Hierarchy tool (tool_hierarchy)
See also: Tools user guide · Developer reference
Turns a hierarchy-definition record into a working, browseable hierarchy: it checks everything a hierarchy needs to function, tells you what is missing, and builds it in one step.
What it's for
Dédalo lets you organize records into trees — a thesaurus, a taxonomy, a classification. Before you can browse or file records into one, several pieces have to exist: the virtual sections that hold the tree's nodes, the flag that marks the hierarchy active, and a root term for the tree to hang its branches on. tool_hierarchy creates all of that for you and reports on anything that is not yet in place.
A concrete example: a numismatics team keeps a flat Coin types list, but wants to organize those types within the mints that struck them — a "Mints → types" tree cataloguers can browse. A curator writes a definition record (a name, a TLD, the source real section, a typology), opens this tool on it, and presses Activate / repair. The tool builds the virtual sections, roots the tree at a term named after the hierarchy, and the new thesaurus appears, ready to fill. tool_cataloging is then used to drag the real Coin types records into the tree.
When to use it
- You created a hierarchy-definition record (a row of the Hierarchies section, tipo
hierarchy1) and want that hierarchy to start working. - A hierarchy is half-built or broken — the tree has no root, the hierarchy does not show up in menus — and you want to see why and fix it.
- After adjusting a definition record, to re-check that it is still consistent.
Do not reach for it for everyday record editing. It operates only on hierarchy-definition records, not on your content. To fill a hierarchy with records once it is built, use tool_cataloging instead.
It is a repair tool, not just a generator
Pressing Activate / repair on a healthy hierarchy is safe — it reports that everything is already consistent and changes nothing. It only ever creates what is missing, so you can run it any time you are unsure whether a hierarchy is complete.
Where to find it
The tool attaches only to hierarchy-definition records (tipo hierarchy1). Open a record in the Hierarchies section and the tool's button appears on it. It opens in edit mode, so you can complete the definition fields inline before converging.
Using it, step by step
- Open a hierarchy-definition record and launch the tool from its button.
- Complete the definition fields the tool shows in edit mode: the TLD (a short lowercase code that names the hierarchy's ontology, e.g.
mints), the name, the typology, the language, and the source real section (the real section whose records the hierarchy organizes). - Read the status panel. It lists each condition a usable hierarchy must satisfy — the virtual sections, the active flag, the target sections, the root term — and marks each one as met or failing, so you know exactly what is missing.
- Press Activate / repair. The tool creates only what is missing: it provisions the virtual sections, flags the hierarchy active, and creates the root term (named after the hierarchy) that the tree hangs its children on.
- The panel repaints from what actually happened, listing what changed. If a definition field is wrong (for example the source section is not a real section), the tool refuses and tells you what to fix first rather than papering over the error.
Options
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Activate / repair | Converges the record to a usable state, creating only the missing pieces. Safe to run repeatedly. |
| Rebuild (force to create) | Tears down the hierarchy's ontology nodes and rebuilds them from scratch. Use it only when the ordinary repair cannot fix a structurally broken ontology. |
Rebuild removes the ontology, not your terms
Rebuild deletes the hierarchy's runtime ontology nodes and re-creates them. Your thesaurus terms are not touched — the records already filed into the tree survive, and the root is re-linked to them afterwards. Still, prefer the plain Activate / repair unless a rebuild is genuinely needed.
Tips and gotchas
Read the status panel before you press anything
The panel is the point of the tool: it tells you whether the hierarchy is already usable, and if not, precisely which condition fails. A locator that is set is not the same as its target existing — a definition can name a root term that was never created, leaving the tree with nothing to hang children on. The tool detects that and creates the missing root.
This is one of two ways to activate a hierarchy
The Installing new hierarchies wizard imports and activates the hierarchies you tick. tool_hierarchy is how you activate or repair one afterwards, one record at a time. For the model itself, see the ontology documentation.
Related
- tool_cataloging — the natural follow-up: drag real records into the hierarchy this tool builds.
- tool_ontology — re-syncs edited ontology records into the runtime table (developer tool).
- Developer reference — the ten checks it converges to, the API actions, and internals.