Loading Data into the Meta Data Base: OracleForm "loadMDB"

General

To make loading and quality check of input data easier, all data is first entered in preliminary tables (loading tables), from where they will be transferred to the Meta Data Base automatically. So using the "loadMDB" Form does not mean working on the CERA tables directly - data is buffered first.

Filling of the Loading Tables by OracleForm

Using the Form

To fill in the form, all Oracle commands of the menu can be used. Some information for layout interpretation is given in the upper right corner of the form.
If you fill in the form and want to skip a block, do not go to the next one by "TAB" or "Enter" - just click into the appropriate block.

Block and Table Structure

The loading tables can be filled one by one by filling in an Oracle Form named "loadMDB". The input area of this form is partitioned into nine blocks, each corresponding to one of the nine loading tables.
The first block contains general information about the data. For each data entry there will be one entry in this block. The entry automatically gets an entry identification number (entry_id), uniquely identifiing this data record in the data base.
In all blocks but the first one, there may be more than one entry belonging to the corresponding entry in the first block. The different entries of those blocks can be viewed by using the horizontal scrollbar at the bottom of the block or by using the up/down arrows.

The Lists of Values (LOVs)

In many data fields (the ones with the blue descriptions in the OracleForm loadMDB) you have to select your entry from a list of values (LOV). If you don't find there what you are looking for, you can extend the LOV by pressing the yellow button "NEW" (go back from the entry field to "NEW" by shift+Tab or use the mouse). At the moment all LOVs are one dimensional lists, we plan to introduce treelike structures where applicable.

Structure of the Loading Tables

A description of the nine tables and their columns (=attributes) is available: see the Table List. Furthermore, there is a .ps scheme of the DB table structure for the loading tables.

Filling by ASCII / OracleLoader

The loading tables can be filled by the OracleLoader, as well. This is especially useful for greater numbers of data records.
For the neccessary format of the ASCII-Files refer to the Oracle handbooks.

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Last change: Fri May 28 21:35:42 NFT 1999