This is the tab in which the entity is defined.

The following table gives more information about boxes for entering information.

Box nameTypeDrop-down menu contentsWhat to enter
Entity namefree-formEnter a name for this entity (e.g. sites).
Typedrop-down menuData (derived)
SQL Query
Fixed Values
CSV File
Excel File (Pandas)
Excel File (OpenPyXL)
In what form is the incoming data set?
(See below for more information on each type)
Source Entity
(only present for certain Types above)
drop-down menu(drop down contents
change based on Type)
The incoming data set
System IDpre-set(Don’t enter, the system will fill this one in)
Public IDfree-formThe primary key for this table. Use the same name as used in SEAD. (e.g. for the archaeological sites, enter site_id here)
Business Keysfree-formThe list of columns in the incoming data that are needed to uniquely define each row of data for the incoming data set (if more than one column is needed).
Columnsfree-formChoose (if this is a data-derived entity) or enter all of the columns from the incoming data set that are assiociated with this entity
Depends Onfree-formThis box is used to define dependencies. In some datasets every site has to have a defined site type. the “before you can do X you need to know Y” sorts of information

Note: If this is a “derived” entity then the dependency is already defined on what you derived it from

Warning: If this step is done wrong, the validation will fail
Drop Duplicatescheck boxThis step is how you get a complete list of each unique category of data (a “look-up” table, for example, a list of all sites in a dataset, or a list of all feature types), This works the same was as Excel’s drop duplicates function.
Check Functional Dependencycheck boxThis button asks the program to confirm that if one considers only the columns entered in the “drop duplicates” column that three aren’t examples of (for example) a single site with multiple coordinate systems
Drop Empty Rowscheck boxWill drop any rows that are blank for the specified column. This does not change the incoming dataset, only the contents of this entity.
Deduplication Columnsfree-formDefines the columns needed to get a unique set (example site name plus national site id )
Colums to Check for Empty Valuesfree-formUse this for columns so important that that it doesn’t mater if data exists in other columns
SQL Query (only present if Type = SQL Query)free-formWrite a query that extracts all the pertinent columns from the data set for the table you are working on.
Data (derived) use with either a [[7. Glossary#data-sourcesData Source]] or a [[7. Glossary#filesFile]] that you have uploaded
SQL Query use if you want to use an SQL query to extract data from a data source
Fixed Values useful for entities that contain the same information for the entire data set (e.g. location = Sweden), of if the data is on paper, and it needs entering to be machine readable, or it is a data type that doesn’t exist in the incoming dataset, but is required in SEAD
CSV File use if you have unloaded a [[7. Glossary#filesFile]] in .csv format
Excel File (Pandas) or (OpenPyXL) both formats will read an Excel file.
  • learn how use Shape Shifter to pull the corresponding id number for specific things that already exist in SEAD (e.g. certain sites, locations, feature types, taxa, etc.)
  • learn how to use Shape Shifter to let SEAD know that a specific thing is not already present in SEAD and will need a new id number (e.g. sites, locations, feature types, taxa, etc.)