Module Documentation: eml-attribute
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The EML Attribute Module describes all attributes (variables) in a data entity (e.g., data table). The description includes the name and definition of each attribute, its type, its allowable range (if numeric), definitions of coded values, and other pertinent information.

Element Definitions:

eml-attribute
  Tooltip: Attribute descriptors  
  Summary: Container of attribute descriptors of all attributes in a dataset.  
  Description: Eml-attribute element represents a list of all attributes in a dataset.  
  Example:  
identifier
  Tooltip: Unique identifier  
  Summary: The unique identifier of this metadata file or object.  
  Description: The identifier field provides a unique identifier for this metadata documentation. It will most likely be part of a sequence of numbers or letters that are meaningful in a larger context, such as a metadata catalog. That larger system can be identified in the "system" attribute. Multiple identifiers can be listed corresponding to different catalog systems.  
  Example: <identifier system="metacat">nceas.3.2</identifier>  
attribute
  Tooltip: Attribute descriptor  
  Summary: Descriptor of an attribute in the dataset.  
  Description: Attribute element is a descriptor of an attribute in the data file identified by its name. The attribute element can contain information about the attribute's definition, format, storage type and data range, or missing value.  
  Example:  
attributeName
  Tooltip: Attribute name  
  Summary: Attribute name for identification  
  Description: This element specifies name of the attribute (field) in the dataset. This information is typically used as a column header for the field/variable in a spreadsheet. It is usually terse, without spaces, and can be used to "name" a column in a table definition statement.  
  Example: spden  
attributeLabel
  Tooltip: Attribute label  
  Summary: A label that better describes an attribute than its name  
  Description: A brief label used to describe the attribute. This is often needed because attribute names are usually very terse- often shortened to 8 characters or less to deal with analysis systems. A label is provided as a concise but more descriptive representation of the attribute.  
  Example: "Species Density" is a label for attribute with name "spden"  
attributeDefinition
  Tooltip: Attribute definition  
  Summary: Precise definition of attribute in the dataset  
  Description: This element gives a precise definition of attribute in the dataset. It explains the contents of the attribute fully and possibly provides pointers to the methods used to generate the attribute data.  
  Example: "spden" is the number of individuals of all macroinvertebrate species found in the plot  
unit
  Tooltip: Unit of measurement  
  Summary: Unit of measurement for data in the field  
  Description: This element specifies unit of measurement for data in the field.  
  Example: Integer count of individuals within plot  
dataType
  Tooltip: Data type  
  Summary: Description of data type for this field  
  Description: This element describes the data type for data in the field like: integer, floating point, character, string.  
  Example: integer, floating point, character, string  
enumeratedDomain
  Tooltip: Code definition  
  Summary: Description of any codes associated with the attribute  
  Description: This element describes any code associated with the attribute.  
  Example: The format will typically be : "code" has "definition", e.g. "1" = "high", "2" = "medium", "3" = "low"  
code
  Tooltip: Code  
  Summary: Code associated with the attribute  
  Description: This element specifies a code associated with the attribute.  
  Example: "1" would be the code for "high" (where high is the description of the code)  
definition
  Tooltip: Code definition  
  Summary: Description of the code associated with the attribute.  
  Description: This element describes the code associated with the attribute.  
  Example: "high" would be the definition for a code of "1"  
source
  Tooltip: Source of code  
  Summary: The name of the source for this code and its definition  
  Description: The name of the source from which this code and its associated definition are drawn. This is commonly used for identifying standard coding systems, like the FIPS standard for postal abbreviations for states in the US. In other cases, the coding may be the researcher's customized way of recording and classifying their data, and no external "source" would exist.  
  Example: ISO country codes 
textDomain
  Tooltip: Text domain 
  Summary: Description of a free-text domain pattern for the attribute  
  Description: This element describes a free text domain for the attribute. By default, if pattern is missing or empty, then any text is allowed. If pattern is present, then it is interpreted as a regular expression constraining the allowable character sequences for the attribute.  
  Example: Typically, a textdomain will have an empty pattern or one that constrains allowable values. For example, '[0-9]{3}-[0-9]{3}-[0-9]{4}' allows for only numeric digits in the pattern of a US phone number.  
definition
  Tooltip: Code definition  
  Summary: Description of the code associated with the attribute.  
  Description: This element describes the code associated with the attribute.  
  Example: "high" would be the definition for a code of "1"  
pattern
  Tooltip: Text pattern  
  Summary: Regular expression pattern constraining the attribute  
  Description: The "pattern" element specifies a regular expression pattern that constrains the set of allowable values for the attribute. This is commonly used to define template patterns for data such as phone numbers where the attribute is text but the values are not drawn from an enumeration. If the pattern field is empty or missing, it defaults to '.*', which matches any string, including the empty string. Repeated pattern elements are combined using logical OR. The regular expression syntax is the same as that used in the XML Schema Datatypes Recommendation from the W3C.  
  Example: '[0-9a-zA-Z]' matches simple alphanumeric strings.  
source
  Tooltip: Source of text domain  
  Summary: The name of the source for this text domain.  
  Description: The name of the source from which this text domain and its associated definition are drawn. This is commonly used for identifying standard coding systems, like the FIPS standard for postal abbreviations for states in the US. In other cases, the coding may be the researcher's customized way of recording and classifying their data, and no external "source" would exist.  
  Example: ISO country codes 
numericDomain
  Tooltip: Numeric Domain  
  Summary: Numeric domain of attribute specifying allowed value range  
  Description: This element specifies the minimum and maximum values of a numeric attribute. These are theoretical or expected values, and not necessarily the actual minimum and maximum occurring in a given data set.  
  Example:  
minimum
  Tooltip: Minimum numeric range  
  Summary: Minimum numeric range of attribute  
  Description: This element specifies the minimum value range of numeric attribute.  
  Example:  
maximum
  Tooltip: Maximum numeric range  
  Summary: Maximum numeric range of attribute  
  Description: This element specifies the maximum value range of numeric attribute.  
  Example:  
missingValueCode
  Tooltip: Character for missing value  
  Summary: Character for missing value in the data of the field  
  Description: This element is to specify missing value in the data of the field.  
  Example:  
precision
  Tooltip: Precision  
  Summary: Number of significat digits after the floating point.  
  Description: If data of that field are of floating point storage type this element specifies the number of significat digits after the floating point.  
  Example: any integer number  

Attribute Definitions:

system
  Tooltip: Catalog system  
  Summary: The catalog system in which this identifier is used.  
  Description: This element gives the name of the catalog system in which this identifier is used. It is useful to determine the scope of the identifier, and to determine the semantics of the various subparts of the identifier. Unresolved issue: can or should this be a URI/URL pointing to the catalog system, or just the name?  
  Example: <identifier system="metacat">nceas.3.2</identifier> 

Web Contact: jones@nceas.ucsb.edu