Modifying

 the  Input  Form  

 
Select  Content  
Before  you  start  to  edit  an  input  form  
• Decide  which  collection(s)  the  modified  form  will  apply  to  
• Make  a  list  of  all  the  metadata  fields  you  want  included  
• Check  that  the  fields  you  want  are  good  Dublin  Core  
• Put  the  fields  in  the  order  you  want  them  to  appear  
• Decide  if  you  want  page  breaks  in  the  description  process  
 
Metadata  Schema  
If  you  are  adding  new  fields  in  the  input  forms,  be  sure  you  update  your  metadata  registry  first.    
 
Get  the  current  input-­form  
Download  your  current  input-­‐form  from  your  
test  instance  server  via  FTP.    The  input-­‐  
forms.xml  file  is  located  at  /dspace/config/input-­
forms.xml.      When  you  are  done  editing  the  file  
you  will  reload  it  back  to  this  same  folder.  
Once  the  file  is  downloaded  make  a  copy  and  call  
it  input-­‐forms  bkup.xml.  (Tip:  add  the    
modification  date  to  the  file  name.)    This  is  a  
backup  in  case  you  need  to  undo  the  changes  
you  make  to  the  form.  
 
Select  the  Collection  
Go  to  the  first  page  for  the  collection  you  
want  to  change  the  input  forms  for.    In  the    
address  bar  copy  the  text  that  follows  
"handle/"  This  is  your  collection  handle.  
In  input-­‐forms.xml  near  the  top  you  will  
see  the  tag  <form-map> with  tags  <name-
map>  inside  it.    
 
Add  a  line  after  the  last  <name-map> tag  
but  before  the  closing  </form-map>  tag.    
Type  <name-­map  collection-­
handle="[HANDLE  FROM  URL]"  form-­  
name="[FORM  NAME]"  />.    For  the  
handle  from  URL  paste  in  the  handle  you  
copied,  for  form-­‐name  give  the  input  form  
a  name  that  reflects  your  school  and  the  
collection  the  input  form  will  apply  to,  
don't  uses  spaces  in  the  name.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Create  a  new  template  
You  can  type  in  an  entirely  new  template  
 
or  copy  an  existing  template  and  modify  
the  fields  it  calls.    To  copy  and  existing  
template  select  and  copy  an  entire  
<form>…</form> tag and  all  of  it's  
contents.  
After  the  last  form  tag,  but  before  the  
closing  </form-definitions> tag.    Type  a  new  
line  and  type  the  comment  <!-- [FORM
NAME] collection specialized single item  
submission -->.  
After  this  comment  paste  the  form  you  just  
copied.  
 
In  the  form  tag  you  just  pasted,  change  the  
name  attribute  from  "traditional"  to  your  
new  form  name.        
 
About  the  template  
This  section  explains  the  tags  used  to  create  the  submission  from.    Use  this  information  to  edit  the  
submission  forms  as  needed.    Each  <field> tag controls one field in the submission process. Edit each <field>
tag as needed. If you want to remove a field, delete the entire <field> tag and all its content.  
<page number="1">   The  first  tag  under  <form>  is  <page number="1">. The page tag
determines where the steps are in your submission processes. The
contents of each <page> tag make up one step in the input processed,
where you close one page tag and open another in the XML, your
submission process ends one step and users click the "next" button to
go to the next step. Each new page tag should have the number
attribute set to the next number (1,2,3, etc). All field tags must be in a
page tag, though you can have only one page tag if you want the entire
description process to be in one step.  
Example input-form: Example  Submission  Form:  
<page number="1">… </page>
<page number="2">… </page>
<page number="3">…
</page>
<field>   Within  page  tags  are  <field> tags. Each field tag correspondence to
one piece of input in the submission process and one metadata field.
The tags within the <field> tag identify and describe the submission
process and metadata field  
<dc-schema>   The  first  tag  within  the  <field> tag is <dc-schema>. The contents of
this tag reference what metadata schema the field is from. This should
always be set to "dc" for Dublin Core unless you know you are using a
different schema. The full tag will look like <dc-schema>dc</dc-
schema>  
<dc-element>   <dc-element> tag defines the metadata element this field in the
submission processes maps to.

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<dc-qualifier>   If  the  element  you  define  in  <dc-element> needs to be modified by a
qualifier use the tag <dc-qualifier>. If you do not need a qualifier leave
this tag empty.  
<repeatable>   Can  this  field  be  repeated?    Set  this  field  to  either  "false"  or  "true."    
See  the  Metadata  Application  Profile  for  information  about  
repeating  fields.  
Example input-form: Example  Submission  Form:    
<repeatable>true
</repeatable>  
<label>   The  <label> field provides the text that appears above the input field.  
Example input-form: Example  Submission  Form:    
<label>Title</label>

 
<input-type>   <input-type> determines the way the submitter can enter information.
The options are: onebox, textarea, date, name, dropdown,
qualdrop_value, series, list. Note: with dropdown, qualdrop_value,
and list you must also use the value-pairs-name attribute for input-type.
See the following section on value-pairs. <input-type value-pairs-
name="YOUR_IDENTIFERS"> qualdrop_value</input-type>  
Example input-form:
<input-type>onebox</input-type>  
 
Example input-form:
<input-type>textarea</input-
type>  

 
Example input-form:
<input-type>date</input-type>  

 
Example input-form:
<input-type>name</input-type>  
 
Example input-form:
<input-type value-pairs-name=
"OBEidentifiers">dropdown</inp
ut-type>    
Example input-form:
<input-type value-pairs-name=
"OBEidentifiers2">
qualdrop_value</input-type>  
 
Note: An input-type of qualdrop_value must be marked as repeatable  
<hint>   <hint> shows text below a field in order to provide information to the
submitter about.  
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 Example input-form:
<hint>Enter the main title of the
item.</hint>    
<required>   <required> is used if submitters are not allowed the leave a field blank.
If a submitter leaves a required field blank then this message will
display. If a field is optional do not type any text but just leave the tag
empty.  
Example input-form:
<required>You must enter a main
title for this item.</required>

<visibility> This optional element restricts the visibility of a field to a submission

stage, or a workflow review stage, but not both. For more information
about using this field, see
http://www.dspace.org/1_6_0Documentation/ch14.html#N183C7.
(Note: this field is omitted from the DTD.)
<vocabulary> This is an optional element and should only be used if you are loading a
controlled vocabulary into Dspace. See
https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/DSPACE/Alter+submission+input+f
orms and
http://www.dspace.org/1_6_0Documentation/ch14.html#N183C7
for more information about using this field.
Example one
<field>
<dc-schema>dc</dc-schema>
<dc-element>title</dc-element>
<dc-qualifier/>
<repeatable>false</repeatable>
<label>Title</label>
<input-type>onebox</input-type>
<hint>Enter the main title of the
item.</hint>
<required>You must enter a main title for
this item.</required>
</field>
Example two
<field>
<dc-schema>dc</dc-schema>
<dc-element>description</dc-element>
<dc-qualifier>abstract</dc-qualifier>
<repeatable>true</repeatable>
<label>Description</label>
<input-type>textarea</input-type>
<hint>Enter description in this box.</hint>
<required/>
</field>
Value Pairs  
If you use dropdown, qualdrop_value or list as
an input type you need to include the attribute
value-pairs-name= and set the value to a name
you create

  4  
Scroll down past all the <form> tags and the
closing tag of </form-definitions>. After the
comments you will see the tag <form-value-
pairs>
Within <form-value-pairs> are the <value-
pairs> tags. The <value-pairs> tags each
correspond to a list, we will leave the current
<value-pairs> for now and create a new set.
Place your cursor on the line after <form-
value-pairs> and type " <value-pairs value-
pairs-name="[List Name]" dc-term="[DC
Element]" dc-qualifier="[DC Qualifier]">".
Change List Name to the name you used in
the value-pairs-name element and DC
Element to the field this list applies to, if the
field has a qualifier add dc-qualifier="[DC
Qualifier]" as an attribute with the correct
qualifier
Between the opening and closing tags of
<value-pairs> type "<pair></pair>"

Between the opening and closing <pair> tags

type "<displayed-value></displayed-value>"

In the <displayed-value> tag type the first

item in your dropdown list as you want it to
appear

After the closing </displayed-value> tag

create a new line then type "<stored-value>
</stored-value>"

In the tag <stored-value> type a stored value

that corresponds to your displayed text but
includes no space or special characters.

For each item you want in your dropdown list

you need to type another <pair> tag and
repeat this process.

  5  
Install your new input form  
Once you have finished modifying the input-forms.xml document check that it is well-formed and valid xml the
reload your new document.
 

 Catalina  Oyler,  The  Five  Colleges  of  Ohio  for  OhioLINK  DRMC  2012  
 

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