Field Types

User Fields

User fields are the fields that record values supplied by users or by data import from other sources. In a data entry form, a quick way to identify user fields is to look for boxes with a white background showing that they allow user data entry.

The following user field types are available:

Coordinate

You can add fields to entity types or link types to store coordinate data so that the geographic location of an entity or link can be plotted on a map using a GIS package or i2 Analyst's Notebook.

You add a Coordinate field to an entity or link type to enable users to enter coordinate values in any of a range of formats. This field must be a Coordinate type field. You must add the Coordinate type field directly above two Real Number coordinate fields in the entity definition. The two Real Number fields are used to store the converted coordinate values.

When the user enters geographic data into the Coordinate field, a Coordinate Conversion utility converts the coordinates into decimal degrees, using the WGS 1984 datum (a global standard for plotting geographic locations).

Counting Number

Counting Number fields are used for whole numbers. For example, 656 and -100001 are valid entries.

Note: If a number has a fractional element, use Real Number or Currency field types.

Currency

A Currency field is used for financial values. A Currency field accepts either numbers or numbers with the Currency symbol from the current Regional Settings. The number can include a fractional part, expressed as decimals. This type of field stores numbers in a way that minimizes any errors during calculation and storage. If you analyze records that have different currencies, do one of the following:

• Include the currency in the field name, such as Amount in $, Amount in £ and do not enter the symbol when entering a currency amount.
• Hold currency information in two fields. A Currency field, called Amount to hold the number and a Text field called Currency to hold the currency symbol.

Note:

• You can set the currency symbol to one that is not the default for your current regional settings, for example, to Yen if you are using US English. When you do this, iBase no longer accepts any other currency symbols (including the default for your Regional Settings).
• There is no link to the currency in use when the data was entered. If you have users that work in different locales, you might want to convert all monetary values to a single currency before you enter them into the database record.

A Currency field can be up to 19 digits in length, 15 digits before the decimal point and 4 digits after it.

Note: Analyst's Notebook does not support values in decimal formats. When currency values are added to Analyst's Notebook charts, values will be converted to doubles, that is 15 digits in total, which may result in lower precision for your values.

Date

Date fields are used when entering dates.

You can specify a default value, or use a special value ‘Today’ which is the creation date of the record.

There are special field types for the system fields Create Date and Update Date.

Document

Document fields are used to embed documents in a record, such as charts, and files with extensions of: .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, .txt, and .htm. The advantage of embedding a document is that users are no longer dependent on an external file system or a web server. An embedded document cannot be updated by any changes made to the external file, or by editing in iBase.

Embedded documents can be:

• Viewed in the Show or data entry dialogs
• Searched if Search 360 is available. (Searching documents is optional and requires that the appropriate iFilters are installed on the server.)
• Edited, provided that users have a suitable application for the file type. Users edit a temporary copy of the file; they cannot edit the document embedded in the record. To update the embedded document, users need to reload the edited document into the record.

Hyperlink (including owner hyperlinks)

Hyperlink fields are used to specify one or more locations to link to. A Hyperlink field consists of a series of text strings, with a maximum length of 65000 characters. Hyperlink fields cannot be indexed.

A special type of hyperlink field displays the name of the user who owns the record, and clicking on this type of field displays their contact details.

Hyperlink fields can contain:

A file

For example C:\My Documents\Person Report.doc, for a file on your computer or \\server/Shared/Person Report.doc for a file on a network.

A URL to the Internet or an intranet

The user can enter any valid URL and double-click on it to display it in their Web browser.

An entity or link record

This can be another entity or link record in the database. Each record is identified by a # character and the record identifier which is displayed in the Properties dialog of the other record.

For example, the record #PER156\GEN. This is record 156 of a PERSON entity type that has a database identifier of GEN. The user clicks the Browse button to display the Select dialog.

A user name

This is the name of the user who owns the record: either the user who created the record (their name is automatically inserted when the record is saved) or the user selected as the owner. To define the hyperlink field as an owner field rather than a general hyperlink field, use the dollar symbol ($) as the default value. Unformatted text, suitable for notes that require editing

Multi-Line Text

Multi-line Text fields are used for unformatted text, such as long unstructured notes that might require subsequent editing. These fields are displayed over several lines; the limit is 65535 characters (in English, this is typically between 10000 and 12000 words).

Note:

• Do not use Multi-line Text fields for information that you might want to sort in record lists.
• If you want to protect fields such that users cannot edit or delete them, use Multi-Line Text (Append only) fields.
• If users need to use large amounts of text, tables or graphics, or character formatting such as bold or italic, use Document or Hyperlink fields.

Multi-Line Text (Append Only)

Multi-line (Append Only) Text fields are used for unformatted text. They are similar to Multi-line Text fields except that users cannot edit or delete existing text; they can only append to it. This is useful if you need to store notes as an investigation progresses and you do not want to lose any of the existing information.

If you define a default value for this field, it always precedes any text that a user enters.

OLE Object

OLE Object fields are similar to Picture fields. This is a legacy type; they typically appear in iBase 3 databases that have been converted to a newer version of iBase. OLE Object fields are not supported in iBase 4 or later. They are read-only fields which you need to convert to appropriate field types.

To convert to appropriate field types:

1. Export all the data in the OLE fields that you want to keep.
2. Delete the OLE field type.
3. Import the data back in to fields that use either the Document or Picture types.

Picture

Picture fields are used for pictures in a record. If a Picture file contains a graphics file, this is displayed on Analyst's Notebook charts instead of the icon.

Note:

• There can be more than one picture field in a record, however only the first one that is defined can be displayed on an Analyst's Notebook chart instead of the icon.
• Picture fields cannot be indexed for searching in Full-Text search.

Real Number

Real Number fields are used for numbers that can include a fractional part, expressed as decimals. For example, 1234.56 and 0.005.

A Real Number field can hold a larger range of values than a Counting Number or Currency field. Currency fields offer greater accuracy within a smaller range.

Selected from Code list

Selected from Code List fields make a user select a value from a code list (drop-down list). For example, a grading system might use grades A to E, the code list therefore, would contain only the values A, B, C, D and E from which the user can select.

When editing a field, you can change a Selected from Code List field to a Suggested from Code List field and vice versa. This does not affect any existing records.

Note: This field type is only suitable for use with complete code lists. If you have an incomplete code list, you should consider using a Suggested from Code List field.

Strength

A Strength field defines the line style to be used for event frames in Analyst’s Notebook charts.

When defining a Strength field, for a record in iBase you can choose one of the following strengths:

• Confirmed - solid line
• Unconfirmed - dashed line
• Tentative - dotted line

Note: You cannot add a Strength field to a link type, or as a standard field.

Suggested from Code List

Suggested from Code List fields allows a user to select a value, either suggested from a code list (drop-down list) or to enter any value. For example, you might supply a list of common car models, but allow the user to type in other models.

When editing a field, you can change a Selected from Code List field to a Suggested from Code List field and vice versa. This does not affect any existing records.

Note: Use this field type when the code list is not complete or definitive.

Text

Text fields are used for small amounts of plain text; these fields are limited to 255 characters. The default field size is 50 characters. You do not save space in a database by using a small field length, however the layout of the fields in dialogs or datasheets is best if limited to 100 characters.

Time

Time fields are used when entering times. You can specify a default value, or use a special value 'Now' which is the creation time of the record.

Time Zone

Time Zone fields can be used to specify the time zone of a record. They are used to provide a reference to dates and times when working with iBase data in Analyst’s Notebook.

Note: If you want to import records containing time zones from external data sources, then you need to represent each time zone by the appropriate code. For example, in the import file, the time zone (GMT+00:00) Greenwich Mean Time: Edinburgh, London must be represented by 32. Also, when exporting data that contains time zones, the time zone will also be represented by a code.

The time zones and their codes are listed in Time zones in import and export.

Yes or No (Boolean)

Any data with two values: Yes or No, True or False

System Fields

System fields display and use values that iBase provides from system information maintained for all records. Users can see most of the information for a particular record by displaying the Properties dialog for that record.

You can add only one system field of each type to an entity or link type.

The following system field types are available:

Case

The system field Case records the case name to which each record belongs, but unless specifically added to an entity or link type it is not exposed to the user. Its value cannot be edited.

Adding a Case field simply maps the value of the system Case field, and is intended for use in multi-case analysis mode, when you want users to be able to identify which case a record came from when running a query, browsing or finding data across several cases (that is, when they are logged on in multi-case mode). If you want to expose the case value in this way, then you should add a Case field to every entity type and link type in the database.

Note: This field type is only available in case controlled databases.

Create Date

The creation date and time for each record. It is automatically added by iBase whenever a record is entered in the database.

The format matches the current date and time settings specified in your Windows environment.

Create User

The user identifier of the person who created the record. This is automatically added by iBase when the record is first saved in the database.

The Create User field appears as a hyperlink in the Properties dialog for a record. When clicked it displays contact details for the user who created the record.

Icon

Provides the representation for an entity record in place of the default icon for the entity type. For example, a Location Icon code list might include icons to represent houses, offices, bars, and so on. If you do not provide an icon field, then the default icon for the entity type is used.

Record ID

The system field Record ID provides a unique record identifier, which is automatically added by iBase whenever a record is created.

A record ID, for example PER130 or PER130\GEN, consists of the following:

Element	Description
Table prefix code	This is unique for each entity type or link type, for example PER for a Person entity, or PE0 if there is a naming clash with another prefix. This is three characters long.
Record number	This is unique for each record within the table and automatically assigned by iBase. For this example, the record number is 130.
Separating character	A separating character is present only if there is a following database identifier. It is always the backslash ( \ ) character.
Database identifier code	This is blank by default. When you create and name a new database, you can specify a code of your choice up to five characters long, in the Advanced page of the Create New Database dialog.

Security Classification Code

The system field Security Classification Code forces a user to select a value from an SCC list (a special code list) that you provide, or to leave the field blank. You can only add one field of this type to an entity type or link type.

Once defined, this field is linked to the chosen code list. It is still possible to edit the code list, which is listed in the iBase Designer Explorer pane under the heading Code Lists \ SCC Lists.

Note: This value is not shown in the Properties dialog. The only way to see or affect its value is to create a field of type Security Classification Code.

With SQL Server databases only, and when Extended Access Control is enabled, a security administrator can make various records of various entity types or link types inaccessible according to the security classification code (SCC) given to each record.

Update Date

The date and time at which the record was last updated. This is automatically added by iBase whenever the record is edited in the database. The format matches the current date and time settings specified in your Windows environment.

The field has no value until an edit has been performed after initial creation of the record.

Update User

The user identifier of the person who last updated the record. This is automatically added by iBase whenever the record is edited in the database.

The field has no value until an edit has been performed after initial creation of the record.

The Update User field appears as a hyperlink in the Properties dialog for a record, and when clicked, displays contact details for the user who last updated the record.

Calculated Fields

Calculated fields allow you to manipulate existing fields by arithmetic operations on numbers and dates, or extraction of portions of dates and times.

The following calculated field types are available:

Calculated Date

Use a Calculated Date field to derive a new date, produced by calculation from another date field of the same entity or the current date and time.

The result is always a pure date. That is, any portion of a day is discarded from the starting field if it had a non-zero time component, and all calculations can only add or subtract whole days. This allows simple comparison with other dates.

For example, given a field containing the date of birth, you can calculate the current age of a person or, given the age, calculate the approximate year of birth. Calculated fields also help in identifying records for purging, based on dates of data entry or changes of status of the represented entities and links.

Calculated Date Part

Use a Calculated Date Part field to derive a part of a date or time, selected from another date field of the same entity or from the current date and time. For example, given a date you can display just the day, month, or year.

Calculated Number

Use a Calculated Number field to derive a number from another numeric or date field or the current date and time.

The permitted operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, shown in the drop-down list as +, -, *, and / .

You can mix fields of type Real Number, Counting Number, Currency, Date, and Time (but not Time Zone) with fixed values, both real numbers and integers.

You cannot affect the order of calculation by using brackets.