From IRC "I think Bug 28445 broke the ability to batch update lost status" So I fixed it, but actually it was not possible before 28445. Do we want it?
Created attachment 126956 [details] [review] Bug 29331: Allow items.itemlost from batch item modification Not done yet, call to LostItem from Koha::Items->batch_update needs to be adjusted
Note that this patch is also displaying subfields that are hidden when editing items. It can be moved to its own bug report if we want it.
I think the ability to batch edit lost items is quite helpful. A use case would be inventory when you come up with a list of missing items. We had libraries asking for them to be set to "missing" to mark them in the catalog. I believe I used the batch edit item tool (possibly 18.11). When a item is batch edited I think we cannot assume that it has actually be seen/handled, so it should not be handled like a "checkin" where the lost status would be removed automatically.
I believe the hidden fields should remain hidden (keep previous behaviour). There is a number of critical fields we might want to think about more before allowing changes.
Just to clarify, one is able to use batch modification to add a lost status to items and to use batch modification to change other values on items that are lost. But one cannot use batch modification to remove a lost status from items. I guess it makes sense to prevent items being un-lost in bulk, but if we're maintaining the current behavior we should actually disable the checkbox in batch mod. Right now, I can take a bunch of lost items and *tell* batch mod to un-lose them. Koha claims it will do so and then just doesn't. If we're preventing an action, we should do so deliberately and clearly.
It appears that 'successfully' un-losing items through batch item mod depends on whether the item is checked out when it's un-lost (or attempted to be). Scenario 1: -Set MarkLostItemsAsReturned to 'from the batch item modification tool' -Check item out to patron -Lose item from Items tab (items are *not* returned when marked lost on Items tab per MarkLostItemsAsReturned) -In bib, verify that item shows as Lost and checked out -In Batch Item Modification, delete lost status (no other changes made) -In bib, the item is no longer marked as checked out but its status is Lost. -In patron's record, note that item is no longer showing as checked out. Scenario 2: -Set MarkLostItemsAsReturned to 'from the batch item modification tool' -Lose an item that isn't checked out to a patron -In Batch Item Modification, delete lost status (no other changes made) -In bib, item status is Available