Query Metadata: Examples

2024-03-29

This topic provides examples of query metadata used to change the display and add other behavior to queries. Joins and Lookups: Example .query.xml files:

Auditing Level

Set the level of detail recorded in the audit log. The example below sets auditing to "DETAILED" on the Physical Exam table.

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="Physical Exam" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<auditLogging>DETAILED</auditLogging>
<columns>
...
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

Conditional Formatting

The following adds a yellow background color to any cells showing a value greater than 72.

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="Physical Exam" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<columns>
<column columnName="Pulse">
<columnTitle>Pulse</columnTitle>
<conditionalFormats>
<conditionalFormat>
<filters>
<filter operator="gt" value="72" />
</filters>
<backgroundColor>FFFF00</backgroundColor>
</conditionalFormat>
</conditionalFormats>
</column>
</table>
</tables>

Include Row Selection Checkboxes

To include row selection checkboxes in a query, include this:

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="Demographics" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<columns>
<column columnName="RowId">
<isKeyField>true</isKeyField>
</column>
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

Show/Hide Columns on Insert and/or Update

You can control the visibility of columns when users insert and/or update into your queries using syntax like the following:

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="MyTableName" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<columns>
<column columnName="ReadOnlyColumn">
<shownInInsertView>false</shownInInsertView>
<shownInUpdateView>false</shownInUpdateView>
</column>
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

Be aware that if you don't show a required field to users during insert, they will not actually be able to insert data unless the value is otherwise provided.

Two other XML parameters related to hiding columns and making values editable are:

<isHidden>true</isHidden>
<isUserEditable>false</isUserEditable>

URL to Open in New Tab

A field can use a URL property to open a target URL when the value is clicked. To make this target open in a new tab, use the following syntax to set the target="_blank" attribute. In this example, the link URL has been set using the UI for the "City" column:

<column columnName="City">
<urlTarget>_blank</urlTarget>
</column>

URL Thumbnail Display

Using query metadata provided in a module, you can display images with optional custom thumbnails in a data grid.

For example, if you have a store of PNG images and want to display them in a grid, you can put them in a fixed location and refer to them from the grid by URL. The column type in the grid would be a text string, but the grid would display the image. Further, you could provide separate custom thumbnails instead of the miniature version LabKey would generate by default.

The module code would use a displayColumnFactory similar to this example, where the properties are defined below.

<column columnName="image"> 
<displayColumnFactory>
<className>org.labkey.api.data.URLDisplayColumn$Factory</className>
<properties>
<property name="thumbnailImageWidth">55px</property>
<property name="thumbnailImageUrl">_webdav/my%20studies/%40files/${image}</property>
<property name="popupImageUrl">_webdav/my%20studies/%40files/${popup}</property>
<property name="popupImageWidth">250px</property>
</properties>
</displayColumnFactory>
<url>/labkey/_webdav/my%20studies/%40files/${popup}</url>
</column>

Properties available in a displayColumnFactory:

  • thumbnailImageUrl (optional) - The URL string expression for the image that will be displayed inline in the grid. If the string expression evaluates to null, the column URL will be used instead. Defaults to the column URL.
  • thumbnailImageWidth (optional) - The size of the image that will be displayed in the grid. If the property is present but the value is empty (or “native”), no css scaling will be applied to the image. Defaults to “32px”.
  • thumbnailImageHeight (optional) - The image height
  • popupImageHeight (optional) - The image height
  • popupImageUrl (optional) - The URL string expression for the popup image that is displayed on mouse over. If not provided, the thumbnail image URL will be used if the thumbnail image is not displayed at native resolution, otherwise the column URL will be used.
  • popupImageWidth (optional) - The size of the popup image that will be displayed. If the property is present but the value is empty (or “native”), no css scaling will be applied to the image. Defaults to “300px”.
Using the above example, two images would exist in the 'mystudies' file store: a small blue car image (circled) provided as the thumbnail and the white car image provided as the popup.

Custom Template Import Files

Each table you create in LabKey provides a template file that can be used as a starting point for importing data. This default template file has the following properties:

  • The file is Excel format.
  • The file contains all of the fields in the table.
  • It contains only column names; no example data is included.
If desired, you can customize this template file to optimize the import experience for users. For example, you may wish to provide a TSV formatted file, or exclude some fields to streamline the import process to the most important fields.

To provide a custom template import file, do the following:

  • Create a file with the desired fields.
  • Upload the file to the file repository.
  • Add XML metadata that points to the custom file. See example XML below.
This XML adds a custom import template file to the Blood sample type.

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="Blood" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<importTemplates>
<template label="Template With Freezer Info" url="https://mysite.labkey.com/_webdav/MyProject/MyFolder/%40files/CustomImportTemplate.xlsx"></template>
</importTemplates>
<columns>
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

Note that multiple custom files are supported, so that users can choose from a dropdown of available files.

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="Blood" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<importTemplates>
<template label="Template With Freezer Info" url="https://mysite.labkey.com/_webdav/MyProject/MyFolder/%40files/Blood_withFreezer.xlsx"></template>
<template label="Template Without Freezer Info" url="https://mysite.labkey.com/_webdav/MyProject/MyFolder/%40files/Blood_withoutFreezer.xlsx"></template>
</importTemplates>
<columns>
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

When multiple files are specified, a dropdown is shown to the user, like the following screenshot:

Multiple files are supported only in the LabKey Server GUI. In the Sample Manager and Biologics application GUI, only the first of multiple files are surfaced to the user.

Suppress Details Links

Each row in a data grid displays two links to a details page.

To suppress these links, add the element <tableUrl/> to the table XML metadata, for example:

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="MyList" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<tableUrl/>
<columns>
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

Join a Query to a Table

If you have a query providing calculations for a table, you can add a field alias to the table, then use that to join in your query. In this example, the query "BMI Query" is providing calculations. We added an alias of the "lsid" field, named it "BMI" and then added this metadata XML making that field a foreign key (fk) to the "BMI Query".

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="Physical Exam" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<columns>
<column columnName="BMI" wrappedColumnName="lsid">
<fk>
<fkDbSchema>study</fkDbSchema>
<fkTable>BMI Query</fkTable>
<fkColumnName>LSID</fkColumnName>
</fk>
</column>
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

Once Physical Exam is linked to BMI Query via this foreign key, all of the columns in BMI Query are made available in the grid customizer. Click Show Hidden Fields to see your wrapped field (or include <isHidden>false</isHidden>), and expand it to show the fields you want.

Because these fields are calculated from other data in the system, you will not see them when inserting (or editing) your table.


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Lookup to a Custom SQL Query

If you want to create a lookup to a SQL Query that you have written, first annotate a column in the query as the primary key field, for example:

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="MyQuery" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<columns>
<column columnName="MyIdColumn">
<isKeyField>true</isKeyField>
</column>
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

You can then add a field in a table and create a lookup into that query. This can be used both for controlling user input (the user will see a dropdown if you include this field in the insert/update view) as well as for surfacing related columns from the query.

Lookup Display Column

By default, a lookup will display the first non-primary-key text column in the lookup target. This may result in unexpected results, depending on the structure of your lookup target. To control which display column is used, supply the fkDisplayColumnName directly in the XML metadata for the table where you want it displayed:

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="Demographics" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<columns>
<column columnName="Gender">
<columnTitle>Gender Code</columnTitle>
<fk>
<fkDisplayColumnName>GenderCode</fkDisplayColumnName>
<fkTable>Genders</fkTable>
<fkDbSchema>lists</fkDbSchema>
</fk>
</column>
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

Filtered Lookups

If you want to filter a lookup column during an insert or update operation, you can do so using XML metadata.

For example, consider a list of instruments shared across many departments, each one associated with a specific type of assay (such as elispot) and marked as either in use or not. If your department wants an input form to draw from this shared list, but avoid having an endless menu of irrelevant instruments, you can limit insert choices for an "Instrument" column to only those for the 'elispot' assay that are currently in use by using a filterGroup:

<column columnName="Instrument">
<fk>
<fkColumnName>key</fkColumnName>
<fkTable>sharedInstrumentList</fkTable>
<fkDbSchema>lists</fkDbSchema>
<filters>
<filterGroup>
<filter column="assay" value="elispot" operator="eq"/>
<filter column="inuse" value="true" operator="eq"/>
</filterGroup>
</filters>
</fk>
</column>

In the above example, the same filter is applied to both insert and update. If you wanted to have different behavior for these two operations, you could separate them like this:

<column columnName="Instrument">
<fk>
<fkColumnName>key</fkColumnName>
<fkTable>sharedInstrumentList</fkTable>
<fkDbSchema>lists</fkDbSchema>
<filters>
<filterGroup operation="insert">
<filter column="assay" value="elispot" operator="eq"/>
<filter column="inuse" value="true" operator="eq"/>
</filterGroup>
<filterGroup operation="update">
<filter column="inuse" value="true" operator="eq"/>
</filterGroup>
</filters>
</fk>
</column>

Filter groups like this can be applied to a list, dataset, or any other table that can accept an XML metadata override.

Lookup Sort Order

When you include a lookup, the values presented to the user will be sorted by the lookup's display column by default. If you want to present them to the user in a different order, you can choose another column to use for sorting the values.

For example, consider a simple list with these values, in this example it is named "CustomSortedList":

theDisplaytheOrder
a4
b2
c1
d3

If you have another table looking up into this list for selecting from "theDisplay", users will see a dropdown with "a, b, c, d" listed in that order. If instead you want to present the user "c, b, d, a" in that order, you'd use this XML on the target list (above) in order to force the sorting to be on the "theOrder" column. When you view the list, you will see the rows displayed in this custom order. Note that no custom XML is needed on the table that includes the lookup to this list.

<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="CustomSortedList" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<columns>
<column columnName="theDisplay">
<sortColumn>theOrder</sortColumn>
</column>
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

theDisplaytheOrder
c1
b2
d3
a4

Multi-Value Foreign Keys (Lookups)

LabKey has basic support for multi-value foreign keys. The multi-valued column renders as a comma separated list in the grid and as a JSON array when using the client API. To set up a multi-value foreign key you need a source table, a junction table, and a target value table. The junction table needs to have a foreign key pointing at the source table and another pointing at the target value table.

For example, you can create a Reagent DataClass table as the source, a ReagentSpecies List as the junction table, and a Species List as the lookup target table. Once the tables have been created, edit the metadata XML of the source table to add a new wrapped column over the primary key of the source table and create a lookup that targets the junction table. The wrapped column has a foreign key with these characteristics:

  1. Annotated as multi-valued (<fkMultiValued>junction</fkMultiValued>).
  2. Points to the junction table's column with a foreign key back to the source table (fkColumnName).
  3. Indicates which foreign key of the junction table should be followed to the target value table (fkJunctionLookup).
  4. This example shows the wrappedColumnName "Key", which is the default used for a list. If you are wrapping a column in a DataClass, the wrappedColumnName will be "RowId".
<tables xmlns="http://labkey.org/data/xml">
<table tableName="Book" tableDbType="NOT_IN_DB">
<columns>
<column columnName="Authors" wrappedColumnName="Key">
<isHidden>false</isHidden>
<isUserEditable>true</isUserEditable>
<shownInInsertView>true</shownInInsertView>
<shownInUpdateView>true</shownInUpdateView>
<fk>
<fkDbSchema>lists</fkDbSchema>
<fkTable>BookAuthorJunction</fkTable>
<fkColumnName>BookId</fkColumnName>
<fkMultiValued>junction</fkMultiValued>
<fkJunctionLookup>AuthorId</fkJunctionLookup>
</fk>
</column>
</columns>
</table>
</tables>

When viewing the multi-value foreign key in the grid, the values will be separated by commas. When using the query APIs such as LABKEY.Query.selectRows, set requiredVersion to 16.2 or greater:

LABKEY.Query.selectRows({
schemaName: 'lists',
queryName: 'Book',
requiredVersion: 17.1
});

The response format will indicate the lookup is multi-valued in the metaData section and render the values as a JSON array. The example below has been trimmed for brevity:

{
"schemaName" : [ "lists" ],
"queryName" : "Book",
"metaData" : {
"id" : "Key",
"fields" : [ {
"fieldKey" : [ "Key" ]
}, {
"fieldKey" : [ "Name" ]
}, {
"fieldKey" : [ "Authors" ],
"lookup" : {
"keyColumn" : "Key",
"displayColumn" : "AuthorId/Name",
"junctionLookup" : "AuthorId",
"queryName" : "Author",
"schemaName" : [ "lists" ],
"multiValued" : "junction"
}
} ]
},
"rows" : [ {
"data" : {
"Key" : { "value" : 1 },
"Authors" : [ {
"value" : 1, "displayValue" : "Terry Pratchett"
}, {
"value" : 2, "displayValue" : "Neil Gaiman"
} ],
"Name" : { "value" : "Good Omens" }
}
}, {
"data" : {
"Key" : { "value" : 2 },
"Authors" : [ {
"value" : 3, "displayValue" : "Stephen King"
}, {
"value" : 4, "displayValue" : "Peter Straub"
} ],
"Name" : { "value" : "The Talisman" }
}
} ],
"rowCount" : 2
}

There are some limitations of the multi-value foreign keys, however. Inserts, updates, and deletes must be performed on the junction table separately from the insert into either the source or target table. In future versions of LabKey Server, it may be possible to perform an insert on the source table with a list of values and have the junction table populated for you. Another limitation is that lookups on the target value are not supported. For example, if the Author had a lookup column named "Nationality", you will not be able to traverse the Book.Author.Nationality lookup.

Downloadable Examples

  • kinship.query.xml
    • Disables the standard insert, update, and delete buttons/links with the empty <insertUrl /> and other tags.
    • Configures lookups on a couple of columns and hides the RowId column in some views.
    • Adds a custom button "More Actions" with a child menu item "Limit To Animals In Selection" that calls a JavaScript method provided in a referenced .js file.
  • Data.query.xml
    • Configures columns with custom formatting for some numeric columns, and color coding for the QCFlag column.
    • Adds multiple menu options under the "More Actions" button at the end of the button bar.
  • Formulations.query.xml
    • Sends users to custom URLs for the insert, update, and grid views.
    • Retains some of the default buttons on the grid, and adds a "Delete Formulations" button between the "Paging" and "Print" buttons.
  • encounter_participants.query.xml
  • AssignmentOverlaps.query.xml
  • Aliquots.query.xml & performCellSort.html
    • Adds a button to the Sample Types web part. When the user selects samples and clicks the button, the page performCallSort.html is shown, where the user can review the selected records before exporting the records to an Excel file.
    • To use this sample, place Aliquots.query.xml in a module's ./resources/queries/Samples directory. Rename Aliquots.query.xml it to match your sample type's name. Edit the tableName attribute in the Aliquots.query.xml to match your sample type's name. Replace the MODULE_NAME placeholder with the name of your module. Place the HTML file in your module's ./resources/views directory. Edit the queryName config parameter to match the sample type's name.

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