Associating Records: Product

The Associated section is used to connect metadata records with each other. This feature should be used when items are related. For example, products are often the result of projects, and projects can have sub-projects. Projects and products can be linked together by using an association. Adding associations will allow users to find items that relate to each other quickly and easily.

In ScienceBase, Associated Records are referred to as Item Associations.

Remember: Project-product associations are different than parent-child relationships on ScienceBase.

Create Associations

In mdEditor, the association can be created either from the Project record or the Product record. The "Association Type" will define the association from your current record to the linked record. Specifying the "Linked Association Type" will create the association from the other direction.

Important: It is recommended you ALWAYS specify the Linked Association Type when you create associations. This will ensure the associations are defined from both directions and be present in the metadata regardless of how the metadata is translated or where it is used in the future.

If records are imported from ScienceBase, the record associations might be automatically created, but sometimes the associations may need to be recreated manually (as described below). Associations can only be made after both project and product records have been created in mdEditor.

Quick Reference: Creating an Association in a Product Record
1. Select "parentProject" from the Association Type drop-down menu.
2. Use the Select a Record button to select an associated project.
3. Choose the project that you would like to associate from the "Select a Resource" list.
4. Fill out the Linked Association Type with "product."

Step-by-Step: Creating an Association in a Product Record

Step 1: Select "parentProject" from the Association Type drop-down menu. This field will describe the relationship from the associated record to the product record (the associated record is the parentProject of the product record you are editing).

Step 2: Click the "Select a Record" button to select an associated project.

Step 3: Choose the project that you would like to associate from the Select a Resource list.

Step 4: Fill out the Linked Association Type with "product."