Working with an RO-Crate
When you select a folder, if there's a file 'ro-crate-metadata.json' the content will be loaded into the application. If there isn't, a skeleton crate file will be created and loaded. The root dataset will then be shown. The view is divided into three sections: left is the file manager; in the middle is the metadata editor and on the right is the file preview.
Navigation bar
In the navigation bar the current folder is shown along with controls to apply a profile, save the current the work and access the settings.
Main editor window
The main editor window has a controls bar along the top. On it there are controls to navigate through the entities in the crate; add properties to the current entity; edit the context; preview the crate data; browse the entities in the crate; and view the linkages to the current entity.
Navigating to an entity
The main editor window which displays the properties defined for this entity. Selecting an entity (e.g. select the File entity shown) navigates to that entity.
Adding properties to an entity
When adding properties, a dialog opens with all of the properties that can be defined for the current entity. The list is filterable and each property shows the type of data that can be added, e.g. abstract accepts Text. Multiple properties can be added before closing the dialog.
Creating a new entity
Selecting the 'Thing' button allows defining a new entity of type 'Thing'. The control also looks for other entities of type Thing in the current crate and elsewhere, and if there are any, they will be available for selection.
File handling and preview
Selecting a a file entity navigates to it and displays a preview of it if possible. Note that the file size, encoding and file hash is automatically set by Describo. The encoding and hash are determined by the excellent Siegfried tool.
Saving entities for re-use
Often times, you will carefully craft an entity definition that will be useful elsewhere. An obvious example is when you define yourself as the author of the crate. In that case, your entity definition will have your name and likely your ORCID as the identifier which you can save as a template and re-use in other crates that you work on.
In the following image we can see what will be saved as a template. By setting depth to 1 linked entities will be resolved and included. Note that in both cases (depth 0 or 1) only properties will be included. Dangling references to other entities in this crate will not be included.
Then, when describing content, you will be presented with matching templates. Note the middle entry under the section title "Associate an entity from saved templates".
