Editing of KBART files
Frequent errors
When editing KBART files, some errors occur very frequently and should be avoided.
- Incorrect character encoding: The character encoding of the KBART file must be UTF-8. Some providers differ from this standard, but the character encoding can also change unintentionally in the course of editing KBART files. Therefore, you should always check it.
- Reformatting dates: Dates such as publication dates, coverage dates, etc. must be given in the format YYYY-MM-DD. Spreadsheet editors sometimes automatically change this pattern to other formats such as DD.MM.YYYY. This reformatting must be avoided.
- Reformatting ISBNs: Sometimes the ISBN-13 in particular is present without hyphens. Spreadsheet editors then misinterpret it as a numerical value and display it in exponential notation (e.g. 9.78179E+12). This causes the last digits to be lost and the ISBN becomes unusable.
Microsoft Excel
KBART files cannot be loaded with Excel via the "Open" menu. They must be imported in an empty workbook via the menu item Data > From Text/CSV.
Import settings
An import window will open. In this window it is extremely important to make the following settings correctly:
- File origin: Here you can select the character encoding in which the KBART file is available. This is not automatically recognized by Excel. Excel suggests the encoding "1252: Western European (Windows)", which is wrong in most cases. According to the NISO standard, the encoding must be "65001: Unicode (UTF-8)". Select this encoding from the dropdown. Note: It is possible that providers do not follow the NISO standard and choose a different encoding. In this case, please select the encoding used by the provider. To learn how to identify the encoding, see the section "Recognize and correct character encoding".
- Delimiter: For KBART files, tab stops are default separators. Therefore select Tab. Usually this selection is already preset.
- Data type Detection: Select "Do not detect data types", because Excel can corrupt the data by an incorrect data type recognition.
Correction of header line
Excel does not recognize the column heading row of the KBART file as headings and adds another row.
- Deselect this line as a heading line. To do this, remove the check mark under Design > Header Row.
- Now delete the empty row by right-clicking on the row number "1" and selecting Delete from the context menu.
Editing the KBART file
You can now edit the file as you wish. Please note the standards of the KBART format, which are summarized here.
Saving the KBART file
Save the KBART file via File > Save as. After you have selected a storage location, a window appears. Here you have to select the following settings:
- File type: Text (tab-delimited) (*.txt)
- Tools > Web Options > Encoding tab > Save document as: "Unicode (UTF-8)"
You confirm the selection via "OK". The following note that the file type does not support workbooks with multiple sheets, you also confirm with "OK".
Important note: Excel often saves in an incorrect character encoding despite correct procedures. Therefore, check the file for its character encoding as indicated in the section "Recognize and correct character encoding".
LibreOffice Calc
LibreOffice Calc is a free spreadsheet editor suitable for editing KBART files. KBART files can be opened simply via File > Open.
Import settings
An import window will open. In this window it is extremely important to make the following settings correctly:
- Import: Here you can select the Character set in which the KBART file is available. This is not automatically recognized by LibreOffice Calc. LibreOffice Calc suggests the encoding "Unicode (UTF-8)" which is correct in most cases. According to the NISO standard, the encoding must be "Unicode (UTF-8)". Note: It is possible that providers do not follow the NISO standard and choose a different encoding. In this case, please select the encoding used by the provider. To learn how to identify the encoding, see the section "Recognize and correct character encoding".
- Separator Options: For KBART files, tab stops are default separators. Therefore select Tab. Usually this selection is already preset.
- Other Options: Deselect all options here. In particular, the "Detect special numbers" must be switched off, because an incorrect number detection can corrupt the data.
Editing the KBART file
You can now edit the file as you wish. Please note the standards of the KBART format, which are summarized here.
Saving the KBART file
Save the KBART file via File > Save as. Please select the following settings here:
- File name: Specify the file name with the suffix ".txt" or ".tsv". The GOKb accepts both extension.
- File type: CSV (*.csv)
- Automatic file name extension: Remove the check mark from this option
- Edit filter settings: Select this option
After selecting the "Save" button, the program asks you to confirm that the file should be saved in CSV format. Confirm the dialogue.
A new Export text file dialogue then opens. Make the following settings here:
- Character set: Unicode (UTF-8)
- Field delimiter: {Tabulator}
- String delimiter: " (Superscript double quotes)
- Save cell content as shown: Select or check the box
- All other options: Deselect or uncheck
You confirm the selection via "OK".
Recognize and correct character encoding
To recognize and edit the character encoding, the GOKb team recommends the free tool Notepad++. Since KBART files are text files, they can be edited with the text editor Notepad++.
Open the KBART file in Notepad++. Normally Notepad++ recognizes the character encoding of the file and displays it in the footer of the window. If the encoding has not been recognized correctly, you will recognize this by incorrect characters that are displayed by Notepad++ with a black background:
- Punctuation marks like apostrophes
- Umlauts like ä, ö, ü
- Other letters and characters outside the standard Latin alphabet (accents etc.)
You can use the menu item Encoding to select the correct character encoding of the file so that the characters mentioned are displayed correctly. Using the same menu item Encoding > Convert to UTF-8 you can change the encoding to the correct character encoding UTF-8 recommended by the KBART standard and then save it.