Prepopulate

• Setup

• Prepopulate Rule Settings

• Flowchart

As of Collective Access version 1.5, prepopulate automatically prepopulates fields in CollectiveAccess records based on Display Templates and Expressions.

Setup

The core configuration is done in app/conf/prepopulate.conf. There are two settings that control when the prepopulate rules kick in:

1. On record save, prepopulate_fields_on_save

2. Each time an editor is opened, prepopulate_fields_on_edit

Note

Both settings are turned off by default. Set one or both of these settings to 1 to enable the feature.

The main part of the configuration is a list of rules under prepopulate_rules. Each rule should have a unique code, e.g. test_rule, in the example block below:

prepopulate_rules = {
     # -------------------
     test_rule = {
             # what types of records does this rule apply to?
             table = ca_objects,
             #restrictToTypes = [artwork],

             # mode determines handling of existing values in target element
             # can be overwrite, or addIfEmpty
             # See the 'target' setting below and http://docs.collectiveaccess.org/wiki/Prepopulate
             mode = addIfEmpty,

             # What's the prepopulate target?
             # This can be an intrinsic field, labels or an attribute.
             #
             # Note that if you want to target a List attribute, you have to
             # provide a valid list item idno or id for that list as value!
             #
             # See http://docs.collectiveaccess.org/wiki/Prepopulate
             target = ca_objects.title_notes,

             # skip this rule if expression returns true
             # available variable names are bundle names
             #skipIfExpression = ^ca_objects.idno =~ /test/,

             # content to prepopulate
             # (this is a display template evaluated against the current record)
             template = ^ca_objects.preferred_labels (^ca_objects.idno),
     },
     # -------------------
}

Prepopulate Rule Settings

Setting Name	Type	Description	Example
table	Valid CollectiveAccess table name	Defines what table this rule applies to	ca_objects
restrictToTypes	Optional list of valid items from the type list for table	Optional type restriction for this rule	[artwork, image]
mode	One of addIfEmpty, overwrite, merge	Determines handling of existing values in target element. addIfEmpty: set relationships only if none exist overwrite: replace relationships merge: add relationships that do not already exist	addIfEmpty
target	A valid bundle specifier for either an instrinsic field, labels, or an attribute	Determines the prepopulate target. Note that if you want to target a List attribute, you have to provide a valid list item idno or id for that list as value	[ca_objects.description]
skipIfExpression	A valid expression	Allows for rule based skipping of the rule. If the expression result is true, the rule is ignored for the current record	^ca_objects.object_status_new!~ /deaccessioned/
template	A valid template	This defines the actual content that is injected into the target element. The display template is evaluated against the current record.	^ca_objects.medium_container.menu ^ca_objects.medium_container.support
context	Parent, children, or related	parent: copy relationships from the parent children: copy relationships from children related: copy relationships from related records (e.g., if table = ca_objects, and target = ca_entities, copy all entity relationships from related objects)	Parent
restrictToRelationshipTypes	Valid relationship type	For use with context (above). Use this setting to only copy relationships with the specified relationship type codes	Author
excludeRelationshipTypes	Valid relationship type	For use with context (above). Don’t copy relationships with these specified relationship type codes	Creator
restrictToRelatedTypes	Valid record type	For use with context (above). Only copy relationships pointing to specified types	Artwork
excludeRelatedTypes	Valid record type	For use with context (above). Don’t copy relationships pointing to specified types	Archival
currentOnly	1 or 0	For use with context (above). Only consider current relationships, such as current storage location	0

An example use of “context” configuration:

related_entities = {
 table = ca_objects,

 # add relationships that do not already exist
 mode = merge,

 # copy all entities related to objects related to the target record
 target = ca_entities,
 context = related,

 # copy only those entities related with the relationship type "artist"
 restrictToRelationshipTypes = [artist],

 # don't copy relationships with specified relationship type codes;
 #excludeRelationshipTypes = [],

 # copy only entities that are the type "individual"
 restrictToRelatedTypes = [ind],

 # don't copy relationships pointing to specified types
 #excludeRelatedTypes = [],

 # only consider "current" relationships – Eg. current storage location
 currentOnly = 0,
},

Flowchart