This page is a work in progress.
The following table defines various concepts:Concept Definition DOC A division, office, or center. archive A location in which you can store data for later retrieval, or the process of storing that data in that location. collection A folder for a dataset or project. A collection might have one or more collections within it. A collection can be identified by a custom collection type such as Project, Study, Sample, and so on, the default being Folder. (To request more collection types, contact NCIDataVault@mail.nih.gov.) collection path The unique location of each collection. metadata Attribute values associated with your data in the archive. The system automatically generates some metadata for each collection or file in the archive. Some data might also have custom (user-defined) metadata. Metadata make it easier for you to find the associated data. metadata file A file that contains metadata for each object (data file) or collection in a bulk upload, as described in Preparing a Metadata File for Bulk Upload. attribute A field for a piece of information that helps to describe your data. data hierarchy An arrangement or classification of data. In DME, data are stored as objects, which are organized into collections (folders), and a collection might have one or more collections within it. A collection can be identified by a custom collection type such as Project, Study, Sample, and so on, the default being Folder. metadata policy file A file that defines valid collection types. (To develop or modify this file, contact NCIDataVault@mail.nih.gov.) DOC policy file A file that specifies the required attributes for each collection type. (To develop or modify this file, contact NCIDataVault@mail.nih.gov.) data object or data file A file that will be or has been uploaded to DME. It can be a single data file or a compressed file. synchronous Transfer of files using processes that run sequentially. This type of transfer is not optimal for large files. asynchronous High performance transfer (upload or download) of large files, using processes that run independently of other processes. Globus A program that supports asynchronous transfer of large files. For instructions, refer to Preparing to Use Globus with DME. endpoint A destination that represents a location on a file transfer service server, such as gridftp.
