Viewing/Editing a Metadatabase

Users that need to make extensive changes to a metadatabase, may prefer to download an entire metadatabase, make edits in an external program, like Excel, and then upload that modified file to Insight, overwriting the current metadatabase. Insight's user interface allows users to modify a metadatabase within the platform as well.

Note: It is necessary to “Save” any changes made to a metadatabase before selecting a different metadatabase or navigating away from the page. Any unsaved changes will be lost.

Editing the Metadatabase Name and Description

When the metadatabase is in edit more, click on either the metadatabase name or description to edit them. This makes the respective field editable, allowing users make changes as necessary.

Adding a Column

To add a new column to a metadatabase, select a metadatabase in the metadatabase list and put it into edit mode. Click “Add Column” in the upper right hand corner of the window. This adds a new column to the metadatabase with the naming taxonomy of “ColumnX” where X represents the number of columns in the metadatabase. Click the name of the newly added column to modify its name.

Adding a New Row

To add a new row to a metadatabase, select a metadatabase in the metadatabase list and put it into edit mode. Click “Add Row” at the bottom of the metadatabase window. This adds a new, empty row to the metadatabase. Click in the cells of the row to add data to the cells in that row.

Note: Adding a row to a large database shifts the view of the metadatabase to display the new row, located at the bottom of the list of rows.

Deleting a Row

To delete a row, hover over the row number and a small red 'x' appears in the upper right hand corner of the cell. Clicking on the red 'x' removes the row from the metadatabase.

Deleting a Column

To delete a column, hover over the column name and a small red 'x' appears in the upper right hand corner of the cell. Clicking on the red 'x' removes the column from the metadatabase.

If the column being deleted is used in any survey questions, Insight prompts users with a dialog window to confirm the column deletion. Deleting a column that is in use removes any metadata questions from your surveys that reference the column.

Note: Insight automatically saves the metadatabase after deleting a column with dependencies.

If no surveys utilize the column then it will simply be deleted.

Editing a Cell

The edit the value in a specific cell of the metadatabase, simply click in the desired cell and enter or modify the data there as desired.

Saving Changes

It is necessary to click the 'Save' button to commit changes to a metadatabase. All edits remain as pending changes until the 'Save' button is clicked. When conducting a significant number of edits to a metadatabase within the Insight platform, it is best to click the 'Save' button regularly to ensure all the changes are saved.