The "Add Attribute" panel is used to add attributes and their values to deposit or model descriptions.
When the user selects "Add Attribute" from the Mineral Deposit Description Panel, the system establishes what kind of entity was in focus in the Description window, and presents only valid attributes for selection in the "Add Attribute" panel.
In the example below of the "Add Attribute" panel, the mine Escondida itself was in focus at the time "Add Attribute" was selected. "Alteration" is a valid attribute of a mine, and has been selected by the user, who, in the example, is in the process of entering a number of alteration assemblage identifiers. One alteration identifier will be entered for each alteration assemblage recognised at Escondida (and later each of these will have their mineralogical, elemental and structural attributes added.)
(1) Entity to which an attribute is being added. (This may be a mine, an alteration assemblage, a host rock, a mineral or a number of other entities that exist as part of an instance of mineralisation.)
(2) The class to which the entity belongs.
(3) These checkboxes tell MineMatch which attributes to show in drop-down lists. Although MineMatch makes extensive use of inherited attributes during matching, these should not normally be displayed during the input of attributes. Thus, during normal operation, only the "Primary Only" checkbox should be checked.
(4) In this drop-down list, the user selects which attribute is to be input. (Only attributes valid for the selected entity are shown.)
(5) In this drop-down list the user selects the appropriate attribute value. In this case, unique identifiers are being chosen for alteration assemblages, which are to be described later. The actual name chosen for the alteration assemblage is not important, and is not used during matching. It must, however, be unique within an instance or model.
If the entity being described had been a rock, and its attribute "elementEnhanced", then the drop-down list would have shown all the elements of the periodic table to choose from.
(6) Attribute values that have already been chosen (and which will later be regarded as entities when their actual mineral are being input).
(7) Selection of the left-side button indicates the presence of the attribute value; Selection of the right-side button indicates its absence.
(8) Descriptions are provided for many of the entities an attributes, as well as special considerations regarding the "links" between them.
(9) Space for the user to add comments relevant to the attribute value entered.
(10) Display of the reference from which the attribute was sourced (under user control).
(11) Click on the "View Hierarchy" button to see the hierarchical arrangement of all possible attribute values. (Example: When entering rock types, the entire British Geological Survey Rock Classification System hierarchy will be displayed here See example below. The window can be dragged to a larger size if required.) Double clicking on any value in the treeview will transfer that value to the input box. Click on the "Hide Hierarchy" button to remove the hierarchy.
(12) Click on the "Add item" button to complete the insertion of (a) new attribute value(s).