Cross Referencing Datasources
- Kim Stimpson
Overview
You may wish to use the field information in one Datasource to link to another Datasource to retrieve information; we call this “piggy backing”. Following are a couple of scenarios detailing how this may be used.
Other examples may be to use the UPRN of a property, find the Ward area that it is in and then link that to Census data or Election results. Once you know the street where the property resides you may wish to find out details about the street using the USRN and accessing data such as Parking Restrictions for example.
In order to create a “piggy back” you have to first define each of the individual Datasources as previously described making sure that you select all the relevant fields that you will need to use for linking. Once you have done this you can then cross reference these Datasources.
Adding a new Cross Reference
First you need to select the Datasource, from your list of existing Datasources that you wish to use for your entry level Datasource. With this entry highlighted select the Add Cross Reference entry from the context menu.
You will see a dialog similar to the following:
Select the Datasource Name to which you wish to cross reference and the Unique Field that you wish to use from the current Datasource that you wish to link to the Unique ID of the cross referenced Datasource.
Click OK to add the new cross reference.
When you select a cross referenced Datasource you will see the Linked to entry at the top right hand side of the dialog. If you wish to change the entry simply select a different field from the list provided.
Even though you can see Fields and Scheduler entries for the cross references changing this information will actually change the information for the Datasource not simply for the cross reference.
Removing a Cross Reference
If you wish to remove a Cross Reference simply select the entry that you wish to remove and select Remove Cross Reference from the context menu. You will see a Delete Confirmation dialog.
Click Yes to delete the cross reference or No if you wish to cancel the remove function.