Defining new metadata profiles

You may extend the set of predefined system profiles and define your own metadata profiles to suit your needs. A user-defined metadata profile is always associated to a certain BSCW object type (e.g. folder, document, contact). When defining a metadata profile you start from the system profile of the respective object type and then add your own attributes or entire groups of attributes or cancel existing attributes in any possible way.

If you create your own metadata profile of a container object (folder, contact list or similar), you can not only define the attributes of the container object, but also set the metadata profiles of objects contained. For example, you can define a metadata profile “Club” that is based on the contact list and has additional attributes such as address and club number, and specify that the contacts contained should have the metadata profile “Club member”, in which you delete certain unnecessary contact attributes and define additional attributes that concern member­ship such as member number or membership fee.

You can create a new metadata profile in two ways. You create a new metadata profile ex­plicitly

•      by selecting  File    New    Metadata Profile  in the top menu of your personal templates or any other template folder and determining the object type desired from the sub menu, e.g.  Document Profile .

Metadata profiles from your personal templates are available to you everywhere, metadata pro­files from a templates folder in a workspace are available to you (and the other members of the workspace) only in this particular workspace.

You create a new metadata profile ad hoc while assigning a metadata profile to an object, when you find that the available profiles are not sufficient for your purpose.

•      Select   Change    Metadata Profile  in the action menu of an object. If the profiles offered for selection in the action form ‘Metadata Profile’ are not sufficient, click on [Add metadata profile] to create a new metadata profile for the object type of the current object.

The metadata profiles created in this ad hoc fashion are stored in your personal templates and are available for assignment afterwards.

The subsequent interaction for specifying the new metadata profile is identical in both cases.

•      The action form ‘Add Metadata Profile’ shows the system profile of the object type chosen or of the object type of the current object, respectively, which you now may edit as described in the following. Note that a system profile like that of a folder may be empty.

•      First, enter a name for the new metadata profile and possibly a description that ex­plains the purpose of the new profile.

•      In the section “Attributes and groups” of the action form, you add single metadata attributes or entire groups of attributes to your metadata profile using the dropdown menu [Add]. Here you can choose from attributes and attribute groups coming from existing metadata profiles.

Groups of attributes that have been added may subsequently be edited. You may also add an empty group to your profile (select ‘Emtpy Group’ from the [Add] menu) that is to be filled with attributes of your choice. Don’t forget to give a name to your new attribute group. Groups are to structure a profile and may also be nested.

By choosing ‘New Attribute’ you specify your own attribute along with name and data type; check whether the attribute may have multiple values.

•      You delete an attribute or attribute group by clicking on the icon on the right side of the attribute or group box.

•      You may reorder attributes and groups by dragging the attribute or group to the po­sition desired using the  icon. This way you can also move an attribute or group in­side another group, or from inside a group to the top level.

•      If you specify a new metadata profile for a container object type (folder, contact list or similar), the action form has an additional section “Default profile of new objects”, where you can specify metadata profiles for objects that will be created in the con­tainer, if those profiles are to differ from the predefined system profiles.

•      Select an object type from the [Add] menu for which you plan to specify a user-defined metadata profile.

•      In the appearing assignment line of the action form you may now choose a meta­data profile for this object type. This profile will be assigned to all objects of the object type that will be created within the container.

These profile assignments may be deleted or reordered exactly as in the section “Attri­butes and groups” using the same icons. You may also specify these assignments of object contained to metadata profiles later on when you change the metadata profile itself (see below).

•      Click [OK] to store the new metadata profile in your personal templates or in a template folder.

•      If you have defined the new metadata profile ad hoc, you return to the action form ‘Metadata Profile’ and the name of the new metadata profile will appear as choice in the drop­down menu [Choose]. Click [OK] to assign this profile to the current object.