EPrints 2.3 Documentation - Configuring the Archive Metadata

- EPrints Metadata

- Introduction
- Modifying the Metadata fields in an Archive
- Default Configuration

- Fields Configuration
- Metadata Types

- Metadata Types Inherritance Diagram

# EPrints Metadata

## Introduction

Metadata is data about data. In this case information about the documents we are storing.

This section describes how to configure the metadata of an archive, and gives information on the various properties of metadata in GNU EPrints.

From the point of view of the database, all eprint records have the same metadata fields. Although each eprint type will only expose a subset of those fields to the user interface.

## Modifying the Metadata fields in an Archive

To add metadata fields you must edit `ArchiveMetadataFieldsConfig.pm` and then erase and recreate the database tables. This will destroy all your data. If you want to add or modify fields to an archive without destroying your data, you will need to go into the SQL.

All types of record in GNU EPrints have metadata. All have a core set of fields which may not be modified as these are required by the software. The ``eprints'' and ``users'' table also have a list of metadata fields which are used for storing the information about users and eprints.

In addition to the metadata types there are functions in `ArchiveMetadataFieldsConfig.pm` which can be modified to set default values of fields and to set certain fields based on values from other fields (automatics).

Automatics are useful as they allow you store the simple answer to a more complex question. Eg. ``Does this record have a document which has a security level public?'' which a user may want to make a search criteria. If this is stored as a simple field in the record then it is easy to search on it.

## Default Configuration

The default configuration of metadata fields, as of v2.3.0, has been designed as part of a collaboration between EPrints and library staff as a good starting setup for an institutional archive. It will still probably want some change or other depending on your requirements.

There are also so default values for some fields and some automatics.

The default value for the ``hideemail'' of user records is ``TRUE'' because we don't want to show peoples emails unless we were given explicit permission.

If the ``frequency'' field of a user record is not set, it automaticall gets set to ``never''. This is because undefined means pretty much the same as ``never'' but it makes it clearer not to have it listed as ``unspecified''. ``frequency'' only applies to editors. It's how often they get sent updates on what needs approving.

The default security level for a document is ``'' (public). The default language for a document is the language of the current session (whatever requested by the user doing the deposit). This is not important unless you have an archive which cares what languages individual documents are in.

The default type for an eprint is ``article''. This means that eprints can never have an undefined type.

There are several automatics for eprint records. If the eprint is a ``monograph'' or ``thesis'' and it does not have the ``institution'' field set, then nothing happens... but there is some code you can uncomment to make it set ``institution'' to the name of your University (or whatever).

If the eprint is of type ``patent'' then it is automatically set to ``published'' as we should never be storing unpublished patents.

If the eprint is of type ``thesis'' then it is automatically set to ``unpublished'' as thesis' do not get published. If this is incorrect for your archive it is easily disabled.

The ``effective date'' field is set to the same value as the ``date of issue''. Unless it's undefined in which case it's set to the value of the ``date of submission''. If they are both undefined then it is set to the datestamp of the metadata record. This means that ``effective date'' contains the ``best'' date for this record, to use when searching and ordering. It's not actually rendered anywhere.

``full_text_status'' is set to a value indicating the status of the full text. One of ``none'' - no full text, ``public'' - full text is available, ``restricted'' - full text is available but is restricted in some way (security setting is not public).

There is also a rather ugly hack to set the value of ``fileinfo'' to info about the documents so that it can be rendered as icons in citations.

# Fields Configuration

Fields have a number of properties. The only required properties are ``name'' and ``type''. Name is the name of the field. This is used to identify this throughout the system. The other properties depend on what type the field is.

When you add a field you need to add the ``human readable'' version in the phrase file, this seperation allows you to change the description without changing the field itself. When you add a field named ``foo'' to the ``eprint'' metadata you should add ``eprint_typename_foo'' to the phrases. You may also wish to add ``eprint_typehelp_foo'' which is the explanation given to the user on the metadata input page.

The following types of field are supported, along with their special property options.

(there are some internal types not mentioned here. There use is not recommended.)

# Metadata Types

There are a number of different types which are stored, input, rendered and searched differently.

Some types extend more simple types. Eg. ``Year'' extends ``int'', but forces a limitation of 4 digits and all the descriptive text is different.

It is theoretically possible to add your own types which inherrit from the inbuilt ones. This should be approached with caution. Pagerange is a good example to look at, when considering making your own types. You must make sure your ArchiveConfig.pm has a ``use'' for the module for your new type as it won't be loaded otherwise. The module name is the same as for the type, except that the first letter is capitalised. Field type ``latlong'' would be described by module `EPrints::MetaField::Latlong`.

## Metadata Types Inherritance Diagram

int

  Optional properties: digits

  This type describes a positive integer. Stored as an `INT` in the database.

year

  Where possible use a ``date'' field with a minimum resolution of ``year'' instead of the ``year'' type. That way the field can be treated as a date in the searches rather than an int.

  This type describes a year. It works pretty much like ``int'' but is always 4 digits long. Stored as an `INT` in the database.

longtext

  Optional properties: input_rows, input_cols, search_cols

  This type describes an unlimited length text field. Used for things like titles and abstracts. It can't be effiently searched as a single value, the system indexes the words. See ``free text indexing'' section. Stored in MySQL as a `TEXT` field.

date

  Optional properties: min_resolution

  This type describes a date, always expressed as YYYY-MM-DD, eg. 1969-05-23. It is stored as a `DATE` in the database.

boolean

  Optional properties: input_style

  This is a simple yes/no field which is stored in the database as `SET( 'TRUE','FALSE' )`. It can be rendered as a menu, a check box or radio buttons. (See input_style)

name

  Optional properties: input_name_cols, search_cols, hide_honourific, hide_lineage, family_first

  This type is used to store names of people (eg. authors). It is split into 4 parts: honourific, given names, family name and lineage. This may seem over fussy but it avoids people putting ``Reverend'' in the given names or ``Junior'' in the family name. If you dislike this you can hide honourific and lineage (See ArchiveConfig.pm).

  We use ``family name'' rather than ``last name'' in the hope of avoiding international confusion (some countries list family name first, so their last name is what I would call their ``christian'', or ``first'', name.

  Names are stored using 4 SQL fields. The name field ``supervisor'' would be stored as supervisor_honourific, supervisor_given, supervisor_family, supervisor_lineage. Each is a `VARCHAR(255)`.

set

  Required properties: options

  Optional properties: input_rows, search_rows

  This type is a limited set of options. The list of options must be specified. Each option must also be added to the phrase file. Option ``foo'' of field ``bar'' in the ``user'' dataset will have the phrase id ``user_fieldopt_bar_foo''.

  Stored in the database as a `VARCHAR(255)`, containing the id of the option.

text

  Optional properties: input_cols, maxlength, search_cols

  This is a simple text field. It normally has a maximum length of 255 ASCII characters, less if non-ASCII characters are used as these are UTF-8 encoded.

  Stored in the database as a `VARCHAR(255)`.

secret

  Identical to ``text'' except that the input field is a starred-out password input field, and it is only ever written to the database, it can't be read back. Writing an empty value will NOT change the previous value.

url

  Identical to ``text'' except it is rendered and validated differently.

email

  Identical to ``text'' except it is rendered and validated differently.

subject

  Optional properties: top, showtop, showall, input_rows, search_rows

  This is a hierarchical subject tree. At first glance it works like sets, but it can be searched for all items in or below a given subject. Subjects may be added to the live system.

  The subject tree starts at a subject with the id ``ROOT'' but a subject field only offers all the items below the subject with the id ``subjects''. This can be changed using the ``top'' property, so that you can have two fields which options are different parts of the same tree.

  Subjects may have more than one parent. eg. biophysics can appear under both physics and biology, while still being the same subject.

  See the bin/import_subjects manpage for more information on seting up the initial subjects.

  You may have more than one ``subject'' field, eg. Subject and Department, with unrelated parts of the subject tree as their ``top''.

  A later version of eprints2 will have a feature which allows an admin user to limit an editor user to a certain subject (and things below it). So that in the above example you can declare an editor of either a Subject (capital-S) or a Department.

pagerange

  A range of pages, eg 1-44. Currently not searchable.

  Stored in the database as a `VARCHAR(255)`.

datatype

  Required properties: datasetid

  Optional properties: input_rows, search_rows

  This field works like a set, but gets its options from the types of the dataset specified.

  For example, if you specified the datasetid ``user'' then, unless you've changed the defaults, would give the options ``user'',``editor'' and ``admin'' - which are the types of user specified in metadata-types.xml.

  Options are:

user

  The types of user.

document

  The types of document.

eprint

  The types of eprint.

security

  Security levels of a document (probably not very useful).

language

  All the languages specified in languages.xml

arclanguage

  The languages supported by this archive. Configured in ArchiveConfig.pm. Stored in the database as a `VARCHAR(255)`.

langid

  This is used internally, it contains an ISO language ID. You probably don't want to use it. Stored as a CHAR(16).

id

  This is also used internally, it contains the ID part of a field with the hasid property. Don't use it! Stored in the database as a `VARCHAR(255)`.

search (Since EPrints v2.1)

  Required properties: datasetid, fieldnames

  Optional properties: allow_set_order

  This type describes a stored search acting on the named dataset. The fields that can be searched are described by fieldnames.

  This field type is quite unusual and you are not really expected to use it. It was created for use in the systems field of the Subscription dataset.

  This field is stored in MySQL as a `TEXT` field.

Field Properties:

``status'' indicates either ``system'' or ``cosmetic'' or ``other''. ``system'' properties cannot be changed without erasing and recreating your archive. ``cosmetic'' fields only effect the display of data and can be safely changed. ``other'' is explained in the description.

name

  Status: system

  Required by: all

  Default: NO DEFAULT

  The name of the field. Strongly recommended to only be lowercase a-z only.

type

  Status: system

  Required by: all

  Default: NO DEFAULT

  The type of field. One of the list described above.

browse_link

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: all

  Default: undef

  This is the id of a ``browse'' view. This will hyperlink this value to the browse for that value when rendering it.

confid

  Status: cosmetic

  Internal use only. Sets the confid if a field is being created without a dataset. The confid is used as a fake dataset for generating phrase ids.

datasetid

  Status: other

  Required by: datatype

  Default: NO DEFAULT

  Used to set which dataset's types are this fields options.

  Changing this on a live system could cause some confusion, as values in the old dataset may exist.

digits

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: int

  Default: 20

  Maximum number of digits for this number.

input_rows

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: longtext, set, subject, datatype

  Default: set in ArchiveConfig.pm

  The number of input rows in a text area, or options to display at once in a menu. Setting to 1 will make a pull down menu (unless this is a ``multiple'' field).

search_cols

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: text, longtext, url, email, name, id

  Default: set in ArchiveConfig.pm

  The width of the search field. If searching multiple fields at once then the value is taken from the first field in the list.

search_rows

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: datatype, set, subject

  Default: set in ArchiveConfig.pm

  The number of items to display in a search field list. If searching multiple fields at once then the value is taken from the first field in the list.

input_cols

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: text, longtext, url, email

  Default: set in ArchiveConfig.pm

  The width of the input field.

input_name_cols

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: name

  Default: set in ArchiveConfig.pm

  The width of the input fields of a ``name'' field.

input_id_cols

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: fields with ``hasid'' set.

  Sets the width of the ID input field on a field with an ID.

  Default: set in ArchiveConfig.pm

input_add_boxes

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: fields with ``multiple'' or ``multilang'' set.

  Default: set in ArchiveConfig.pm

  How many boxes to add when the user hits the ``more spaces'' button.

input_boxes

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: fields with ``multiple'' set.

  Default: set in ArchiveConfig.pm

  How many boxes to initially show on a multiple field.

input_style

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional on: boolean

  Default: undef

  By default booleans render as a check box. These other formats look a bit clearer on the input field:

menu

  Display as a pull-down menu. You will need to set the phrases dataset_fieldopt_fieldname_TRUE and dataset_fieldopt_fieldname_FALSE (where dataset & fieldname are the ids of the dataset and field). These are the menu options.

radio

  Display as radio buttons (ones which deselect when you select another one). You will need to set the phrase dataset_radio_fieldname. This phrase should have two ``pin'' elements: true and false, which are the positions to place the radio buttons.

input_assist

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional to: all

  Default: undef

  Add an internal button which reloads the page, with a ``#'' jump to make the page load at the current input field. The assist button does not do anything except cause the page to be reloaded. This is intended to work with the input_advice fields.

input_advice_right

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional to: all

  Default: undef

  If defined this should be a function pointer which takes params ( $session, $field, $value )

  value is the current value of the field.

  The return value of this should be an XHTML chunk based on the value. This XHTML will appear to the right of the input fields for the value.

  This is intended to give useful advice, which as if the field is an int which is the eprintid of another eprint, this feature could render then name and a link to that eprint to appear next to the integer input box.

input_advice_below

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional to: all

  Default: undef

  As with input_advice_right, only the results appear below, not to the right. Both _right and _below may be used.

fromform

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional to: all

  Default: undef

  A reference to a perl function which will process the value from the form before storing it. The function will be passed ($value, $session) where value is the value from the form and session is the current EPrints::Session. It should return the processed value.

  This could be used, for example, to turn a username ``moj199'' into a userid ``312'' for internal user.

toform

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional to: all

  Default: undef

  A reference to a perl function which will process the value just before it is displayed in the form. The function will be passed ($value, $session) where value is the value from the database and session is the current EPrints::Session. It should return the processed value.

  This could be used, for example, to turn a userid ``312'' being used internally by your systems into more human-friendly username ``moj199''.

  If you use toform then you should probably set fromform to change your values back again.

maxlength

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional to: text, email, url, secret

  Default: 255

  The maximum length of the value.

hasid

  Status: system

  Optional to: all

  Default: 0

  This adds an additional ``ID'' property to the field. This is most useful on a ``name'' field which is ``multiple''. It associates an additional value with the name, for example a username, or email address, which can be used to uniquely identify that person. If you want to get an accurate list of all of someones papers then their name is NOT good enough.

  You might also wish to make a ``publication'' text field have an ID which is an optional ISSN, but it makes more sense in ``multiple'' fields.

multilang

  Status: system

  Optional to: all (but silly for date, year, int, boolean)

  Default: 0

  If set this makes the field ``multilingual''. That is to say it can have more than one value, one value per language.

  For example, the ``canadian stuff'' archive may wish to make your title and abstract multilang so that authors can enter them in both french and english.

  This is more useful than having title_en and title_fr as eprints understands it and can render the version of the field appropriate to the viewer (if they set a language preference).

multiple

  Status: system

  Optional to: all (but silly for date, year, int, boolean)

  Default: 0

  If set this property makes the field a LIST rather than one value and handles rendering it as a list and inputing it. The input field will appear with a default of 3 inputs and a ``more spaces'' button which will reload the page with more if you need more than 3.

  This causes the field to be stored in a seperate SQL table.

options

  Status: other

  Required by: set

  Default: NO DEFAULT

  This should be a array of options. eg.

       [ "blue", "green", "red" ]

  Removing options on a live system could leave invalid values floating around. Adding options is fine. Don't forget to add them to the phrase file too.

required

  Status: system

  Optional to: all

  Default: 0

  This indicates that this field is always required. It is not recommended to set this, but rather indicate requirednes of fields by type in the metadata-types.xml file.

  Either way you set it, required fields will cause the item they are in to fail to validate unless the field has a value.

requiredlangs

  Status: other

  Optional to: fields with ``multilang'' property

  Default: []

  A list of languages which are required for this multilang field. eg. you can force an ``en'' (english) entry, while allowing them to optionally add others.

  eg. [ ``en'', ``fr'' ]

  A list of codes can be found in languages.xml

  Adding more requiredlangs does not magically give you values for these languages in existing data.

showall

  Status: cosmetic

  optional to: subjects

  Default: 0

  By default subjects are only shown if they are ``depositable''. This option makes all subjects, depositable or not, options.

showtop

  Status: cosmetic

  optional to: subjects

  Default: 0

  If set then the topmost item in the subject is shown. Usually this is a container, eg. ``subjects'', and should remain hidden.

top

  Status: cosmetic

  optional to: subjects

  Default: ``subjects''

  Sets the top node in the tree. The options are all the children (and their children).

idpart

  Used internally.

mainpart

  Used internally.

render_single_value

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional to: all

  Default: undef

  This overrides the rendering of a single item. In a multiple, multilang field it will be called on each value of the language to display.

  This is a reference to a function which takes ( $session, $field, $value ) and returns a XHTML DOM fragment.

  Set this to \&EPrints::Latex::render_string to make eprints try and spot latex in this fields values and render it as images instead!

  (Since EPrints v2.1) Set this to \&EPrints::Utils::render_xhtml_field to make eprints read this field as XML and place that XML right in the XHTML web page. (Normally the system would escape all the greater-than and less-than characters.

render_value

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional to: all

  Default: undef

  This is a reference to a function which will render the entire value of the field, overriding eprints own renderer. It should take as parameters: ( $session, $field, $value, $alllangs, $nolink )

  The function should return an XHTML DOM fragment.

  If $alllangs is set then the function should render all values on a multilang field, rather than just the ``best'' one.

  If $nolink is set then no HTML anchor links should be used, eg. to link a URL.

render_opts (v2.3.0)

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional to: all

  Default: undef

  This allows you to specify certain minor tweaks in how this fields values are displayed without going to all the trouble of creating a custom render_value subroutine.

  See the section on ``Metadata Field Render Options'' for details.

export_as_xml

  Status: cosmetic

  Optional to: all

  Default: 1

  If this attribute is set to zero then this field will be ommitted from the output of the XML export script.

make_value_orderkey

  Status: other

  Optional to: all

  Default: undef

  This may be a reference to a subroutine which returns a single string which can be used to alphabetically sort this string. It is used to order the results within the database. The function is passed the following parameters ( $field, $value, $session, $langid ). You may wish to sort certainly fields differently for different languages.

  For example - for some reason you may want a field formated with a single character then an integer ( a934 or b3 ) - If you sort this alphabetically then a2 would come after a11. So you make the orderkey function do something like:

       $value =~ m/^(.)([0-9]+)$/;
       return sprintf( "%s%08d", $1, $2 );

  This would turn a2 into a00000002 and a11 into a00000011 which will sort correctly alphabetically. Don't worry - these values are only ever used for sorting, they should never get output.

  You should probably use the bin/reindex command on the dataset in question (probably ``archive'' or ``user'' after adding or changing this property to a field. This may take a significant amount of time.

make_single_value_orderkey

  Status: other

  Optional to: all

  Default: undef

  This is a slightly more simple version of make_value_orderkey. It only takes ( $field, $value ) as parameters. It is only ever passed single values of $value and lets eprints takes care of multiple values (or multilang values) by calling the function once per value.

  As with make_value_orderkey you should reindex after meddling with orderkeys.

fieldnames

  Status: `cosmetic(ish)`

  Required by: search

  Default: NO DEFAULT

  This should be a reference to an array of field names - exactly like the ones used in ArchiveConfig.pm to configure search, advanced search and subscriptions.

  Adding fields to this will cause no problem. Removing fields will mean that those fields are ignored when turning values of this field back into searches.

can_clone (since v2.2)

  Status: changeable (but changes functionality)

  Default: 1

  If can_clone is set to zero then this field will not be cloned when the record is cloned. This may be useful for automaticly generated fields or fields with meaning such as ``content has been spellchecked'' or somesuch.

sql_index (2.2)

  Status: system

  Default: 1

  If this field is set to zero then an SQL index will NOT be created for it. This means the field should never be used in a ``value exactly matches'' search as it may be very slow. MySQL has a limit of 32 indexes per table, which is why you should use this field if you go over that limit.

id_editors_only (2.2)

  Status: cosmetic

  Default: 0

  Optional on: fields with ``has_id'' set.

  It means that the ``id'' part of the field only appears in the editor view, not the normal user submission form. Some archives may wish to do this to save confusing the person making the deposit.

allow_set_order (2.2)

  Status: changeable (but changes functionality)

  Default: 1

  Optional on: search

  Prompt user for a search order in addition to the search fields.

min_resolution (2.3.0)

  Status: changeable

  Default: day

  Optional on: date

  If this is set to ``month'' then the ``day'' part of date field will be made optional in the input form and validation.

  If this is set to ``year'' then both the ``day'' and ``month'' parts will be optional.

  This allows you to allow users to only enter ``2003'' if that's all they know, without preventing them give the exact date if relevant and known.

hide_honourific (2.3.0)

  Status: changeable

  Default: 0

  Optional on: name

  If set to true (1) then the honourific field does not appear in the input form for this field.

hide_lineage (2.3.0)

  Status: changeable

  Default: 0

  Optional on: name

  As for honourific.

family_first (2.3.0)

  Status: changeable

  Default: 0

  Optional on: name

  If set to true (1) then the input form presents the ``family'' field before the ``given'' field. This seems to make librarians happy.

EPrints 2.3 Documentation - Configuring the Archive Metadata