How is this editor different from other Metadata editors?

• It is composed of only four simple data entry pages, so there is less hunting and pecking for the required metadata fields.
• It writes the metadata to the ESRI metadata file found in any data set supported by ArcInfo 9.x (e.g. Coverages, Shape Files, Geo Databases, SDE Databases...)
• It allows the user to input the contact information once, and then it populates all three contact information sections with this contact data (e.g.. metadata creator, data creator, and data request contact).
• Pick lists are provided for most of the data entry fields.  These pick list provide either a sample of the potential value, or a list of the potential domains that can be used in that field. These pick list can also be edited via the metadata.mdb file found in "C:\Program Files\ThreeTabEditor" directory
• The theme keyword pick list used by this editor is compatible with those required by the ArcIMS Metadata Server.
• Completion of the fields found in this editor will allow the user to meet the minimal ISO metadata standard.
• The editor is designed to allow users who complete all fields to pass through the metadata parser (mp) with minimal errors.
• The editor is linked to a Microsoft Access database that can be used to store your contact information and pull down lists. This database can be found in the tools installation directory (e.g. c:\Program Files\ThreeTabEditor).
• On-line linkage exists to the Image Map of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) from the tools interface.  This provides user with a quick reference of how to complete the fields.

• Repetitive metadata items such as found in the lineage section of the FGDC metadata record are not handled by this tool.

• The Coeur d'Alene Tribe has maintained a substantial investment in metadata for a number of years.  In 2001 the Tribe migrated a majority of it coverage based GIS data to ArcSDE data structure.  To facilitate the GIS user community at the Tribe we wanted to update the metadata records in the SDE database. This was because the metadata for the original coverage data transferred directly over to SDE without accounting for changes made in the data structure when it moved to SDE.  Unfortunately modifying the metadata in SDE was not as simple of a task as it was in coverage format.  This was primarily due to the way ESRI has stored the metadata in a blob field in the SDE database, making it somewhat difficult to get at. However, by using the capabilities of ArcCatalog it was possible to edit these metadata files via the ArcObjects that come with the ESRI desktop software.
• At the same time as the SDE transition the Tribe has implemented ArcIMS, and the IMS Metadata server.  Since the metadata server requires several key fields (e.g.. Citation Title, Publisher, ESRI defined Keywords) it was also necessary to make sure those fields were correctly completed.
• The above two reasons led us to develop the "Three Tab Editor".  We certainly don't believe its the perfect tool for metadata editing, however we do feel it provides users with some capabilities that didn't exist in any of the currently available tools.

• Summary of editor
• Sample Input Screens
• How to use the editor
• Download the editor
• Contact the developer
• Download the source code
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Open ArcCatalog
2. Go to the Tools Menu  > Options.. > Metadata (Tab).  Next select the "Three Tab Editor" from the the Metadata Editor pick list.  Then press the "OK" button.
3. Choose the dataset that needs metadata and then select the metadata tab in ArcCatalog.
4. Click on the update button (  ) to automatically harvest some metadata information from the dataset.
5. Click on the edit metadata button (  ) to bring up the three tab editor.
6. Complete all the desired fields, this is done by either typing in the field or using the pull down menu to populate the fields.  If you are unsure of how to complete a field you can click on the blue text and it will open up your default web browser and go to the USGS Biological Resource "An Image Map of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata" web site and provide you information for that field.
7. How to create metadata for attributes
   
   1. By default the list box on the left will be populated will all attributes in the data set. You may wish to not create metadata for certain items by first selecting them from the list and then pressing the “Delete Selected Items” button. This will remove them from the list. If you inadvertently delete an item, you can press the “Reload Items” button and all items will be reloaded from the data set.
   2. Metadata for attributes are divided into three levels of detail. Depending upon how much time you have you may only want to use the first level of detail. If you want to completely describe your dataset you may want to take it to the third level of detail. The buttons are arranged in order of detail, the top button being the least and the bottom button being the most.
   3. The following gives a brief description of each button:
   1. “Edit Attribute Name Definitions”: allows you to define what each attribute column in the dataset represents for each item you have in the textbox to the left of the button. For example, you may have a vegetation layer with two attributes; vegetation_type, and acres. This button would allow you to define each of these fields with a sentence.
   2. “Create Statistics for Numeric Items and Derive Domains for Character Items”: This button goes through each item you have chosen in the list and dependent upon its data type does one of two things. If the item is a “Character String” data type then it goes through every record and comes up with unique occurrences for those items. For example if you had an item called vegetation_type it would derive all the potential values found in it (e.g. forest, grass, water…). If the item is composed of numeric values, then a simple statistical summary is created for the item (e.g. Mean, Max, Min). For large datasets the creation of this information may take several minutes.
   3. “Enter Definition of Values Found in Each String Type Attribute”: This button through only works with the “Character string” data types. You first should just make the text box on the left show just one or two attributes you wish to work through. Once you press the button it will prompt the user for the definition of a value found in that attribute (i.e. a domain of that attribute). This process will continue until you have defined all the potential values within that attribute. For example, if you choose to work on the item called vegetation_type, the program would prompt you for a definition of “forest”, then a definition of “grass”, and lastly a definition of ”water”. Of course most of the time our attribute values aren’t as descriptive as grass, water and forest.
8. If you are happy with your entries press the "OK" button and your edits will be submitted to the dataset.  If you are unhappy with your entries press the "Cancel" button and your entries will not be submitted.

Disclaimer

NOTICES REGARDING SOFTWARE, DOCUMENTS AND SERVICES AVAILABLE ON THIS WEBSITE. IN NO EVENT SHALL FRANK ROBERTS OR THE COEUR D'ALENE TRIBE BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF SOFTWARE, DOCUMENTS, PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERVICES, OR INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM THIS SERVER.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS TOOL IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT FROM THE AUTHOR FRANK M. ROBERTS AND THE COEUR D'ALENE TRIBE.
 

Click on the diskette to download Version 1.9 as zip file from ESRI of the the Three Tab Editor.  The file is about .5 megabytes in size.

1. The editor was expanded to allow the editing of terrain datasets and raster datasets in file based geodatabase.
2. Two additional fields have been added to the second tab; "Horizontal Position Accuracy" and "Logical consistency".
3. The editor was also tested in ArcGIS 9.3.1.

1. The editor was fixed to edit just the first record of both the geographic and theme keywords.
2. The editor was fixed to not insert the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's disclaimer, but only the disclaimer the users enters into the database.
3. A "Clear Fields" button was added to delete contents of the boxes in the Contact Information tab. This may be useful if you choose not to enter data into the database but still with to use the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's information for the pulldown values. To do this you would first click on the gray box to the left of the "Coeur d'Alene Tribe" in the table found in the lower right of the Contact Information tab (This loads the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's data info the pull downs for the proceeding tabs.) You then can click the new "Clear Fields on Tab" button and wipe the Tribe's contact information from the first tab.

1. The one small change in this version is in the base code to allow attribute metadata for file based geodatabases.

1. The big change on this version is the ability to modify the pull down tabs and default values by making changes to the metadata.mdb found in ”C:\Program Files\ThreeTabEditor” directory. Five new tables have been added to the metadata.mdb, by modifying the values found in these tables the user can change a number the pick lists found in the editor. The following is a description of the five new tables:
1. AccessCatories Table: Provides a list of the various groups of people that can access the data, this is found in the “Who can access the data” pull down on tab two of the editor. This populates the FGDC “Access Constraints” found in section 1.7 of the FGDC CSDGM.
2. GeoKeyWord Table: Provides a list for the “Geographic key word” pull down on tab two of the editor. This populates the FGDC “Theme Keyword” found in section 1.6.1.2 of the FGDC CSDGM.
3. SecutiryClassification Table: Provides a list for the “Security Classification” pull down on tab two of the editor. This populates the FGDC “Security Classification” found in section 1.12.2 of the FGDC CSDGM.
4. SecurityHandlingDescription Table: Provides a list for the “Security Handling Description” pull down on tab two of the editor. This populates the FGDC “Security Handling Description” found in section 1.12.3 of the FGDC CSDGM.
5. ThemeKeyWords Table: Provides a list for the “Theme Key Words” pull down on tab two of the editor. This populates the FGDC “ThemeKeyWords” found in section 1.6.1.2 of the FGDC CSDGM.
2. The other big change is how you set the defaults for the rest of the pull downs. By default when you bring the editor up some of the pull downs will be blank (e.g. Content Publisher, Publication Place, Security Classification System,…). We have now allowed the user to populate these values via the “publisher_contacts” table that can be found in to the metadata.mdb found in "C:\Program Files\ThreeTabEditor” directory. If you wish to set the values for the pull downs you need select a record from the list of publisher found in the bottom right corner of the Contact Information tab. To select a publisher click on the gray box to the left of the publishers organizations name. It may be very useful for you to add yourself to this database and then add your own values for the various fields used to populate the pull downs. The following is a list of these new fields found in this table and a description of how they fit in to the metadata:
1. UseConstraint: Populates “Use Constraint” pull down on tab 2. Populates FGDC element called “Use Constraint” found in section 1.8 of FGDC CSDGM.
2. SecurityClassificatoinSystem: Populates “Security Classification System” pull down on tab two. Populates FGDC element called “Security Classification System” found in section 1.12.1 of FGDC CSDGM.
3. SourceCitation: Populates “Short-form alias for the source citation” pull down on tab three. Populates FGDC element called “Source Citation Abbreviation” found in section 2.5.1.5 of FGDC CSDGM.
4. SourceContrib: Populates “Brief statement identifying the information contributed…” pull down on tab three. Populates FGDC element called “Source contribution” found in section 2.5.1.6 of FGDC CSDGM.
5. OnlineLinkage: Populates “On line linkage location” pull down on tab three. Populates FGDC element called “Online Linkage” found in section 8.10 of FGDC CSDGM.

1. On tabs two I added a button to purge the "Network Resource" section of the metadata. By default ArcCatalog gives the SDE connection information to this section, this may be confusing if you are publishing your metadata outside your fire wall.
2. I've added a new combo box to tab two for the "On Line Linkage". By default ArcCatalog gives the SDE connection information to this section, this may be confusing if you are publishing your metadata outside your fire wall. Some organizatoins may want to put the url to their web site at this location.
3. The "Resource Description" has been modified so it provides the filename of the dataset. By default ArcCatalog gives the SDE connection information to this section, this may be confusing if you are publishing your metadata outside your fire wall. Some organizatoins may want to put the url to their web site at this location.

1. On tabs one and two "Today's Date" button has been added to all dates, to allow the user to quickly fill in the current date.
2. The forth tab (oops I know its called the three tab editor...) has been significantly expanded to allow for metadata creation of attributes. Several samples from others have been incorporated into this code base to make this happen.
3. The base code has been modified, commented, and reograinzed to make it easier to read.

1. The information for the user's contact information is now pulled from an Microsoft Access database, that can be found in "C:\Program Files\ThreeTabEditor".
2. Information plugged into the editor now goes into both the FGDC metadata fields and the bare minimum of ISO metadata fields
3. Three new fields have been added for the security section of the metadata record.
4. The code has been modified to point at the new object diagram for ArcGIS 9.1.

1. Create a temporary directory on your hard drive to place the download file.
2. Then from this web page download the self extracting zip file into that directory (you may need to right click on the image of the diskette above and select "Save Target As...".
3. In "My Computer" or "Windows Explorer" double click the self extracting file.  This will give you three files (setup.exe, ThreeTabEditor.CAB, and SETUP.LST), you may need to refresh your window to see these files.
4. Make sure ArcCatalog in NOT open.
5. If you have previously installed the tool you should uninstall the tool by going to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs and finding the Three Tab Editor.
6. Install the tool using the setup program provided.  Do this by double clicking on "setup.exe".  The Three Tab Editor Setup window will open and request you to press the "OK" button to install the editor.  By default the editor will be installed in your "C:\Program Files\ThreeTabEditor" directory, if you are ok with the directory location then press the large button in the upper left of the screen (it looks like a computer) to proceed with the install.  The files will then be copied to the appropriate place on your hard drive.  You should get a message that say that the setup was successful, press the "OK" button to close the installation window.
7. You may now delete the temporary directory you created in step 1.
8. Make sure that your you have set some browser to your default browser.  (On most machines this has already been done.)  If you don't have a default browser set the hot links on the form will not work.  One way to do this in Windows 2000 is by going to Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > Program (tab), then click on the "Reset Web Settings..." button.  This will set Internet Explorer to your default browser.

1. I have just downloaded and installed your Three Tab Editor for ArcGIS. I'm getting an error message "can't find contacts database" when I try to edit a dataset.
   
   Answer: You'll need to put the metadata.mdb in C:\Program Files\ThreeTabEditor or it will throw that error.
2. I get the error "Unable to open registry key "HKLM\Software\ESRI\ArcInfo\Desktop\8.0\SPDisplayName" for reading."
   
   Answer: You need to install the latest ArcGIS service pack. Service packs are available at http://support.esri.com/ under the downloads tab.

One common desire is to change the pull downs to your own information. To do this open up the simpleDialog form, and then select the combo box you wish to edit. However, in version 1.6 changes were made in the code to allow users to edit the list boxes.  You can then edit the properties for the combo box by editing the "List" item.  Once you have made your changes you will need to create a new dll.  You then must register your dll with your operating sytem.

Once you have created your own dll the following are some directions to help you load the new dll onto your system:

1. Register the dll on your machine.
2. Run Categories.exe from %ARCHOME%\bin.
3. Navigate to the 'Metadata Editors' folder. Select the folder and click Add Object.
4. Navigate to the compiled sampleCustomEditor.dll and click Open.
5. The Add Objects dialog box appears listing "simpleEditor", which is checked by default. Click OK.
6. In the Component Categories Manager, you can see that "customEditor.simpleEditor" has been added to the list of components in the Metadata Editors category. Click OK.
7. In ArcCatalog, click the Tools menu and click Options. Click the Metadata tab.
8. Click the Metadata Editor dropdown arrow, click "Sample Custom Editor", then click OK.
9. Click a shapefile or another data source in the Catalog tree. Click the Metadata tab and then click the Edit Metadata button on the Metadata toolbar. The custom editor appears in place of the Catalog's default metadata editor.
The above is from http://arcobjectsonline.esri.com/  then go to Samples -> Metadata -> Editors -> Sample Custon Editor
 

The Three Tab Editor was created by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe GIS Program's GIS Manager, Frank Roberts.  Frank Roberts can be contacted by  For more information on the Coeur d'Alene Tribe GIS Program visit our web site at gis.cdatribe-nsn.gov.