Accent An Accent is the color coding or highlighting of values to aid the recognition of patterns in data displays.
AccentScheme A user-defined color-scheme for objects that meet criteria based on a Flag value. It can be applied to text color and background color on the GUI and within reports. There are ResearchTypes e.g. Person and Place Event-based and Date-based AccentSchemes.
AccessVariable A variable with a formula to access a value relative to the CurrentFocusID.
Associate Any ResearchType Object that is linked to (or has a role in) an Event or Task.
Citation A Citation is the relevant detail about a Source such that another researcher can find the data quoted about an Event.
Client The computer whose screen is displaying the GUI.
Collection A ResearchType that can be the owner of a number of other ResearchType objects.
CurrentFocusID The CurrentFocusID is the ObjectID of the current subject of a GUI screen, such as the FocusPersonEventDetails screen. There can be one CurrentFocusID for each ResearchType in use in the Project.
CurrentResearchFocus The CurrentResearchFocus is the current ResearchType that is the focus of the GUI. A Project can include several ResearchTypes. The user can switch the GUI view to another ResearchType. Each ResearchType has a CurrentResearchFocus
DataEntryLanguage A natural Language used for entering data into the database.
Date There are two types of Date used by HRE, the HistoricalDate and the NowDate. Refer to their definitions, as they have quite different purposes.
Event A significant occurrence usually with a HistoricalDate and/or Location that has a Source that can be referenced via a Citation. It may refer to more than one Occasion to describe a change of Location over time (as in an Immigration event). It can have a number of supporting MemoFields, Images and External Files.
EventTag The EventTag defines the type of data to be entered for an Event.
External File A file that holds data that requires an external application to view or edit. These files cannot be directly included in the body of a report.
Filter A Filter is a user defined chain of requests that can lead to the selection of a Subset or to directly performing a number of actions on objects. Filters can apply to almost any list of objects.
FixedLocationEventDetails screen This is the screen that remains using a saved Location ObjectID until the user deliberately changes that Location’s ObjectID.
FixedPersonEventDetails screen This is the screen that remains using a saved Person ObjectID until the user deliberately changes that Person’s ObjectID.
Flag A user-defined multi-state value associated with each member of ResearchType or any SupportObjects. It can have a large number of states each of which can have a short multi-character value. Flag values are used to select Subsets and to control Accents.
GUI Graphical User Interface – the screen window that the user sees and interacts with.
GUILanguage The language used for labels, etc in the GUI.
HistoricalDate The HistoricalDate is a date that is entered in an Event. It is usually the date found in a Source and as such may not be in a standard modern day format or form, or recorded using the same calendar.
Image A graphic file whose format is supported for embedding into a report.
Internal Text Internal Text is usually a long block of text that could be included as content for a report, or as a store of experimental data. It can only include uncompressed character data, but can include known encodings like CSV, LaTeX, Jython, HTML and XML. It can also be used to store table data, such as the details of a DNA test, or KML Google Earth annotations, etc.
Key Associate An Associate to an Event (or Task) who (or which) is in a mandatory role for that Event (or Task) as it occurred. Events and Tasks can have one or more Key Associate. A birth has one Key Associate (the person being born), a marriage has two Key Associates (the couple being married), a child custody case has at least three Associates. There is no restriction in HRE on the number of Key Associates to an Event or Task.
Language There are three Language settings in HRE, namely GUILanguage, DataEntryLanguage and ReportLanguage.
Layout A Layout is a saved, named configuration for a fixed arrangement of screens in the GUI. Layouts are setup for different workflow activities, like entering census records, compared with setting Flags via Filters.
Library A Library is a collection of settings for a particular configuration requirement.
Link Link is a generic term for the connection of two data objects by a database structure that also holds information about the type of Link.
LinkObject A LinkObject is a structure that defines a link between two ResearchObjects, between two SupportObjects or between a ResearchObject and a SupportObject, such as a Person as an Associate to an Event.
LinkSubset A LinkSubset is one of the forms of Subset. It holds a list of triplets of ObjectIDs. The first ObjectID is that of a Link between two other objects. The ObjectIDs of the two other objects are the second and third ObjectIDs in that triplet. It is used by some Tools to control operations on lists of links.
LocalFocusID The LocalFocusID is he transient ObjectID that is the focus of a small operation within the construction of a Report Block or a TableRowFocus, TableColumnFocus or an ObjectID retrieved from a Subset by a Filter.
Location A SupportType that is installed in all versions of HRE Location stores data about geographic locations on, above or below the surface of the Earth.
LocationObject A LocationObject is a SupportObject that stores user geographic location data. It is the location used for an EventObject, TaskObject or RepositoryObject.
Marker A means to control visual effects or selection of data objects within the GUI or in a report. Markers include Flags, Notepads, Accents and Themes and can be used with ResearchObjects and SupportObjects.
MemoField A MemoField is a field that has an extremely large character size limit. In HRE all MemoFields can have named parts and those parts can contain a separate section for each language for which the user supplies content.
NameStyle A structure that controls the fields of entry and provides several OutputTemplates for the output of that information on screen and in reports. Many ResearchTypes have a NameStyle, as do Sources.
NarrativeReport A NarrativeReport creates a sequence of paragraphs using a Tag’s Sentences. It can include Citations, Footnotes, Endnotes, Bibliography and Indexes to match selected publishing standards.
Notepad A Notepad is like Flag in as much as they can be user-defined for all ResearchTypes and other objects. The difference is that Notepads hold Unicode string values of potentially a great length and whose internal format is of no concern to HRE. They could be a snippet of XML, etc. They are usually explicitly set by the user by the use of a Filter. The Notepad value can be accessed for insertion into Sentences or output in a tabular report.
NowDate A date, usually generated by a computer, and rarely input by the user. It is the date used for recording when an edit was performed. It is in a standard format with no ambiguity.
Occasion An Occasion is a coordinate in time and space. It connects together an HistoricalDate and a Location. It can exist if only one of either HistoricalDate or Location is known. It is most commonly used with Events.
ObjectID The unique internal Identity of each object in the HRE database.
ObjectName Many ResearchType Objects have one or more ObjectNames. Some objects like Persons, Locations and Sources must have a name. ObjectNames can be simple, while some other Object types have very structured naming conventions. These are managed by the use of NameStyles.
ObjectRelationships Object Relationships are the elements that join collected data into a web of inter-connections. For Persons they can be the usual family inter-generational types (son, daughter, mother, father, etc). For Locations they can be spatial types (like near, within, adjacent, etc). For mixed types of relationships, a Person may own a House, or the House may be owned by a Person.
Other Associate An Associate to an Event (or Task) who is not in a mandatory role for that Event (or Task). Events and Tasks can have any number of Other Associates. Other Associates are not restricted to persons but may be any ResearchType object.
OutputTemplate A user-defined method of specifying how the input to an objects content is to be presented or sorted on the screen or in a report.
PairSubset A PairSubset is one of the forms of Subset. It holds a list of pairs of ObjectID. It is used by some Tools to control reporting on potential duplicates.
Person A ResearchType that is installed in all versions of HRE. Person stores data about human persons.
Place A Place is a ResearchObject that provides the focus for research about a Place. It has a name and link to a Location to provide the geographic details of the Place.
Project A database that contains all user entered data for a particular research activity. It also holds the configuration settings for use of the project.
Relationship A Relationship is a term that is used for links between objects of the same ResearchType.
Reminder A Reminder is a text description of what data is required for each data entry field.
Report A Report is output that can be externally saved or printed. It is created by executing a Report Configuration.
Report Configuration A Report Configuration is recipe to produce output from the research database. It is built in two parts, a ReportScript and a collection of ReportBlocks.
ReportBlock A ReportBlock provides the rules and content for a block within a report. For NarrativeReports they use the Sentences associated with Tags to create this content.
ReportLanguage The language used for output to reports.
ReportScript The ReportScript defines the general layout of report content and sequences the order of that content.
Repository Repository is the description of where Source ocumentation was stored at the time of access. This may be an Institution (with its address) or the relevant website.
ResearchLink A relationship between two ResearchType objects, like a person is mother of another person, an artwork is owned by a person, a person is a member of an organization.
ResearchObject The ResearchType provides a template for the ResearchObject that stores user data.
ResearchPlan The ResearchPlan records goals of the plan of attack to complete the research. It also records the progress and the needs for further work.
ResearchType A type of data that can become the focus of research. This includes persons, locations, organizations, buildings, animals, artistic works, etc. All installations of HRE have Persons and Locations installed by default.
Ribbon A function within a GUI that gives direct access to many functions by a single mouse click. The view of the Ribbon is changed by clicking another RibbonTab.
RibbonBlock The labelled tab that when selected changes the view of the Ribbon from its previous tab state to the new tab state. This action brings a new range of functions available for use. The elements in a RibbonTab are made up of RibbonBlocks.
RibbonTab The visual content of a RibbonTab is divided into labelled compartments called RibbonBlocks which ideally have common themes.
Screen The visual display of a computer system.
Sentence Sentences are used to create dynamic text output for reports. The user can construct Sentences using AccessVariables. There are default Sentences defined for all Tags and for all Associates of Events and Tasks. These AccessVariables act as markers that are later interpreted. The relevant current value of that request is substituted in the output text.
Server The computer system where the Project database is stored.
SimpleSubset A SimpleSubset is a list of single entries of ObjectIDs. It is the most common form of Subset. It is used to control which objects are to be examined in many operations. They can be formed manually or by the execution of a Filter.
Source The description of the documentation used to make an inference about an Event. This description needs to be complete enough to enable another researcher to find that Source again.
SourceType Sources come in many forms. The SourceType either pre-defined or user-defined) specifies what attributes should/could be entered for a particular form of a Source and the format and sequencing of that on the screen or as part of a report.
Subset A Subset is a list of ObjectIDs. They can then be used as input to other actions. Subsets are named and reusable. They can be defined for almost all objects with ObjectIDs. There are three forms of Subsets; SimpleSubset, PairSubsets and LinkSubsets.
SupportObject SupportObjects are instances such as Event, Task, Location, Source, Repository, Image, ExternalFile or InternalText.
TableColumnFocus The ObjectID that is the common starting point for retrieving all items in the current column of a screen display or output table.
TableRowFocus The ObjectID that is the common starting point for retrieving all items in the current row of a screen display or output table.
Tag A Tag is the name given to the database record that records data about Events, Tasks, Object Relationships, ObjectNames and Links.
Task A Task is an object like an Event. It has Tags to define the type of task. They can be used to describe the steps in and the progress in a ResearchPlan. Each Task usually has a NowDate to record the sequence of these actions. It is where the researcher places their notes and documents expenses, etc. Tasks can be arranged in trees of finer and finer detail. Tasks can be linked to almost every user data object and can be the source for Task Reports.
TaskTag The TaskTag defines the type of data to be entered for a Task.
Theme A Theme is a chronologically sorted selective set of tags that relate to a similar aspect of the study, like a person’s education. Themes can be nested.
Tool A Tool is a software feature that provides services to the user. An example is a calendar calculator that computes the interval of time between two Events.
Variables See AccessVariables.
Viewpoint A Viewpoint is a collection of dockable and re-sizable screens that can be user-defined to aid research into objects of a selected ResearchType. Multiple Viewpoints can be defined to provide several different perspectives into the database. A Viewpoint will typically comprise a main screen listing the objects of primary research interest, linked to several secondary screens that update automatically as the focus is changed within the primary screen. Additional fixed screens can also be defined to enable the user to make comparisons as they navigate around the database.
Window A separate viewing area on a display screen allowing multiple viewing areas in the overall graphical user interface (GUI). Characteristics of windows may be controlled by the user.