Example 6: Specifying a table of attachments

In this example we examine how to specify a table of attachments. In this case a record in the Loans module covers the loan of a number of objects in the Catalogue module:

Loans module

Object: (Objects Loaned) attaches to the Catalogue module and is a table of attachments. Notes: (Objects Loaned) is an associated table in the Loans module.

The fields loaded are:

Fields

Back-end name
Loan Direction InfDirection
Loan Purpose InfLoanPurpose
Commencement Date DatLoanCommencementDate
Due Date DatLoanDueDate
Objects ObjObjectsLoanedRef_tab
Objects Notes ObjObjectNotes_tab

For display purposes only, the import data below is presented with column headings listed vertically rather than horizontally. The first row of any tab or comma delimited file must include the column names. The appropriate layout is:

InfDirection InfLoanPurpose DatLoanCommencementDate
Outgoing The loan is for research purposes. 15-Jan-06
Incoming The loan is for an upcoming exhibition. 10-Mar-06

The import data is:

Column Name (must appear as the first row of the import data file)

Record 1

Record 2
InfDirection Outgoing Incoming
InfLoanPurpose The loan is for research purposes. The loan is for an upcoming exhibition.
DatLoanCommencementDate 15-Jan-06 10-Mar-06
DatLoanDueDate 15-Jan-07 10-Jul-06
ObjObjectsLoanedRef_tab(1).TitAccessionNo 1996.011.024 1995.112.138
ObjObjectNotes_tab(1) A work on loan from Mr. Tanaka  
ObjObjectsLoanedRef_tab(2).TitAccessionNo 1996.011.042 1995.112.145
ObjObjectNotes_tab(2)    
ObjObjectsLoanedRef_tab(3).TitAccessionNo 1995.112.061  
ObjObjectNotes_tab(3) A donations from Mr Sutcliffe  

ObjObjectsLoaned is both an attachment field (giving us ObjObjectsLoanedRef) and a table (giving us ObjObjectsLoanedRef_tab).

Thus ObjObjectsLoanedRef_tab(1).TitAccessionNo:

  1. Specifies the first row in the Objects Loaned table.
  2. When Record 1 is processed a search of the Catalogue module will be initiated for an object with an Accession Number of 1996.011.024.

    If found, an attachment from the first row in Object: (Objects Loaned) will be made to it.

ObjObjectNotes_tab(1) specifies the first row in Notes: (Objects Loaned).

The XML for this example is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<table>
	<!--First record-->
	<tuple>
		<!--First the atom fields in the Loans module are specified-->
		<atom name="InfDirection">Outgoing</atom>
		<atom name="InfLoanPurpose">The loan is for research purposes.</atom>
		<atom name="DatLoanCommencementDate">15 January 2006</atom>
		<atom name="DatLoanDueDate">15 January 2007</atom>
		<!--Next the Object: (Objects Loaned) attachment field is specified. This field attaches to one or more records in the Catalogue module (so it's a table).-->
		<table name="ObjObjectsLoanedRef_tab">
			<tuple>
				<atom name="TitAccessionNo">1996.011.024</atom>
			</tuple>
			<tuple>
				<atom name="TitAccessionNo">1996.011.042</atom>
			</tuple>
			<tuple>
				<atom name="TitAccessionNo">1995.112.061</atom>
			</tuple>
		</table>
		<!--This specifies the Notes: (Objects Loaned) table within the Loans module. Keep in mind that if there are several rows in a table and no values in, say, the first row, but values in the subsequent rows, the first tuple would need to be specified with an empty value. Don't forget that when specifying tables there can be only one value per tuple.-->
		<table name="ObjObjectNotes_tab">
			<tuple>
				<atom>A work on loan from Mr. Tanaka</atom>
			</tuple>
			<tuple>
			</tuple>
			<tuple>
				<atom>A donations from Mr Sutcliffe</atom>
			</tuple>
		</table>
	</tuple>
	<!--Second record-->
	<tuple>
		<atom name="InfDirection">Incoming</atom>
		<atom name="InfLoanPurpose">The loan is for an upcoming exhibition.</atom>
		<atom name="DatLoanCommencementDate">10 March 2006</atom>
		<atom name="DatLoanDueDate">10 July 2006</atom>
		<table name="ObjObjectsLoanedRef_tab">
			<tuple>
				<atom name="TitAccessionNo">1995.112.138</atom>
			</tuple>
			<tuple>
				<atom name="TitAccessionNo">1995.112.145</atom>
			</tuple>
		</table>
	</tuple>
</table>