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Broad vs Narrow Picklist Values

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Rhiannon Cameron edited this page Dec 8, 2023 · 3 revisions

The narrower the field the more general the picklist values

In this scenario we are trying to capture information about the availability of watershed shapefiles, so we've made the following field hierarchy:

  • file availability field is about file and is about availability
    • watershed shapefile availability field is about watershed shapefile

When using the watershed shapefile availability field the field information conveys a connection to the watershed shapefile concept so you don't need to convey that information at the picklist value level.

So rather than using the narrow concepts, post-composite concepts (identifiers not shown for brevity):

  • watershed shapefile available
  • watershed shapefile unavailable
  • watershed shapefile availability unknown

...we can reuse the broad, interoperable concepts of:

  • available
  • unavailable
  • unknown or availability unknown

The broader the field the narrower the picklist values

In this scenario we are trying to capture information about the availability of watershed shapefiles, so we've made the following field hierarchy:

  • file availability field is about file and is about availability
    • watershed shapefile availability field is about watershed shapefile

When using the file availability field the field information conveys a connection does NOT convey the watershed shapefile concept so now you do need to convey that information at the picklist value level. One of the benefits of this approach is you can convey the availability of multiple different file types, not just watershed shapefiles.

You can approach the picklist values as precomposed terms (sub concepts combined together under as single identifier identifier):

  • watershed shapefile available [ID:#####]
  • watershed shapefile unavailable [ID:#####]
  • watershed shapefile availability unknown [ID:#####]

... or you can have your picklist values as composite terms (referencing the individual concepts and their associated identifiers separately but together in the same data cell):

  • watershed shapefile [ID:#####] available [ID:#####]
  • watershed shapefile [ID:#####] unavailable [ID:#####]
  • watershed shapefile [ID:#####] availability unknown [ID:#####]
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