Handle source references

Every entity, link, and field in a visualization is marked with a source reference.

By default, this source reference is the name of the document that is being marked up. However, it might identify additional information about the source document. The information might comprise:
  • The reference number for the document
  • The location where the document is physically stored
  • Other identifying characteristics

How source references are used in iBase

In iBase the TextChart source reference can be stored in two places in:
  • a field within the iBase entities and links
  • a field within the Source Document entity

It can be used as a common value to keep related records from TextChart together; this makes it especially valuable when used with source documents. Where multiple documents are used in the TextChart workspace, the source reference can be used to annotate each entity with the individual source document from which it was created.

Configuring iBase to allow source references

To store TextChart source references in iBase, you need to configure the iBase schema to have a field in which to store the reference. You must also set up the charting scheme. For details, see:
  • Schema Extensions: Source References
  • Charting Schemes: Source References

Items created from multiple source documents

If a TextChart item is created from multiple source documents, the individual source references are concatenated together into a single string of characters. The individual source references are enclosed in double quotation marks and separated by commas.

To store source references from multiple source documents in iBase, you need to configure the iBase schema to have a field in which to store the reference; see Schema Extensions: Advanced Use of Source References for details. You must also set up the charting scheme; see Charting Schemes: Advanced Use of Source References for details.

Note: If the overall source reference string exceeds the length of the iBase field used to store the source reference, then an error occurs when validating the visualization before loading it. In this situation, use TextChart to reduce the overall length of the source reference strings.