This page lists all the data fields which are currently in the ongoing repository of cave and karst data fields and their definitions proposed by the International Union of Speleology (UIS). This is part of the UIS Informatics Commission (UISIC) project to facilitate data analysis/comparison/exchange between different cave/karst databases. (See Cave Data Exchange Proposal.)
The work has been done in collaboration with the Australian Speleological Federation's Australian Karst Index national cave/karst database, and will also be in collaboration with the international Karst Information Portal project.
Examples of the use of the fields in actual database table structures is shown on the table pages, and for a real-world example, see ASF's online Australian Karst Index database.
Discussion and final acceptance of the fields and their definitions will be via the Commission's CaveData forum in due course. However in the meantime, your comments and suggestions are very welcome. This list will be updated as discussion proceeds, and further fields added whenever necessary. The first group of fields for discussion is expected to be "basic" fields used by most databases. When the definitions have been finalised in English, they will be translated to other languages.
At this stage, the list shows only fields for data which could normally be gathered during routine cave exploration and mapping, and which in the main, apart from exact location data, could normally be published in cave lists without causing too many problems.
Of course, as well as further caving fields, there are many, many other fields which could be included to cater also for cave/karst scientific work. We plan to invite cave/karst scientists to collaborate with the project by asking them to define fields tailored to their specific discipline, and which can then be added to our repository for other scientists to use instead of having to reinvent them.
To help find whether a particular field exists in this full list, the fields have been grouped firstly according to the entity they belong to (such as caves, maps, articles, etc), and then by their subject, according to UISIC's interim Speleological Subject Classification (SSC) scheme. However on the field definitions page, and on the field value codes page, the fields are listed in simple Field ID (FID) order.
The entities listed below use a 2-letter code designed to be meaningful in as many languages as possible. However, in line with our use of language-independent numeric codes for fields and their value codes, it is expected that these entity codes will be replaced by numeric codes in due course.
For each field listed below, its Standard FID and the English version of its fieldname are shown. Its draft definition is linked to the Field ID, and if its values use a fixed vocabulary, then its coded values are linked via its definition.
[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
The entity to which the field belongs:
AR Article
AT Attribute/Field
AV Attribute Value
CA Cave or karst feature
EN Entity
OR Organisation
PA Land Parcel
PB Publication
PE Person
PH Photograph
PL Plan/Map
PM Permanent Mark
PS Map Series
RE Region/Area
RL Role
RP Report
SM Specimen
SP Species
ST Site/Place
SU Subject
SY System
XK Key-in Batch
XL Upload Batch
XU Update Batch
[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
319 Country where published
321 State supplying this ref
317 Quantity of maps
315 Page range or quantity
335 Ref - name of article 311 Ref - name of publication 328 SSC code
316 Bibliography present? 322 Type of publication 323 Local abstract year 324 Local abstract category 325 Local abstract reference 326 BBS year 327 BBS sequence number 333 Article comment
318 Quantity of plates
334 Compacted surnames 329 Flag if surname overflow
331 Author surname 332 Author initials 330 Author sequence 308 Ref - year of publication 309 Ref - suffix to year
307 Article ID 312 Ref - volume number 313 Ref - issue number[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
124 Organisation ID 126 Date org started field 129 Date org started fld val
87 Field length when text 88 Field scale 91 Length type
102 Field name - full 103 Field name - short 141 SSC ID 94 SSC ID seq 142 Entity ID of field owner 92 Data type 95 Single or multi-valued 93 Coding type
85 Table where value set 116 Field also in table 115 Table usage seq 117 Value set or used here? 120 Local lookup table name 513 Field ID used for codes 221 Master table if updating 222 Form number when updating 118 Primary/secondary key? 119 A foreign key of key ID 89 Field position when fixed 90 Field seq when delimited 161 Data-entry prompt 504 Field design comment line 108 Field definition line 107 Field definition seq 110 Field help text line 109 Field help text seq 111 Field value code 123 Field value local code 112 Field value translation 114 Field value defn line 113 Field value defn seq 121 Value numeric range MAX 122 Value numeric range MIN 163 Field value help line 162 Field value help seq 125 System field used in 128 Field usage comment line 127 Field usage comment seq 131 Fldval usage comment line 130 Fldval usage comment seq
104 Pre-data text (singular) 159 Pre-data text (plural) 105 Post-data text (singular) 160 Post-data text (plural) 106 Between-data text 301 Field is not suppressible
97 Transfer to Level 1 OK 98 Transfer to Level 2 OK 99 Transfer to Level 3 OK
164 Person adding new field 165 Person's organisation 166 Date of adding new field 167 Local status of new field 168 Person adding new value 169 Person's organisation 170 Date of adding new value 171 Local status of new value 96 UIS status of UIS field 188 UIS status of UIS value 84 Local status of UIS field 187 Local status of UIS value 189 Flag if field modified 190 Flag if value modified
82 Standard short field ID 83 Local field ID 100 Local field designation 101 Local field code 405 Other field ID[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
1 Karst feature type 532 Entrance feature type
2 Submersion 3 Flow presence 4 Flow direction 5 Internal flow 6 Internal water
7 Rock type
8 Cave type 11 Development 531 Orientation 10 Entrance type 533 Entrance development 9 Quantity of entrances
12 Decoration
13 Minimum temperature 14 Maximum temperature 15 Minimum humidity 16 Maximum humidity 17 Moisture level
220 Country in cave number 235 Cross-reference country 231 Previous country
364 Specimen ID 37 Genus name 509 Genus confidence level 38 Species name 510 Species confidence level 40 Species significance 263 Species ref - article ID 39 Species ref - surname 260 Species ref - year 261 Species ref - year suffix 262 Species ref - comment
41 Cave use 72 Contents
228 Owner - person ID 418 Owner - name 417 Owner - organisation ID 42 Owner type 229 Local government area 258 Access status 46 Protection methods 43 Damage
47 Controller 44 Management classifier 45 Management category 48 Importances 49 Surface use
530 Cave description memo 525 Cave description line 534 Entrance description memo 535 Entrance description line 20 Penetrability 51 Prospects 29 Degree explored 30 Discoverer type 419 Discoverer - person ID 522 Discoverer surname 523 Discoverer firstname 420 Discoverer - org ID 524 Discoverer - org initials 31 Discoverer name 36 Discoverer date 477 Discoverer date qualifier 32 Discoverer day 33 Discoverer month 34 Discoverer year 35 Extension discovery 50 Difficulties 52 Hazards
53 Comments
18 State in cave number 19 Area in cave number 303 Area lookup 232 Previous state 233 Previous area 304 Previous area lookup 27 Nearest locality 680 How to find cave - memo 257 How to find cave - line 542 Entrance land parcel ID 441 Fifth-smallest land unit 253 Fourth-smallest land unit 254 Third-smallest land unit 255 Second-smallest land unit 256 Smallest land unit 365 Special land parcel 439 Land unit - coarse 21 Latitude - coarse 22 Longitude - coarse 23 Map sheet name - coarse 26 Grid reference - coarse 25 Gr.ref qualifier - coarse 24 Topo 100K sheet name 411 Map posn - map ID 241 Map posn - map easting 242 Map posn - map northing 671 Map posn - full easting 672 Map posn - full northing 243 Map posn - units 678 Map posn - UTM grid zone 248 Map posn - sheet number 679 Map posn - 100km letters 629 Map posn - geodetic datum 630 Map posn - map grid 414 Map posn - map name 239 Map posn - map number 238 Map posn - map scale 240 Map posn - map edition 640 Map posn - comment 245 Position - latitude 246 Position - longitude 625 Posn - geog geodet datum 649 Posn - geographic comment 247 Posn - UTM zone designatn 673 Posn - UTM zone number 674 Posn - UTM zone letter 675 Posn - 100km sq letters 676 Posn - 100K sheet number 677 Posn - 25K sheet number 249 Position - easting 250 Position - northing 251 Position - grid ref units 650 Posn - gref geodet datum 660 Posn - gref comment 626 Posn - gref map grid 28 Altitude - coarse 442 Altitude 443 Altitude - units 627 Altitude - height datum 670 Altitude - comment
54 Percent mapped 265 Widest map ID 55 Map source - org code 518 Map numberer org code 264 Map sequence number 359 Map or sheet name 360 Map & survey grade org 361 Map & survey grade value 362 Map scale 363 Dates of surv/issue/amend
297 Length category 527 Depth category 528 Size category 56 Length 57 Length method 58 Length accuracy 511 Vertical extent 59 Extent below entrance 60 Extent above entrance 61 Vertical method 62 Vertical accuracy 63 Length of largest chamber 64 Width of largest chamber 65 Height of largest chamber 67 Extent length 68 Extent width 66 Pitches
70 Principal name 69 Other names
270 Article ID 71 Ref - surnames 266 Ref - year of publication 267 Ref - suffix to year 355 Ref - name of article 356 Ref - name of publication 357 Ref - volume number 358 Ref - issue number 269 Ref - relevant page range 268 Ref - subjects 633 Map posn - citation ID 634 Map posn - citation title 635 Map posn - citation year 636 Map posn - citation vol 637 Map posn - citation issue 638 Map posn - citation page 639 Map posn - publicn name 642 Posn - geog reference ID 643 Posn - geog ref title 644 Posn - geog publicn name 645 Posn - geog ref year 646 Posn - geog ref volume 647 Posn - geog ref issue 648 Posn - geog ref page 653 Posn - gref reference ID 654 Posn - gref ref title 655 Posn - gref publicn name 656 Posn - gref ref year 657 Posn - gref ref volume 658 Posn - gref ref issue 659 Posn - gref ref page 663 Altitude - reference ID 664 Altitude - ref title 665 Altitude - publicn name 666 Altitude - ref year 667 Altitude - ref volume 668 Altitude - ref issue 669 Altitude - reference page
540 Cave photo ID
236 Cross-reference state 237 Cross-reference area 74 Cross-reference serial 305 Cross-reference lookup
75 Cave list exclusion FID
467 Data security level
230 Update status 447 Data awaits uploading 461 Values qty before upload 462 Values qty after upload 463 Qty of new/changed values 519 Updating organisation ID 460 Field ID updated 469 Type of update 464 Value ID 465 Data source type 466 Data confidence level 468 Data - reference ID 520 Data - key-in ID 521 Data - upload ID 470 Data supplier - person ID 471 Data supplier - org ID 476 Data date 472 Data date - year 473 Data date - month 474 Data date - day 475 Data date - qualifier 76 Latest update by 431 Latest update ID 432 Latest update - person 433 Latest update - org code 434 Latest update - date 435 Latest key-in ID 436 Latest key-in - person 547 Latest key-in - org code 437 Latest key-in start date 448 Latest key-in end date 456 Latest upload ID 457 Latest upload - person 458 Latest upload - org code 548 Latest upload target code 459 Latest upload - date 302 Map posn - accuracy used 244 Map posn - precision used 632 Map posn - date estimated 514 Position - geog precision 515 Position - geog accuracy 628 Posn - geographic method 631 Posn - geog date estimatd 252 Posn - gref precision 300 Posn - gref accuracy 651 Posn - gref method 652 Posn - gref date estimatd 444 Altitude - precision +/- 445 Altitude - accuracy +/- 661 Altitude - method 662 Altitude - date estimated
227 Cave ID 259 Other cave IDs 77 Serial in cave number 234 Previous serial 78 Entrance marking 538 Entrance photoID - tag 536 Entrance photoID - near 537 Entrance photoID - locale[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
151 Entity name - English 152 Entity name - French 153 Entity name - German 133 Local short entity name
86 Master table filename 134 Numeric width in keys 438 Site current maximum ID
132 Entity ID[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
376 Organisation country code 506 Country name 395 Address country code
382 Organisation defunct Y/N 383 Final year if defunct
385 Organisation address line 386 Address line 1 387 Address line 2 388 Address line 3 389 Address line 4 392 City 377 State code 505 State abbreviation 378 Postcode 379 Postcode first Y/N 614 Org contact email address 615 Org web page address 393 Organisation coverage 181 Org coverage - temporary 180 Org address - temporary
391 Organisation name 381 Organisation type 394 Organisation grouping 179 Org name - temporary 283 Org initials - temporary
380 Organisation ID 178 Organisation code 390 Organisation initials 384 Current org ID if defunct 416 Initials of current org 177 Org ID - temporary[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
541 Official land parcel ID[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
314 Book publisher and city
310 Book author or editor 609 Whether author or editor
320 ISSN 608 ISBN[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
492 Country name 493 Country code
501 Organisation code 1 502 Organisation code 2 503 Organisation code 3 611 Person - OrgID associated 612 Person - Org relationship
613 Person address line 176 Person address - temp 484 Address line 1 485 Address line 2 486 Address line 3 487 Address line 4 488 City or suburb 489 State abbreviation 490 State code 491 Postcode 494 Email address 610 Person web page address 495 Phone numbers prefix 496 Home phone number 497 Work phone number 498 Mobile phone number 499 Fax phone number 500 Pager phone & user number
479 Surname 480 Usual first name 481 Middle initial 482 Initials for given names 483 Title 173 Surname - temporary 174 Given name - temporary 175 Title - temporary
478 Person ID 172 Person ID - temporary[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
196 Map scope - country code 368 Map scope - other country 573 Map scope - world region 601 Map scope - Cave ID 197 Map scope - state code 198 Map scope - area code 274 Map scope - N latitude 275 Map scope - S latitude 276 Map scope - E longitude 277 Map scope - W longitude 369 Map scope - other state 409 Map scope - other area 397 Map scope - other N lat 398 Map scope - other S lat 399 Map scope - other E long 400 Map scope - other W long
206 Map views shown 554 Map geog coords shown Y/N 555 Map vector version avail? 556 Map raster version avail? 218 Map comment line 579 Map comment memo
205 Map scale 214 Map sheet size 404 Map sheet quantity
202 Map or sheet name 272 Map subsheet name 558 Map special sheet name 367 Map type
598 Map citation Article ID 219 Map citation if no ID 599 Map citation page number 600 Map citation comment 580 Map biblio updater ID 581 Map biblio updater org ID 557 Map edition
211 Map host area map ID 213 Map microfilmed Y/N 403 Map digital master Y/N 589 Map image 590 Map image filename 591 Map image master software 592 Map image s/w version 593 Map image technique 594 Map image type 595 Map image file format 597 Map image comment
407 Map controller person ID 406 Map controller org ID 210 Map controller if no ID 408 Map controller comment 212 Map restricted Y/N
370 Map source - country code 396 Map source - type 200 Map source - org code 209 Map source if no ID 517 Map numberer org code 588 Map numberer country code 607 Map survey start year 207 Map survey finish year 401 Map issue year 273 Map latest update year 208 Map principal surveyor ID 582 Map principal surveyor 586 Map surveyor ID 584 Map surveyor 402 Map principal drafter ID 583 Map principal drafter 587 Map drafter ID 585 Map drafter 203 Map & survey grade org 204 Map & survey grade value 215 Map biblio updater 216 Map biblio updater org 217 Map biblio updater year 551 Map geodetic datum 553 Map grid 552 Map height datum
195 Map ID 271 Map number 199 Map cave serial number 201 Map sequence number 366 Map series ID[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
572 Map series world region 569 Map series scope country 570 Map series scope state 571 Map series scope area 574 Map series other country 575 Map series other state 576 Map series other area
559 Map series map type 563 Map series geo coords Y/N 564 Map series vector avail? 565 Map series raster avail? 577 Map series comment line 578 Map series comment memo
280 Map series length units 373 Map series scale
279 Map series name
374 Map series publisher ID
566 Map series source country 568 Map series source type 567 Map series org code 560 Map series geodetic datum 562 Map series map grid 561 Map series height datum
371 Map series ID 278 Map series code 372 Map series abbreviation[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
224 Area country 225 Area state 616 Area centroid latitude 617 Area centroid longitude 618 Area 250K map sheet name 621 Area comment
80 Area name
619 Area coordinating org ID 620 Area numberer person ID
226 Area ID 81 Area code 223 Area designation[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
79 Report title[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
281 Genus name 282 Species name 602 Species family 603 Species Order 604 Species class 605 Species phylum 606 Species common name[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
146 Subject descrip - English 149 Subject descrip - French 147 Subject instr - English 150 Subject instr - French 144 Subject comment line 143 Subject comment sequence
145 Subject name - English 148 Subject name - French
140 SSC status 139 SSC attention needed?
135 SSC ID 138 SSC designation 136 SSC parent ID 137 SSC grandparent ID[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
624 World region 156 Site country code 285 Country name 286 State code 287 State name 354 State abbreviation 292 Government level name 293 Land unit name 288 Geodetic Datum used 289 Map Grid used 516 Height Datum used 440 Coarse - land unit name 294 Coarse - geogr. precision 295 Coarse - gr.ref precision 296 Coarse - grid ref units 412 Coarse - map series 413 Coarse - gr.ref qualifier 446 Coarse - altitude units 526 Coarse altitude precision
298 Length units 299 Length units abbreviation
284 Country code ISO-3166 410 Person role
336 Local abstracts name 337 Local abstracts initials
415 Agent type
73 Value sequence 622 True or False 375 Sequence for lookup 183 Form seq 184 Detail form tablename 185 Detail form form number 186 Page number of form 306 Auxmaster name 290 Table scroll arrows Y/N 291 Code translations Y/N 338 AT coding-type code 339 AT coding-type text 340 Field length-type code 341 Field length-type text 344 AT cardinality code 345 AT cardinality text 346 Value set code 347 Value set text 348 AT data-type code 349 AT data-type text 596 Map images directory path
350 Language code ISO-639 351 Language text 158 Site default language
157 Site organisation code 182 Database org code 539 Program version number 529 Software upgrade level 154 UIS status UIS code 155 UIS status UIS text 191 Local status UIS code 192 Local status UIS text 193 Local status new code 194 Local status new text 342 Key status code 343 Key status text 352 SSC update-status code 353 SSC update-status text 507 Data confidence level 508 Data confidence symbol 512 Entity update status 549 Data quality comment line 550 Data quality comment memo 623 Source type 641 Position method[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
428 Key-in - person ID 430 Key-in - person 545 Key-in - organisation ID 546 Key-in - org code 429 Key-in - start date 449 Key-in - end date
427 Key-in ID[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
451 Upload - person ID 454 Upload - person 452 Upload - source org ID 455 Upload - source org code 543 Upload - target org ID 544 Upload - target org code 453 Upload - date
450 Upload ID[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
422 Update - person ID 425 Update - person 423 Update - organisation ID 426 Update - org code 424 Update - date
421 Update ID[ Top ] [ Contents ] [ Updates ] [ Field definitions ] [ Field value codes ] [ Table Structures ] [ Proposal ] [ UISIC ] [ UIS ] [ ASF ] [ KIP ]
2009-01-24
Added:
2000-11-07
Added:
1998-09-05
Added:
Previous versions:
[ 2000-11-07 ]
[ 1998-09-05 ]