The Pears Tags (.tags) File

The information below identifies and defines the basic constructs that you can create in a Pears tags file.

Contents

Introduction
Parameters in a Tags File
Example

Introduction

A tags file works in concert with certain record handlers to map fields in an SGML, XML, or delimited text record to their corresponding BER tag paths. Within the SiteSearch environment, all records must eventually be stored in BER format in order for them to be manipulated through the WebZ Interface or Record Builder Cataloger Interface.

Two Pears record handlers expect a tags file:

• HandleSGML
• HandleDelimited

During an import or export, HandleSGML or HandleDelimited first looks in the current database description configuration file for a reference to a specific tags file. If it does not find one, it automatically creates its own tags file. Regardless, whether the record handler creates it or you define it, a tags file must be present in order to import and export SGML, XML, or delimited records into and out of a Pears database.

There are a couple advantages to defining a tags file, rather than letting the record handler create its own.

When you define and point to a specific tags file during import, you can standardize where data is placed in the resulting BER record. Maintaining the predictable locations of data within your BER records makes it easier for you to reuse existing formats when displaying records in the WebZ Interface. Without this standardization, you would likely have to create new formats each time you created a new database.

Additionally, the tags file works in conjunction with a template (.xml) file to enable you to view or update Pears records through the Record Builder cataloger interface. Certain tag paths are predefined and expected by template.xml files within the Record Builder environment. Defining tags files rather than letting record handlers create them by default allows you to take advantage of and preserve any existing mappings to fields thus enabling your access to the Pears database through the Record Builder Cataloger Interface.

Example:

The following example shows the process involved in converting an SGML-formatted record into a BER-formatted record using a defined tags file.

Parameters in a Tags File

The table below provides definitions and examples for the various structures that you can create in a Tags file for a Pears database. If you have worked with Newton databases, you may notice many similarities between the contents of a .dtd file and the contents of a .tags file.

Parameter	Description
RecordTag Optional	RecordTag tells the record handler how it can identify a new record. Its Name is your choice; however, its attribute must be "RecordTag."
content Optional	The value for the content definition identifies into which subfield the record handler is to map the data for a field. You can set this globally for the entire record at the top of the tags file. While its name does not matter to the record handler, its attribute value must be "content" when you declare it in a tags file. Note: If you do not define content or do not define a tags file at all, the record handler assumes that each field's content is in subfield "1."
attribute Optional	The attribute defines which subfield in a BER record contains an SGML element attribute node. Example: If you declared "2" as the subfield that is to contain attribute information:
ID Optional	The record ID field identifies the tag that holds the unique ID for each record. A record must have a unique ID in order to be modified.
tag_definition Optional	An individual tag definition maps a field in an SGML, XML, or delimited text record to its corresponding location in a BER record. While you may choose any Name Space, Name, and Tag Number that you want for each definition, the best practice is to maintain consistency across your databases. Additionally, if you are planning to view and modify records from the current database using the Record Builder cataloger interface, you do not want to reuse tag numbers associated with already existing RB, Scorpion, or MANTIS tags in other tags files.

Tag definitions follow the syntax Name, TagPath, Attribute and they fall into one of two types:

• Data File Processing Tag Definition
• Field Tag Definition

A data file processing tag definition declares how the data is going to be processed. It sets a global attribute value that will affect every tag in a record.

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Example

The following is an example tags file:

rec 0 RecordTag PCDATA 1001 content Attribute 2 attribute ID 1099 DC:Type 101 DC:Format 102 DC:Description 103 DC:Language 104 DC:Rights 105 DC:Identifier 106 DC:Date 107 DC:Title 108 DC:Publisher 109 DC:Creator 110 DC:Subject 111 DC:Source 112 DC:Relation 113 DC:Contributor 114 DC:Coverage 115 DC:Author 116 DC:Audience 117 DC:RelationURL 118 DC:Level 119 DC:Cost 120 RB:auth 1005 RB:state 1006 RB:term 1007 RDF:Value 1011 RDF:Type 1012 RDF:HREF 1023 Scorpion:Subject 1200 Scorpion:DeweyNumber 1201 Scorpion:SubjectPhrase 1202 Scorpion:Dewey 1203 Scorpion:Phrase 1204 MANTIS:label 1301 MANTIS:image 1302 MANTIS:color 1303 MANTIS:br 1304 MANTIS:display 1305 MANTIS:replicable 1306 MANTIS:width 1307 MANTIS:Group 1308 MANTIS:hr 1309 MANTIS:height 1310 MANTIS:level 1311 MANTIS:help 1312 MANTIS:default 1313 MANTIS:section 1314 MANTIS:index 1315 MANTIS:searchable 1316 MANTIS:hook 1317 MANTIS:href 1318 MANTIS:header 1319 MANTIS:button 1323 MANTIS:parm 1324 MANTIS:name 1325 MANTIS:value 1326 MANTIS:last 1327 MANTIS:id 1328 MANTIS:wildcard 1329 MANTIS:pattern 1330 MANTIS:accept 1335 MANTIS:recurse 1336 MANTIS:token 1333 MANTIS:dataOrder 1334 MANTIS:mutable 1335 MANTIS:prepend 1336 MANTIS:maxHeight 1337 MANTIS:indent 1338 MANTIS:search 1339 TOKEN 1332 DublinCore 1334 RB:Info 1341 RB:Status 1342 RB:LocalData 1343 RB:Institution 1344 RB:LocalDataDate 1345 RB:StatusValue 1346 RB:CompositeStatusValue 1347 RB:Version 1348 RB:CreateDate 1349 RB:ReplacedDate 1350 RB:UsedDate 1351 RB:CreatedBy 1352 RB:LastModifiedBy 1353 RB:LastModifiedByID 1354 RB:LastReplacedBy 1355 RB:LastSubmitTemplate 1356 RB:HarvestInfo 1357 RB:HarvestStatus 1358 RB:HarvestDate 1359 RB:HarvestSuccessDate 1360 RB:HarvestFailures 1361 RB:RedirectChain 1362 RB:Redirect 1363 RB:RedirectURL 1364 RB:RedirectOrder 1365 RB:Scheme 1371 YesDC: 1372 RB:modifier 1373 DC:Scheme 1374 DC:Qualifier 1375 DC:Qualifier 1375

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See Also

Pears Record Handlers
Pears Database Description Configuration File
Creating a New Pears Database
SSDOT for Pears
Pears Database Build Process