Fields in PIMS
Simone Spencer
Here are the PIMS fields. It does have a rather complicated database structure so let me know if you’d prefer it in a more logical form. You will see that there is a lot of information not covered by the DOAP schema.
Columns
Table: themes
id
name
is_active
description
Table: contacts
id
institution_id
name
email
telephone
mobile
job_title
Table: institutions
id
region_id
name
he_or_fe
address
Table: regions
id
name
Table: governance_types
id
name
Table: governances
id
name
Table: funding_year_types
id
name
Table: funding_years
id
funding_year_type_id
name
start_date
end_date
Table: programmes
id
programme_progress_state_id
rag_state_id
name
approval_date
end_date
updated
description
url
start_date
Table: programme_contact_roles
id
name
Table: programme_fundings
id
funding_year_id
programme_id
amount
Table: programme_progress_states
id
name
Table: programme_relationship_types
id
name
antonym
Table: programmes_contacts
id
programme_contact_role_id
programme_id
contact_id
Table: programmes_governances
id
governance_id
governance_type_id
programme_id
Table: related_programmes
id
programme_relationship_type_id
related_programme_id
programme_id
Table: projects
id
project_progress_state_id
rag_state_id
programme_id
name
short_name
description
url
approved_date
start_date
end_date
updated
workpackage
Table: projects_contacts
id
project_id
project_contact_role_id
contact_id
Table: projects_governances
id
governance_id
governance_type_id
project_id
Table: projects_institutions
institution_id
project_id
Table: projects_projects
id
child_project_id
parent_project_id
project_relationship_type_id
Table: project_contact_roles
id
name
Table: project_fundings
id
funding_year_id
project_id
amount
Table: project_progress_states
id
name
Table: project_relationship_types
id
name
antonym
Table: related_projects
id
project_relationship_type_id
project_id
related_project_id
Table: rag_states
id
name
Table: outputs
id
output_progress_state_id
rag_state_id
project_id
name
delivery_date
description
updated
url
Table: outputs_output_types
output_id
output_type_id
Table: outputs_tags
tag_id
output_id
Table: outputs_themes
theme_id
output_id
Table: output_progress_states
id
name
Table: output_types
id
name
Table: tag_types
id
name
Table: tags
id
tag_type_id
name
Assistant Programme Manager
JISC Executive
Brettenham House South
5 Lancaster Place
London
WC2E 7EN
Email. s.sp...@jisc.ac.uk
Tel. 020 3006 6031
Mob. 07929 378139
Fax. 020 7240 5377
Skype ID. spencer.simone
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anything in this message which does not clearly relate to the official
work of the sender's organisation shall be understood as neither given
nor endorsed by that organisation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ajdin....@gmail.com
Simone: First of all thank you for the PIMS table list. I wander if
there is a Data Dictionary (DD) available for this database showing
amongst other things relationships to other data, origin, usage, and
format?
I have identified a few tables that might be useful for "Connections"
project I'm working on. Run by Coventry University "Connections"
project is looking at ways of identifying and visually presenting
project relationships and dependencies by analysing project inputs and
outputs.
Tables: projects_projects , project_relationship_types,
related_projects, outputs, outputs_output_types,
programme_relationship_types are some tables I would like more info
on. Of course,full PIMS db DD would be more
useful.
Regards
Ajdin Brandic
rgardler
...
> I have identified a few tables that might be useful for "Connections"
> project I'm working on. Run by Coventry University "Connections"
> project is looking at ways of identifying and visually presenting
> project relationships and dependencies by analysing project inputs and
> outputs.
ensure Simal can provide the data for and consume/learn from the
outputs of. We'll be pulling content from PIMs and making it available
in machine readable formats. We are also pulling content from many
other sources.
Our back end is RDF and so I'm guessing it could be ideal for the
"identifying" part of what you do. Certainly, here at OSS Watch that
is a major part of what we want to do.
Does your project have a web site or more information?
> Tables: projects_projects , project_relationship_types,
> related_projects, outputs, outputs_output_types,
> programme_relationship_types are some tables I would like more info
> on. Of course,full PIMS db DD would be more
> useful.
your project.
Do you have a use case, one that illustrates the kinds of
relationships you are looking for and the ways you would gather them.
At present Simal only provides easy access to a couple of relationship
types for projects:
- category (in JISC world that means funding stream and/or committee)
see http://data.oss-watch.ac.uk:8080/categoryBrowser
- people (as in person A works on projects X and Y) - see
http://data.oss-watch.ac.uk:8080/projectBrowser
(actually the project browser enables a couple of other relationship
types but the amount of data for these is poor right now)
Is there something specific that you would really like to see
externalised in the web application and/or in machine readable form?
Ross
ajdin....@gmail.com
This project is in its early stages (I only started on it on Monday
last week 17/11/2008) so I'm still getting familiar with my
environment including existing data sources and identifying if they
are going to be sufficient or additional information will be required.
I also have to identify Open Source software capable of importing data
in a set format (XML) and displaying maps / diagrams.
So in short there is no web site for the project at the moment.
As for a use case, Jim Hensman will contact you with an example as
soon as he can.
Also can you (or someone else) help me find answers to questions
below:
Is PIMS already set up?
Does it hold any data?
Is there an API available?
Can we get hold of a data sample (a partial database dump)?
I searched this group for PIMS but did not find answers!
Ajdin
>
> - people (as in person A works on projects X and Y) - seehttp://data.oss-watch.ac.uk:8080/projectBrowser
>
> - Show quoted text -
Ross Gardler
for people to come in mid-thread and understand what is going on. It
also makes archives of email lists really hard to follow. I know this is
alien to most people, but it really is important on mailing lists]
ajdin....@gmail.com wrote:
> This project is in its early stages (I only started on it on Monday
> last week 17/11/2008) so I'm still getting familiar with my
> environment including existing data sources and identifying if they
> are going to be sufficient or additional information will be required.
Fair enough.
> As for a use case, Jim Hensman will contact you with an example as
> soon as he can.
That will be really useful. Given the very brief overview you've
provided I suspect Simal can either help you or benefit from you (or
better still, both).
> Also can you (or someone else) help me find answers to questions
> below:
> Is PIMS already set up?
Yes, but at this stage it is internal to the JISC. The next phase (which
is underway at present I think) is to start providing access to
appropriate information outside the JISC. This discussion is happening
here because Simal hopes to harvest that data.
> Does it hold any data?
Yes - but you can't have it yet. It holds lots of data that is private
as well as public data. As I say above, we hope to take advantage of the
data as it is opened up.
To get at data we currently have two fairly complete sources. One is
Prod, from JISC CETIS (http://prod.cetis.ac.uk) the other is Simal. Prod
is a little more mature, but Simal is more technically advanced. That's
not meant as a criticism of PROD, you see PROD was designed for a very
specific purpose and does that job well, Simal, on the other hand, is
designed to be a framework and so needs more flexibility built in.
We have different sets of data right now, we hope to benefit from each
others work with respect to data. That is Simal will become a central
repository from which multiple projects, such as PROD and your own
Connections can draw from.
> Is there an API available?
No.
Simal provide fledgling APIs. Once you can identify exactly what data
you need then we will consider adding handling of that data for you (or
better still you can work with us to make sure it happens).
> Can we get hold of a data sample (a partial database dump)?
Simone needs to answer that, but I'm pretty sure that the time it would
take to get clearance would be too long for your project.
What data do you want? It concerns me that your focus is on PIMS. There
are many more sources of data. The key is, what do you need?
> I searched this group for PIMS but did not find answers!
Thanks for making the effort (you'd be surprised how many don't)
Ross
Simone Spencer
>
> Simone: First of all thank you for the PIMS table list. I wander if
> there is a Data Dictionary (DD) available for this database showing
> amongst other things relationships to other data, origin, usage, and
> format?
to provide further information though.
On Nov 24, 5:35 pm, Ross Gardler <rgard...@apache.org> wrote:
> ajdin.bran...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > Also can you (or someone else) help me find answers to questions
> > below:
> > Is PIMS already set up?
>
> Yes, but at this stage it is internal to the JISC. The next phase (which
> is underway at present I think) is to start providing access to
> appropriate information outside the JISC. This discussion is happening
> here because Simal hopes to harvest that data.
is a far more comprehensive and, if you like, traditional requirements
gathering and analysis process than was conducted in Phase1 and it is
possible that the solution will be quite different to that provided in
Phase1 but it is highly likely that the same information, and more,
will be held. Making the data available in a machine readable format
is agreed to be one of the requirements.
> > Does it hold any data?
>
> Yes - but you can't have it yet. It holds lots of data that is private
> as well as public data. As I say above, we hope to take advantage of the
> data as it is opened up.
>
This is ultimately available to everyone through FoI rules and PIMS
was implemented precisely to enable us to provide this information. It
is simply that we don't yet have an interface suitable for public use
yet. Let me know what you need.
> To get at data we currently have two fairly complete sources. One is
> Prod, from JISC CETIS (http://prod.cetis.ac.uk) the other is Simal. Prod
> is a little more mature, but Simal is more technically advanced. That's
> not meant as a criticism of PROD, you see PROD was designed for a very
> specific purpose and does that job well, Simal, on the other hand, is
> designed to be a framework and so needs more flexibility built in.
>
> We have different sets of data right now, we hope to benefit from each
> others work with respect to data. That is Simal will become a central
> repository from which multiple projects, such as PROD and your own
> Connections can draw from.
>
JISC programmes and projects!
> > Is there an API available?
>
> No.
> Simal provide fledgling APIs. Once you can identify exactly what data
> you need then we will consider adding handling of that data for you (or
> better still you can work with us to make sure it happens).
>
> > Can we get hold of a data sample (a partial database dump)?
guarantee you'll have it the same day!
> Simone needs to answer that, but I'm pretty sure that the time it would
> take to get clearance would be too long for your project.
>
> What data do you want? It concerns me that your focus is on PIMS. There
> are many more sources of data. The key is, what do you need?
more information on JISC programmes and projects in PIMS than Simal or
Prod! e.g. Simal has 512 projects, Prod has - i don't know, it doesn't
provide a total, PIMS has 1008!
ajdin....@gmail.com
>
>
> > > Does it hold any data?
>
> > Yes - but you can't have it yet. It holds lots of data that is private
> > as well as public data. As I say above, we hope to take advantage of the
> > data as it is opened up.
>
> This isn't right actually Ross. Yes, you can have the public data.
> This is ultimately available to everyone through FoI rules and PIMS
> was implemented precisely to enable us to provide this information. It
> is simply that we don't yet have an interface suitable for public use
> yet. Let me know what you need.
following projects. If possible please include table and column names
each peace of information is held. This way I can try to uderstand
PIMS structure, also Jim Hensman is doing a presentation on Connection
project so we could realy do with some data on real/live projects.
* Project : Integrating thin client systems and smart card technology
to provide integrated,
flexible, accessible and secure e-assessment.
University of Bradford
* Project: Location Independent Working. University of Coventry
* Project: Federated Local Access Management Environment (FLAME).
London School of Economics
* Project: Low Carbon ICT. University of Oxford
* Project: An Educationally focused Repository for the University of
Southampton (EdSpace). University of Southampton
* Project: Problem-based Learning in Virtual Interactive Educational
Worlds (PREVIEW)
* Project: OpenHabitat
* Project: Planet – Pattern Language Network for Web 2.0 Learning
>
> > To get at data we currently have two fairly complete sources. One is
> > Prod, from JISC CETIS (http://prod.cetis.ac.uk) the other is Simal. Prod
> > is a little more mature, but Simal is more technically advanced. That's
> > not meant as a criticism of PROD, you see PROD was designed for a very
> > specific purpose and does that job well, Simal, on the other hand, is
> > designed to be a framework and so needs more flexibility built in.
>
> > We have different sets of data right now, we hope to benefit from each
> > others work with respect to data. That is Simal will become a central
> > repository from which multiple projects, such as PROD and your own
> > Connections can draw from.
>
> I am still keen that JISC remains the primary source of information on
> JISC programmes and projects!
loads of data which in some cases overlaps and in some is unique to
each db. I am new to this, but I see PIMS as the starting point,
please correct me if I'm wrong. I still do not know exactly what
information I'll need but I know that I will have loads of problems
trying to link information held in different databases (3 at the
moment) if those databases do not have some common ID for projects
which they share. I think PIMS should be the source of this unique ID
which should be replicated across all other dbs (PROD, SIMAL).
>
> > > Is there an API available?
>
> > No.
>
> Not yet.
>
>
>
> > Simal provide fledgling APIs. Once you can identify exactly what data
> > you need then we will consider adding handling of that data for you (or
> > better still you can work with us to make sure it happens).
>
> > > Can we get hold of a data sample (a partial database dump)?
>
> Yes you can. As I said, let me know what you need. I can pretty much
> guarantee you'll have it the same day!
API.
>
>
>
> > Simone needs to answer that, but I'm pretty sure that the time it would
> > take to get clearance would be too long for your project.
>
> > What data do you want? It concerns me that your focus is on PIMS. There
> > are many more sources of data. The key is, what do you need?
>
> Yes, I agree that "The key is, what do you need?" but there is far
> more information on JISC programmes and projects in PIMS than Simal or
> Prod! e.g. Simal has 512 projects, Prod has - i don't know, it doesn't
> provide a total, PIMS has 1008!
categories a project belongs too, keywords, start/end dates, any
predecessor project(s), description of project inputs and outputs.
Some of this information is available on JISC web site, some on
individual project websites but some of it is scattered over word
docs, pdfs etc. So scraping website for information "adds value to
PIMS" which is very useful is not essential. Just to conclude that at
the moment it seams that all 3 databases will be required to gather
information I need. So I intend to use all of them.
Ajdin
Simone Spencer
I'll respond 'off list' with the data
Regards,
Simone
Assistant Programme Manager
JISC Executive, London
Email. s.sp...@jisc.ac.uk
Mob. 07929 378139
Ross Gardler
> On Nov 24, 11:37 am, ajdin.bran...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Nov 24, 5:35 pm, Ross Gardler <rgard...@apache.org> wrote:
>> ajdin.bran...@gmail.com wrote:
... snipped some info about PIMS ...
>>> Does it hold any data?
... snipped my incorrect response ...
> This isn't right actually Ross. Yes, you can have the public data.
> This is ultimately available to everyone through FoI rules and PIMS
> was implemented precisely to enable us to provide this information. It
> is simply that we don't yet have an interface suitable for public use
> yet. Let me know what you need.
Thanks for the clarification.
>> To get at data we currently have two fairly complete sources. One is
>> Prod, from JISC CETIS (http://prod.cetis.ac.uk) the other is Simal. Prod
>> is a little more mature, but Simal is more technically advanced. That's
>> not meant as a criticism of PROD, you see PROD was designed for a very
>> specific purpose and does that job well, Simal, on the other hand, is
>> designed to be a framework and so needs more flexibility built in.
>>
>> We have different sets of data right now, we hope to benefit from each
>> others work with respect to data. That is Simal will become a central
>> repository from which multiple projects, such as PROD and your own
>> Connections can draw from.
>>
>
> I am still keen that JISC remains the primary source of information on
> JISC programmes and projects!
Yes. Don't worry, that is already implemented in Simal (as a direct
result of your concern about this issue). It's not in the 0.2 release,
but is ready for the 0.3 release.
The JISC is the authoritative source for JISC funded projects, but it is
not the only source, the projects themselves, sourceforge, google code,
ohloh etc. are all examples of potential sources of useful data. To
accomodate this Simal now records the source of each piece of
information. Thus people can request all known data. At present, where
more than on data item exists, it defaults to providing the
authoritative data for each item (i.e. JISC for JISC funded projects). A
feature to be implemented in the next release will allow users to
specify their preferred sources.
>> What data do you want? It concerns me that your focus is on PIMS. There
>> are many more sources of data. The key is, what do you need?
>
> Yes, I agree that "The key is, what do you need?" but there is far
> more information on JISC programmes and projects in PIMS than Simal or
> Prod! e.g. Simal has 512 projects, Prod has - i don't know, it doesn't
> provide a total, PIMS has 1008!
Can you please provide a dump of all data that you can release. This
will be really useful. I don't really care about the format it comes in,
I'll work with whatever you choose to make available. I'll get this data
into the demo version of Simal so that it is all available, via an API
to projects like the connections project.
If you are concerned about the data becoming stale then you could set up
a periodic dump and I'll import it regularly to keep it up to date. Once
you have an API available (or similar) I'll be sure to hook into that
instead. This will ensure that PIMS is the authoritative source.
Ross