(New) Ontology Selection Field Type
Pick a term from a controlled ontology tree instead of typing free text.
The new Ontology selection field lets users choose a value from a controlled vocabulary — browsing a hierarchical term tree served by the TIB Terminology Service — instead of typing free text. The chosen term’s label is stored on the field, keeping your data human-readable and consistent across every element.
Table of Contents
- Key Features
- For Designers — adding an ontology field
- For Users — picking a term
- How It Works
- 🚀 How to Participate in the Preview
Key Features
Audience: Template Designers, Researchers
Interface: Chemotion ELN / Generic Template Designer
- Controlled vocabulary: Values come from an OBO Foundry ontology, not a static option list or free text — so terms stay authoritative and centrally maintained.
- Tree browser: Users explore the ontology with an expandable tree and a live definition panel, rather than guessing at the right wording.
- Search as you type: Filter the tree by label in real time, with matching branches auto-expanded.
- Human-readable storage: The term’s label is what gets saved, so exported data reads naturally.
- Restriction source: Because the stored value is a single label, an ontology field can show or hide other fields depending on which term was picked.
For Designers — adding an ontology field
- Add a field and set its type to Ontology selection.
- Set the field’s ontology root term — the entry point of the tree the user will browse, given as an ontology id plus the term’s IRI (for example
bao:class:http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BAO_0000103). The root term and everything beneath it become selectable. - (Optional) Use the field as a restriction source. In the field restriction setup, pick the ontology field and choose the term that should trigger the restriction — the same tree browser is used to pick it. Other fields then react to whether the user’s selection matches.
What persists in the template is the root term (the source), not a copy of the whole ontology — the tree is fetched live.
For Users — picking a term
- Click the field (or its Term button). A modal opens with the ontology tree on the left and a definition panel on the right.
- Browse or search. Expand and collapse branches with the arrows, or type in the search box to filter the tree by label in real time. Hover a term to read its definition in the side panel.
- Select a term by clicking it — the modal closes and the field shows the term’s label.
- Clear a selection with the × in the field.
- Refresh — if terms seem missing or out of date, use the Refresh button in the modal to clear the locally cached tree and re-fetch it from the server.
How It Works
- Terms come from a terminology service. The tree is fetched from the TIB Terminology Service for the configured ontology, so the vocabulary is authoritative rather than copied into the template.
- Lazy load, then cache. The full tree under the root term loads on first open and is kept locally, so reopening the picker is instant. A partial or incomplete tree is rejected rather than cached — you never browse a half-loaded vocabulary.
- The label is the value. Selecting a term stores its label, so an ontology field behaves like any other select-style source — including for restrictions.
- The tree follows the field. When the field a restriction points at changes, the picker reloads the correct ontology tree instead of leaving a stale one on screen.
Note: This feature is currently in preview and may undergo further refinements based on user feedback.
🚀 How to Participate in the Preview
Follow these steps to explore the new features and share your insight:
🖥️ Visit the Staging Instance
Access the preview environment at: labimotion-stage.ibcs.kit.edu🔍 Explore and Test
Try out the enhancements — see how they fit your workflow.❤️ Your Feedback Matters
Share your comments or report any issues in our GitHub Discussion Thread.
We appreciate your help in testing these new features!