Features of the Component Registry

The first way of using CMDI is browsing through registered components and profiles. The second way consists of editing and creating components or profiles.

Registering and storing components or CMDI profiles are further functions of the component registry.

To illustrate the workflow in the component registry please consult the following Figure A.2:

Workflow from CMDI to Arbil

Figure A.2. Workflow from CMDI to Arbil


The start screen of the Component Registry is called the component browser, which is the entry point for using other functions (editing and importing) (see Figure A.3). First, though, the user can browse for either profiles or components. Search-terms can be typed in a field at the top on the right to filter out non-matching items. Additionally the user can switch between public and (unpublished, private) user workspaces. For more information on individual profiles or components, one can select the entity in question and details will appear in the panel below. Such panel can be optionally displayed in an interactive default view (to explore structure more in depth) or in an xml-view of the actual component assessed.

Right-clicking on items in the list leads to options such as downloading profiles or components as xml representations or downloading the respective xsd. The latter can be loaded into Arbil for usage before publication (see section ' the section called “Managing Selected Profiles ”'), and suits further use by other tools within CLARIN.

On the top-left of the Component Registry you will find three options: the first option (Create new) allows creating a new profile or component in a private workspace. If you choose the second (Edit as new), a selected item can be opened in the editor after authentication of the user, depending on whether it is a copy of a public space or an item in the users’ workspace. The last option (Import) leads to an import form, which will not be discussed in this chapter.


With the help of the component editor the user can modify a profile and/or its components (see Figure A.4). You can access it - after having selected the profile to modify - via the option Edit as new mentioned above. A page like the one shown in the figure below will be shown.


To reuse existing components (Edit (as new) –function) select an existing component from the list below, drag it over the editing panel. Here options will be highlighted where dropping the component is possible. If the component already exists, at this point a reference will be automatically generated to it. Be aware that components which you you have not published yet cannot be used by anyone else. Instead referenced components which you create and publish can be reused by others (when viewing profiles these components are marked by a blue frame in the list of the lower part of the screen). The green buttons indicate options for adding new components (“+component”, ”+element”, “+attribute”), so that newly created fields can be worked on. Up and down arrows allow to reorder elements and components.  

The “save”-function can be used to submit and overwrite existing profiles or components in private workspaces. Existing profiles or components can be used as a basis for new profiles or components without overwriting the existing. In this case the user can apply “save as new” in their private workspaces and work on the profiles and components to adapt them to their needs. The function “publish in public space” is to submit a profile or component as a building-block accessible for others, finalizing the modeling phase of that particular profile or component since after publication, a profile or component cannot be changed anymore. To return to the component browser and discard changes, press “cancel”.

For more detailed information about more elaborate editing processes (type, import, concept links, action links, comments and priority display) have a look at the CMDI metadata page on the TLA website, the CLARIN website or the extensive CMDI manual of the TLA.