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IMPORTANT NOTE: Attribute values should not be removed from the ontology if they are present in any of the mapObject descriptions or queries in the LegendBurster project. They can, however, be hierarchically re-arranged, or new values can be added for later use in descriptions. Since these actions may change the results of any queries which are stored in the project, any queries which might be affected by such changes should be re-processed. This can be achieved by flagging the queries which need to be re-processed in the Query Manager, and then re-processing them from that screen. It should be noted that all queries are marked for re-processing if any editing of mapObjects is undertaken, because this, too, is likely to change the results of some queries. |
To edit, or add to, the values an attribute may assume (ie: its value domain):
(a) Set
the Value Domains Filter Button to "Domain of Attribute"
<See
filter button: Item 12 on Ontology Editor screen>
(b) Select
the attribute in the Attribute List in the Ontology Editor
(c) Click
"Edit Values".
The "Edit Values" form will appear - the example below is of a value domain that has not yet had any values added.
The values for a particular attribute are stored in a hierarchical structure <example>. Even a "flat" list of values is placed in this structure, with the flat list being positioned immediately below the "root" node (1a) <example>. The root node exists at the top of each hierarchy as a "host" for the values in the hierarchy, and does not usually have a value that is used in the value domain.
The root's comment, in the "foldCom" column in the above example (1b), can be edited to provide a general description of the value domain.
Each value in the domain is represented as a "node" in the hierarchy. For each value, there is also a field with a checkbox ("foldInc" (1c) in the example above). This indicates whether the node is to be regarded as a value in the domain, in which case it will be displayed in the Ontology Editor and available when entering descriptions. If it is simply a header for a group of values held at the next level down in the hierarchy, it can be excluded using the checkbox <example>. Excluding "grouping" headers, unless they are at the top of a hierarchy, compromises one's access to general terms during description of mapObjects, and also constrains the phrasing of certain generalised queries.
If a sub-domain is edited, then all sub-domains of its parent domain are shown. Normally this would be done simply to include or exclude a value from the parent domain. However, if a value is added anywhere in the parent hierarchy, attention must be given to whether or not that value should be included in all the associated sub-domains.
The following tools are available as buttons on the "Edit Values" form:
2) Full Expand Fully expand the tree structure of values
3) Full Collapse Fully collapse the tree structure of values
4) Add Value Add a value below the level currently selected in the tree-list. <How to ADD values>
5) Delete value. Deletes the value currently selected, and all its children below it.
6) Refresh Refreshes the tree structure of values
7) Normal Print Outputs the tree structure of values for printing, using the tree-view printing control
8) Exports to Excel Exports the hierarchy of values to Excel, provided that Excel is on the system, where they can be formatted with word-wrap, and saved and/or printed.
9) Grid on/off Toggles the grid on the tree structure of values.
10) Import values Imports values from any TreeList Editor file. <How to IMPORT values>
11) Word Wrap Toggles word-wrap on and off.
12) Edit/Search Toggles between "Edit" (shows pen nib) and "Search" (shows magnifying glass)modes. In "Edit" mode, values or comments may be changed. In search mode, the system will jump to the first row below the current row (row of last cell clicked) in the current column (column of the last cell clicked) which begins with an alphanumeric sequence of characters entered at the keyboard.
13) Help Access to the LegendBurster HELP system.
To add a new value, click a node to which the value is to be added (the root node for an empty domain), and click the "Add Value" button ((4) in this illustration).
The following form will appear:
The current word list will appear in the area marked (1) above. Clicking on any word in the list will cause it to appear in the appropriate value field (2 above), with any comment that accompanies it in the word list appearing in the value's comment field. In this way, valuable documentation undertaken during word list editing is transferred into the ontology. Alternatively, any other comment can be manually entered. The contexts in which the selected word appeared in the shapefile table is shown in area 5. (In this case, the word "miniscule" appeared in isolation. If it had been in a sentence, the sentence would be shown.)
The "include" flag for the value (4) is automatically set to "True", but may be changed to false if the entry is not to appear elsewhere in the ontology. Clicking on the "Add" button (6), will add the value and its comment to the domain (as well as the values for associated sub-domains ((8) - see below). Any number of subsequent entries can be made, all of which will be entered to the values hierarchy at the same level.
Selecting the "Done" button (7) will terminate the entry of values at the current level in the hierarchy, and return to the "Edit Values" screen. To start adding values at a different level in the hierarchy, simply select the new entry position in the hierarchy, and repeat the process.
Mistakes can easily be corrected by clicking on an incorrectly-positioned node and dragging it to its correct position.
In the above example, the two fields "CarSizeCom" and "CarSizeInc" (8) also appear on the "Add New Value" screen because a sub-domain called "CarSize" had been created out of the "ThingSize" domain. Hence, with any additional value added to the "ThingSize" domain, a decision has to be taken regarding its inclusion in or exclusion from the "CarSize" domain. The decision is implemented using the boolean "CarSizeInc" field, and the "CarSizeCom" field is available for any comments about the size value, as it relates to cars (whether or not the value is included in the "CarSize" domain). If a comment is added, it will appear on the data input screen whenever any mapObject descriptions or queries are being entered - hence contributing to a better-quality of interaction with the knowledge base by any future users of the system.
After adding a number of values, the completed value domain could look like this:
Some value domains are large and complex structures, which may be accompanied by valuable documentation in their comments fields. LegendBurster is able to import any value hierarchy from a TreeList Editor file, provided that the field carrying the value of interest is the same length as LegendBurster's value fields (50 characters). Any accompanying field that is 255 characters in length may be imported as the value's comment field.
It is also possible to import value domains directly from other LegendBurster projects, which has the advantage that they bring with them any sub-domains they may include. <Read more>
Selecting the "Import" bar or button from the Ontology Editor after selecting the target attribute in the "Attributes" column, produces the following form (in this example, for an attribute named "SettingsImport":
Areas (1) and (2) allow navigation to the source database and table respectively. The system will automatically match the fields required for the hierarchical structures (3). Using the drop-down list in area (4), it is possible to select the field carrying the value to import, and the same can be done in area (5) for the comment. If no field is appropriate for import as a comment, placing a tick in the check-box in area (5) will allow input of free text (up to 255 characters) in the comment field, which constant string will be placed in the comment field of all the imported values. It is also possible to set the value for all imported values to be either true (included), or false (excluded).
A typical "Import" form immediately before activating the "Import" button (7) appears below:
Clicking on the "Import" button will import the selected values, and return control to the "Edit Values" form, or to the Ontology Editor, depending on which was used to start the procedure.
Value Domains may be imported from other LegendBurster projects using the "Import Value Domain" button on the main Ontology Editor screen.
This is an important aid to standardising ontologies across projects, and can save considerable amounts of time, particularly when attribute value domains are large hierarchical collections of values, which may be well-documented with comments or definitions. View an example here.
This example was generated by the TreeList Editor program, available from Georeference Online Ltd at www.georeferenceonline.com. TreeList Editor can read exported LegendBurster Value Domain tables (ie: attribute value tables), and is a very useful tool for creating, editing, viewing, comparing and outputting hierarchical data.
The "Import Value Domain" button produces the following screen:
Area (1) provides a button from which to navigate to the project which will be the source of the Value Domain. Once a project is selected, the domain for importing can be selected in area (2). Once a domain is selected, its list of values will appear in area (3), along with a listing of its sub-domains in area (4) - all of which will be imported with the top level domain.
Area (5) allows the name of the value domain to be changed from its default value, which is its name in the source project.
In area (6) the "Import" button will import the value domain without returning to the Ontology Editor (allowing import of additional domains), while the "Done" button returns to the Ontology Editor, offering an option to skip any (further) domain imports.
Any unwanted sub-domains can be easily removed after value domain import by selecting their corresponding attribute in the "Attributes" column, and clicking on the "Remove" button.
This option allows the export of values in a value domain to a TreeList Editor file (see Appendix 2), hence allowing them to be shared with other users of LegendBurster, who may import them into their projects. This capability can save significant amounts of time, in the case of large complex value domains, and allows easy implementation of terminology standards across a number of projects.
To export values, first select the attribute in the Ontology Editor whose values need to be exported. The click on "Export Values" button below the values display column. The following form will appear:
Either type in a database name with its full path in the "Database" field, or select one using the "Open File" navigation button. I a file name is entered that does not already exist, LegendBurster will create a database file (.mdb file) to hold the exported table.
If the file does exist, the following form will appear:
Selecting "Yes" will create a new table in the already existing database file. Selecting "No" will delete the existing database file (destroying any and all tables within the database), and create a new database file with the same name to hold the table of values to be exported. Selecting "Cancel" will allow the specification of a different database name.
Any name for the table to hold the exported values can then be entered (a default name is suggested by the system). Clicking on the "Export" button will export the values to the table, although, if a table with the proposed name already exists, LegendBurster will request an alternative table name.
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