HeritageQuest Integration

Posted November 23, 2004 9:08pm

pricejt75 writes...

I must say, this looks to be a great app. In fact, it got me interested in genealogy again after a nearly 2-year hiatus.

I do have some troubles with the HeritageQuest integration. Specifically via the Houston Public Library (ProQuest?) (http://www.houstonlibrary.org). The HeritageQuest portal/login is here: http://0-www.heritagequestonline.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org/

Upon logging in, you are forwarded to here: http://0-www.heritagequestonline.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org/

I hope that information is sufficient. I'm guessing that GenSmarts is waiting for the browser to be redirected to a specific URL which the above does not match, but perhaps it's more sophisticated than that?

Incidentally, if anyone is interested. Anyone residing in Texas can gain access to HeritageQuest this way (there is a fee for non-residents).

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Price

On 2004-11-23 10:58pm GenSmarts replied...

I'm assuming the library you're referring to might be a bit different than some others we've seen, so you're probably correct in your assessment of what's happening.

There are some undocumented INI settings you can use to adapt to this situation. I'll take a look at the URL's you reference and post a follow up here tomorrow with some ideas on what to try for settings.

Aaron

GenSmarts Support

On 2004-11-24 1:37am pricejt75 added...

I see the forum kinda mangled my URL's (or at least made them even more confusing). Believe it or not, but the URL's with the 0-www... are the correct ones.

Look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Price

On 2004-11-24 8:14am GenSmarts replied...

Try this:

In the [Integration] section of your GenSmarts.ini file, add this line:

customHQEntryTitle=HeritageQuest

This is a phrase in the window title that GenSmarts looks for to know you've now signed on. The window title is the text in the very top "bar" of the window - on the same level as the underscore, box and "X" that you use to minimize, maximize and close windows. This text can't be in the signon window title - it must be unique to the window you get once signed on. HeritageQuest may or may not be a good phrase to use for your library so double check the titles you're seeing and adjust accordingly.

There's another option that allows cusomization of the actual URL used for the census searches, which you may need. What URL do you see when you're looking at the HQ search form for, say, a 1930 census?

Aaron

On 2004-11-24 9:01am pricejt75 added...

quote:Originally posted by GSAdmin

Try this:

In the [Integration] section of your GenSmarts.ini file, add this line:

customHQEntryTitle=HeritageQuest

Ok, the actual title of the page is "HeritageQuest Online Index". I tried this, and GenSmarts did recognize that I passed the login... so, that's progress. However, it tried a census search URL that redirected me to a (different) login page.

Now, for your next question:

Census (Basic) Search should be here: "http://0-persi.heritagequestonline.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org/hqoweb/library/do/census/search/basic"

Advanced here: "http://0-persi.heritagequestonline.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org/hqoweb/library/do/census/search/advanced"

I'm not familiar with the interface, but I don't see specific links to searching for specific census years (appears to be done through the basic and advanced forms only?).

Hope that helps.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Price

On 2004-11-24 9:23am GenSmarts replied...

Ok, I think adding this other option will get it going...

Also in the [Integration] section in the GenSmarts.ini, add this line:

customHQSearchURL=http://0-persi.heritagequestonline.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org/hqoweb/library/do/census/search/basic

This will overide the normal HQ url we'd use for searches with your libraries "locally hosted" one.

On 2004-11-24 9:32am GenSmarts replied...

Unrelated to the issue in this thread, but we recently posted a new version at http://www.GenSmarts.com/versionHistory.asp to adapt GenSmarts to Godfrey's new way of getting to Heritage Quest. So if you're reading this because you're Godfrey HQ access doesn't work any more... all you need to do is download the 1.0.7.05 or higher from the link above. You don't need these special settings to make Godfrey HQ access work.

The settings referenced in this thread are only needed if your library doesn't pass you to an actual Heritage Quest URL when you do a search (a URL that ends in heritagequestonline.com). Aside from Houston as is being discussed here, the only other place we've seen this is the Anchorage, Alaska library.

On 2004-11-24 8:56pm pricejt75 added...

quote:Originally posted by GSAdmin

Ok, I think adding this other option will get it going...

Also in the [Integration] section in the GenSmarts.ini, add this line:

customHQSearchURL=http://0-persi.heritagequestonline.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org/hqoweb/library/do/census/search/basic

This will overide the normal HQ url we'd use for searches with your libraries "locally hosted" one.

That did the trick! Thanks!!

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Price


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