the eotd query builder - eccma spec - query … · web viewit allows searching of a word in the...

eOTD Query Builder

Copyright Notice

The following files contain copyright material. The copyright is designed to protect the integrity of the work of the ECCMA membership.

You are hereby granted a free license to use or copy or distribute this material in full or in part on condition that (1) you do not change the material and (2) you include this notice in any redistribution. Your free license includes the right to incorporate the material in your product without attribution but you must not plagiarize the material by claiming it as your own work product.

document.doc Revised………….11-13-02Copyright © 2002 by ECCMA

- 1 -

DOC REF: EQB1.2

OVERVIEW: The eOTD Query Builder has been designed to facilitate the easy building of queries to search catalogs, which are in the XML format that does conform to the ECCMA XML Catalog Schemas. This is the Schema that encodes data using the ECCMA GLOBAL ATTRIBUTES SCHEMA (EGAS) that is contained in the ECCMA OPEN TECHNICAL DICTIONARY (eOTD).

A catalog may contain one or more items; a catalog of one item is also referred to as a product specification. A catalog contains a header that defines the source, owner, origin of specification followed by a series of line items that describe the attributes (characteristics or properties) of individual items (goods, services). A catalog consists of the collection of the attributes, characteristic, and properties of an item.

In the context of this work goods, services, locations, individuals, organization are always described through their attributes (characteristics or properties). The Query Builder guides the user through the selection of a common item name and the attributes commonly associated with that item.

Common items are selected from a dictionary structured in the form of a noun and its qualifier. For e.g. (bearing, ball). This format is used to ensure that every item is identified by a unique name and a unique definition. This naming convention differs from that used in common dictionaries where a single word may have multiple meanings.

The XML catalogs being browsed using the catalog browser are designed to be stored on the Web servers where they can be retrieved by catalog browsers. The diagram below represents this process and refers to a registry of the location of the standardized content. This registry or index may be required when there are a large number of XML catalogs.

The diagrams on pages 3 - 6 provides an overview of how the Query Builder works.


- 2 -

The above diagram shows a buyer using the eOTD query builder to build a query to find Mangos at a price of less than $8.50.

Under “Source” the user is requiring (not null) Organization name (EGAI=000045) and Main corporate telephone number (EGAI=000151) if the Query does not find either of those two items in a coded catalog, the catalog will not included in the results.

Under “Items” the user has set defined value of 000038 (Mango) for an EGMI code (EGAI=021638) and a value of less than $8.50 for Pack price (EGAI=027378). As these two attributes have defined values they are “Required”. The second two attributes Count per pack (EGAI=027376) and Unit net weight (EGAI=027377) are not defined as required, if the values exists in the coded catalog they will be included in the query results, if they do not exist they will be returned as blank fields.


- 3 -

The eOTD.net server is used to collect catalogs from the locations specified in the list and filter the standardized content according to the query. In this example the query results only include extract from two catalogs, as the third did not match the query.


- 4 -

The diagram above shows how the eOTD translation application uses the EGAS file of the eOTD to expand EGAI encoded information. A request for translation can include a request for the EGAI Title, Definition or both. The EGAS file will exist in multiple languages and the request for translation may specify the desired language to be used for the results.

The eOTD.org site will provide a user interface where the translation type (Title, Definition or both) and the language can be specified by the user. The eOTD.org server will accept a file upload and will process and return the output file to a specified e-mail address as well as provide an ftp output option.


- 5 -

The diagram above shows how the eOTD synchronization application will allow the maintenance of distributed (remote) copies of the eOTD. All eOTD files include date added and date deleted fields on all records. The application will allow the creation of a subset of the current version of the eOTD from a given date. A request for an update from a given date will cause the application to query the eOTD and create a subset where the date added and date deleted are greater than the given date. This copy of the eOTD added to the existing eOTD will synchronize an older eOTD file with the current version of the eOTD .


- 6 -

USER FLOW DIAGRAM – Query Builder:


- 7 -

1)LOGIN

The user logs into the site using their ID (email address) and password, which is authenticated. On clicking the LOGIN button, the user is taken to a screen with the following options: View Profile, New, Open, Save, Save As, Remote, and Local List. These options are consistent throughout all the screens of the site.

2)LOGIN

PROFILE

This would be in the form of standard item name and its attributes. By default the standard item names used will be Business Identifiers, Location Identifiers and Point of Contact Identifiers

3) EXECUTED QUERIES

This screen shows the list of queries and results with the dates the queries were executed and the list on which the queries were run.

4)REGISTER

In the case of the user not having an ID and password, registration is accomplished by clicking on the REGISTER button.

5)NEW

The selection of NEW from the menu will bring up a screen for building new queries where two sets of constraints can be set: one for the source and the other for the item list. The constraints are set in the form of standard item names and their attributes. When Add a New Standard Item Name is selected, it brings up a standard item name searcher screen from where standard item names can be searched and added. Attributes can be added to these standard item names by selecting Add Attributes after a standard item name is selected. This would bring up an attribute searcher where new attributes can be searched and added.

6)OPEN

The selection of OPEN from the menu brings the user to a screen from where the user chooses a query to be opened. The queries are chosen from the list box, which lists the existing queries. On choosing a query to be opened, the query is opened in the form of standard item name and attributes.

7) & 8)SAVE

The SAVE option allows the user to save a query that is being currently modified. The SAVE AS option will let the user save the query under a specific name.

9)REMOTE

LIST

The REMOTE LIST option lets the user view the URLs in the eOTD.org list, which is the remote list.

10)LOCAL LISTS

The Local Lists contain the various user defined lists of URLs made for searching purposes. The options in this screen include: NEW LIST, EDIT, VIEW, DELETE, and with the capability of setting one of the lists as a default. Adding URLs from the local and remote lists can create new lists and existing lists can be deleted or edited by adding and removing URLs.

11)VIEW

QUERIES

This screen is the same as 3) Executed Queries described above. Its shows the queries which have been executed, their results, the lists on which the queries were executed and the date on which the queries were executed


- 8 -

Functional Specifications:

The various screens have been stepped with the user interactions as well as how the screen functions at each point below:

1. The Login Screen:

The Login screen shown above uses the email address of the user as the login name. In case the user forgets their password, the “Forget Password” Check Box could be clicked and the password would be sent to the user’s email address. When the user clicks SUBMIT, the server authenticates the information entered.


- 9 -

2) The Register Screen:

The Register screen shown above uses the email address of the user as the login name. The user must then choose a password between four and twelve characters in length that is case-sensitive and cannot contain any spaces. The user must then re-type the password as a confirmation of the password chosen. When the user clicks SUBMIT, the username and password are added to the database and the user is taken to the Login Profile Edit Screen.


- 10 -

3 a) The Login Profile Screen

This screen shows the login profile details as entered by the user. This information is stored on the eOTD.org server to authenticate the user and to provide contact information for use by the Help Desk. The EDIT button lets the user edit the profile. This screen is described in the next page.


- 11 -

3 b) The Login Profile Edit Screen

This screen is used for editing the profile of the user. The fields marked by asterisks are required fields. After the necessary modifications are made, the SUBMIT button is clicked.


- 12 -

4) Executed Queries

The executed query list page is the page that is initially shown after the user has logged into the system. The list shows all the executed queries, results, the lists on which the query was run and the date on which the query was executed. The query names are hyperlinked to the query descriptions, the result names to the results, and the list names to the list of URLs on which the query ran.

The various screens, which pop up on clicking the query, name, list name, and result name respectively are shown below.


- 13 -


- 14 -


- 15 -

5 a) New

The NEW button brings the user to the page where the query constraints are set before running the query. The constraints can be placed on the source and/or the item list. It also lets the user choose if the query will be run on the Remote or Local list of URLs.

The user is allowed to add standard item names and attributes to the constraint list to restrict the search. Once attributes are added to the standard item name, the values for the attributes can be set by comparison operators such as >=, =, <= to set upper and lower limits for the searches on the attributes.

The user clicks on “Add Standard Item Name” to add new standard item names to the constraint lists in both the source and/or the item list. This brings up a search box for searching standard item names as shown in fig.1

The user can search for words specifically by Standard Item Name, or Definition or both. The Standard Item Name option is ticked by default. The search results appear on the right side of the searcher screen. Each of these standard item names is hyper linked to their definitions, which shows a screen as in fig.2.


- 16 -

fig.1

The user selects a standard item name from the results by marking in one of the option boxes available beside the standard item name search results and then clicking the SELECT button, which will bring the user to the next step, which is the selection of the attributes.

fig.2

The Standard Item Name Definition screen shown above in fig.2 provides the user with the ECCMA Global Item Identifier (EGII), ECCMA Global Item Code (EGIC), and Definition of the Standard Item Name. To view the set of attributes associated with that specific standard item name the “Show Attributes” button is clicked. The BACK button takes the user back to the search results page.


- 17 -

5 b) New

After a standard item name is selected, a screen with the buttons DELETE and ADD attributes are shown. The user can add attributes by clicking the ADD button, which brings up an attribute search screen. To delete an attribute, the user clicks the tick box on the left hand side of the attributes to be deleted and then clicks the DELETE button.

The user can make search constraints as optional by clicking the tick box under the Optional box which lies on the right hand side of the attributes. Attributes or noun-qualifiers marked as optional will not be compulsorily searched.

The attribute searcher is similar to the standard item name searcher. It allows searching of a word in the attribute titles and its definitions. The attributes are divided into two groups:

1) Attributes linked to the chosen standard item name

2) Attributes not linked to the chosen standard item name

The Linked attribute titles are checked by default in the search options.

After the search results appear in fig.1, the user clicks the boxes beside the attributes that appear in the search results and clicks the SELECT button. The check boxes will be disabled for the attributes, which are not linked to the chosen standard item name.


- 18 -

fig. 1

The BACK button takes the user back to the previous page. The attributes that appear in the search results are hyperlinked to an attribute definition screen as shown below in fig. 2.

fig. 2

The “Show Standard Item Names” in this attribute definition screen shown above in fig. 20 displays the set of standard item names those are associated with this attribute.


- 19 -

5 c) New

After the attributes to be searched are added to the standard item name, the search can be further limited by selecting upper and lower values. The comparison operators on the left, >=, =, <= Not Null, are used for this. There are also comparison operators on the right which are and, or. The comparison operators are placed in combo boxes on the left and right of the attribute names to fix the domain of searching for the attributes.

Clicking the check boxes beside the standard item names and attributes and pressing the DELETE button will delete the attributes and standard item names. Clicking the Retrieve All Attributes Box will allow you to bring back a listing of all the attributes to pick from. The next screen shows further addition of standard item names and attributes to the Item List Constraints.


- 20 -

5 d) New

The DELETE button lets the user delete one or more attribute(s). The attribute(s) or even the standard item name(s) to be deleted are clicked and then the DELETE button is pressed, after which the screen is refreshed.

The ADD button will let the user add attributes to the search constraints. It will bring up the attribute searcher and let the user choose the necessary attributes. Standard Item Names can be added by using the “Add Standard Item Name” button

The above shows the screen once the constraints for both the header and detail are set. The SEARCH WHERE section helps the user decide which URLs are to be used to search for the item, namely the Remote List or the Local List.

After the constraints are set, the “RUN QUERY” button is clicked to return the result.


- 21 -

5 e) New

Before the query is run, the user is required to name the query and name the result that the query will generate. In the case of the user having saved the query already under a specific name, the program will not ask for the query name.


- 22 -

5 f) New

The query after execution saves the result under the Result Name, which was provided in the previous screen and displays the output as shown above. The darker shade of highlight shows that the contents in that specific column were marked as optional. The output is shown in two splits, one holds the header and the other holds the details.

The Query Name and the Result Name are shown above the result. The Query Name is hyperlinked to the query and clicking it will open the query.


- 23 -

6 a) Open

Clicking on the OPEN button on the left hand side navigation bar brings the user to the screen shown above where all the queries are shown in the list box. Highlighting the query, and clicking the OPEN button at the bottom of the page will open the query and show a page similar to the one below where the query is shown in the form of its constraints and the constraints are in the form of standard item names and their attributes.


- 24 -

6 b) Open

The query is opened in the form of standard item names and attributes as shown above. The query can be edited and then saved as another Query Name before being run.


- 25 -

7) Save

The query can be saved by clicking on the SAVE button. In the case of the query not being saved earlier, a query name will be asked for and the SAVE button will act as the SAVE AS button which is described in the next page.


- 26 -

8) Save As

The SAVE AS button requests a query name from the user to which the query will be saved and stored on the local computer.


- 27 -

9) Remote List

The Remote List is a List of URLs placed on the server, which holds the various catalogs. The screen above shows this entire list in the Remote List box.


- 28 -

10 a) Local Lists

The Local List contains URLs and lists that the user has stored on their local system. The current default local list is shown on the top right side of the page under Default Local List. Clicking the SET AS DEFAULT button after highlighting a specific list name will change the default local list. The other buttons on this screen include CREATE NEW LIST, which creates new local lists, EDIT, which edits the existing lists, VIEW, which is used for viewing the URLs in a specified local list, and DELETE, which is used for deleting one of the local lists.


- 29 -

10 b) Local Lists – Set As Default

The SET AS DEFAULT button sets the highlighted list as the default local list on which the query will be run. When the default local list has been set to a new specific list, the screen above is shown to indicate that the list has been set as the default list.


- 30 -

10 c) Local Lists – Create New List

The CREATE NEW LIST button will let the user create a new local list on their computer. The user can add combinations of URLs and existing lists to the new list. The ADD button is used to add the URLs and the existing lists. Multi-select property is possible on the list box. The REMOVE button removes items from the new list. When the user has added all the necessary URLs, the DONE button is clicked to indicate that the new list has been completed.

The VIEW button allows you to view the URL files in the local list so you can decide which local list files you wish to include in your query.

After clicking the DONE button on the previous screen, the user is required to enter a name for the list on the screen shown in the next page. After clicking the OK button, the user is taken to the next screen. The list is saved on the local computer.

After the new local list has been saved, the screen on the next page shows the current list of URLs in the list box. These can be edited further by clicking on the EDIT button at the bottom of the screen.


- 31 -


- 32 -

10 d) Local Lists – Edit List

An existing list can be edited by clicking on the EDIT button after highlighting the specific list in screen in 9 a). This screen is similar to the one used to create new lists and has the same functionality where URLs as well as existing lists can be added or removed.


- 33 -

After the list has been edited, the next screen that is shown is a screen which states that the edited list has been saved and the contents of the list are shown in a list box as shown above.


- 34 -

10 e) Local Lists – Delete List

An existing list can be deleted by highlighting the specific list in screen 9 a) and pressing the DELETE button after which the above screen is shown and states that the list has been deleted.


- 35 -

10 f) Local Lists – View List

An existing list can be viewed by highlighting the specific list in screen 9 a) and pressing the VIEW button after which the above screen is shown listing the URLs in the list box as shown above. The list being viewed can be edited by clicking on the EDIT button.


- 36 -

11) View Queries

The VIEW QUERIES button takes the user to a screen as shown above which is similar to the Executed Queries page in Section 4..


- 37 -

Glossary

AIN – Approved Item Names. A name, which has been selected and delimited where necessary, to establish a basic name, followed by those modifiers necessary to differentiate between item concepts for items having the same basic name.

ATTRIBUTE – A named property or characteristics of an entity. In NATO terminology a master requirement code (MRC)

CHARACTERISTIC – See Attribute

PROPERTIES –See Attribute

EGAC – ECCMA Global Attribute Code

EGAI – ECCMA Global Attribute Identifier

EGAS – ECCMA Global Attribute Schema is a dictionary of common descriptive terms used to describe the properties, characteristics or requirements of products, organizations or locations of supply.

EGII – ECCMA Global-Item Identifier

EGIC – ECCMA Global-Item Code

EGIS – ECCMA Global-Item Schema is a dictionary of names and definitions for common commercial concepts of products, organizations and locations.

EOTD – ECCMA Open Technical Dictionary

MRC—Master Requirement Code

STANDARD ITEM NAME – Also known as Approved Item Names (AIN), Product classes or Product families; a generic concept (good or service) that has a defined list (template) of attributes.

PRODUCT – A tangible good or an intangible service.

XML – eXtensible Markup Language


- 38 -

Revision Details Page

Version before Revision Updated Version

Doc Ref EQB 1.1 Doc Ref EQB 1.2

Page Changes Made

3 Added boxes to the right of the eOTD Server detailing the databases the server accesses to build the query.

4 Added a file plus extension to the example lists, also added them to the URI boxes in place of the original URL’s. Changed URL to URI in boxes.

5 Added example of the converter with a supporting paragraph.

6 Added example of Synchronizer with a supporting paragraph.

16 Modified Summary 5a

18 Modified Summary 5b

all Made Changes to ENQS, ENQI, and ENQC making it now EGIS, EGII, EGIC


- 39 -

the eotd query builder - eccma spec - query … · web viewit allows searching of a word in the...

Documents