Term base in TBX format

Below you can see the TBX format of term bases. The following settings are used for exporting term bases through WS API:

  • File format: ZIP
  • Images are exported
  • Only QTerm term bases can be exported to TBX
  • Spaces in pick list values will be replaced with underscores

Structure

The output of the TBX export is a ZIP file which contains the followings:

  • Images
  • Scheme
  • Term base content

Images

Images are exported into a folder inside the ZIP file called media_[TB name]. The file paths of the images are used to specify them, you can see further details in the next sections.

Scheme

See TBX specification for details.
In a QTerm database, you can define your custom metadata fields at each term base level. Custom fields could be of different types:

  • Text (Unicod text)
  • DateTime (encapsulates date and time, stored in yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ format)
  • Number (integer)
  • Media (refers to media files)
  • True/false (Boolean)
  • pick list (single)
  • pick list (multiple)

Custom fields of a QTerm term base will be present in the exported structure, if you set the value of the ExportQTermSpecificMeta field to true (or, during manual export, select the Export QTerm-specific metadata option). Representation of a custom field is shown below. Custom fields might have a default value, which is also represented in the schema:

<descripSpec name="Status" datcatId="">
	<contents datatype="picklist">new in_progress approved rejected</contents>
	<levels>term</levels>
<!--
   <x_mq>
     <isrequired>true</isrequired>
     <defaultvalue>new</defaultvalue>
   </x_mq>
-->
</descripSpec>

Term base content

See TBX specification for details. In the following example, you can see the representation of an entry from a term base with the following custom metadata fields:

Built-in Custom
Entry level
  • Entry ID
  • Creator User
  • Creation Time
  • Domain
  • Subject
  • Client
  • Project
  • Image
  • Part of speech
Language level
  • Definition
  • Definition source
Term level
  • Case sensitivity
  • Forbidden
  • Matching
  • Status
 
<termEntry id="eid-2">
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="Creator">admin</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="xDate_CreateTime">2016-04-03T12:40:30Z</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="Domain">Culinary</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="Subject">Kitchen_utensils</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="Client">RemoteCooking</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="Project">CulinaryTB</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
  <xref type="xImage_Image" target="media_culinaryTB_demoK/e3ec9ce9-5436-451b-b26a-d0fdce423bce.jpg" />
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="PartOfSpeech">noun</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
  <langSet xml:lang="en-us">
    <descripGrp>
      <descrip type="Definition">All-purpose knife used for a variety of chopping, slicing and mincing chores. The blade is normally 8 to 12 inches long. Also known as French knife.</descrip>
    </descripGrp>
    <descripGrp>
      <descrip type="Def.source">The Professional Chef (CIA)</descrip>
    </descripGrp>
    <tig>
  	  <term id="tid-2-en-us-1">chef's knife</term>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="CaseSense">Near</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="xBool_Forbidden">False</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="PartialTreshold">Any</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="Status">approved</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
    </tig>
    <tig>
  	  <term id="tid-2-en-us-2">French knife</term>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="CaseSense">Near</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="xBool_Forbidden">False</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="PartialTreshold">Any</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="Status">approved</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
    </tig>
  </langSet>
  <langSet xml:lang="hu">
    <tig>
  	  <term id="tid-2-hu-4">szakácskés</term>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="CaseSense">Near</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="xBool_Forbidden">False</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="PartialTreshold">Any</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
  	  <descripGrp>
  	    <descrip type="Status">approved</descrip>
  	  </descripGrp>
    </tig>
  </langSet>
</termEntry>

Field definitions

QTerm term bases have some built-in fields at each level, and you can also specify your custom fields. The following types can be specified for a field, and it appears as a prefix in the TBX representation.

Type Prefix
Text <none>
DateTime xDate_
Number xInteger_
True/false xBool_
Media xImage_
Pick list (single) <none>
Pick list (multiple) xMultiplePicklist_

Field names are unique at a single level. If there is a field with the same name, its representation will get a postfix according to the current level, _mmq_Language or _mmq_Term. For example, if there is a field with the same name at the Entry and Language levels, e.g. MyField, the value of type attribute will be xInteger_MyField at the entry level and xInteger_MyField_mmq_Language at the language level.

Entry level fields

The following fields are present in the exported TBX, the order of nodes is not taken into account during import.
Entry level fields are represented in the following formats:

  • The Id of the entry is present in the value of the id attribute of the <termEntry> element. In the following example, the ID is 2: <termEntry id="eid-2">. This ID is unique to the entry and it is assigned automatically upon entry creation or when reindexing the term base.
  • Fields with media type are represented with the <xref> element, where the type attribute identifies the given field and the target contains the relative path of the exported file.
<xref type="xImage_Image" target="media_culinaryTB_demoK/74def8e6-6875-4cb9-bc33-76391d53746b.jpg" />
  • All other entry level fields are represented with the <descrip> element, where the type attribute identifies the given field, and the value of the element holds the content of the field. Please see the following example:
<termEntry id="eid-3">
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="xDate_CreateTime">2016-04-03T12:52:54Z</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
...
</termEntry>

Built-in fields

Property Type Representation Description
ID Number <termEntry id="eid-[id]"> The id of the TB entry.
Image Media <xref type="xImage_Image" target="[relative path]" /> The relative path of TB entry's image.
Note

ID:
The ID of the entry is present in the value of the id attribute of the <termEntry> tag. In the following example the ID is 2: <termEntry id="eid-2">

The following built-in fields are represented as <descrip type="[type prefix]_[type value]">.

Property Type Value of type attribute Description
Subject Text Subject The subject of the TB entry.
Domain Text Domain The domain of the TB entry.
Client Text Client The client of the TB entry.
Project Text Project The project of the TB entry.
Created DateTime xDate_CreateTime The creation UTC date of the TB entry in format yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ.
Creator Text Creator The creator of the TB entry.

Custom metadata fields of other types are presented as <descrip type="[type prefix]_[type value]">.

Property Type Value of type attribute Description
Custom metadata field Text | Number | True/False | Date | Picklist (single) | Picklist (multiple) [type prefix]_[FieldName] Value for the given custom metadata field.
Note

Custom metadata field:
For QTerm term bases you can specify multiple custom entry level fields. Please see the following example:

  • Type: Number
  • Name of the field: MyField

Value of the type attribute: xInteger_MyField
For more type prefixes, see the types above.

Custom media fields are presented the following way:

Property Type Value of type attribute Description
Custom media metadata field Media <xref type="xImage_[FiledName]" target="[relative path]" /> The relative path of the file.
Note

Custom media metadata field:
Please see the following example:

  • Field type: Media
  • Name of the field: MyImageField
  • Name of the term base: My term base
  • File name: will be generated during import

Representation: <xref type="xImage_MyImageField" target="media_My term base\74def8e6-6875-4cb9-bc33-76391d53746b.png" />

Language level fields

A language is represented with the <langSet> element. The language code is present as the value of xml:lang attribute in two-letter ISO language code format.

<langSet xml:lang="en-us">
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="Definition">All-purpose knife used for a variety of chopping, slicing and mincing chores. The blade is normally 8 to 12 inches long. Also known as French knife.</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
...
</langset>

Fields of non-media types are represented as <descrip type="[type prefix]_[type value]>

Property Value of type attribute Type Description
Definition Definition Text The definition of the entry concept in the given language.
Custom metadata field [type prefix]_[FieldName] Text | Number | True/False | Date | Picklist (single) | Picklist (multiple) Value for the given custom metadata field
Note

Custom metadata field:
For QTerm term bases you can specify multiple custom language level fields. Please see the following example:

  • Type: Number
  • Name of the field: MyField

Value of the type attribute: xInteger_MyField
If there is a field, also called MyField at Entry level, the value of type attribute will be xInteger_MyField_mmq_Language. For more type prefixes see the types above.

Representation of the fields of media type:

Property Type Representation Description
Custom media metadata field Media <xref type="xImage_[FiledName]" target="[relative path]" /> The relative path of the file.
Note

Custom media metadata field:
Please see the following example:

  • Field type: Media
  • Name of the field: MyImageField
  • Name of the term base: My term base
  • File name: will be generated during import

Representation: <xref type="xImage_MyImageField" target="media_My term base\74def8e6-6875-4cb9-bc33-76391d53746b.png" />

Term level fields

A term is represented with the <tig> element. The term text can be found as the value of <term> element. The term has its ID (given automatically by the system at creation or term base reindexing), captured as the value of the id attribute. It has the following structure, referring to the entry and language the term belongs to:

  • Entry ID: the ID of the entry which contains the current term, e.g. 2
  • LanguageCode: en-us
  • Term ID: the ID of the term, it's unique within a language, e.g. 1

In the following example, you can see an English (United States) term with a custom field, called Status.

<tig>
  <term id="tid-2-en-us-1">chef's knife</term>
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="CaseSense">Near</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="xBool_Forbidden">False</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="PartialTreshold">Any</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
  <descripGrp>
    <descrip type="Status">approved</descrip>
  </descripGrp>
</tig>

Fields of non-media types are represented as <descrip type="[type prefix]_[type value]> elements:

Property Value of type attribute Type Description
Case sensitivity CaseSense Strict | Near | Insensitive Defines the case sensitivity level of the term (Sensitive, Permissive, or Insensitive).
Forbidden xBool_Forbidden True | False Defines whether the term is forbidden. True=forbidden | False(default value]=not forbidden
Matching PartialTreshold None | Half | Any | Custom Defines the degree to which partial matches are allowed against this term (Exact, 50% prefix, Fuzzy or Custom)
Custom metadata field [type prefix]_[FieldName] Text | Number | True/False | Date | Picklist (single) | Picklist (multiple) Value for the given custom metadata field
Note

Custom metadata field:
For QTerm term bases you can specify multiple custom term level fields. Please see the following example:

  • Type: Number
  • Name of the field: MyField

Value of the type attribute: xNumber_MyField
If there is a field, called MyField at the Entry or the Language level, the value of the type attribute at the term level will be xNumber_MyField_mmq_Term. For more type prefixes, see the field types above.

Representation of the fields of media type:

Property Type Representation Description
Custom media metadata field Media <xref type="xImage_[FiledName]" target="[relative path]" /> The relative path of the file.
Note

Custom media metadata field:
Please see the following example:

  • Field type: Media
  • Name of the field: MyImageField
  • Name of the term base: My term base
  • File name: will be generated during import

Representation: <xref type="xImage_MyImageField" target="media_My term base\74def8e6-6875-4cb9-bc33-76391d53746b.png" />

Samples and references

  1. You can find a term base exported into TBX format here.
  2. "LISA OSCAR Standards", GALA website. http://www.gala-global.org/lisa-oscar-standards