Worksheet configuration refers to both editing the properties of an existing worksheet, for instance by adding another data field or creating a new field dependency, or by setting up a new worksheet from scratch (please note that adding a new empty worksheet to a project is a premium feature and may not be available depending on the user licence).
To access the worksheet configuration dialog, click on the 'Edit' button in the worksheet menu. Users with permissions to create new empty worksheets will also be able to access the worksheet configuration dialog for a new worksheet by choosing '+New empty worksheet' from the main worksheets dropdown menu.
There are seven tabs in the worksheet configuration dialog: Properties; Fields; Dependencies; Forms; Cards; View mappings; About.
Worksheet properties
Worksheet properties refers to to the primary settings of the worksheet in terms of display and access.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Worksheet name | Mandatory field. Max character length is 30. |
| Record name | Refers to the name of the individual records that will be created for each new row in the worksheet. It is auto generated based on the worksheet name, but can be changed. As an example, if a new worksheet is created with the name 'Empoyees', the record name will be auto generated with the word 'Employee'. References to the record within the worksheet will refer to 'Employee' - for instance the '+Add' button to create a new record will be labelled 'Add new Employee'. The record name could be manually changed to 'Staff member', in which case all references to individual records in the worksheet would now be referring to 'Staff member' instead. The name of the main worksheet will remain 'Employees' in this case. |
| Also known as | Creates an alias for the main worksheet name. If the worksheet has a remote record field type in it, this name will be referenced in places where the worksheet is the origin of any remotely connected record. |
| API key | Can be left blank. Creates an API key that can be used by applications that require access to the worksheet data from a remote source. |
| Show worksheet in main menu | Allows the worksheet to become an individual menu tab in the main project menu. The default placement is to the left of the main 'Worksheets' tab. If several worksheets are pinned to the main menu, they will appear alphabetically by default, but can be manually rearranged. |
| Icon and color | Optional identifiers for the worksheet, if a color and icon are chosen, these will be displayed in the worksheet drop down menu, or main menu if the worksheet is pinned. |
| Fixed columns | Allows for a selected number of columns on the left hand side of the worksheet to stay fixed when scrolling horizontally. It is not possible to choose which columns should stay fixed here, only the number, counting from left to right. If specific columns should be fixed, these need to be ordered in the 'Fields' section of the worksheet configuration dialog to ensure the relevant columns are displayed first. |
| Primary sort | Creates a default sort order based on a chosen data field. If none is chosen, records will be sorted based on date added. Primary sort creates an initial sort order, but this can be changed at any time by individual users when working with the worksheet. |
| Edit access when creating and editing | If switched on, this adds a field, 'Share with' to the 'Add record' dialog. This field specifies who should have access to the record. Default access is given to 'All project users', but can be set to any user, users, group or groups that have access to the project. |
Worksheet fields are the basic building blocks that all worksheets are configured from. These fields consist of different types and formats of data, and each type has a number of subtypes. Once a worksheet has been created and a specific metadata field configuration has been set up, new records may be added to the worksheet according to this configuration. This section describes each of the field types and explains what each of the configurable properties does.
Worksheet field types
Field types | Explanation |
Text | Textual information that attributes in a worksheet. |
Numeric | Creation of numeric data records that can be calculated, analysed and displayed in charts. |
Choice | Data entries where various categories of options can be entered. |
Time | A detailed description of time, date and timezone. |
File | Upload of files into a record, or for connecting worksheet records to files and folders already in the project. Only files published as documents can be connected to a worksheet record. |
Calculated | Values derived from other predefined fields within the same dataset. |
Worksheet field subtypes
Field types | Field | Explanation |
Text | Short text | Concise textual information. |
Text | Multi-line | Textual information across multiple lines of text. |
Text | Hyperlink | Associated hyperlinks or URLs to external content. |
Text | Associated content with relevant email contacts. | |
Text | Shortcode | A prefix can optionally be added to shortcode in the platform. |
Numeric | Number | Minimum values and maximum values set up. |
Numeric | Sequence number | Data entries order starts from 1, based on when data was entered into the worksheet. Sequence numbers may contain an optional prefix. |
Numeric | Currency | All world currencies are available. On configuration, users can choose which currencies to make available when new records are entered. If only one currency is set, this will be displayed with a currency symbol if one exists for that currency. If more than one currency is set, this will be displayed using a three-letter shortcode. |
Numeric | Rank | Creation of rank order for each record. The numbers updated automatically if a new record is entered or inserted between two existing records. If the worksheet is set to be sorted by the rank field, all records become available for drag-and-drop, allowing users to order records manually. |
Choice | Choice | Creation of pre-defined choice options that can subsequently be set for each data entry. A choice entry will allow one option per record, and optionally be set up with an associated color. |
Choice | Multi-choice | Creation of pre-defined choice options that can subsequently be set for each data entry. A multi-choice entry can have several options per record. |
Choice | Tags | Document tags with any tag that already exists in the ‘Manage Tags’ from the project button. |
Choice | Label | Support choices where values are not known in advance or may need to be extended when creating records. Users populating records are able to select from existing values or add new ones. |
Choice | Color | A color for each entry by hexadecimal or RGBA color picker. An initial color can optionally be set as default. |
Choice | Icon | An icon for each entry from a native list of graphic icons. |
Choice | Boolean | Boolean values can be selected or not-selected by default. They are displayed with a 'tick' for a true value and a 'cross' for a false value. |
Choice | User | Choice of user to be added from a list of users already attached to the project. |
Choice | Multiple users | More than one users to be added from a list of users already attached to the project. |
Time | Date | A specific date or range of dates to be added to a record. Options available in the following:
|
Time | Time | A specific time to be added to a record. On entry users can choose to provide the time in 24-hour format or am/pm format. |
File | Images | Images are uploaded for each individual data entry. Image cropping may be square, round or none. The maximum image size that Opus2 Platform can accept is 4MB. The maximum image dimensions are 3000px x 3000px. Images that exceed these dimensions will have to be resized and scaled down before they can be uploaded to the system. |
File | Document | Creation of a link to a document within the current project. |
File | Multiple documents | Creation of a link to multiple documents within the current project. |
File | Text in a document | Smaller excerpts of text to be extracted from a document and displayed in a worksheet record. If a worksheet with a 'text in a document' field exists in a project, when text in a document is highlighted in the document viewer, a new record can be added to the worksheet directly from the document viewer and will be displayed as an annotation in the document viewer's right hand side panel. The field can be set to be used as a bookmark, which will add a bookmark in the left hand side document viewer panel if used. NoteThe field can be applied to transcripts, with two annotation styles. Highlight functions in the same way as highlighting text in a document. Bracket style displays the start and end time of the highlighted text, and can be used to display time-specific media clips if there are media files associated with the transcript. |
File | Folder | Creation of link to one folder within the project and opened directly from within a worksheet. |
File | Multiple folders | Creation of link to several folders within the project and opened directly from within a worksheet. |
File | Collection | Creation of a link to an existing collection within the project. |
Calculated | Derived field | Metadata from a document set from either a 'document' or 'text in a document' field within the same worksheet to be set as a separate field in a record. A derived field is applied automatically from this other field in the record when the document is linked and cannot be separately edited. |
When configuring a worksheet metadata structure, it is possible to set fields to be only visible depending on certain conditions being met in other fields. This can be achieved through a metadata dependency.
Metadata fields can also be configured to take the initial value of a field from an external instance - either another remote worksheet or subrecord, or a document metadata field.
A dependency indicates that a field in a worksheet should only be shown when a specific condition in a different field is met. For instance, if a worksheet has a short text field and a choice field, a dependency can be configured where the short text field is only visible if a specified choice has been selected for the relevant record.
When configuring a dependency, all metadata fields are available to either 'show' or 'hide'. This can be set to be dependent on any other metadata field in the worksheet being either 'set' or 'not set'. Being 'set' essentially refers to whether that field has had any data associated with it. Being 'not set' means it is an empty field.
All metadata fields can be 'set' or 'not set'. In addition, fields of type 'choice' may take an existing choice option as a specific dependency condition.
An initialized metadata field will be populated on creation with a value taken from a document metadata field that has been linked via a 'document' or 'text in a document' field. It can also be initialized with a derived field.
An initialized field, when a record is created, will be pre-populated with data from the field from which it is set to take that data from. Once the record has been created, data in the initialized field can be edited to display a different value, or it can be deleted to show no data.