'$RCSfile: eml-entity.xsd,v $'
Copyright: 2000 Regents of the University of California and the
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
For Details: http://knb.ecoinformatics.org/
'$Author: berkley $'
'$Date: 2001-12-16 21:20:06 $'
'$Revision: 1.21 $'
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eml-entity
The EML Entity Module defines the logical characteristics of every
entity in the dataset. Entities are usually tables of data with a
fixed logical structure, but could also be other types of data such
as raster or vector image data. The "table-entity" element is used
to describe all table entities, and the "other-entity" element would
be used to describe all other types of entities. Specific details of
non-tabular entities are left to other standards (e.g., for remote
sensing data, one should include a spatial metadata module such as
the FGDC Content Standard for Digitial Geospatial Metadata [CSDGM]).
Table Entity descriptor
Descriptor of one table entity in the dataset.
The table entity element is a descriptor of one entity in the dataset
identified by its name. The entity element can contain information
about the entity's orientation, number of records,
case sensitiveness, and temporal, geographic and taxonomic coverage.
The entity element was introduced into EML 1.4 as file.
Entity's record orientation
Specification of the entity's record orientation.
This element contains specification of the entity's
record orientation by element's attribute "columnorrow".
The valid attribute values are "columnmajor" or "rowmajor".
If the attribute is not specified, "columnmajor" is used.
The orientation element was introduced into EML 1.4.
Attribute of orientation element
Specification of the entity's record orientation.
This attribute specifies the entity's
record orientation.
The valid attribute values are "columnmajor" or
"rowmajor". If the attribute is not specified,
"columnmajor" is used.
The columnorrow attribute was introduced into EML 1.4.
Data case sensitiveness
Specification of text case sensitiveness in the entity.
This element contains specification of text
case sensitiveness of the data in the entity. It is
specified from element's attribute "yesorno".
The valid attribute values are "yes" or "no".
If the attribute is not specified, "yes" is used.
The caseSensitive element was introduced into EML 1.4.
Attribute of caseSensitive element
Specification of text case sensitiveness in the entity.
This attribute specifies text case sensitiveness of
entity's data.
The valid attribute values are "yes" or "no".
If the attribute is not specified, "yes" is used.
The yesorno attribute was introduced into EML 1.4.
Number of records
The integer count of the number of records inthe entity
This element contains a count of the number of records
in the entity. This is typically an integer value,
and only includes records that represent observations.
It would not include any details of physical formatting
such as the number of header lines (see eml-physical
for that information).
975]]>
Introduced in EML 2
Other Entity descriptor
Descriptor of single non-table entity in the dataset.
The other entity element is a descriptor of one non-tabular entity in the
dataset, identified by its name. The element can contain information
about the entity's basic identity, its temporal, geographic and
taxonomic coverage, and its type.
Photograph of rocky intertidal plot 12 from Santa Cruz Island
The entity element was introduced into EML 1.4 as file.
Entity type
Contains the name of the type for this entity.
This element contains the name of the entity's type.
The entity's type is typically the name of the data
type represented in the entity, such as raster image,
vector image, etc.
Raster Image]]>
The entityType element was introduced into EML 1.4 as
entityFormat.
Base Entity descriptors
Basic information about an entity common to all entity types.
Basic information about all entity types, including name and
coverage of the entity. The term entity is used in the sense of
an entity in a relational model; it generally represents a table,
but can also represent an image or other
type of data.
See 'eml-coverage' for descriptions of the coverage elements
The eml-entity was introduced into EML 1.4 as eml-file.
Unique identifier
The unique identifier of this metadata file or object.
The identifier field provides a unique identifier for this
metadata documentation. It will most likely be part of a
sequence of numbers or letters that are meaningful in a
larger context, such as a metadata catalog. That larger
system can be identified in the "system" attribute. Multiple
identifiers can be listed corresponding to different catalog
systems.
nceas.3.2]]>
The 'identifier' field is derived from the eml-dataset
meta_file_id filed in EML 1.4.
Catalog system
The catalog system in which this identifier is used.
This element gives the name of the catalog system in which
this identifier is used. It is useful to determine the
scope of the identifier, and to determine the semantics
of the various subparts of the identifier. Unresolved issue:
can or should this be a URI/URL pointing to the catalog
system, or just the name?
nceas.3.2]]>
New to EML 2.0.
Entity name
Entity name specifier
The name identifies the entity in the dataset: file name,
name of database table, etc.
SpeciesAbundance1996
The entityName was introduced into EML 1.4.
Entity description
General description of the entity and its contents
A paragraph of text generally describing the entity, its type, and
relevant information about the data in the entity.
Species abundance data for 1996 at the VCR LTER
Introduced in EML 2