The first step is to register with a Mx (Metadata Exchange) instance, shortly after registering your administrator will send you an email notifying you of your access details.
By default there are 3 levels of access, administrator, curator and guest. The basic differences between these rights are as follows: a guest will only be able to view models, a curator will be able to create and modify models and an administrator will be able to add new users; however different Mx instances may be set up with a variety of different access levels and rights, so it is best to consult your administrator to find out what rights and capabilities you have.
Once you login you should see a screen like the one following:
Which on first sight may seem a bit daunting. So we can divide the screen into sections.
Firstly the My Models/Catalogue Models tab enables the user to switch between all the models or datasets (Catalogue Models) in the catalogue, and those "favourite" datasets or models (My Models) that are used on a regular basis and the user would like quick access to.
Secondly in the top left hand corner there is a book icon, this is the "home" button, and it will take you back to this screen , as shown below:
- Home button – clicking this will return the user to this view from anywhere inside the application.
Thirdly, just below the "home" button there is the model or dataset search, this will show you relevant models in the main part of the screen.
In the top right hand corner there are a number of quick menu items.
- Quick Actions – A variety of action, listed below, this include the data item search – not to be confused with the model search in 3.
- General Models Search – This is a search for data models, it does not include other data items, for everything other than data models you need the Data Element search in 2 – explained in detail below.
- Tabs between “My Models” (otherwise known as favourites) and the whole catalogue of datasets. If you use the Mx a lot then you may wish to keep your “favourite” data models here. Click on the “Favourites” button and the model will appear in “My Models” (see below)
- Create (a new model) and Import (a model) Buttons.
Data Element Search - Click on this to search for any data element, either in the current model or in any model
Fast Actions - - Click on this to get a selection of actions - this menu may vary depending on your configuration. In the illustration the menu which appears will enable the following actions : Activity (admin only - enables an admin user to see recent activity in the Mx), Import Catalogue XML - enables a user to import an XML dataset, Import Excel/Loinc/MC/OBO/Rare Disease CSV / Star UML - a variety of model imports from different file types. Model Catalogue version - see exactly which software version is being used, Show all Models - defaults to focus on the My Models list of datasets.
Curator - -This is a menu for data curations, consisting of the same
Admin - -
User - -