NASIS Metadata Overview

Data Structure Diagrams

Our Data Structure Diagrams show the table relationships in the NASIS database. A relationship between two tables is represented by an arrow, where the arrow head is pointing to the “child” table in the relationship. The child table in a relationship includes a “foreign key” that identifies a record in the corresponding parent table. The “table names” in this diagram are what we refer to as a Table Label. A table’s label is far less cryptic than its physical name.

Tables connected by a black arrow are part of the same table collection. A table collection is a group of tables that are part of the same logical entity, e.g. site, pedon, map unit, etc. In NASIS, one can navigate between two such tables by clicking the plus sign in a table’s record.

Tables connected by a magenta arrow are part of two different table collections. In NASIS, one can navigate between two such tables via “Find Related” and “Load Related”, which are available in the Table Editor menu.
 

Metadata Reports

Tables and Columns Report

This report includes the following columns:

Seq. – Default sequence of the column. Will affect the order the column appears in the NASIS Client.

Column Label – Label of the column than appears in NASIS Client. Not typically used in NASIS queries and report scripts.

Column Physical Name – Physical name of column in the database. Typically used in NASIS queries and report scripts.

Column Logical Name – Logical name of column in the database. Can be used in NASIS queries and report scripts.

Log. Data Type – Logical data type.

Phy. Data Type – Physical data type.

Not NULL? – Indicates if a column can be NULL or if it must have data. A value of ‘yes’ means the column must be populated if a new record is added to a table.

Size – The number of characters that can be entered in the column. Not all data types have a size.

Prec. – The precision of the data. Not all data types have a precision.

Min – The minimum value that can entered. Not all data types have a minimum.

Max – The maximum value that can entered. Not all data types have a maximum.

UOM – Units of measure. Not all data types have a unit of measure.

Vis? – Indicates in if a column is visible in the NASIS Client. If all columns for a table are ‘no’, then the entire table is not visible.

Domain Name – The name of the domain (choice list) linked to the column. Not all columns have a domain.

This report has the following footer:

Table Description – Appears the bottom of each table. It’s the data dictionary definition of the table.

Table Column Descriptions Report

This report includes column attributes:

Column Label – Label of the column than appears in NASIS Client. Not typically used in NASIS queries and report scripts.

Column Physical Name – Physical name of column in the database. Typically used in NASIS queries and report scripts.

Column Description – The data dictionary definition of the column.

The report has the following footer:

Table Description – Appears the bottom of each table. It’s the data dictionary definition of the table.
 

Domains Report

This report includes column attributes:

Obsolete? – A yes indicates domain member (choice) is obsolete. No indicates it’s still valid.

ID – Integer value that is stored in the NASIS database column.

Data Entry Text – What must be entered in NASIS Client to select the correct domain.

Label Text – What is displayed on soil reports.

Description – The data dictionary definition of the domain member (choice). Many domain members (choices) do not have a description.

The report has the following footer:

Domain Description – The data dictionary definition of the domain (entire choice list). Many domains do not have a description.