The EDCS Query Tool allows you to search and browse the contents of the
Environmental Data Coding Specification (EDCS) dictionaries through an
intuitive graphical user interface. You can use this tool to view the
contents of each EDCS dictionary, search for words or phrases in one or all
of the EDCS dictionaries, and display one or more individual entries from
any EDCS dictionary.
To learn more about using the EDCS Query Tool, click a topic in the table
of contents.
The EDCS contains nine dictionaries. These are the classifications (EC),
the attributes (EA), the attribute value characteristics (EV), the
attribute enumerants (EE), the units (EU), the unit scales (ES), the unit
equivalence classes (EQ), the organizational schemas (EO), and the groups
(EG) dictionaries. For more information on the role and function of each
of these dictionaries, please see the
Final Committee Draft version
of the
Environmental Data Coding Specification (EDCS FCD ISO/IEC 18025). The EDCS
Query Tool allows you to browse the contents of each of these
dictionaries.
The attribute enumerants (EE) dictionary entries are scoped within the
attributes (EAs). And there is only one entry in the organizational
schemas (EO) dictionary, and all entries in the groups (EG) dictionary
belong to that single entry in the EO dictionary. Therefore, the EDCS
Query Tool shows the content of the EE dictionary in concert with the EA
dictionary, and combines the browsing of the EO and the EG dictionaries
into one selection.
The Browse tab contains a drop-down selection box that allows you to select
the EDCS dictionary you wish to browse: EC, EA (with EEs), EO (with
groups), EU, ES, EV, or EQ.
The content of the selected dictionary is displayed in alphabetical order
of labels in the window below the drop-down selection box. When you select
a different EDCS dictionary in the drop-down box, this window will update
automatically. A screen shot of the Browse window is shown in Figure
1.
Each entry's label works as a hyperlink, where the hyperlink opens a Dictionary Entry Display Window showing the EDCS
dictionary entry for that concept.
You can use the search mechanism in the EDCS Query Tool to look for words,
phrases, or entries in a specific EDCS dictionary, or in all EDCS
dictionaries at once.
Click the Search tab to enter search mode. From the drop-down selection
box, select any of the nine EDCS dictionaries you wish to search, or choose
"All Dictionaries" to search all of them. Then type a search query in the text box, and
click the Search button to start the search. The results that match the
query will be displayed in the search window. To search within the current
set of results, choose "Current Results" in the drop-down selection box.
Each returned result will include the label of the entry along with the
name of the dictionary in which the entry is found. You can click on a
returned result to see that entry. A screen shot of the search window
is shown in Figure 2.
Action | Corresponding POSIX regular expression |
Match any set of characters | .* |
Match any single character | . |
The dictionary entry display window is used throughout the tool to display
EDCS concepts. When a label hyperlink is selected, the content of the
dictionary entry corresponding to that label will be shown in a separate
window.
To help manage open dictionary display windows, the "Window" menu item of
the main application window keeps track of all open dictionary display
windows. This menu item includes options to close all open windows, hide
all open windows, and show windows that have been hidden. When the Exit
button or the Quit menu item is invoked, all open dictionary entry display
windows will be closed.
The EDCS Query Tool also manages how many copies of the same dictionary
entry are open to avoid the proliferation of duplicate windows. If a
dictionary entry window is open already, subsequent attempts to display the
same entry will not create a new window. Instead the tool will provide a
visual indication that an existing window for the same entry is open and
will then close and reopen the same window to attract the user's attention.
Figure 3 shows a typical dictionary entry display window.
When an dictionary display window is opened via the search results list, "Next Result" and "Prev Result" buttons are added to the dictionary entry display window, to allow the user navigate through the results of a search without having to go back and forth to the results window. Clicking on either of these buttons will cause the next or previous concept in the search result list to be displayed in the current window.
The EDCS Query Tool has a logging mechanism so a user can track dictionary
entries and search results in a plain text log file. The user can choose
to log full EDCS dictionary entries or simply log EDCS concept labels.
If the user would like to use the same log file for all logging events, they
can chose File->Open Log File, which will open a log file to be used up until
the time where the user selects File->Close Log File or opens another file
via the File->Open Log File menu option. Opening a log file via the Dump to
Logfile button on the Dictionary Entry Display Window will follow the same behavior.
Pushing the Dump Results to Logfile button on the Search tab without
having opened a log file via the File->Open Log File menu entry will allow
the user to choose a log file that will be used only to log the current set of
search results and then closed afterward. With this mechanism the user can log
consecutive searches to different log files without having to do File->Open Log
File, File->Close Log File operations between each search.
By default, the EDCS Query Tool will log full dictionary entries in plain text
to the user chosen log file. This behavior can be modified by selecting the menu
option Options->Dump Only Concept Labels to Log File. If this item is selected
the log file will be populated with a single label entry for each concept that is
logged.
For example, if the EDCS Classification BARRIER is in the Dictionary
Entry Display Window and the dump concept labels option is selected, pressing the
Dump to Logfile button will cause the line "EC BARRIER" to be added to the log file. This
format is the same for each dictionary (EC label, EA label, EU label, EV label, etc), with the
exception of enumerant concepts and group concepts. Enumerant dictionary concepts will be
logged with the following format "EE attribute label*enumerant label", and
Group dictionary concepts will be logged similarly as "EG organization schema label*group label."
If you cannot find the information you are looking for in this document,
require additional support with the EDCS Query Tool, or would like to
report a defect with this tool, please contact us by sending e-mail to:
help@sedris.org
If you are reporting a defect with this tool, please note your machine
configuration and the platform you are using, be specific about the nature
of the problem, and provide a detailed description of the conditions under
which you experience a problem.