Properties of linked fields: Relation fields
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On the Relation fields tab, which is present when you have selected a new or existing data dictionary field in a database definition and set the Type of this field to Linked field on the Field properties tab, you may also associate the current linked field to the thesaurus or persons and institutions tags related hierarchically to the field you link to. (You need to have a thesaurus and/or persons and institutions data source to apply this functionality.) Specify one or more of these tags or field names if you want those relations to enrich the list of terms or names that is displayed in the Find data for the field window (which columns you define in link screens), when you search for existing terms or names in this linked field.
Click here for information on how to edit properties in general. On the current tab you'll find the following settings:
If a tag from the linked database definition is filled in for Preferred field, Collections will check for the terms resulting from the search whether a value occurs in their preferred field tag. If so, the term will be a non-preferred term, and a prohibition sign will appear in the Find data for the field... window in front of that term.
If for the terms resulting from the search equivalents are available in the tag provided here, these will be listed in the Find data for the field... window too.
If you fill in a tag for the Broader field, then if a broader term is available for the terms resulting from the search, those terms will be displayed hierarchically on the View hierarchy tab in the Find data for the field... window.
If you fill in a tag for the Narrower field, then if a narrower term is available for the terms resulting from the search, those terms will be displayed hierarchically on the View hierarchy tab in the Find data for the field... window.
If the terms resulting from the search, are a semantic factor of some more complex term (the concept term), then the more complex term will also be included in the list in the Find data for the field... window. Specify the tag of the Semantic factor of field in the thesaurus (if present).
If for the names (pseudonyms in Persons and institutions) resulting from the search proper names are available in the tag provided here, these will be listed in the Find data for the field... window too.
If for the proper names (in Persons and institutions) resulting from the search pseudonyms are available in the tag provided here, these will be listed in the Find data for the field... window too.
This property is meant for period name linked fields which are being used to implement a NamedRangeMethod. In that case, enter here the field name or tag of the field in the linked database which contains the start date of the period of which the name is defined there.
This property is meant for period name linked fields which are being used to implement a NamedRangeMethod. In that case, enter here the field name or tag of the field in the linked database which contains the end date of the period of which the name is defined there.
Use this option if you want to show the upwards hierarchy of a linked term as a single string in a special, read-only field for this purpose, on some detail screen. Enter the tag of a text field or temporary field from the current database table which will be filled by Collections with the hierarchical context of the linked term, yet only its broader terms and the term itself, in the following syntax: top_term/bt/bt/…/bt/term, if the currently specified linked field links to a field in another database table which has broader and narrower term fields. See the Showing the upwards hierarchy of a linked term topic for more information.
This setting is meant for partially setting up the current field (if it is a linked field) for the optional Related records view in Axiell Collections. This view can provide an alternate overview of all linked records in one or more linked fields, grouped per linked data source, while in the linked data source it can provide an overview of all records in the first mentioned data source linking to the current record. Consider applying this functionality only to a limited list of linked fields, or it will become difficult for the user to select the relation(s) he or she would like to see in the view.
For this Relation format string option, it doesn't matter if the currently edited linked field is a single-sided or a reversely linked field, but the string you specify will only apply to forward relations. From Axiell Collections version 1.0.6456.8217, the format string specified in the Format string property of a feedback database is used for the reverse relation of single-sided linked fields: if a feedback database format string is missing, the format string for reverse relations will automatically be constructed by Axiell Collections using the fields from a relevant brief display screen.
Enter a format string containing fixed text and fields from the linked records that should be displayed in the Related records view per linked record for a forward relation. You can enter fixed text and spaces and field tags enclosed in %. Choose fields that really identify the linked record to the user. For the creator field in Collect for example, which links to People, you could just enter %BA% to show the name field, or %BA%, %do% for example, to show the name and name type separated by a comma and a space.
To complete the setup for this field, also specify the Relations texts and/or Reverse relation texts on the User interface texts properties tab.
See the full topic for more information about how to set up the Related records view.
See also