Using Tabular Views
By Sandra Schloen, June 2017
Updated June 2019, July 2022
OCHRE is based on a highly granular, hierarchical, item-based data model, but there are times when it is helpful to create familiar tables for primary data entry. When a parent item, say a Pottery Bucket, is expected to have a number of sub-items, in this case pottery sherds, that have a highly regular structure, then a table might be a good choice as a mechanism for entering these; similarly, a collection of bones in a "bone bag"; a list of coin groups in a coin hoard; a group of assorted botanical remains from a soil sample.
Enabling Tabular Views
A project must opt-in to the tabular view format. The Project Administrator must go to the Project, Preferences, Settings pane and check on "Enable Tabular Views."
Setting up a Tabular View
A tabular view is based on a Value of an item's property. That is, all items that have been tagged with the specified property are grouped together in the same table. The structure of the table is based on a Predefinition associated with that Value.
Begin by indicating for a specific Value that items tagged with such a Value are to be shown in a Tabular View. It might be the "Pottery" Value (Object type = Pottery) or the "Coin" Value (Object type = Coin) or the "Botanical remains" Value (Object type = Botanical remains). From the Value's edit pane, accessible via the Taxonomy or Property Values, check ON the Default to tabular view checkbox.
Indicate Tabular View requirement
Next, create a new Predefinition that uses this Value. Insert that Predefinition within a hierarchy of Predefinitions. On your Project, Preferences, Configuration pane, identify to OCHRE the hierarchy which contains the Predefinitions used to create Tabular Views.
Predefinitions for Tabular Views
You need do nothing more than ensure that this new Predefinition uses this Value that defines the group of items which will be collected together in a table. OCHRE will find it and will format the collection of sub-items appropriately.
You are free to set up Tabular Views for any number of Values. If no Predefinition is assigned for a Value used in a Tabular View, OCHRE will try to derive a default table based on the properties of any items it finds in context that are tagged with that Value. If no items already exist, the default Table will be sparse indeed!
Creating a Tabular View
If Tabular Views have been enabled for a Project, the Table icon will appear to the left of the central Edit pane of the selected item.
If the currently selected item already has a Tabular View for a particular Value (in this example, for "Botanical remains"), the Table will be available to authorized users to View and Edit. Click on the item with the Table icon to view/edit its Tabular View, and to add more items of the appropriate kind to the table.
If the currently selected item does not yet have a Tabular View based on the desired Value, click the Table icon to the left of the center (Edit) pane to request a Tabular View of one of the enabled Values. Only Values not yet represented by Tabular Views in this context will be available. Select the desired Value to instantiate a new Tabular View.
Tabular Views in the Navigation Pane
If Tabular View has been enabled for the Project, all project users will be able to view the relevant items in the tabular views. These will be read-only tables.
To view the items in their usual format simply expand the table using the arrow to the left of the tabular item. The table item will disappear and a list of itemized entries will appear in its stead. Refresh the parent item to re-generate the Tabular View.
Items can be deleted from the Tabular View, if necessary, while it is expanded.
Viewing a Tabular View
Hitting <Enter> on the selected row of a Tabular View will pop-up the full item in a window. Note that the Tabular View is just a view of that portion of the item's content that fits within the prescribed structure of the table (as defined by the associated Predefinition). Any or all of the items may have more properties and content than is shown in the table. Popping up the windowed view (also by double-clicking the table row) provides the full details of the currently selected item.
Editing in Tabular View
If you have been granted Edit access you will be able to click the Edit button (highlighted above) to gain edit capabilities. Click the left-most Properties button of the last row to be prompted for a New... item code to be used for auto-labeling of a newly inserted item (as prescribed by the settings of the associated Predefinition).
Proceed to enter the information for the new item within the constraints of the columns provided by the predefined Tabular View. Content is automatically saved as you move from cell to cell of the table.