Creating labeling schemes

Labeling schemes determine how the label that identifies and represents a record is derived from the record's fields. For example, person records may have a label comprising the 'Last Name' field together with the 'First Name' field, while for vehicle records the label may comprise the 'Manufacturer', 'Model' and 'Registered Number' fields

About this task

You can also include 'free text' in the label. This is text that does not vary between labels.

There are two separate label definitions in each labeling scheme; one for the label to be used within iBase, and one to be used when a record is added to an Analyst's Notebook chart.

Each labeling scheme covers all the entity and link types in the database. If there is more than one labeling scheme it is because you may want different label formats at different times. You specify which scheme is in use by making it the 'default'.

Note: For certain entity types, Smart Matching in Analyst's Notebook assumes a property semantic type for the label value. Consider that for some entity types, the assumed property semantic type is a Details kind. The label is then parsed during Smart Matching to locate the various parts of the textual value. Do not assign a Details kind of semantic type to a property that will be used for a label. Instead, specify a property that is a part of a Details type, and assign the semantic type with the correct specific meaning. For example, for a Credit Card, specify the label to be the Card Number property, which is a part that is located in a Bank Card Details property.

Procedure

Select New > Labeling Scheme.
Select an Entity or Link Type from the list.
Display the page for the type of label you want to define; the Standard page for the label to be used with iBase records, the Chart page for the label to be used for chart items.
In the Fields list click to select fields you want to include in the label. Then click Add to add them to the Label Parts list.
In the Free Text box, type any text that you want to appear in all the labels (without variation). Then click Add to move it to the Label Parts list.
If required, in the Label Parts list, click to select an item then:
- Repeat the previous steps. The new items are inserted below the selected one.
- Click Space to add a space between label parts.
- Use the up or down arrow key to change the selected item's position.
- Click Delete to remove the selected item.
Preview your label in the Sample box. You can change which record the preview is based on by clicking Next and Previous.
Repeat these steps until you have defined standard and chart labels for all the required entity and link types.

What to do next

You might now want to set your labeling scheme as the default:

Find the scheme in the Database Explorer.
Right-click on the scheme and select Set as Default.

Note: A charting scheme may override the default labeling scheme.