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SDC Overview Definitions Example Types of SDCs Overview of SDC Types Overview of SDC Features   Reference Types

 

Overview	Top

Definitions

SDCs and SDIs are the fundamental building blocks of LabVantage:

•	An SDC (Sapphire Data Collection) is a group of records in one or more database tables that collectively define an entity associated with data.
•	An SDI (Sapphire Data Item) is a group of records that collectively define an item belonging to an SDC.

 

Example

Here is an example that shows the relationship between an SDC and its SDIs. "User" is an SDC that has two SDIs (Users): "JDrake" and "MPrice". This example shows a simple association between the two User SDIs and the Roles to which they belong. Note that this is a simplified example that is intended to show how LabVantage uses multiple tables to define and maintain an SDC and its SDIs. Tthe number of tables required to maintain an SDI vary depending upon the properties of the SDC and what you do with the SDI. For the sake of brevity, only a few tables and columns are shown in order to demonstrate a simple linked relationship.

User SDC   The "User" record in the SDC table points to the SysUser table, which contains records that define the User SDIs. The SysTable table points to tables that define SDIs (in this case, SysUser). The SysColumn table is essentially the Data Dictionary, as it defines all columns for all SDIs. SDC   SysTable   SysColumn SDCId TableId   TableId   TableId ColumnId User SysUser SysUser SysUser SysUserId             Password   The SDCLink table defines all links for all SDCs. In this example, this is where the Data Model maintains many-to-many links between Users and Roles. The composite table is automatically generated when the link is made. SDCLink SDCId LinkId LinkSDCId LinkTableId Link Type User UserRole Role SysUserRole Many-Many Role RoleUser User SysUserRole Many-Many   The SysRef table points to tables that define the links. The SysRefColumn table defines the columns to which the links refer. Note that this structure is similar to the SysTable and SysColumn tables. The composite table SysUserRole completes the many-to-many links between the SysUser and Role tables. SysRef   SysRefColumn RefId TableId   RefId ColumnId FKSysUser_SysUserRole SysUserRole   FKSysUser_SysUserRole SysUserId FKRole_SysUserRole SysUserRole   FKRole_SysUserRole RoleId

User SDIs   Here, the composite table SysUserRole defines the many-to-many links between the the Users and their Roles. One SysUser can have many SysUserRoles, and one Role can have many SysUserRoles. SysUser SysUserRole Role SysUserId Password   SysUserId RoleId   RoleId JDrake ft3byo18   JDrake Technician   Technician MPrice ayh693td   MPrice Manager   Manager

 

Types of SDCs	Top

Overview of SDC Types

There are four types of SDCs:

•	"Core" and "System" are provided OOB to provide essential functionality.
•	"User" are created by you.
•	"Definition" are provided OOB to define information and links relevant to specific operations (such as Data Sets and Data Items used during Data Entry).

Each type of SDC defines a set of features. Features available in each configuration depend on various security access settings for the current User:

	Feature
SDC	Add SDIs	Create	Delete	View	Extend	Link	Use Options
Core	x			x
System	x			x	x	x	x
User	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Definition				x	x	x

Overview of SDC Features

Each SDC feature describes a finite set of functionality:

Feature	Description
Add SDIs	Add new SDIs to an SDC.
Create	Create new SDCs (using the SDC Maintenance Page).
Delete	Delete SDCs from the database.
View	View (read-only) details concerning an SDC.
Extend	Add columns to an SDC (done in the SDC Maintenance Page).
Link	Link SDC columns to other entities in the data model (done in the SDC Maintenance Page).
Use Options	These options are available for all SDIs added to the relevant SDC (selectable in the SDC Maintenance Page).