Creating labeling schemes

About this task

Each labeling scheme in a schema can contain instructions for assembling labels for all the entity and link types in that schema. For each type, you can specify the combination of property values and free text that will make up the label.

For example, for an entity of a type named Person, a reasonable label might be the first and last name of that person. You might specify that the First Name and Last Name property types of the Person type should form the parts of its label.

Note: To maintain consistency, you can configure a charting scheme to use a labeling scheme to determine the labels of chart items.

Procedure

All new schemas in Schema Designer start with a labeling scheme named Labeling Scheme 1. You can either edit the default scheme or create one by clicking Insert > New Labeling Scheme.

Important: The i2 Analyze server uses only the default labeling scheme in the schema to generate the labels for entities and links, and you should prioritize it. Any other labeling schemes can be used only in charting schemes.

With the labeling scheme that you want to edit selected in the navigation tree, you can go ahead and create its label definitions:

1. In the Labeling Scheme tab, select the entity or link type whose label you want to define in the Item type list.

   The Properties list is updated with the property types that your chosen type contains.

2. Select the property types to use in the label, and click the arrow to move them to the Label parts column.

3. Optional: Create label parts that contain fixed text by entering them in the Free Text box and clicking the corresponding arrow.

   You can use free text to separate combined values in a label. For example, you might put a space between the First Name and Last Name in a label for the Person type. You can also use free text to provide a standard label for entities or links that don't need value-based labels.

   Note: For an entity or link type with an empty Label parts list, the system displays <No label> for an entity or link of that type. Adding a free text label part containing any character (other than a space) changes the behavior so that the system displays the text instead.

4. Optional: Rearrange the label parts in the list by selecting them and clicking the up and down arrows as required.

Results

After you complete the procedure for all of the entity and link types in your schema, the labeling scheme is ready for use by the i2 Analyze server, or in the charting schemes that Analyst's Notebook uses.