Release notes

Clicking the Search button in the Result set View toolbar displays a pop-up with a drop list of search fields in the current data source The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on. and, typically, a <Simple search> option:

The <Simple search> option is a way to search multiple (indexed) fields simultaneously. Hover the cursor over <Simple search> to display a tooltip listing the field tags A field tag is a unique two character identifier for a field. of all indexed fields that will be searched simultaneously:

If the <Simple search> option is available in the Search drop list in Result set View, it can also be included on the Standard search tab. Here we see the Standard search tab in Collections 1.17:

Previously, when running a <Simple search> the equals search operator was employed by default but this has been changed to contains all; contains all is less strict than equals and more likely to return matching records especially when you enter multiple search terms in an order that differs from the order in which they are stored in the record (notably personal names, which might be recorded as last name, first name or first name last name): contains all tells Collections to locate the search value anywhere in the search field.

Since the search operator used with Simple search is set to contains all and cannot be changed, the drop list of search operators has been removed when Simple search is added to the Standard search tab:

Users are able to customize many areas of Collections, including what information displays in Display Views; which search fields are listed on the Standard search tab in the Search box, and what settings are used when Importing and Exporting data. Changes made to these settings are associated with a user's account and recalled by Collections whenever the user logs in.

Some Settings dialogue boxes (for Record details View, Result set View and Gallery View; and Select data source for instance) include a Reset option to restore the defaults in that Settings box only. This option is now also available in the Hierarchy browser and Related records View, as well as the Settings boxes for Standard search, Import and Export.

Tip: An option available from the Main menu allows users to return ALL settings that they have changed throughout Collections to the default (details here).

Keyboard shortcuts are now available for navigating between occurrences If a field in the current record can have more than one value, we add an occurrence of the field for each value (e.g. a book can have multiple authors so we add an occurrence of the author.name (au) field for each author). An occurrence can be a member of a group of fields, and adding an occurrence of the field adds all members of the group at once. of the same field in Record details View. When a field occurrence is selected in either Display or Edit mode A record is either in Display mode (we view its details) or Edit mode (we add or edit its details). A record enters Edit mode as soon as we create a new record, copy a record in Record details View or edit an existing record., use Shift+↓ or Shift+↑ to move to the next / previous occurrence of the same field.

For example, if an object record has three occurrences of the Production group of fields and the Creator field currently has focus, click Shift+↓ to move to the next instance of the Creator field:

If one of the Role fields had focus, using these shortcuts would move to the next / previous instance of the Role field.

Note: The Tab and Shift+Tab shortcuts move to the next / previous field (e.g. Creator to Qualifier to Role to Place to Production Notes to the next Creator field and so on).

A Screens drop list has been added to the Record details View toolbar for managing panels (aka screens). Three options are available:

To open all panels:

1. Click Open all panels

   -OR-

   Use the keyboard shortcut, ALT+<down arrow>

To open panels only if there is data in their fields:

1. Click Open all panels with data

To close all panels:

1. Click Close all panels

   -OR-

   Use the keyboard shortcut, ALT+<up arrow>

Pop-up notifications are used throughout Collections in response to actions you perform, such as saving a record:

A notification displays for about eight seconds and overlays a number of Toolbar icons for the duration; clicking the notification will cause it to disappear immediately. If you consider this to be an unnecessary distraction or prefer not to receive such notifications at all, it is possible to hide notifications (perhaps you are undertaking high volume data entry and the notification is constantly in the way of the Toolbar).

A Hide notifications option has been added to the Record Details settings box:

Drag the slider to enable the option to hide all informative messages (those with a green or blue background). Warnings (notifications with an orange background) and Errors (those with a red background) will always display when required as they require some action on your part.

An internal link defines the relation between records in the same data source The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on., typically an Authority data source Authority data sources are used for vocabulary control and they manage the many names and terms referenced by records in almost every other data source. The purpose of a controlled vocabulary is to ensure consistent use of names and terms throughout your records and this is achieved by specifying that a name or term is preferred; then when a non-preferred version of a name or term is selected in a Linked field drop list, it is automatically replaced with the preferred name or term. such as the Thesaurus or Persons and institutions, where records can be linked to each other to capture various types of relationships between records (e.g. hierarchical, preferred, related). Internal links are configured in Axiell Designer A tool for designing, creating, customizing and managing Axiell Collections applications and databases, broadly speaking, the Axiell Collections Model Application. As well as managing databases, including user access and permissions, Designer is used for such tasks as translating field labels, tooltips, values in drop lists, etc. and more details can be found in the Axiell Designer Help. A new Internal link association properties tab in Axiell Designer allows Application Administrators to specify that when a particular internal link relationship is formed (a term is linked to a related term), and a user enters a phrase in an associated field clarifying the relation between the two terms (e.g. based on, is variant of or has part), a matching phrase will automatically display in an associated field in the related record (e.g. result of, has variant or is part of):

Above we see the internal link association properties specifying pairs of phrases for a term with a related term (term<>related_term), but note that some relationships allow for defining comment pairs for two fields, e.g. broader_term<>term<>narrower_term.

In the Association field property, we specify a field in which a value from the Association column must be entered by a user; in the Reverse association field property, a value from the Reverse association column would be entered (if the Reverse association field property is greyed out, the Association field will be used as the Reverse association field).

Application Administrators can define the values and fields that suit their internal links. Some useful examples are:

For related works:

• based on <> result of
• has part <> is part of
• sequel of <> prequel of
• released with <> released with
• is variant of <> has variant

For related names:

• changed from <> changed to
• has alias <> is alias for
• has member <> is member of
• hived off from <> has hived off
• merged with <> merged with

For copy history:

• copied from <> copied to

When a user creates a new record, links to another record in the same data source, and enters one of the values from the Association / Reverse association list in the associated field, the matching value will be entered in its associated field in the other record, as long as that field was empty, when the record is saved.

If a record with an internal link already exists and a user enters a value in an empty associated field, the matching value will be added to the other record if its associated field was also empty.

Details are available in the Axiell Designer Release notes.

In Collections it is possible to view your data in predefined reports, and to print these reports. Reporting and printing use the same templates (Microsoft Word templates, Excel templates or XSLT style sheets for example) to lay out and style your data; the main difference between reporting and printing is that reporting displays your record data on-screen, and printing is obviously intended to output your data to a printer.

When printing record data, you select Print in the top Toolbar to display the Output formats box and select a template. When you select an output format, your data is styled, laid out and presented in a third-party application - in a Word document (opening MS Word), Excel spreadsheet (opening MS Excel) or web page (opened in a tab in your browser) - and from the open application you are then able to print the data.

An option is now available in Collections to print the result of an Output format directly to a printer, rather than opening the third party application first. When available, a Print button is added to the Output formats box:

Select an output format from the list and then select Print to display a Select printer dialogue from which a printer is chosen:

Note that this option is currently only available for local implementations of Collections and not the hosted implementation of Collections. It is anticipated that this functionality will be available for hosted customers sometime in 2024.

More details:

• Details about printing your data are available here.
• Details about setting up this option, which involves modifying settings.xml, are available in the Axiell Designer Release notes.

Saved searches can be scheduled to run automatically at specified times with the result of the saved search printed or emailed. In the Saved search schedule dialogue it is possible to specify how the output of the saved search is formatted. Previously this entailed entering the path to an adapl or style sheet in the Format text field, e.g.:

The Format text field has been changed to a drop list, allowing you to select from any output formats An Output format is an XSLT style sheet or Microsoft Word or Excel template that specifies what fields are included in a report or printed output, and how the data is laid out and styled. available in your system (predefined or uploaded to the Uploaded templates data source), rather than typing the path to a desired output format.

If the list of output formats is long, start typing an output format title to filter the list to matching titles:

Note that if a path was previously entered in the Format text field, this will be respected UNTIL it is manually deleted from the field; at this point the text field will change to a drop list and an output format will need to be selected.

Although the read-only EXIF data and IPTC data panels in the Multimedia documentation data source The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on. are designed for holding image metadata, they have, until now, served no purpose:

Now (with Axiell Collections 1.18, Axiell Designer 1.13 and Ingest 1.7.3.1867) it is possible to extract metadata from image files and populate fields on these (and potentially other) tabs with metadata extracted from an image file:

Notes:

• Metadata can only be extracted from image files (no other media files are supported) and only when a new image file is saved to a media record (either directly in the Multimedia documentation data source or indirectly, that is, when an image file is saved to a Catalogue record that links to the Multimedia documentation data source).
• The data is stored in the media record and it is fixed, unchanging.
• There is currently no way to update an existing media record with the metadata in its associated image file.
• Since the metadata is stored in the media records, it is possible to define indexes and access points An access point is a user-friendly way to search a field or combination of fields or to execute a search statement (known as a fixed query). Access points are found on the Standard tab of the Search box and most often comprise a label (naming the field / fields to be searched) and a search field in which you enter or select a value to search for. Only indexed fields can be set up as access points (an index is a database table designed to speed up the search of frequently queried fields; it only contains values from a field and the id number of the records in which that value appears). Non-indexed fields can be searched on the Advanced search tab. for selected fields in order to search on those fields quickly.

Enabling this functionality involves metadata field mapping for the image field (usually tag FN) in media.inf. Details are available in the Axiell Designer Release notes.

Certain functionality is typically only available to users who have been assigned the $ADMIN role. From Axiell Designer 7.13 it is possible to allow non-administrator users to access such functionality. The process is similar to assigning permissions to methods and entails adding functions to a .pbk file and specifying access rights to roles.

Details are available in the Axiell Designer Release notes.

Collections 1.17 introduced a feature that allows your sorting, filtering and grouping choices in Result set View to be remembered by default (details here). While this option remains, it is no longer the default behaviour that your choices are remembered. To have Collections remember your sorting, filtering and grouping choices in Result set View, it is now necessary to enable the option in the Result set View Settings dialogue:

The Page navigation controller available in Result set View and beneath all table grids in which results are paged (e.g. Find data for the field, Manage saved searches, Record history, Scheduled tasks and Merge selected records) now includes a page selector box: enter a page number and hit ENTER in order to jump to the page:

HTML fields can be resized in both Display and Edit modes A record is either in Display mode (we view its details) or Edit mode (we add or edit its details). A record enters Edit mode as soon as we create a new record, copy a record in Record details View or edit an existing record., and any size change you make is remembered the next time you log in. They are typically found on panels such as Accompanying texts and Inscriptions | Markings in object catalogue records. When placed over an HTML field's bottom right corner, the cursor changes to a double-headed arrow: click and then drag the corner to resize the field:

The field has a minimum size of about six standard single-line paragraphs plus the height required for the contextual toolbar.

Tooltips display when the mouse cursor is placed over various elements in the User Interface (Main menu entries, toolbar icons / buttons, fields, etc.). To improve accessibility, a larger font is now used to display the tooltip information:

For Application administrators (any user assigned the $ADMIN role), the Main menu includes an Active sessions option:

The Active Sessions option allows Administrators to monitor who is logged in to Collections, to send a message to a logged in user, close sessions (Evict a user) and view licence details. An option has been added to enable Administrators to send a message to all logged in users (excluding the sender), for instance warning that the server is about to be rebooted:

1. Click Message to all to display the Send message dialogue.
2. Type the message and click OK:

   

   For all logged in users a pop-up window will display with the message and its source (the domain name):

   

   The user must click OK in the message to acknowledge it and close the pop-up.

Table grids placed on record details screens (panels in Record details View for instance) can now include a column to display image thumbnails, making it easier to identify a linked object, for example, by its image. Here we see an example on the Linked objects panel in the Exhibitions data source The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on. with a thumbnail image of a linked object:

To control the size of thumbnails:

1. Right-click a thumbnail to display the context menu.
2. Place the cursor over Thumbnail Size to display a sub-menu and select a size:

   

   Note: This new Thumbnail Size context menu option is also available when right-clicking a thumbnail in Result set View.

Application Administrators configure a table grid to include a thumbnail column using Axiell Designer A tool for designing, creating, customizing and managing Axiell Collections applications and databases, broadly speaking, the Axiell Collections Model Application. As well as managing databases, including user access and permissions, Designer is used for such tasks as translating field labels, tooltips, values in drop lists, etc.. The following steps describe at a high level how this is done (administration and configuration experience is assumed; links are to the Axiell Designer Help):

• Screen elements (fields for instance) are grouped on a screen using a box; ensure that the box that will hold the field group has the Edit link group on demand option enabled (marked) in order that the fields are displayed in a table.
• An image field must be created in the same field group as the relevant Linked field (the Object number Linked field in the example above):
  • in general this new field should have the same properties as the image field in the linked database from which it draws its data;
  • the new field must be included as a Destination field in the Linked field mapping for the Linked field, while the Source field is the original image field in the linked database.
• The new image field must be included in the box on the screen.

More details for Application Administrators in the Axiell Designer Help.

It is now possible to include checkboxes in your printed reports (aka output formats) built with MS Word templates. A checkbox is not linked to a field and it does not perform any function other than to be selectable / clickable: it is either unchecked or checked. The label you provide alongside the checkbox gives it context and purpose.

In this example, when the Word template is output, the resulting document will include the description of an object and a checkbox in which the reader can indicate that they have checked / confirmed the description:

Amongst other uses, adding a checkbox to a report can provide an approval mechanism. For example, the document should only be printed to paper once the document has been checked and approved by marking the checkbox. It is important that the document is saved after marking the checkbox otherwise it might be saved with a deselected checkbox.

This type of checkbox is called a Check Box Content Control and it is found on the Developer tab in Word:

Details about adding the Developer tab to the Ribbon can be found here.

Alternatively, search for check box content control in the Search bar in Word and select the option from the results to add to your template:

Checkboxes throughout Collections have either been improved to make them easier to work with and to read, or they have been replaced with sliders.

The improved checkboxes are noticeably larger:

Previously they appeared as:

In many dialogue boxes they have been replaced with sliders (a blue background indicates that the option is enabled):

In Result set View it is possible to sort, filter and group records. Sorting can be achieved by clicking a column header or selecting an option from the ellipsis in the column header; filtering is achieved by selecting from the ellipsis:

Grouping records is achieved by dragging a column header to the Grouping bar, which sits just above the column headers. Here we see records grouped by creator (all records that share the same creator are grouped together):

Previously, any sorting, filtering and grouping you applied in Result set View was lost when you performed a new search. Now, by default, your choices are remembered by Collections. An option has been added to the Settings dialogue to control this behaviour:

This setting is remembered for each user and data source The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on..

In Record details View it is possible to create a new record by clicking the New record button in the Toolbar, or to copy the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid grey background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. and edit it by clicking the Copy record button:

The Status bar in Record details View now indicates whether you are editing a new record:

or a copied record:

No label displays in the Status bar if you are simply editing the current record.

Help View provides a description of a field's purpose and other data entry instructions for users. It is accessed using a keyboard shortcut, F1, or by clicking the question mark icon in the top Toolbar.

About Help View

Help View is used in conjunction with Record details View when viewing a record's details (in Display mode) or editing a record's details (in Edit mode):

Help View operates a little differently in the two modes:

Mode	Details
Display	Information about a field or panel will display as the cursor hovers over a panel label (e.g. Identification in the image above) or a field (either the field label or field itself).
Edit	When a record is being edited in Record details View, information about a field will display when the cursor is in the field (i.e. as the field is being edited).

To access Help View:

• Select in the top Toolbar.

  -OR-

• Use the keyboard shortcut,F1

Tip: Both methods will toggle the display of Help View on / off.

By default, Help View will display to the right of Record details View (as shown in the image above).

As with most other Display Views, the Help View pane can be detached from the main Axiell Collections window and moved elsewhere by clicking in the top right corner of the pane.

This contextual information about fields and panels is typically contained in RTF files (with an .adh extension), one file per language, stored in the \texts sub folder of your Collections implementation. From Collections 1.17 it is possible to extract this contextual information from a local database instead of .adh files if your application has been set up to do so. Future Model Applications may include this database and a separate Contextual Help application as a paid-for addition for managing the text.

This would make it far easier for customers to manage, edit and translate the contextual help and to customize it to suit their processes and data entry needs, work that is currently performed by Axiell.

For more information, please contact Axiell Sales.

More details for Application Administrators in the Axiell Designer Help.

As some image file formats, such as TIFF, cannot natively be displayed in browsers, and Axiell's proprietary IIIF image server has some limitations, support for third-party IIIF image servers has been added to Collections.

For example, one such (open source) third-party image server, Cantaloupe, is capable of on-demand creation and conversion of derivatives of different image formats to IIIF-compliant image formats that can be displayed in Media viewer.

For Application Administrators

Details about setting up about setting up an IIIF image server can be found in the Axiell Designer Help.

A new Record History Reports function is now available for purchase (please contact Axiell Sales for details about cost).

In the Record History Reports dialogue, which is accessed from the Main menu by selecting Maintenance>Record History Reports, users with the $ADMIN role are able to select one or more data sources The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on., specify a date range (set the Start and End dates) and click Fetch History to list changed records with old and new values displayed per field:

Details:

Understanding results

The first column contains one of three icons:

Icon	Label	Details
	Plus	Indicates that a value was added to an empty field. The New column holds the value; the Old column is empty.
	Minus	Indicates that the value in the field was deleted. The Old column holds the deleted value; the New column is empty.
	M (Modified)	Indicates that the value was modified. The New column holds the current value; the Old column holds the previous value.

Restoring changed values

While there is no function within the Record History Reports dialogue to undo changes to fields, it is of course possible to select and copy a value, locate the relevant record and, in Edit mode A record is either in Display mode (we view its details) or Edit mode (we add or edit its details). A record enters Edit mode as soon as we create a new record, copy a record in Record details View or edit an existing record., paste the value into the appropriate field.

Note that restoring a value in a Linked field A type of field used to link one record to another. A Linked field is a drop list of values (records that the field can link to). When a link is made, the field stores a reference to the linked record (a linkref). is a little more involved. Full details about how to restore values, including values in Linked fields, can be found here.

or Application Administrators

Details about setting up and fine-tuning the Record History Reports function can be found in the Axiell Designer Help.

The following only affects data sources without Full text indexing.

Some background (this is explained in more detail here): not all fields in Collections are indexed. When you search a data source The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on. using the Standard tab of the Search box, only indexed fields are made available for searching. For our purposes, a field can be indexed in one of two ways: the entire contents of the field is indexed as a single value, a Text (term) index, or each word in a field is indexed separately, a Free text index.

The issue: from Collections 1.16 onwards, the search operator drop list in a Standard search includes the contains all, contains any and contains phrase search operators; at the moment however, when searching fields with a Free text index, contains any and contains phrase behave as contains all, locating the search value anywhere in the search field (it is worth mentioning that contains phrase has in fact always performed a contains all search in Free text indexed fields).

This will be changed in a future release.

The starts with and contains phrase search operators were made available for Standard searching in Collections 1.14 and the introduction of Full Text indexing. These search operators are now available when performing an Advanced search in Full Text indexed databases:

• starts with is useful when searching long text fields as it allows you to search for the first word in the field, in contrast to equals, which searches for your search term anywhere in the field. Your search term is implicitly truncated, so a search for littl operates as if the * wildcard has been used, e.g. littl*.

  Tip: Select starts with from the Operator list to include it in your search statement, or manually enter startswith (no space) in your search statement.

• When performing a contains phrase search, a record will be returned if the exact combination of words in your search value (ignoring case) is located in the search field (be sure to enclose the phrase in double quotes). For example, a contains phrase search for dollhouse with furniture in the title (TI) field would return records with titles such as Wooden dollhouse with furniture and lights and Dollhouse with furniture, but not Dollhouse with plastic furniture.

  When included in an Advanced search the search operator ~ (tilde) is added to a search statement. The example search above would be:

  title ~ "dollhouse with furniture"

In data sources without Full Text indexing the contains search operator is used to return a record when the precise sequence of characters in your search value is located anywhere in the search field (if you provide more than one word in your search value, all of them must be found in the search field, although they can appear in any order).

Three variations of the contains search are now available when performing an Advanced search in a Full Text indexed data source:

• contains any is a new search operator (it can be substituted with a $ in your search statement): a record is returned if any of your search values (you would typically provide more than one) appear anywhere in the search field (i.e. if you provide more than one word in your search value, only of them must be found in the search field).
• contains all is now used in place of contains and has been renamed to contrast more clearly with contains any. As with contains it can be substituted with an underscore _ in your search statement. A record is returned if all of your search values (you would typically provide more than one) appear anywhere in the search field, although they can appear in any order.
• The contains phrase operator is available (it can be substituted with a tilde ~ in your search statement): a record is returned if the exact combination of words in your search value (ignoring case) is located in the search field.

To appreciate the difference between these search operators, consider two records with the following data in the Title (title (TI)) field:

• Record 1: buster keaton
• Record 2: diane keaton

Note that right-truncation of search values with the * wildcard character is permitted (and is in fact explicit so does not actually need to be specified), but that left-truncation is not possible. Here we see the previous contains any example with right-truncation:

title containsany"keat* bust*"

-OR-

title$ "keat* bust*"

Note: The contains all and contains any search operators are not yet present in the Operator list on the Advanced search tab but can be manually entered in your search statement.

In Full Text indexed data sources, searching with the equals operator is more strict than in non-Full Text indexed databases. In the latter, when searching in long text fields (fields with a Free text index in which each word is separately indexed) equals behaves like the contains all search operator and a record is returned if your search value(s) appear anywhere in the search field; in Full Text indexed data sources, equals behaves as you would expect it to, and your search value must match exactly the contents of the search field. As it usually makes sense to search long text fields using the contains all operator, this is now the default operator when searching such fields in Full Text indexed data sources on the Standard search tab:

It may be necessary to select Clear in order to see this change as Collections recalls the last search terms used on the Standard tab. Clear will return the Standard tab in the current data source to its default state.

Tip: It is possible to return all settings that you have changed throughout Collections to their default state using the Account>Settings option from the Main menu but be aware that this will reset ALL settings that you have changed. Details here.

Application Administrators are able to include a fixed query access point An access point is a user-friendly way to search a field or combination of fields or to execute a search statement (known as a fixed query). Access points are found on the Standard tab of the Search box and most often comprise a label (naming the field / fields to be searched) and a search field in which you enter or select a value to search for. Only indexed fields can be set up as access points (an index is a database table designed to speed up the search of frequently queried fields; it only contains values from a field and the id number of the records in which that value appears). Non-indexed fields can be searched on the Advanced search tab. on the Standard search tab. Rather than searching a single indexed field, Object name for instance, a fixed query is a complete search statement (typically set up by your Application Administrator) possibly querying multiple fields. Two examples of fixed query access points from Item Requests1 Available in Model Application 5.1 onwards. (a data source that handles the reservation, lending and return of items in an institution's Reading Room) are Active requests for a user and Issued and overdue:

In this case:

• Active requests for a user will return any active requests for a given user.

  For this type of fixed query it is necessary to provide a search value, a name in this case.

• Issued and overdue will simultaneously query for issued AND overdue items.

  While this type of fixed query does not require a search value as such, it has been necessary to enter an asterisk (*) in the search field in order to make use of the access point. Placing a cursor over the search field reveals this somewhat esoteric requirement:

  

  From Collections 1.16 onwards the search field for this type of fixed query access point has been replaced with a far more intuitive checkbox (simply click the checkbox to enable the search):

  

Application Administrators will find details about configuring fixed queries in the Axiell Designer Help.

Application Administrators were provided with the option to implement Full Text indexing from Collections 1.14. Full Text indexing can, amongst other things, improve search performance in long text fields, fields with unique terms, fields with non-unique terms and Linked fields A type of field used to link one record to another. A Linked field is a drop list of values (records that the field can link to). When a link is made, the field stores a reference to the linked record (a linkref).. A new method for improving the performance of certain searches in Full Text indexed databases has been added with Collections 1.16. All new implementations of Full Text indexed databases include the improvement and Application Administrators have the option to implement it in existing Full Text indexed databases (details can be found in the Axiell Designer Help).

Collections recalls the choices you make on the Standard search tab so that when you next access the tab, the search terms you last specified are shown (including search values entered, and selection of search operators, the OR Boolean Operator and Expand checkbox).

The Settings option in the Main menu now includes an option to change this behaviour so that the Standard search tab is in its default state every time it is accessed (that is, with no search values entered, the default search operators selected, the AND Boolean operator selected, and the Expand checkbox deselected).

To change the setting select Account>Settings from the Main menu:

By default the checkbox is ticked and Collections will recall the choices you last made on the Standard search tab. Select the checkbox to remove the tick so that your search terms are not recalled (including search values, search operators, a marked Expand option and a selected OR Boolean operator).

Previously the Settings box was used exclusively to return ALL settings you have changed throughout Collections to their default. This option remains by selecting the Clear all button; as before, a message will display asking you to confirm the reset:

While it is possible to include images in printed reports (aka output formats) built with MS Word templates this has previously involved a trade-off between image quality and document size. Declaring the thumbnail parameter ensured that a low resolution thumbnail image file was used, keeping document size relatively small, e.g.:

<<FN[1].thumbnail|width=270>>

In theory, placing the image reference field on a page or in a cell without the thumbnail parameter, e.g.:

<<FN[1]>>

meant that a larger image would be used (the image would fill the available space as far as the page size / table cell allowed), but in practice the same low resolution thumbnail image file was retrieved and scaled to fit the available space with the result that the printed image was often poor quality and blurred.

It is now possible to ensure that the high quality version of an image is used when printing a report. When building a Word template report, add the image parameter to the image field reference; this will ensure that the original (not thumbnail) image file is used, e.g.:

<<FN[1]|image>>

When the image is placed on a page / in a table cell, the requested file is scaled to the available space.

Notes:

• Going forward the pipe (|) symbol replaces the previously used dot to separate parameters (in the field reference, and elsewhere, for example when specifying the id code for a barcode in a report). The dot can appear in field names and should not be used as a separator character when building a Word template report (although existing templates should still work).
• To ensure that document size (and therefore print time) is relatively small by default, if the image parameter is not used, a thumbnail image will be retrieved using the Thumbnail retrieval path setting specified for the image field (details in the Axiell Designer Help A tool for designing, creating, customizing and managing Axiell Collections applications and databases, broadly speaking, the Axiell Collections Model Application. As well as managing databases, including user access and permissions, Designer is used for such tasks as translating field labels, tooltips, values in drop lists, etc. here). Going forward, the thumbnail parameter is obsolete.

Details about creating Word template reports can be found here.

Technical notes:

When a URL to an image server in the image field Retrieval path (see the Axiell Designer Help) also contains &width=%width%&height=%height% parameters, the full image will be scaled on the server before it is returned over the network, thus reducing network traffic.

The new solution works for both File system and URL retrieval path types. Note that for both solutions the generated documents can become quite big if the full size images are being used.

It is now possible to use Excel documents as output format templates for printing your data by adding text as column headers (optionally), with field references (either field tag or system name) added to cells in a single row, for example:

When you use the Excel template to output your record data for printing, values from your records will populate a spreadsheet:

More details:

Field types, etc.	Details
occurrence If a field in the current record can have more than one value, we add an occurrence of the field for each value (e.g. a book can have multiple authors so we add an occurrence of the author.name (au) field for each author). An occurrence can be a member of a group of fields, and adding an occurrence of the field adds all members of the group at once.	As with the use of Word documents as output format templates, it is possible to print a specific occurrence of a field by specifying the occurrence number in square brackets after the field tag / name, e.g. <<OB[1]>> All occurrences of a field will be printed if no number is specified, e.g. <<OB>>. Note that multiple occurrences will be separated by line breaks in a single cell but that rows will not automatically expand to show all values in a cell. To reveal all values in a cell To reveal all values in every cell, select rows with your data and double-click a line separator in the row number column:
Images	To include the thumbnail of an image, add an image field tag to a cell, e.g. <<FN[1]>>. The height of the row will determine the height of the thumbnail (aspect ratio will remain intact). Note: While it is possible to enlarge the image thumbnail (by dragging its corner), the resolution of the image is low and is unlikely to display well.
enumerative fields Read-only drop lists; their values are added and translated by Application Administrators in the Collections administration tool, Axiell Designer: users can select a value in an enumerative field, but cannot add or translate a value.	The user-friendly translation in the current interface language is output. Details Fields in which values are selected from a drop list are called enumerative fields in Collections. Values in these fields are read-only; they are added and, in a multilingual system, translated by your Application Administrator in the Collections administration tool, Axiell Designer A tool for designing, creating, customizing and managing Axiell Collections applications and databases, broadly speaking, the Axiell Collections Model Application. As well as managing databases, including user access and permissions, Designer is used for such tasks as translating field labels, tooltips, values in drop lists, etc.. The value that you see in an enumerative field in the User Interface is a display value associated with the current interface language, but the actual value stored in the database is a language-independent neutral value.
Numerical values	Numerical values are output with the default database decimal separator (usually a dot) and without a thousands separators so that Excel can interpret numbers correctly as numericals.
Formulas	Formulas can be included in a template to perform calculations with integer or numerical data that is output. Note: A calculation is executed when the document enters Edit mode and/or after you edit a number in the spreadsheet and press ENTER. To format numbers in a column with number values (to include thousands separators for instance), right-click the column header, select Format cells in the pop-up menu and choose from the options on the Number tab. Excel can only perform calculations on numbers if the decimal character in the output data is the same as the decimal character set in Windows or in Excel itself. To check which decimal separator and thousands separator are being used in Excel, select File>Options>Advanced and locate the Use system separators option (and change the option if necessary): Any cell containing a formula is static and a formula should not be placed in a cell with a field reference. Instead, place it in an otherwise empty column or on a separate work sheet. In this example, we add a formula to the E2 cell to total the values in the D column: Unlike the other cells in the row holding field references, the cell holding the formula will not be repeated in every row that holds data when the spreadsheet is generated: the total remains in E2, while the D column is populated with values from multiple records:
ADAPL Both a general-purpose programming language and a program built in the ADAPL language. An ADAPL program can be executed as a standalone program or used during various database functions, e.g. to validate data input, or to carry out an additional check during record deletion.	It is not currently possible to create an adapl+Excel template output format (it is not yet possible to have printed data pre-processed by an adapl).

Application Administrators can include Excel templates in the Output Formats box for the relevant data source (select Print in the top Toolbar or use the keyboard shortcut, CTRL+P to access the Output Formats box), where they will be listed with a distinguishing Excel icon, e.g.:

They can also be uploaded on-the-fly by clicking the ellipsis beside Find document template (previously Find Word template) and locating the .xlsxtemplate in the File Upload box (the file type drop-down list is now set to All supported types (*.docx, *.xlsx) by default):

As with Word template output formats, a document will be generated and opened and saved to your \downloads folder but not actually printed. If necessary, edit the document and then print from Excel if desired.

The choices you make when configuring an Export job (the export format, selection of fields, etc.) can now be saved as a profile and re-used as required.

To save settings as a profile:

1. Set up your Export job in the Export box and click Profiles.

   The Profiles box will display:

   

2. Click Create.

   An entry is added to the Profiles box:

   

3. Name the profile for this Export job by clicking New Profile and entering a meaningful name.
4. To view the options set for an Export job and the fields to be exported, click the arrow in the first cell:

   

5. Click OK to close the Profiles box and load the profile

   -OR-

   Click Cancel to close the Profiles box without loading the profile.

Other options:

The number of records in the result set (the records returned by a search or retrieved from a Group for instance) is displayed in the Status bar in Result set View, Gallery View and Record details View. Now the relative position of the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid grey background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. within the result set is shown in Record details View, for example record 6 of 11 records in the result set:

This can be useful when viewing records in Record details View when Result set View is closed: as you move through records in Record details View, the position of the current record in the result set is always indicated.

A Download icon has been added to Media viewer enabling users to download the file of the currently displayed media:

Similar to the Download icon beside media fields in Record details View:

a file is saved to your Downloads folder. Unlike Record details View, which only displays the file name not the media itself, with Media viewer it is possible to view the media files linked to the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid grey background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance., identify a file to download and download it in the one place.

Note: If the Download icon is greyed out, downloading of media files has been disabled by your Application Administrator.

To help identify images in Media viewer, especially when multiple images are linked to the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid grey background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance., an image's reference now displays above the image, image4.JPG in the screenshot below. An image's reference (typically its file name) is stored in the Reference (media.reference (FN)) field, which is found on the Media panel in Record details View:

It is possible to set the maximum number of thumbnails to display per record in Result set View and Gallery View using the Number of thumbnails option in the Settings dialogue for each view:

As you can see, the number is set independently for each View:

By default, only one thumbnail is shown in both Views. If a preferred image has been specified, it will display first.

In Result set View it may be necessary to widen the column to view multiple thumbnails. Alternatively, place the cursor over a thumbnail to have any additional thumbnails pop-out:

If the cursor is placed over a thumbnail (including one that has popped-out) for a moment, a slightly larger version will display:

In versions of Collections older than version 1.16, a PDF is most usefully linked to a record using a field with an Application A field with an Application data type is associated with an application, such as a PDF reader; it is possible to link such a field to a file of the appropriate type (e.g. a .pdf file) and subsequently open the file by clicking the underlined data (typically a filename) in the field. data type such as Reference (digital_reference (RF)) on the Numbers | Digital references panel:

Linked this way, the PDF can be viewed in a browser tab by clicking the underlined file name, and the file can be downloaded with the Download icon beside the field.

From Collections version 1.16 onwards it is also possible to link a PDF to a media field (with an image data type) such as Reference (media.reference (FN)) on the Media panel:

Linked this way the PDF can be viewed in the Media viewer:

Note: In versions of Collections older than version 1.16 it is also possible to link a PDF to a media field (with an image data type) but clicking the underlined file name does not display the document.

When viewing a PDF in the Media viewer a toolbar is available for working with the PDF:

Keyboard shortcuts have been added to the Open / Close all panels buttons in the Record details View toolbar.

To open all panels:

1. Click the toolbar button

   -OR-

   Use the keyboard shortcut, ALT+<down arrow>

To close all panels:

1. Click the toolbar button

   -OR-

   Use the keyboard shortcut, ALT+<up arrow>

Placing the cursor over a button will display the keyboard shortcut in a tooltip:

The Field properties box provides details about the properties of a field and the data it contains. It is accessed by right-clicking a field in Record details View or Result set View when viewing or editing record details, and selecting Properties in the context menu that displays:

Previously, details about a field's properties and data were presented on a single tab of the Field properties box in three sections (Field Info, Screen, Data). Here we see the field properties of the creator (VV) field:

Information about a field has been enhanced with Collections 1.16, providing a more complete definition of the field and its data. To accommodate the greater range of information the Field properties box now includes four tabs. Here we see the field properties of the creator (VV) field in Collections 1.16:

More details about the Field properties box can be found here.

Previously, restoring a value in a Linked field A type of field used to link one record to another. A Linked field is a drop list of values (records that the field can link to). When a link is made, the field stores a reference to the linked record (a linkref). was more complex than restoring a value in other types of field as the field history only recorded the priref A record's unique identifier. Currently, the simplest way to view a record's unique identifier is to add the priref column to Result set View. The field tag for the priref field is %0. for the linked record:

Before we could restore a link to the record, it was necessary to search the target data source A link is made from a record in one data source (primary) to a record in another data source (target). A data source could be both the primary and target data source in a linking relationship if one of its records links to another of its records. using the priref in order to identify which record to link to.

Now the Field History shows the value from the linked record:

and restoring the link to the record only requires editing the primary record and updating the link:

Details about how to restore a value in a field can be found here.

By default, the Select data source box, which displays when New or Search is selected in the Main menu, lists all data sources The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on. you are authorized to work with. As the list can be long and some data sources may rarely if ever be accessed, a Settings button has been added to the box to enable each user to control which data sources are listed; it is also possible to change the order in which they are listed:

Any changes you make to the Select data source box are stored in your user profile and are persistent until changed again.

To customize the Select data source box:

1. Click the Settings button to open the Data source settings box:

   

   The column on the left lists all data sources you are authorized to access; the column on the right lists the data sources that are included in the Select data source box in the order in which they display.

   To include a data source in the Select data source box:

   1. Double-click a data source name in the left column to move it to the right column

      -OR-

   2. Select a data source name in the left column and click Add.

   To remove a data source from the Select data source box:

   1. Double-click a data source name in the right column to move it to the left column

      -OR-

   2. Select a data source name in the right column and click Remove.

   Tip: Start typing a data source name in the text field above a column to filter the list to matching names.

   To change the order in which data sources are listed in the Select data source box:

   1. Select a data source label in the right column.

   2. Click Move up or Move down to reposition it.

      While it is possible to move a sub data source (Object catalogue for instance) outside of its parent data source (Catalogue in this case), it can be useful to keep such data sources together as a visual reminder about which data sources will be searched when a parent data source is selected: for example, when a search is run in the Catalogue in this example, the search will run across all highlighted data sources:

      

      Note: Removing a sub data source from the Select data source box does not remove it from Collections. If Accessions was removed in the example above and a search was run in Catalogue, the search would run across all of the Catalogue's sub data sources, including Accessions.

It is possible to restore the Select data source box to its default state by clicking the Reset button.

It is possible to sort and filter Saved searches (aka groups, Write sets) listed on the Saved searches tab of the Search box and in the Manage Saved Searches box. Here we see Saved searches sorted and filtered on the Saved searches tab:

A user's sort and filter choices are now stored in their user profile so that it is no longer necessary to set these options each time the Saved searches tab or the Manage Saved Searches box is accessed. Choices are persistent until changed again.

More details:

• Details about applying and removing sort options can be found here.
• Details about applying and removing a filter can be found here.

In multilingual systems a data language is selected from the Data language drop list in the Main menu (or top Toolbar in earlier versions of Collections). To assist with keeping track of the currently active data language (and minimizing the risk of entering data in the wrong language), the active data language is indicated beside the data source name in the Title bar:

Selecting Print in the top Toolbar opens the Output formats box from which it is possible to print different types of output. To assist with identifying the type of output, each option in the Output formats box now includes an icon:

The icons have the following meaning:

Implementing Full Text indexing (introduced with Collections 1.14) can improve search performance in long text fields, fields with unique terms, fields with non-unique terms and Linked fields A type of field used to link one record to another. A Linked field is a drop list of values (records that the field can link to). When a link is made, the field stores a reference to the linked record (a linkref).; it also provides the ability to perform phrase searching (contains phrase and does not contain phrase) in such fields in a Standard search, and to use the Starts with operator in a Standard search.

With Collections 1.15 Application Administrators have an option to improve searches where values include special characters. To be available, Application Administrators must run an update procedure in databases where Full Text indexing has already been implemented (details available in the Axiell Designer 7.8.1 Release Notes).

Without this update it is necessary to know the exact spelling of a name like O'Toole, Peter, for example, and to include the single quote and comma in the search value in order to have a precise match:

"O'Toole, Peter"

And if a value includes brackets, hyphens, and so on, it is necessary to include those characters in the search value it is of course possible to exclude characters and still get a match using the wildcard characters * and /or ? in a search value.

With the update, it is possible to perform a search for values with or without the special characters; furthermore, it is possible to use the normalized form of letters (for example, ae will match æ; oe will match Ø or œ).

A space is not considered a special character so must be included in search values comprising multiple terms, but when this option is implemented O'Toole, Peter will be matched by any of the following:

• "O'Toole, Peter"
• "OToole Peter"
• "O'Toole Peter"
• "otool peter"
• otool*

Following the update, these characters or combinations of characters can be omitted when searching a Full Text indexed database:

Special characters

[

]

;

,

!

@

(

)

|

{

}

<

>

?

\r

\n

\t

`

-

=

\\

.

/

~

#

$

%

^

&

_

+

:

\"

\'

*

You will note that the * and ? are listed as symbols that can be omitted from a search. This is not, of course, in their capacity as wildcards: if you include these characters in your search value, they will behave as wildcards.

However, consider a situation where there are three terms in the Thesaurus: ABCDEF, ABC? and ABC*.

Following the update, a search for ABC* will continue to match all three terms (the * operates as a wildcard character).

A search for ABC however will match ABC? and ABC*.

The exception

The exception is uniquely indexed fields (fields which are both indexed and only allow unique values): in this case it is not possible to omit a special character. For example, if a uniquely indexed object number contains a hyphen:

ABC-1234

searching for ABC1234 will not locate the record. The hyphen must be specified for a direct match; alternatively, using a wildcard, e.g. ABC*, will return the record (along with any others where the object number commences with ABC).

Number of characters in a search term

Following the update, a search value can be greater than 100 characters (previously a limit in certain cases). For example, if a title is long, it is possible to specify the full title as your search value in a Standard search using the equals operator; or to specify one or more words (beyond 100 characters) in a contains phrase search (not currently a contains any search however).

Diacritics

Note that searches were already case insensitive, accents were ignored in search values, and ligatures and other special letters could be matched using the normalized version of the character(s). For example:

• a will match á or Á
• ae will match æ
• oe will match Ø or œ

A record can be marked Marking a record means selecting it by adding a tick to the record's checkbox in Result set View or Gallery View, and in Record Details View from Collections 1.15 onwards. One or more records can be marked and then actioned in some way (e.g. printed). in Result set View or Gallery View by adding a tick to its checkbox; one or more records can be marked and then actioned in some way (dropped from the list of records, printed, bulk edited, and so on).

It is now also possible to mark the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid grey background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. in Record details View. A Mark icon has been added to the Record details View toolbar:

One or more records can be marked in Record details View. Marking / unmarking a record in one View, marks / unmarks it in every other View (i.e. as you mark a record in Record details View, the checkbox in Result set View is marked).

To mark the current record:

• Click the Mark icon

  -OR-

• Use the keyboard shortcut, SHIFT+F4.

When a record is marked, the icon appears recessed (as shown above).

Reverse the selection by clicking the icon or using the keyboard shortcut.

When records are marked Marking a record means selecting it by adding a tick to the record's checkbox in Result set View or Gallery View, and in Record Details View from Collections 1.15 onwards. One or more records can be marked and then actioned in some way (e.g. printed). in Result set View, Gallery View or Record details View, the Status bar (in Result set View and Record details View) now indicates the number of marked records:

Collections 1.15 introduces a Period field type that allows date periods expressed as a natural language value, 12th century for example, to be saved and searched for.

Users only see the natural language version of the period, but the indexed (searchable) value is stored as an ISO start and end date range (i.e. a numerical value):

Validation takes place after leaving the field. If a value is entered that is not recognized, a warning displays and a different period value will need to be entered, e.g.:

An overview of English natural language period elements that can be entered and subsequently searched for can be found here.

Searching

When searching a Period field the search value is specified as a complete natural language period, such as 12th century (any years must be specified as digits); do not use single words (not even truncated) from the natural language period (such as century) nor ISO dates with months and/or days. Behind the scenes the natural language search value is converted to an ISO date range and matched against the indexed values.

Note:

• When searching a broad period, the exact period specified in the search will be yielded and narrower periods that fall within its range.
• It is only possible to search for a single date period, not date period ranges.

Languages

Date values must be specified in the current User Interface language in Collections when editing or searching records. For example, if the current User Interface language is Dutch, a search might be:

my_period_field from "21e eeuw"

and if it is English, the same search would be:

my_period_field from "21st century"

The search result will be the same as the indexed value is an ISO date range that is language independent.

Supported languages are currently:

• British English
• Dutch
• Danish
• Welsh
• Portuguese
• Swedish

Application Administrators will find details about implementing the Period field type in the Axiell Designer Help.

When importing data from a CSV file, it has previously been possible to specify the field and decimal separators, and date format used in the import file. With the addition of an Encoding drop list to the CSV settings box it is now also possible to specify the encoding of the file:

The CSV settings box is accessed by clicking the Settings button in the Import box (an import is run by selecting Import from the Main menu). Full details about the Import function can be found here.

The default Encoding option is UTF8 without byte order mark; if your import file has any other encoding, select it from the drop list to enforce the selected encoding when the file is imported. Selecting the import file's encoding ensures that characters are not converted to incorrect characters during import. The following encoding options are available:

Note that if your file does have a byte order mark, a BOM (a hidden character in a file that tells the processing software which Unicode character encoding to expect from the file), Collections will automatically apply the UTF8 encoding in the file regardless of the option selected in the drop list (you can select UTF8 with byte order mark from the drop list but it is not necessary).

One way to identify the encoding in your import file is to open the file in Notepad++ and select the Encoding menu:

The file's encoding is indicated by the black dot.

Note: UTF-8 is UTF8 without byte order mark.
CSV files created in MS Excel are usually encoded as UTF-8, hence the default option in the Encoding drop list.

In Collections versions prior to 1.15, ASCII is the implicitly assumed encoding for all imported CSV files without BOM, while UTF8 with BOM is assumed when a BOM is present.

The option to import / export data in the Tagged format has been added to Collections:

The Tagged format corresponds to the Adlib Tagged file format familiar to Adlib for Windows user; although CSV and XML are the recommended formats for the exchange of data, the Tagged format is available to assist Adlib for Windows users migrate to Collections where the Adlib Tagged file format has been used extensively. Those familiar with the Adlib Tagged file format will find that most Tagged functionality is the same, although some options are omitted as they are not relevant.

The Tagged format

A Tagged format file has a .dat extension. The Tagged format consists of a list of field tags and values, one per line; a tag and its value are separated by a space. Records are separated by two asterisks. The following example is an export of two book records with a repeated field:

%02 %0 is the field tag for the priref field, the unique record number for each record. 29

ti Great Zulu commanders

ex 70

ex 71

au Knight, Ian

**

%0 718

ti The very sleepy pig

ex 1823

ex 1824

ex 1825

ex 1826

au Malam, John

**

Note the following when importing / exporting the Tagged format:

Export to the Tagged format

The process for exporting data in Tagged format is the same as exporting to any other format. Full details about exporting data can be found here.

In summary:

1. Search a data source The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on. and view the returned records in Result set View.
2. To export all listed records, select the Export button in the Result set View toolbar.

   Note: To export a subset of records, mark Marking a record means selecting it by adding a tick to the record's checkbox in Result set View or Gallery View, and in Record Details View from Collections 1.15 onwards. One or more records can be marked and then actioned in some way (e.g. printed). them first.

   The Export box displays.

3. Select a radio button to export data from the current The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid grey background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. record, marked Marking a record means selecting it by adding a tick to the record's checkbox in Result set View or Gallery View, and in Record Details View from Collections 1.15 onwards. One or more records can be marked and then actioned in some way (e.g. printed). records, or all records currently listed in Result set View.
4. Select Tagged from the Format drop list:

   

5. Select which fields to export in the list of system field names on the left.

   Note: By default, fields displaying in Result set View are listed in the right column and will be exported.

   

   Notes:

   • To select multiple fields individually, press the CTRL key as you click field names. To select a number of consecutive fields, press and hold the SHIFT key as you click a field and then click another field higher or lower in the list (all fields from the first clicked field to the second will be selected).
   • To include record numbers in the exported data, be sure to include the priref A record's unique identifier. Currently, the simplest way to view a record's unique identifier is to add the priref column to Result set View. The field tag for the priref field is %0. field.
   • Field names with .lref extension will not be exported even if included in the list of export fields.
6. Select OK to run the export.

   The export file name is formatted as export(#).dat where # is a number and the file will be saved in your Downloads folder.

Note: Unlike Adlib, it is not possible to save export settings in a parameter file or profile for re-use.

Import from the Tagged format

Importing data in Tagged format is the same process as importing any other format. Full details about importing date can be found here.

In summary:

1. Select Import in the Main menu.

   The Select data source box displays with a list of all data sources you are authorized to work with:

   

2. Select the data source in which records will be updated by the import (the target data source).

   The Import box displays.

3. Select Tagged from the Format drop list.

4. In the File field, locate the file with the data to be imported:

   

5. Select the fields to import.

   Although you can select the priref A record's unique identifier. Currently, the simplest way to view a record's unique identifier is to add the priref column to Result set View. The field tag for the priref field is %0. (record number) field, this value is never imported as newly created records are always assigned a new record number.

   However, if the purpose of your import is to update existing records (you select the Update only option) and you set the priref field as the Match field, the priref in the import file will be used to find matching records (more details here).

   Tip: For an update import, the Match field does not need to be in the list of fields to import.

6. Make any other settings as desired and click OK to start the import.

Notes:

• Adlib parameter files cannot be loaded in the Import dialogue in Collections but it is possible to save import settings in a new Profile (details here).

• The Adlib for Windows Process external links and Process internal links options (marked by default) are not present in Collections because they are rather advanced options that most users should never switch off. In Collections, external and internal links will always be processed, which means that Collections tries to find a record in the linked database matching the imported Linked field value (the first one it finds) and then creates the link to that record. If the imported linked field value does not exist in the linked database, a new linked record with the candidate status and the proper domain for the Linked field will automatically be created and the link to that record will be established.

Previously, when exporting a media field such as reproduction.referencewith the Export to Excel option, the export file would include a text reference to an image, not the image itself.

Now the export file includes a thumbnail of the first linked image in a record; the size of the image is specified using the Thumbnail option in the Result set View Settings dialogue. For non-image media such as movie or music files, an icon indicating the media type is included in the export file.

Details here.

The Export tool accessed from the Result set View toolbar now enables authorized users to export media files that are linked to one or more records currently listed in Result set View.

In the Export box select Attached media from the Format drop list to export media to a zip file:

When exporting image files, they can be converted to another format and/or resized.

Details here.

Copying and sharing a link to the current record in Record details View or to the search query that generated a list of records in Result set View is now possible with the Deep Link option available in the Result set View and Record details View toolbars:

• In Record details View, selecting Deep Link copies a link to the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid grey background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance..
• In Result set View, selecting Deep Link copies a link to the search query or Saved search that generated the list of records in Result set View. Note:
  • The link is to the query that generated the initial list of records: if you change the set by dropping one or more records from Result set View and then copy the link, the dropped records will be listed when the link is followed. If you want a link to a modified record set, save the set as a Saved search, open the Saved search in Result set View and then copy the link.
  • If a Saved search is modified after a link is shared, users will always see the list of records generated by the modified Saved search as the Deep link is to the Saved search itself.

A message confirming that the link has been copied to the Windows clipboard will display in the right upper corner of the browser window:

The link can now be pasted and shared.

Note: The link will not work if you paste it into the Address bar of a browser tab that is already running Collections. When a user clicks the link in an email etc., Collections will always open in a new tab.

Axiell Designer A tool for designing, creating, customizing and managing Axiell Collections applications and databases, broadly speaking, the Axiell Collections Model Application. As well as managing databases, including user access and permissions, Designer is used for such tasks as translating field labels, tooltips, values in drop lists, etc. version 7.8 provides Application Administrators with an option to implement Full Text indexing in Collections 1.14 onwards. If implemented, this can improve search performance in long text fields, fields with unique terms, fields with non-unique terms and Linked fields A type of field used to link one record to another. A Linked field is a drop list of values (records that the field can link to). When a link is made, the field stores a reference to the linked record (a linkref).; it also provides the ability to perform phrase searching (contains phrase and does not contain phrase) in such fields in a Standard search (although not yet an Advanced search). When performing a contains phrase search, a record will be returned if the exact combination of words in your search value (ignoring case) is located in the search field.

For example, a contains phrase search for dollhouse with furniture in the title (TI) field would return records with titles such as Wooden dollhouse with furniture and lights and Dollhouse with furniture, but not Dollhouse with plastic furniture.

Tip: It is not possible to truncate terms in a phrase search.

Without Full Text indexing, contains phrase and does not contain phrase searches are only possible on Text (term) indexes, not on Free text indexes for long text fields such as Notes and Description.

Tip: A description of the difference between Text (term) and Free text indexes can be found here.

When Full Text indexing has been implemented, the starts with search operator becomes available when searching all text fields in a Standard search.

starts with is useful when searching long text fields as it allows you to search for the first word in the field, in contrast to equals, which searches for your search term anywhere in the field.

Your search term is implicitly truncated, so a search for littl operates as if the * wildcard has been used, e.g. littl*.

XSLT stylesheets for inline reports and output formats now support all functions included in XSLT version 3.0 and earlier. This means that more advanced stylesheets for these purposes can now be made.

Previously, a thumbnail would display in Gallery View and Result set View for each image file linked to a record. Here the selected record in Result set View has two linked images:

and the same record in Gallery View has two thumbnails:

To improve the performance of Collections only one thumbnail now displays when records are listed in these Views.

By default, the thumbnail that displays is for the first linked image unless an image has been set to preferred (details here). In this example, the second image was set to preferred and it displays in Result set View:

Search and replace now includes an option for removing an occurrence If a field in the current record can have more than one value, we add an occurrence of the field for each value (e.g. a book can have multiple authors so we add an occurrence of the author.name (au) field for each author). An occurrence can be a member of a group of fields, and adding an occurrence of the field adds all members of the group at once. from a record when a value is matched in a searched repeatable field.

An occurrence is a field designed to be repeated because more than one value is possible for the field (e.g. a book can have more than one author so the author.name (au) field is repeatable). A single field can be configured to be repeatable, and groups of fields can be configured to be repeated together. For example, Creator (creator (VV)) is a member of a group that includes five repeatable fields (Creator, Qualifier, Role, Place and Production notes); when we add an occurrence of any one of these fields, all five fields are added together (full details about occurrences here):

When a value is deleted from a repeatable field using Search and replace (details here) and the Remove occurrence option is not selected (or it is not available), the occurrence is only removed from a record if:

• it is the last (trailing) occurrence (Repeated group 3 in the example above)

  -AND-

• it is a single repeated field or there are no values left in any of the fields in the group.

For example

If we use Search and replace to search for Atkins, Nancy in the Creator field and replace it with nothing (a NULL value), all five fields in Repeated group 3 will be removed from the record as it is the trailing occurrence and all fields in Repeated group 3 are now empty:

If instead we use Search and replace to search for Winneke, Angus in the Creator field and replace it with nothing, Repeated group 2 will remain and will need to be removed from the record manually:

With the Remove occurrence option the occurrence is removed from the record when the Replace value is matched in the searched field; and in the case of a repeated group of fields, all fields in the group are removed.

For example, if we search creator (VV) for Smith, Fred and select the Remove occurrence checkbox:

all five fields in Repeated group 1 are removed when the search value is matched in creator (VV) (even though it is not the trailing occurrence AND it includes a value in the Role field):

When records can be organized in a hierarchy of parent / child relationships, values in child records are inherited from their direct parent in fields that have been configured to be inherited. This can be extremely efficient as a value only needs to be entered and saved in the parent record to be inherited by all of its children (more details about inherited fields and their values can be found here).

But if the value is not stored in the child record this raises the question: how do you search for a record using a value that is not actually stored in the record? The short answer is the Expand option: when performing a Standard or an Advanced search, the Expand makes it possible to search for records using one or more values inherited from a parent record.

While the Expand operator has been very useful, its use is not particularly intuitive, not least because users expect that a value is searchable whether it is inherited or not. For that reason Collections 1.13 removes the need to use the Expand option when performing a search in a field that is configured to be inherited. Now a search on say Title="Creature from Mars" will automatically return a parent record with this title and any of its child records that have inherited this title; as you would expect, a child record with a different title will not be returned by this search.

When to use Expand explicitly

Whether a field has been configured as inherited or not, every empty field in a child record behaves as if it has inherited the value from its direct parent. You would still use the Expand operator to return a record with the search value in the field AND, if it is a parent record, retrieve any of its children where the search field is empty.

Details about when and how to use the Expand operator can be found in the Standard and Advanced search topics.

Tip: It is not necessary to change previously created Saved searches that use the Expand operator.

Information for Application Administrators

If an implicit Expand search on inherited fields is undesirable, it can be switched off by including the following setting in settings.xml:

<Setting Key="DefaultExpand" Value="false" />

With this setting, the Expand operator will need to be used explicitly when searching inherited fields (as it is in versions of Collections prior to 1.13).

Note: This setting applies by default and does not need to be set to true.

Previously, unless access rights were explicitly limited, all users had Full access rights to all Saved searches by default. This is no longer the case from Collections 1.13 onwards: now only the user who creates a Saved search (the owner) has Full access to it by default and other users only have Read access.

Note: Users with the $ADMIN role have full access to all saved searches.

If a user / group should have other access rights to a Saved search (None, Write or Full), the owner, or other authorized user, must specify those rights on the Rights tab for the Saved search.

Details about Saved searches and assigning access rights can be found here.

Users with access to Axiell Designer A tool for designing, creating, customizing and managing Axiell Collections applications and databases, broadly speaking, the Axiell Collections Model Application. As well as managing databases, including user access and permissions, Designer is used for such tasks as translating field labels, tooltips, values in drop lists, etc. can also specify default access rights for all Saved searches created in a particular database in its Default pointer file (details here).

The Search box and several other dialogue boxes were too large to display in their entirety in the browser on small screens such as laptops or when the browser itself was relatively small. This caused parts of the dialogue box to be hidden and effectively unreachable.

Now the size of many dialogues is not only manually adjustable by dragging their borders, but also responsive to the available space in the browser (excluding smart phone screens). Many dialogues do still have a minimum size however.

The responsiveness of a dialogue kicks in when it is opened, not when a dialogue is already open and the browser is resized or a higher browser zoom level is selected. Responsiveness could result in a different layout in the dialogue and perhaps repositioning to ensure that all dialogue components remain accessible, e.g.:

When entering a value in a Linked field A type of field used to link one record to another. A Linked field is a drop list of values (records that the field can link to). When a link is made, the field stores a reference to the linked record (a linkref). , a drop list displays from which a value can be selected:

and when the Find data for the field box is opened, values that can be searched and selected are listed:

The list of values can be filtered; for example, as we see in the screen shot above, it is possible to filter the Creator field to names from the creator domain and to show only names with the candidate status. Users can turn these filters on and off.

However, a restriction to domain and candidate status may not be sufficient, and Collections 1.13 offers an additional way for Application Administrators to limit which values can be selected by users by applying a search filter to a Linked field. When set up, only values that meet the search filter will be listed for users in a Linked field drop list and in the Find data for the field box.

For example, in data sources that have multiple record levels (e.g. Archives / Film), it is only relevant to select from item-level records when attaching items to a loan and the list of linkable records can be restricted to these. An Application Administrator might further decide to limit the list to items that are actually available (e.g. items without lending restrictions) so that an unavailable item cannot be inadvertently selected. This helps to ensure that correct links are made to records.

Note: Search filters set up in this way will also apply when the Extend search option is selected in the Find data for the field box.

Application Administrators will find details about setting up a search filter for a Linked field in the Designer 7.7.5 release notes.