page (see Cancelling and Rescheduling an Appointment for more information).
- The Appointment Information section will contain the Appointment Name, Reading Room Name, and Start and Stop Time fields.
- The Appointment Requests section will contain a list of requests associated with the appointment. Each request will contain a Details button the user can click to view the detailed request information page and an Actions menu with options to manage the request.
- The Download iCalendar file button will allow the user to download the appointment in an iCalendar format.
Cancelling or Rescheduling an Appointment
The Cancel Appointment and Edit Appointment options will be available for an appointment if ALL of the following conditions are met:
- The appointment date is outside the Minimum Lead Days value configured for the associated reading room.
- All requests associated with the appointment can be cancelled (i.e., the requests have not yet been processed by staff).
The Cancel Appointment and Edit Appointment options will not be available if ANY of the following conditions are met:
- The appointment date is within the Minimum Lead Days value configured for the associated reading room.
- Any requests associated with the appointment can't be cancelled (i.e., the requests have been processed by staff).
- The appointment is for the user's researcher.
The Minimum Lead Days value will consider not only the date, but also the current time. For example, if it is currently 10:00 am on June 8th and the Minimum Lead Days value for the reading room is 7, then only appointments starting on June 15th at 10:00 am or later can be edited/cancelled by a patron on the web.
Downloading an Appointment
Appointment details can be downloaded in an iCalendar format (.ics) to allow users to import the appointment to calendar applications. The file that is downloaded will include the name of the appointment, the reading room name as its location, and a description that will include the transaction number, title, and subtitle of any requests associated with the appointment. When imported into a calendar application, the appointment date/time will be converted to the user's local timezone.
The download action uses the following code (where {AppointmentID} is the ID for the appointment):
aeon.dll?Action=10&Form=96&Value={AppointmentID}Creating an Appointment from the Request Form
Once appointments are configured on a request form, the following fields will display:
- Request for dropdown: If the user is a proxy for a researcher or has been added to any activities, this dropdown will display. If a researcher is selected, then that researcher's appointments that have been marked "Available to proxies" will appear in the Appointment dropdown. If an activity is selected, the appointment fields will be disabled.
- Reading Room dropdown: Allows the user to select in which reading room to book the appointment. If multiple sites are configured for your instance of Aeon, then this dropdown will display only those reading rooms configured for the site selected on the request form.
- Appointment dropdown: This allows the users to select from all existing appointments that are available to be associated with the request.
- New Appointment button: This button will bring up the scheduling tool, allowing the user to create a new appointment to associate with the request.
Validation Rules for Submitting Requests
The Aeon DLL will check the appointment information of a request and perform validation in the following ways:
If no appointment is selected:
If the user does not select an appointment on the request form, then the request will fail validation and display the SLAppointmentRequired status line when submitted if:
- The request is a non-photoduplication request AND
- If multiple sites are configured in Aeon: The request is for a site that has at least one associated reading room that requires appointments.
- If no sites are configured in Aeon: Any reading room requires appointments.
If an appointment is selected:
If a request is submitted with an appointment selected, validation will apply to ensure that:
- The appointment exists.
- The appointment is associated with the current user.
- The appointment date is not within the Minimum Lead Days value of the reading room based on the current date and time.
Scheduling Tool
Appointments can be created using a scheduler similar to the one in the Client. The web scheduler will enforce all scheduling requirements configured in the Customization Manager settings for that reading room, so that users are not able to schedule appointments that fall outside of approved hours, minimum lead days, maximum appointment duration, etc.
- Day, Week, and Month views are available to choose from, and the scheduler will also display any existing appointments the user has previously scheduled.
- If the appointment is being created from the Appointments page, then Reading Room and Site dropdowns will appear at the top of the page for the user to select a site (if multiple sites are configured in Aeon) and reading room for the appointment.
- Time blocks during which no appointments are available will be disabled and display with red shading.
Booking an Appointment
Clicking on an available time block within the scheduling tool will bring up a new window from which the user can fill out their appointment details. Clicking Schedule will book the appointment:
- Appointment Name: An optional field containing a descriptive name for the appointment. This field can be used to help identify and keep track of various appointments, e.g. an appointment for history research might be named "Appointment for History Research." The name of the appointment will also be exported to the iCalendar file if downloaded.
- Date: The date of the appointment.
- Allow proxies to add requests: If ON, then the user's proxies will be able to add requests to the appointment through the request form. This option will not display if the user does not have any proxies.
-
Start/Stop Time: The start and end time for the appointment. The end time will default to the first available end time for the appointment based on the selected start time, the room's availability and the various appointment settings configured for the reading room in the Customization Manager. Clicking on either the Start or Stop Time dropdowns will show a list of all available options within these rules:
Aeon 5.2 Documentation
This article provides an overview of the different controls and options for managing appointments and reading room calendars in the Aeon Web Interface.
Appointment Scheduling Web Pages
Once the appointment scheduling web pages have been implemented, patrons will be able to use the following web pages to view, edit, and create appointments.
Appointments Page
The Appointments page (ViewAppointments.html) is accessed by clicking on the Appointments link in the navigation bar. This page will display a list of the user's appointments and offer a range of options to manage those appointments. Users who are proxies for a researcher will see appointments for their associated researcher(s) in addition to their own appointments on this web page by default.*
- The Appointments link in the navigation bar will bring users to this page.
- The New Appointment button will expand the scheduling tool, allowing users to create a new appointment unassociated with any requests.
- The Filter dropdown* will give the user the option to either view all appointments or to filter the list of appointments to view only active (upcoming and uncanceled) appointments. The current view selected will be specified in the text above the New Appointment button.
- The default view when the page is loaded will display active appointments only.
- The Status* of each appointment will display under the appointment's name and reading room
- The Details button is available for each of the user's appointments. Clicking this button will bring the user to the appointment details page for that specific appointment.
- The Actions menu is available for each of the user's appointments with the following options:
- If the appointment is still editable, the Edit Appointment and Cancel Appointment options will display here (see Canceling and Rescheduling an Appointment for more information).
- The Download iCalendar option will be available for all appointments (see Downloading an Appointment for more information).
*Feature only available on the Aeon v5.2 web pages
Appointment Details Page
Clicking on the Details button or the name of an appointment on the Appointments page will bring the user to a more detailed page (ViewAppointment.html) containing all of the relevant information for that appointment and some management options. This page will also list all of the requests associated with that particular appointment.
Individual appointment details are displayed using the <#APPOINTMENT> tag. This tag is currently only supported for use on ViewAppointment.html.
- If the appointment is still editable, the Edit Appointment and Cancel Appointment options will display at the top of the page (see Cancelling and Rescheduling an Appointment for more information).
- The Appointment Information section will contain the Appointment Name, Reading Room Name, Start and Stop Time, and Appointment Status* fields.
- The Appointment Requests section will contain a list of requests associated with the appointment. Each request will contain a Details button the user can click to view the detailed request information page and an Actions menu with options to manage the request.
- The Download iCalendar file button will allow the user to download the appointment in an iCalendar format.
*Feature only available on the Aeon v5.2 web pages
Cancelling or Rescheduling an Appointment
The Cancel Appointment and Edit Appointment options will be available for an appointment if ALL of the following conditions are met:
- The appointment date is outside the Minimum Appointment Lead Days value configured for the user's status in the associated reading room.
- All requests associated with the appointment can be cancelled (i.e., the requests have not yet been processed by staff).
The Cancel Appointment and Edit Appointment options will not be available if ANY of the following conditions are met:
- The appointment date is within the Minimum Appointment Lead Days value configured for the user's status in the associated reading room.
- Any requests associated with the appointment can't be cancelled (i.e., the requests have been processed by staff).
- The appointment is for the user's researcher.
The Minimum Appointment Lead Days value will consider not only the date, but also the current time. For example, if it is currently 10:00 am on June 8th and the Minimum Appointment Lead Days value for the reading room is 7, then only appointments starting on June 15th at 10:00 am or later can be edited/cancelled by a patron on the web.
Downloading an Appointment
Appointment details can be downloaded in an iCalendar format (.ics) to allow users to import the appointment to calendar applications. The file that is downloaded will include the name of the appointment, the reading room name as its location, and a description that will include the transaction number, title, and subtitle of any requests associated with the appointment. When imported into a calendar application, the appointment date/time will be converted to the user's local timezone.
The download action uses the following code (where {AppointmentID} is the ID for the appointment):
aeon.dll?Action=10&Form=96&Value={AppointmentID}Creating an Appointment from the Request Form
Once appointments are configured on a request form, the following fields will display:
- Request for dropdown: If the user is a proxy for a researcher or has been added to any activities, this dropdown will display. If a researcher is selected, then that researcher's appointments that have been marked "Available to proxies" will appear in the Appointment dropdown. If an activity is selected, the appointment fields will be disabled.
- Site dropdown (multi-site only): If multiple sites have been configured for your instance of Aeon, a dropdown will display here allowing the user to select the associated site for the request.
- Reading Room dropdown: Allows the user to select in which reading room to book the appointment. If multiple sites are configured, then this dropdown will display only those reading rooms configured for the site selected on the request form.
- Appointment dropdown: This allows the users to select from all existing appointments that are available to be associated with the request. This field will update dynamically based on the user's selection in the Reading Room dropdown*:
- If the reading room selected requires appointments for the logged-in user:
- A (required) tag will be dynamically added to the Appointment field indicating this requirement
- If the user has a pre-existing appointment booked in the reading room that can be added to the request, the Appointment field will automatically populate with this appointment selected
-
If the user does not have a pre-existing appointment that can be added to the request, "You must select an appointment" will display in the field and the user must use the Schedule a New Appointment button to book an appointment for the request:
- If the reading room selected does not require appointments for the logged-in user:
- "No Appointment" will be selected in the field by default
-
If the user has a valid appointment that can be added to the request, those appointments will appear in the dropdown menu for the user to select:
- If the reading room selected requires appointments for the logged-in user:
- Schedule a New Appointment button: This button will expand the scheduling interface, allowing the user to create a new appointment to associate with the request.
*Feature only available on the Aeon v5.2 web pages
Validation Rules for Submitting Requests
The Aeon DLL will check the appointment information of a request and perform validation in the following ways:
If no appointment is selected:
If the user does not select an appointment on the request form, then the request will fail validation and display the SLAppointmentRequired status line when submitted if:
- The request is a non-photoduplication request AND the request is for a reading room that requires appointments for the currently logged-in user's status (i.e., faculty, staff, etc.)
If an appointment is selected:
If a request is submitted with an appointment selected, validation will apply to ensure that:
- The appointment exists.
- The appointment is associated with the current user.
- The appointment date is not within the Minimum Request Lead Days value of the reading room based on the current date and time.
Submitting Requests from the Saved Requests Page
For multi-site instances of Aeon, the Aeon DLL will perform additional validation when submitting requests from the Saved Requests web page (ViewUserReviewRequests.html) to ensure that the reading room selected is properly associated with any pre-existing site values for each request:
- If the reading room selected is not associated with the pre-existing site value for any selected requests, those requests will not be submitted and the SLReadingRoomAssociationError status line will display explaining which requests failed validation due to the invalid reading room selection
- If the reading room selected is associated with the pre-existing site value for any selected requests, all of those requests will be submitted and the SLSubmitUserReview status line will display indicating how many requests were successfully submitted for processing
- If any selected requests did not have a pre-existing site value, the request(s) will be associated with the site selected from the Site dropdown when submitted
If all requests were successfully submitted, the user will be redirected to the Aeon home page after submitting the requests. If some requests failed validation, the user will be redirected back to the Saved Requests page and the status lines noted above will display to inform the user how many requests were successfully submitted and which requests failed validation.
Scheduling Interface
Appointments can be created using a scheduler interface. The web scheduler will enforce all scheduling requirements configured in the Customization Manager settings for that reading room, so that users are not able to schedule appointments that fall outside of approved hours, minimum appointment lead days, maximum appointment duration, etc.
Booking an Appointment
Once the scheduler interface is expanded, the following fields should be filled out to create the appointment. When all required fields have been filled out, clicking Create Appointment will book the appointment in the room. If the appointment was created from a request form, the newly created appointment will be associated with the request in the Appointment field:
- Request For dropdown: Select the Aeon user for whom the appointment should be booked. This field will only appear if the appointment is being created from the Appointments web page (ViewAppointments.html).
- Site dropdown (multi-site only): If multiple sites have been configured for your instance of Aeon, a dropdown will display here allowing the user to select the associated site for the request.
- Reading Room dropdown (required): Allows the user to select in which reading room to book the appointment. If multiple sites are configured, then this dropdown will display only those reading rooms configured for the site selected.
- Appointment Date (required): The appointment date can be entered manually using the text input or selected from the date picker calendar interface:
- Dates during which appointments are available will display with white shading and black text.
- Dates during which no appointments are available will be disabled and display with grey shading.
- Dates that are unavailable because they are in the past or outside of the Minimum/Maximum Appointment Lead Days for the reading room will be whited out and unselectable.
- Use the < and > buttons to move the calendar backward or forward by a month
- Use the << and >> buttons to move the calendar backward or forward by a year
- Clicking a valid appointment date in the calendar tool will automatically populate the Appointment Date text field with the date for the appointment. Keyboard users can select a date with the Tab key and then press Enter to choose it as the appointment date.
- Length of Appointment (required): Once an appointment date is selected, this dropdown will populate with the currently available appointment length options based on the current availability for the room on that date and on the various appointment duration settings configured for the reading room in the Customization Manager
- Appointment Time (required): This dropdown will populate with the currently available appointment times based on the length of appointment selected, the current availability for the room on that date, and the open hours settings configured for the reading room in the Customization Manager
- Appointment Name: An optional field containing a descriptive name for the appointment. This field can be used to help identify and keep track of various appointments, e.g. an appointment for history research might be named "Appointment for History Research." The name of the appointment will also be exported to the iCalendar file if downloaded.
- Available to Proxies?: If checked (enabled), then the user's proxies will be able to add requests to the appointment through the request form.