Intern:4D

The 4D client is the curators administrative tool for the definition/import of new metadata, the maintenance of the metadata inventory and the import of data. Relations between data and metadata are set during the import procedure. The content of data sets (data and metadata) in Pangaea can be edited with 4D at any time with curator privileges.

The Pangaea 4D client is developed in the 4th Dimension relational database software of ACI/4D Inc. and is part of a multi-user client/server system. The server is located in the Pangaea office at AWI and administered by Michael Diepenbroek with the support of Rainer Sieger. The 4D Client, enabled through a graphical user interface (GUI), is the software that is installed on each curators computer to connect to the server. It is available from the Pangaea web server (for licensed curators only). New users and curators may request for a login.

The relational 4D system contains only a copy of all metadata. Data with metadata are stored in the relational database management system Sybase running on a mainframe in the computer center of AWI and back-uped by a mirrored storage system. The 4D server has a redundant copy of the Pangaea metadata file (>2 GB in 2006) on a second hard disc.

4D also allows the dynamic download of data sets by predefined retrievals. Any retrievals and the configuration of the output list can be saved and linked to a data set description using a static URL instead of a data set. Dynamic retrievals and the output configuration can also be predefined with ART, see also DDI.

Links

 * Download page of the Pangaea 4D client
 * ACI/4D homepage english
 * ACI/4D homepage deutsch