Program: FLORENCE

Title: Catalogue Builder

Version: 3.9

• Introduction
• Running Florence
  • Command-line options
• Menus and Controls
  • Main Menu
  • Project Manager Window
  • Search Folder Window
  • Catalogue Comparison and Updates
• Project Parameters
  • Search Options
• Error and Warning Messages

Back to:

• Main Index
• Data Cataloguing Index

Introduction

The Florence application enables users to design and maintain database tables for use in a GIS database, and will search filesystems for files to add to user-defined catalogues for a variety of categories of data. Florence also provides utilities to add files on an individual basis to predefined catalogues.

The catalogues generated by Florence can be used in Zebedee (Reconciler and GIS Builder) to reconcile GIS data and create shape files or loaded into an Oracle Spatial database.

The structure of the catalogues to populate (see Catalogue Description Files), as well as the types of files to search for (see LEA Object Types) is determined by the LEA Catalogue Designer utility Dougal which can be run from within Florence.

The basic sequence of operations to create a new project in Florence is as follows:

• Choose or create a catalogue definition (see the Catalogue Designer - Dougal). In each project, catalogue definitions are stored as Catalogue Description Files (CDFs). These describe the catalogue's field names, data types and constraints on field values.
• Define an output catalogue, or create a new one. New files can be added to an existing catalogue or stored in a new one. For a given CDF, the catalogues will have the same structure and can be combined later if necessary.
• Select a filesystem containing exploration data. The source of the data can be any filesystem visible to Windows.
• Search the filesystem, extracting the object information and storing it in the catalogue. From any directory in the chosen filesystem, Florence carries out a recursive search of subdirectories for the files of the chosen object type. Attributes from the file are extracted and stored in the catalogue.
• Edit the catalogue. The object attributes in the catalogue can be searched, viewed and edited.
• Save the catalogue as a database table. Florence will save catalogues as dBASE tables, or to an Oracle database. The catalogues can also be exported as HTML and standard ASCII for reporting purposes. See Using Databases in LEA Applications.
• You can also add a and populate a location catalogue, which will enable you to use Zebedee to reconcile the objects in the catalogues with their locations, and load this data to a GIS

Running Florence

Florence uses a project file (which has extension .zeb) which stores the current project parameters and keeps track of Catalogue Description Files (or CDFs ) - which contain a catalogue description - and catalogues which have been created from these CDFs. This project file is shared with Zebedee, the Reconcier and GIS Builder.

Create a new project with the File-New Project menu option, or open an existing project with the File-Open Project menu option. If the project already contains CDFs and catalogues, you can open a catalogue by double-clicking it in the Project Manager, otherwise, selecting the Project-New CDF menu option will launch Dougal, the Catalogue Designer to create or select a catalogue description file. Alternatively, you can drag CDF file icons from an Explorer window onto the Project Manager window to add them to the project.

Once you have an open catalogue, you can refine the options used to search for files (see Search Options), specify a folder from which to start the search (see Search Folder), and search for files to add to the catalogue (menu option Go-Run). When all files that match your search have been added to the catalogue, you can manually edit it to add information that could not be read from the files automatically. Alternatively, you can add files individually to the catalogue using the Catalogue-Add Single File to Catalogue menu option, or use the Catalogue-Add File menu option which launches Dylan, the Catalogue File Registration Utility to add files and browse the catalogue in a single record view.

When you have finished editing the catalogue, it can be saved or exported in a variety of formats (see menu options Project - Save Catalogue and File - Export Catalogue)

Command-line options

Florence can be run with a command-line similar to the following:

FLORENCE [[-remote] -uCONNECTSTRING] [-n | ZEBFILE [CDFFILE [DBTABLE]]]

where:

• -uis an optional flag for connection to an Oracle database. CONNECTSTRING specifies an Oracle connection string in the form USERNAME/PASSWORD@DATABASE in the same format as used by Oracle SQL*Plus and other Oracle utilities. If this flag is specified, this connection will override the Oracle database name specified for a catalogue in the CDF.
  If this flag is not specified, Florence will attempt to connect to Oracle (if necessary) using OS-authentication as the current Windows user, or display a connection dialogue to enter a username, password and Oracle SID.
  Alternatively, you can connect directly to Oracle without using the Oracle client, by including the -remote flag and specifying a connection string in the form USERNAME/PASSWORD@SERVER:PORT:SID
  where SERVER is the hostname or IP address of the Oracle server, PORT is the port number used by the Oracle Listener, and SID is the system identifier of the Oracle instance. See Using Databases in LEA Applications - Oracle Connection for more details.
  
• -n flag indicates that a new project should be opened. This is the default if there are no command-line arguments, but this flag allows you to open a specific CDF and database table file in a new project.
  or
• ZEBFILE is the name or path of a valid archive project file (with a .zeb extension).

• CDFFILE is the name or path of a Catalogue Description File to open on application startup. The CDF will be added to the current (or new) project if it is not already part of it.
• DBTABLE is the name or filepath of a database table:
  The table will be added to the current project if it is not already part of it.
  DBTABLE cannot be specified without also specifying a CDFFILE. The table structure defined in the CDFFILE must match that in the specified table.
  For dBASE tables, DBTABLE should be the filename or path name of the file - remember that strings containing spaces must be quoted on the command-line: eg

  florence -n "C:\My Documents\test.cdf" "C:\My Documents\test.dbf"

  For Oracle tables, DBTABLE is a string concatenating the database name with the table name. The string must start with a semi-colon, and the tablename should also be delimited by a semi-colon - eg:

  florence -n d:\data\test.cdf ;ORCL;CHRIS.TABLE1

  This command will open the table CHRIS.TABLE1 from the Oracle database ORCL with the CDF TEST.CDF.
  

With no command-line arguments, Florence will start up with a blank new project

Menus and Controls

Main Menu

• File

  • New Project 
    Create a new project. You will be prompted whether you wish to:

    • Create New Project using CDF Template - use one of the predefined CDF templates to create an empty catalogue. See the Project-Add CDF-CDF Template menu option.You can then use the Search Folder window to select the folder to start searching, then select Go-Run to populate the catalogue.
    • Create New Project using an existing CDF File - select an existing CDF to create an empty catalogue. See the Project-Add CDF-CDF File menu option. You can then use the Search Folder window to select the folder to start searching, then select Go-Run to populate the catalogue.
    • Create a Blank New Project
    • Open an Existing project - select an existing archive project (*.zeb file).
    • Open your Last Project - reopen the last project you saved in Florence or Dylan.

    You can use the Project - Add CDF menu option to add additional CDFs to the project, or create additional catalogues using the File-Import Catalogue, Project-New Catalogue and Project-Add Catalogue menu options.

  • Open Project 
    Open an existing project file (with a ZEB extension). The project contains a list of CDFs and the catalogue tables associated with them, which will be displayed in the Project Manager window.
    You can also drag a project file from an Explorer window onto Florence's main window to open the project.

  • Save Project 
    Save the changes to the current project.

  • Save Project As
    Save the current project as a new file. Enter the file name in the Save As dialogue.

  • Import Catalogue
    Import the records from an external database table into the currently open catalogue table. See Using Databases in LEA Applications for the available formats for input
    Select the catalogue to import from the database table selection dialogue.
    The selected database table will be checked to ensure that its field definitions match the currently open catalogue, and its records will be added to the current catalogue.

  • Export Catalogue
    Export the data from the current catalogue into an external file or database table (which is not added to the current project).
    
    Select the As Table menu to export the current catalogue as a database table. See Using Databases in LEA Applications for the available formats for output. Data exported with this option can be later imported back into Florence using the Import Cataloguemenu option, or added to the project as a standalone catalogue using the Project-Add Catalogue menu option if you wish.
    
    Select the As Text menu to export the current catalogue as a text file. A file selection dialogue is displayed. Select one of the following formats for output:

    • Column-delimited ASCII text - data from the catalogue is written to a text file suitable for further editing and printing.
    • HTML - data from the catalogue is written to a HTML table file which can be displayed in web browsers.
    • Comma-delimited file - data is written to a comma-delimited ASCII file suitable for import into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and databases.
    • CD-VU Index files - data from the catalogue is output as a CD-VU index file. The catalogue must have been created with a predefined CDF template. For seismic data you can create the FILES.TXT index for stacked data and the FIELD.TXT for pre-stack data. For scanned images you can create the OBSERVER.TXT for acquisition reports and the SCANS.TXT for final seismic section images.

    If the selected file already exists, it will be overwritten. Catalogues exported as text cannot be imported back into Florence using the Import Cataloguemenu option.

  • Export Data Files - See Catalogue Tables and Archive Project Files - Catalogue Data Export for details of this option.
    

  • Page Setup
    Select the printer, paper size and page orientation from a print setup dialogue.

  • Print Preview
    Display a facsimile of the printed output on screen.

  • Print
    Print a report of the currently displayed catalogue.
    Select the printer and paper orientation, and specify whether to print all records or selected records in the Print dialogue box.
    Column widths on the printed report are calculated to be approximately proportional to those displayed in the data grid, so columns with a width of less than 1 character will not be displayed on the printed report. The data grid columns can be resized by dragging the column headers.

• Project - See Catalogue Tables and Archive Project Files - Project Manager Window for details of the Project menu options.

• Go

  • Run 
    Start searching for files to add to the current catalogue.
    Each file within the Starting Folder will be examined to determine whether it can be opened as the specified LEA Object type (defined in the CDF). LEA Objects will be added to the catalogue table based on the primary index defined for the catalogue. Duplicate items will be dealt with according to the Search Options - Existing records parameter.

  • Add Single File to Catalogue
    Select a file to add to the current catalogue from the file selection dialogue. This enables you to add files one at a time.

  • Add File (Launch DYLAN) 
    Launches Dylan - the LEA Catalogue File Registration utility to enable files to added individually to a specified catalogue. This option is only enabled when the current project has been saved, and all changes to catalogues committed.

  • Compare/Update
    This option allows you to compare the files present in two different directory trees (such as comparing a CD-ROM archive with live data on a hard disk), or compare and update a previously created catalogue with updated versions of the files.
    A new temporary comparison catalogue is created, and a search is performed as with the Run menu option, except data is added to this temporary comparison catalogue instead of the existing catalogue table. When the search has been completed, the Comparison Window (see below) is displayed.

  • Search for Files NOT in Catalogues
    

    This option will help catalogue maintainance.
    A temporary catalogue is created storing the LEA Object base attributes Filename, File Owner, File size and Date Last Modified.
    Then all files will be examined beneath from the Starting Folder (according to the current Search Options - see below). Each file found will be searched for in all catalogues in the current project. If a file is not found in any of the catalogues it will be displayed in this temporary catalogue.
    The catalogue displayed by this option will be deleted when its window is closed - it will not be stored in the current project, and you will not be prompted to save it. However you can use the File-Export Catalogue option to save the catalogue as a text file or as a database table, and you can also print out a report of this catalogue.

• Catalogue - See LEA Catalogue Tables and Archive Project Files - Catalogue Grid Editor for details of the Catalogue menu options.

• Object - See LEA Catalogue Tables and Archive Project Files - Catalogue Grid for details of the Object menu options.

• View

  • Show Toolbar
    Show/hide the main button toolbar.

  • Show Grid Column Headers
    Show/hide the data grid column headers.
    If the column headers are not showing, a column-delimited text file created with the File - Export menu option will contain no header or column titles, and if the catalogue is printed with the File - Print menu option, no header or column titles will be output.

  • Show Column Descriptions
    Toggle display of the column-descriptions and the field names for the catalogue.

  • Show Search Folder Tree
    Show/hide the Start Folder window.

• Window - This contains standard commands for MDI applications to manipulate the catalogue windows:

  • Cascade
    Arrange all catalogue windows so they overlap within the main window.

  • Tile Horizontally
    Arrange all catalogue forms so that they are all the same size, with the width of each catalogue window stretching across the width of the main window.

  • Tile Vertically
    Arrange all catalogue forms so that they are all the same size, with the width of each catalogue window stretching along the height of the main window.

  • Minimise All
    Iconise all open catalogue windows

Search Folder Window - selecting start folder for search

The Search Folder Window is a docking window that can be placed anywhere on the screen or docked into the main window. Its position will be saved in the project file.
The Search Folder Window is used to set the folder in which the file search will start (see Go-Run).

The folder can be specified in one of the following ways:

• Navigate through the folder tree to select the start folder.
• Click the  button to display the LEA project folder list.
• Type the folder path into the edit box.
• Drag a folder icon from an Explorer window.

The selected folder path will be displayed in the edit box.

You can display the standard Explorer context menu for a folder (by right-clicking on its icon in the Search Folder Window) to open a new Explorer window.

Catalogue Comparison and Updates

Select Go - Compare/Update from Florence's main menu to run a comparison of an existing catalogue with the files found in the current search folder.
The Catalogue Comparison/Update window is displayed when the compare operation has completed. This window will show various views of the records found during the comparison search:

• All records found
• Records with identical fields
• Records with different fields
• Records not in original catalogue
• Records missing from original catalogue

The Compare/Update window has the following menu

• File

  • Save As 
    Save the current view of the comparison table as a database table.
    Note that this will not add this catalogue to your project, but the saved table can be added to your project using the main window's Project - Add Catalogue menu option.

  • Print Preview
    Display a facsimile of the printed output on screen.

  • Print 
    Print the current view of the comparison table.

  • Close
    Close this window, delete the temporary comparison catalogue, and return to the main window.

• Display
  The Display menu and the toolbar combo box provide a number of views of the comparison table.
  The results are displayed in the data grid beneath the toolbar. This view of the data is read-only and cannot be edited, but can be sorted on any column by clicking on the column header.
  All searches and comparisons are based on the LEA Object Key Attributes Filename, Logical File Number and Object Number, and excluding any auto-increment fields.

  • ALL Records in Comparison Table
    This option (default) displays all the records found in the comparison search.

  • Records with SAME Entries
    This option displays records from the catalogue table which have a matching entry in the comparison table, where all fields match.

  • Records with DIFFERENT Entries
    This option displays records from the catalogue table which have a matching entry in the comparison table, where some or all of the non-key attribute fields are different.

  • Records ADDED to the Comparison Table
    This option displays records from the comparison table which do not have a matching entry in the catalogue tableLEA Object Key Attributes.

  • Records MISSING from the Comparison Table
    This option displays records from the catalogue table which do not have a matching entry in the comparison table.

• Update
  The Update menu will apply the data in the comparison table to the catalogue table.

  • Append Records
    Add records from the comparison table into the catalogue table.

  • Update Records
    Replace records in the catalogue table with matching records from the comparison table.

  • Append/Update Records
    If a matching record exists in the catalogue table, replace it. Otherwise, append records to the catalogue table.

  • Delete Matching Records
    Delete records in the catalogue table that match records in the comparison table.

Project Parameters

Search Options

The search options affect the files which are considered for adding to the catalogue, the application's response if a matching entry is already present in the catalogue, and how to store the names of files added to the catalogue.
These parameters can be edited by selecting the Project - Edit Parameters menu option from the main window.

Include wildcard(s)
Default value: *.*
Enter a semi-colon separated list of wildcards for the search to match; for example:

*.bmp;*.jpg;*.gif

Only files which match one of the wildcards will be considered when searching for files to add to the catalogue.

Exclude wildcard(s)
Default value: (blank)
Enter a semi-colon separated list of wildcards to match, as above.
Files matching any of the wildcards specified here will be ignored.

Include Hidden Files
Default Value: YES
YES - files and directories with the 'hidden' attribute set will be included in the search.
NO - files and directories with the 'hidden' attribute set will not be included in the search.

Search Subdirectories
Default value: YES
YES - perform a recursive directory search - include subfolders in the search.
NO - do not perform a recursive directory search - search only in start folder, not subfolders.

Existing records
Default value: Skip
Select from:

• Skip - New catalogue entries which match an existing entry will be ignored.
• Overwrite - New catalogue entries which match an existing entry will be updated.
• Ask - Florence will ask the user whether to overwrite or skip a record when it creates an entry that is already present in the catalogue.

The LEA Object Key Attributes are used to check for matching records. The key attributes are independent of the catalogue's primary key.

Enforce Validity Checks
Default Value: NO
YES - the field constraints from the CDF (see Dougal - Editing a Field Definition) will be evaluated as each record is added to the catalogue during a search. If a constraint on a field is violated a message will be displayed giving you the option to ignore the constraint violation or cancel the search.
NO - the field constraints from the CDF will not be checked during automatic population of the catalogue by the Go-Run menu option. Use the Catalogue-Validate menu option to check the catalogue.
Field validity checks will always be enforced during manual editing of the catalogue within Florence.

File Path Names
The following two parameters affect how the file names are added to the catalogue.

Path Specification
Default value: Relative
Select from:

• Absolute - File names in the catalogue table will be stored as absolute paths, including the drive letter or UNC share name.
• Relative - File names in the catalogue table will be stored as paths relative to the root folder (see Project - Set Root Folder). This option may be useful if, for instance, the data and the catalogue will be on CD-ROM or a network drive where the drive-letter is not fixed.

Case Conversion
Default value: Uppercase
Select from:

• Uppercase - File names in the catalogue table will be converted to upper-case characters.
• Lowercase - File names in the catalogue table will be converted to lower-case characters.
• Preserve - File names will be stored as mixed case in the catalogue table.

If the catalogue tables created are to used on systems with different operating systems, the case of file names can be significant.

Error and Warning Messages

The following error and warning messages are produced by Florence

Error on command-line

This error is produced while Florence is initialising.
The command-line is not a valid LEA command line, or one of the files specified does not exist. See Command-line options above

The relative path does not exist under root directory

This error is produced by the Go-Run and Go-Compare/Update menu options.
When the project search options specify the use of relative paths in catalogues, the project's root folder must be the same as the search folder, or a parent of it, then this error message will be displayed. This may occur when a project contains more than one type of catalogue, or when files are added to a catalogue from two different locations. To resolve this problem, either reset the root folder to the current search folder (using the Project-Set Root Folder menu option, or change the search options to specify absolute paths (see Search Parameters).

See also errors listed in Catalogue Tables and Archive Project Files

See also:
[Dougal - LEA Catalogue Designer]
[Zebedee - Reconciler and GIS Loader]
[The Lynx Exploration Archive Object]
[Catalogue Tables and Archive Project Files]
[Catalogue Description Files]
[Using Databases in LEA Applications]