Parsers and Parameters

Owned by Nancy Burns
Last updated: Apr 24, 2023

Alma builds links to electronic resources based on information stored in the Linking tab of services and electronic portfolios. Sometimes this is a simple static URL leading to a book or a journal homepage. However, for many providers, Alma offers more sophisticated parsers that enable linking to a specific chapter or journal article. The Alma linking data is used whether a user is starting from the public catalog, or from Articles+, or from various external indexes and databases.

Terminology:

Parser

    • provider-specific syntax that determines how links will be constructed
    • generally the same for a whole collection
    • composed and maintained by Ex Libris
    • stored at the collection's service level

Parser parameter

    • title-specific part of the URL
    • generally different for each title in the collection
    • can take various forms; often an ISSN or ISBN or some title-specific code
    • begins with a prefix; e.g., jkey=
    • can be modified locally
    • stored at the portfolio level


When a collection's service is marked to use proxy, the link Alma creates will also incorporate proxy information.

When creating a local collection, try using a parser from the same provider's other collections and following their parameter format. When creating a local portfolio in an existing collection, check the linking tab on a few other portfolios to determine the correct parameter format for that collection.

There may be multiple Alma parsers for the same provider, if their collections don't all follow the same linking syntax. Detailed information on parsers for some major providers can be found in the SFX Target and Alma E-Collection Configuration Guide.

The very basic Alma parser named "Bulk::BULK" simply uses a complete URL, preceded by "jkey=", as parser parameter. This behaves the same as a static URL.

Using a static URL instead of a parser/parameter combination is always an option, if no relevant parser is found or the correct format for parameters cannot be determined.

If parser/parameter information is missing or mismatched, Alma will fail to create a link. The error message given in these cases is: "Some error occurred while retrieving services."