part iintroduction 2 part iitrouble shooting 8 part iiihow ... · if you want to delete a record,...

IContents

I

© 2008 ALTER-NET - I6

Table of ContentsPart I Introduction 2

................................................................................................................................... 21 Setting up InfoBase

................................................................................................................................... 52 Quick start

................................................................................................................................... 73 Make initial selections

................................................................................................................................... 74 change table view

................................................................................................................................... 75 get information on the table

Part II Trouble shooting 8

................................................................................................................................... 81 Installation

Part III How to 10

................................................................................................................................... 101 Manage data

.......................................................................................................................................................... 10Edit a record

.......................................................................................................................................................... 12Add a record

.......................................................................................................................................................... 15Delete a record

.......................................................................................................................................................... 15Adding a tree item

.......................................................................................................................................................... 16Changing a tree item

.......................................................................................................................................................... 16Moving a tree item

.......................................................................................................................................................... 16Deleting a tree item

.......................................................................................................................................................... 17Export data

.......................................................................................................................................................... 17Import data

.......................................................................................................................................................... 19Update data by import

................................................................................................................................... 192 Adapt database to your needs

.......................................................................................................................................................... 19add a field

.......................................................................................................................................................... 20Add a table

.......................................................................................................................................................... 20Add a tree

................................................................................................................................... 213 Query database

.......................................................................................................................................................... 21Change to query mode

................................................................................................................................... 214 Find a website

Part IV Bugs 23

................................................................................................................................... 231 Known bugs

................................................................................................................................... 232 Report a bug

Index 0

InfoBase2


1 Introduction

The InfoBase tool was conceived as a metadata entering tool for the normal user (without specificdatabase skills). Besides being an entering tool InfoBase is also an metadata querying tool. It hasunique features to query across hierarchical reference lists. It is currently linked to an Access databasefrom which it takes the content and to which it saves changed and new content back.

Setting up InfoBaseQuick startMake initial selectionschange table viewget information on the table

1.1 Setting up InfoBase

You can download the most recent setup of InfoBase and the most recent database from the ftp://ftp.umweltbundesamt.at/LTER%20InfoBase. If you not already have a InfoBase.mdb download this firstand place it in a convenient directory. If you want to install a newer version of InfoBase, de-install firstthe old one (if you need to de-install an old version choose Start, Programs, InfoBase, Uninstall).Download and run or run directly the Setup InfoBase.exe.

The first screen after starting the setup is the welcome screen

Just press

Then you will be asked to accept the licence agreements.

Introduction 3


Read it carefully, if you agree select and press

If you accepted it then the readme file will be shown.

InfoBase4


The next screen will show you the installation settings

The installation settings are standard and compliant to the windows rules.

To go further press

See Trouble shooting - installation when you encounter a problem during the install.

After successful installation the following screen appears

Introduction 5


If you already have downloaded the InfoBase.mdb database then you can check the

and start using InfoBase. If you don't have downloaded the database yet, uncheck

the . Finally press .

The program can always be started later by choosing the InfoBase shortcut or by choosingStart, Programs, InfoBase.

1.2 Quick start

After starting the InfoBase application the startup window appears

In this version the username and password settings are disabled. Choose to find the

InfoBase.mdb or type it in directly. After that press The database will be loaded into memory.

InfoBase6


The InfoBase program is built around an intuitive view on a database. There are four panes:

A. the upper pane consists of tabs where the table can be selectedB. in the left pane fields can be editedC. the right pane consists of reference list containing possible entriesD. the lower pane contains the selected records from the active table..

The InfoBase user interface

The entry fields can be filled in with free text or numbers (background colour of the entry field is whitewhich means editable) or with a chosen element from a reference list (background colour of the entryfield is grey). By clicking into a grey entry field a list of elements (called trees in this applications) isshown on the right side. Some of these elements may be organized hierarchically (you recognize themby a +sign ahead of the element) so that you see just the highest level: in this case you should godown to the lowest level and choose there the element requested. New hierarchies and entries can be

added by the user using the button to add an item under an existing entry (which

becomes than a class with sub entries) or to add a new record beside of existing ones.Existing entries are only editable (press keyboard F2 button) and moveable if the icon before it is the

under construction icon . Once an item is entered it is not erasable with the InfoBase tool. The

items with the checked icon are not moveable or editable from within InfoBase. Moving a tree itemmakes it a child of the item on which it is dropped. To make it a sibling press the SHIFT keyboardbutton when releasing the mouse button.

To select a site just click at the first field of the respective site at the bottom of the

Introduction 7


application. You can sort the records by clicking on the field labels of the table. After selecting all theattributes of that site will be displayed on the right upper part in the entry fields (B). To enter new sites

you should fill in each field with the respective content and then click in the console in themiddle of the application. A new line will be added as last record in the table at the bottom of theapplication. You can delete records, or edit an existing one. For editing just change the respective

fields and click .

You can add new trees, new tables and new fields. This tree can be used when creating a new field fora table, just select as field type the created tree (lookup type:name of tree). New tables will result innew tabs.

1.3 Make initial selections

Working with all the data is not recommended and can be confusing. You should just work on the dataof your country you are responsible for. The following procedure should be used to do that. First select

in the bottom left corner , the window will be rebuilt and all tree items as well as alrecords have check boxes . Also some buttons are added, which can be used for querying and for

(un)checking all items. To select the dataset for a country select first. In the tree you see a

list with countries. Press first the button. All tree items will be unchecked instantaneously.Select then the country you will want to see the data on. For example Denmark, to do this select

. If you expand this you will see that all subitems are selected too. To select the data

by means of the checked items in the tree press on the bottom. After that only the datafor Denmark will be shown in all tables which have the Dataset field (which in this case all tables, apartfrom the ContactPerson table).

To undo all querying and checking every item and record again, press .

If you uncheck , then the window returns to its normal view.

1.4 change table view

If you want to change the table you're viewing, simply click on a different tab to select the table.

table tabs

If the table is not visible use the buttons to scroll through the possibilities. After pressing on thetab, the window will be updated to show the selected contents of that table.

1.5 get information on the table

If you want information on a table go to the table tabs

select the table and right click (with mouse) on the table name. A popup window will appear

InfoBase8


The first item will be a wiki adress. Click this item and your internet browser will be opened on theinformation page.

2 Trouble shooting

Installation

2.1 Installation

It can happen that you get a message from the Installshield Wizard to close open applications, you canclose them or just click on the ignore button.

If you get the error message 1931, just click on the OK button, don't worry about this message.

Trouble shooting 9


Our team is desperately trying to prevent such 'error' or 'warning' messages, but it doesn't seemalways possible.

InfoBase10


3 How to

In this section the 'How to' are explained

The 'How to' is under construction. The latest version of InfoBase.pdf can be found at ftp://ftp.umweltbundesamt.at/LTER%20InfoBase.

Manage dataAdapt database to your needsQuery databaseFind a website

3.1 Manage data

Edit a recordAdd a recordDelete a record

Adding a tree itemChanging a tree itemMoving a tree itemDeleting a tree item

Export dataImport dataUpdate data by import

3.1.1 Edit a record

The following steps should be taken to edit a record

Select first a record from the data, click on the first item in the list view:

then press , the contents of the record will be copied to the fields

How to 11


Make changes in the record, for instance pasting the website http://www2.corpoforestale.it/web/guest/serviziattivita/controlloecosistemiforestali/retidicontrollo/areebas1 into the field Website

http://www2.corpoforestale.it/web/guest/serviziattivita/controlloecosistemiforestali/retidicontrollo/areebas1

http://www2.corpoforestale.it/web/guest/serviziattivita/controlloecosistemiforestali/retidicontrollo/areebas1

InfoBase12


If you want to change a grayed field, Select the field and double click on the tree item you want to put

in. The value will then be changed. After having made all the changes, press . The recordwill show the changes

3.1.2 Add a record

Adding a record is easy. You just start from the field pane

How to 13


And start filling in the data. The white fields should be typed in or if it is a date it also can be filled in byclicking on the date itself. If it is a grayed field then the field should be filled in by double clicking on theitem in the tree next to it.

InfoBase14


this will cause the field to be filled in.

When you're finished with filling in the data, press

The added record will be shown in the Data

Remark:As much records have many fields in common, it is much easier to pre-fill the fields and then changing

them. To do this, find a suitable record, select it and press . The fields will have already

data. Edit this and press .

How to 15


3.1.3 Delete a record

If you want to delete a record, just select it in the data:

Then press , and the the record will disappear.

The information however has first been copied to the fields

So if the deletion has been done accidentally, it can be added again (not restored) by pressing

3.1.4 Adding a tree item

There are three ways to add tree items, one is described in Update data by import, the other ways can

be done by pressing either or to create a new child or a sibling item. Afterpressing one of them the popup window appears:

InfoBase16


Fill in a new name and press

3.1.5 Changing a tree item

Changing a tree item can only be done if it has as an icon. To do this select the item and press theF2 button on the keyboard.

For example Selecting the authors name and pressing F2:

The name can be edited. Clicking next to the item will save the changes.

3.1.6 Moving a tree item

Changing a tree item can only be done if it has as an icon. To do this drag and drop the item to thenew location (just as in the explorer). If you drop it on a item, it becomes a child unless you havepressed the shift button (keyboard), then it becomes a sibling.l

3.1.7 Deleting a tree item

Deleting a tree item cannot be done with the InfoBase application. Special care has to be taken to dothat to avoid broken links. However you are recommended to move those unwanted items to the "_tobe deleted" item as a child entry. Those entries will then be deleted in the database by the databaseadministration group directly after making sure that there are no references on the item any more.

How to 17


3.1.8 Export data

The way to export data with InfoBase is by means of the pasteboard (=clipboard). Currently there's nodirect exporting planned to e.g. text or excel files, but this can be done by the following the examplebelow:

The data to export:

If you want to export the data record, press .

The data will be put on the clipboard. When you open now an application, for instance excel , thenchoose in this application the Edit menu item, followed by Paste (or use the Ctrl-V combination). Thedata will be pasted in the application.

The first row will contain the field names.

In similar way, the data can be exported to other applications.

As you will see there's an extra entry called _EntryNr_. This is an unique id in the database table tokeep track of the history of the data record. This _EntryNr_ field is important if you want to updatedata in the database automatically. Otherwise you can delete or ignore this column.

3.1.9 Import data

The way to export data with InfoBase is by means of the pasteboard (=clipboard). Currently there's nodirect importing planned from e.g. text or excel files, but this can be done by following the examplebelow:

In this example we will import data from excel . If you import data from text files, make sure thateach record is on a row and there's a tab between the tree items. In the latter case there should be no

InfoBase18


tabs within the field. The first row must have the field names exactly written as the ones in the table.The fields may have a different order. The field DataSet is mandatory.

Suppose we have an excel sheet with some records:

Of course this is a fake example for illustration purposes only.

The first step should be to select the data within the sheet. This should be done by selecting the datarectangle as shown above. Then choose Edit, Copy (or Ctrl-C) to copy the data to the clipboard.

To import the data, press .The data will be copied from the clipboard in the InfoBaseapplication. When tree items do not exists e.g. the EuropeData and the Country Europe, a questionwindow will be shown:

You have now the possibility to accept the EuropeData as a new element of _treeDataSets_. If you do

so, then after importing the item can be found under the items. This is a way forautomatically adding tree items. After that you should move the items in this class to the proper

position in the tree. If the is not visible and should be there, switch to another tableand then switch back. This is due to a (minor) error and will be solved in a future release.

If everything went well, the data is added to the database:

How to 19


3.1.10 Update data by import

Updating data is essentially1. Export data 2. followed by editing data 3. Import data

The exception is that you should include the _EntryNr_ field in the import. In this case a question willbe asked if you really want to Update and not to Import.

Warning:Do not use a self invented _EntryNr_!!!!! This can cause a change in data not belonging to you. Infuture releases each user will have the authorisation to change his/her data only. This is notimplemented yet.

3.2 Adapt database to your needs

add a fieldAdd a tableAdd a tree

3.2.1 add a field

If you want to add a new field to the table, press

The following screen will appear

Fill in a new field name and select the field type by pressing . A list with possibilities will by shown

There are some basic types:

Basic type: Data/TimeA date and time field will be created

Basic type: doubleA numeric field will be created suitable for continuous numbers

Basic type: longA numeric field will be created suitable for whole numbers

Basic type: memo

InfoBase20


A text field will be created which can contain text longer than 255 charactersBasic type: text

A text field will be created which can contain up to 255 characters

There are some types which refer to the reference trees:Lookup type: _name_Lookup type: name

If the lookup type has starting and trailing underscore then those are used within the system itself andare predefined. For instance each table has a reference field to the _treeDataSets_, which is shown asDataset and also to _treeStatus_, etc. but most are hidden and used for the database management.As a normal user you should select one of the other trees. If a tree is not in there, you can alwayscreate a new tree.

After selecting the field type, press

3.2.2 Add a table

If you want to add a new table, press

The following screen will appear:

Fill in a new table name and press

A new table will be visible. There is one field predefined: DataSet. See add a field to add other fields tothe table.

3.2.3 Add a tree

If you want to add a tree, press

The following screen will appear:

Type in the new name of the tree and press .

After pressing the ok-button, a new tree will be created. It has already two items in it:1. _Unknown: if you want explicitly annotate you do not know the value, use this item.2. _to be deleted: Garbage collection item, the function is like the "Recycle Bin" in the explorer. See

Deleting a tree item

How to 21


The tree is not visible until you assign this tree to a new field in a table. See add a field. Only then it ispossible to add new entries in the tree created.

3.3 Query database

Change to query mode

3.3.1 Change to query mode

To change the mode of the application select in the bottom left corner , the window willbe rebuilt and all tree items as well as al records have check boxes . Also some buttons are added,which can be used for querying and for (un)checking all items.

The following extra buttons will be available:

Query all data tables by means of selected tree items.

Query tree by means of seleceted data items

Uncheck all data or tree items

Check all data or tree items

Undo all selections and check all tree and data items

3.4 Find a website

Often when filling in information for example about a site you want to go to the website of the site tosee if there's information about it. There's a handy utility for finding this. If you want to have informationabout the site "BAS1 Monte Grosso" which is in Italy, select this item in the tree for Dataset

InfoBase22


with right clicking on this item the menu appears:

If you already put links into the wiki, choose the second item. Otherwise just click on the first item andthen a google search will be started. Your internet browser will be opened, showing the results of thesearch:

How to 23


The 11th item in the list is the target one.

This search is defined for every tree item in the application.

4 Bugs

Known bugsReport a bug

4.1 Known bugs

There are some known bugs in the program:

· double clicking the current date (current date only) will not fill in the data. This is a non-resolvable(means due to windows) bug, the solution is first click on another date and then double click currentdata. This will do the trick and the current date will be filled in.

4.2 Report a bug

If you encounter a software bug, please put it on the wiki. The address of the wiki is http://www5.umweltbundesamt.at/ALTERNet/index.php?title=Bug_report

http://www5.umweltbundesamt.at/ALTERNet/index.php?title=Bug_report

http://www5.umweltbundesamt.at/ALTERNet/index.php?title=Bug_report

part iintroduction 2 part iitrouble shooting 8 part iiihow ... · if you want to delete a record,...

Documents