metamod:user_database

User database

Design of new user database intended for the 2.5 (CryoClim) release of METAMOD

UserTable

U_id A_id U_name U_email U_password U_institution U_telephone U_session

DataSet

DS_id U_id A_id DS_name

Info

DS_id I_type I_content

File

DS_id F_name F_timestamp F_size F_status F_errurl

The table details are presented below:

U_id Unique user id (autoincremented number). Primary key
A_id Application id. Many METAMOD applications share the same database. This field has the same value as the APPLICATION_ID in the master_config.txt file.
U_name User name as given in registration form
U_email User E-mail address as given in registration form
U_password User password
U_institution User institution acronym as given in registration form
U_telephone User telephone number as given in registration form
U_session User session id. Random string generated when the user initiate a new interactive session.

The U_session field is used to track the state of an interactive user session. The user may only have one interactive session active at any time. If the user initiate a new session when another session is already active, the old session disappears. If the user tries to continue the old session, an error message will be submitted. This is the same mechanism used in the old (METAMOD 2.3 and earlier) file-based version.

The A_id field connects the user to one of the METAMOD applications that share the same database. If the same person wants to be a user of more than one of these METAMOD applications, she/he must apply for a user account in each application, and the database will contain independent rows in the user table, one for each application.

DS_id Unique dataset id (autoincremented number). Primary key. Not same number as in the Metadata Database
U_id Identifies the user owning the dataset.
A_id Application id.
DS_name Dataset name. Name of dataset as provided by the user. Not the same name as in the corresponding field in the Metadata Database. But the last part of the name found in the Metadata Database field (everything after '/') will correspond to this field.

The combination of the A_id and DS_name fields will provide an alternative unique key that can be used to find a dataset without knowing the owning user.

This table is used to contain various information about a dataset. Each piece of information is identified by the dataset it belongs to (DS_id) and a type tag (I_type) that is a short acronym for a limited set of information types.

DS_id Identifiles the dataset this info-row belongs to
I_type Type tag. Short acronym that identifies the information type.
I_content The text string representing a piece of information. This can be a single entity (unstructured text) or an XML document.

For the time being, the following information types (I_type) will be needed:

DSKEY Dataset key (also called directory key or dirkey) as provided by the user. Single entity
LOCATION Location. Single entity. Absolute path to the directory under which all files belonging to the dataset are found. The files may be found directly in the location directory, or in any subdirectory of the location directory at any level.
CATALOG Partial URL to a THREDDS dataset. Single entity. Combined with the file name, this URL can be used to access the content of a file through a TDS server. It can also provide the URL that points to the THREDDS catalog containing the METAMOD dataset.
WMS_URL URL to the WMS service that can display data from the dataset. Single entity.
WMS_XML XML document that describes available alternatives for displaying the dataset in WMS. For example, the parameters that can be displayed. Each parameter may have a palette (for example “BOXFILL/redblue”) found in a style element in the GetCapabilites document. If no palette is found, a default palette is used for the parameter.

Additional information types may be added later, for example to implement projection information:

PROJECTION_XML XML document used to represent reprojection information. The document contains, among other things, each projection the user has asked for (“Lat/Long”, “Stereo” etc.). Each projection contains attributes: method, projString, xAxis, yAxis and toDegree.
DS_id Dataset this file belongs to. Part of primary key.
F_name Local path to file. The full path is given by “LOCATION/F_name” where LOCATION is the dataset LOCATION found in the Info table. Part of primary key.
F_timestamp Timestamp of last change
F_size File size (bytes)
F_status Status (OK or errors)
F_errurl URL to error report (if errors)

This table is used to display recent changes to the data provider. It will not contain a complete inventory of files in the repository. This table will be purged (rows with old timestamps removed) periodically.

This paragraph defines a set of subroutine/function calls that are used to read and write information to/from the user database. These functions will be implemented in PHP and/or Perl as needed.

The functions are defined as methods in a Userbase class. Inside a Userbase object, there may be a current user and a current dataset. The current user will always own the current dataset. There may also be a current file that will belong to the current dataset.

Method Purpose Parameters
new Create a new Userbase object and set up a connection to the User database OUT: Userbase object reference
close Save any pending changes to the database, and close the connection None
revert Revert any changes to the database made by this Userbase object. Close the database connection. None
Method Purpose Parameters
user_find Search for an existing user in the database and make him/her the current user. IN: User E-mail address, application id (A_id).
user_create Create a new user and make it the current user. IN: User E-mail address, application id (A_id).
user_set Set user properties for the current user IN: Property name (one of 'U_name', 'U_password', 'U_institution', 'U_telephone', 'U_session'), property value
user_get Get user properties for the current user. IN: Property name (one of 'U_name', 'U_password', 'U_institution', 'U_telephone', 'U_session'). OUT: property value
user_first Make the first user in the database the current user. OUT: TRUE if found, FALSE if no users exist.
user_next Make the next user in the database the current one. OUT: TRUE if found, FALSE if already last user.
Method Purpose Parameters
dset_create Create a new dataset and make it the current dataset. The current user will be the owner of the new dataset. IN: Dataset name, dataset key.
dset_find Find a dataset in the database and make it the current dataset. Also make the user that owns the dataset the current user. IN: Application id, dataset name. OUT: true if the dataset is found, false otherwise.
dset_first Make the first dataset (owned by the current user) the current dataset OUT: true if found, false if no such dataset exists.
dset_next Make the next dataset (owned by the current user) the current dataset. OUT: true if found, false if already last dataset.
Method Purpose Parameters
info_get Get information from the current dataset. IN: Information type (I_type). OUT: Value of I_content field (single entity or XML).
info_put Add or replace content fields in the current dataset. IN: Information type (I_type), value of I_content field (single entity or XML).
Method Purpose Parameters
file_find Search for an existing file (owned by the curent dataset) and make it the current file. IN: File name (F_name). OUT: true if found, false otherwise.
file_create Create a new file (for the current dataset) and make it the current file. IN: File name (F_name)
file_set Set file properties for the current file IN: Property name (one of 'F_size', 'F_status', 'F_errurl'), property value
file_get Get file properties for the current file. IN: Property name (one of F_name', 'F_size', 'F_status', 'F_errurl', 'F_timestamp'). OUT: property value
file_first Make the first file (in the current dataset) the current file. OUT: true if found, false if no files exist.
file_next Make the next file in the database the current one. OUT: true if found, false if already last file.
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  • metamod/user_database.txt
  • Last modified: 2022-05-31 09:29:32
  • (external edit)