One of the main tasks of the CIC project is to transform all of the existing metadata into the ISO19115 standard. This can be done in a variety of ways, each with pros and cons. We encountered a group of records where we were losing online linkages during this process. Troubleshooting the problem led to some interesting discoveries.
Solution: The ArcGIS template file can be edited directly to include https:// linkages in the transformation. Click here to go to the solution.
Details: I inspected the original FGDC metadata file. Note: When opening an FGDC XML file in ArcCatalog, many of the elements are not editable. To see them, the user must open the FGDC Metadata (read-only) section. Under <Identification / Citation / Citation Information/>are the two links in greyed-out text.
Step 1: Use the Export Metadata tool with FGDC2ISO19139 selected
Step 2: Save the change and exit edit mode. Scroll down to the distribution section. Note that both online locations are now blue, clickable links.
At this point, we had identified that there is a problem with using https:// protocol links in ArcCatalog. Just removing the "s" is not a solution, however, because it is not the link that we want. It turned out to be a problem in the XSLT for this transformation. Here is how to fix it.
(Disclaimer: this involves slight changes to the program files in ArcGIS. Changing ESRI's program files is generally not a recommended practice, but we offer this solution, because it worked for us.)
<xsl:for-each select="onLineSrc[(starts-with(linkage,'http://') or starts-with(linkage,'ftp://')) and ((count(.//*[text()]) - count(./orDesc[starts-with(.,'0')])) > 0)]">
Note that ArcCatalog is only looking for links that start with http:// or ftp://. We need to add https://. Replace that line with the following:
Issue: A group of metadata files from one portal had online linkages in their FGDC metadata files. When the Metadata Coordinator transformed these files using ArcGIS, the links disappeared. What happened?
Diagnosis: ArcCatalog does not recognize Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) addresses. It will save them in an ArcGIS 1.0 metadata format file, but will not export them to ISO.
Solution: The ArcGIS template file can be edited directly to include https:// linkages in the transformation. Click here to go to the solution.
Details: I inspected the original FGDC metadata file. Note: When opening an FGDC XML file in ArcCatalog, many of the elements are not editable. To see them, the user must open the FGDC Metadata (read-only) section. Under <Identification / Citation / Citation Information/>are the two links in greyed-out text.
Unsuccessful Test 1: FGDC to ISO19139 in ArcCatalog:
This will create an ISO19139 XML file. This will not be editable in ArcGIS, but we can view it.
Step 1: Use the Export Metadata tool with FGDC2ISO19139 selected
Step 2: Open the newly created file and scroll down to Distribution section:
Result: No links are present. Neither the ftp nor the https.
Unsuccessful Test 2: FGDC to ArcGIS 1.0 to ISO19139 using ArcCatalog:
This will create an ArcGIS 1.0 metadata format file, which can then be exported to FGDC or ISO.
Step 1: Use the Upgrade Metadata tool with Upgrade Type FGDC_TO_ARCGIS
Step 2: Open the newly created file and scroll down to Distribution-Transfer Options. Notice that the ftp link is blue and is clickable. The https link is still black and not clickable.
Step 3: Use the Export Metadata tool with ArcGIS2ISO19139 selected:
Step 4: Open the newly created file and scroll down to Distribution section:
Result: Note that the ftp link transferred, but the https link is not present.
Experimental Test 3: ArcGIS 1.0 to ISO19139 using ArcCatalog. Changing https:// to http://
Step 1: Open the ArcGIS 1.0 file. Manually edit the online linkages to change https:// into http://
Step 2: Save the change and exit edit mode. Scroll down to the distribution section. Note that both online locations are now blue, clickable links.
Step 3: Use the Export Metadata tool with ArcGIS2ISO19139 selected:
Step 4: Open the newly created file and scroll down to Distribution section:
Result: Note that both of the links came through.
At this point, we had identified that there is a problem with using https:// protocol links in ArcCatalog. Just removing the "s" is not a solution, however, because it is not the link that we want. It turned out to be a problem in the XSLT for this transformation. Here is how to fix it.
(Disclaimer: this involves slight changes to the program files in ArcGIS. Changing ESRI's program files is generally not a recommended practice, but we offer this solution, because it worked for us.)
Step 1: Find the XSL file called ArcGIS2ISO19139 in the Metadata\Translator\Transforms folder. The full path is: {ARCGIS_INSTALL_PATH}\Metadata\Translator\Transforms\ArcGIS2ISO19139.xsl
Step 2: Open this file in a text editor. Note that depending upon your computer's permissions, you may need to open the text editor application as an administrator. We will be making a small change and re-saving the file to the same location.
Step 3: Find line 3422. It should currently read:
Note that ArcCatalog is only looking for links that start with http:// or ftp://. We need to add https://. Replace that line with the following:
<xsl:for-each select="onLineSrc[(starts-with(linkage,'https://') or starts-with(linkage,'http://') or starts-with(linkage,'ftp://')) and ((count(.//*[text()]) - count(./orDesc[starts-with(.,'0')])) > 0)]">
Step 4: Save the file and try the transformation again.
Step 4: Save the file and try the transformation again.
Results: Both links were exported to the ISO file. Success!
Postscript:
The display of an https:// link in ArcCatalog is still still different, in that it is not blue nor clickable. If desired, this can also be fixed in a similar manner:
Find line 430 in {ARCGIS_INSTALL_PATH}\Metadata\Stylesheets\ArcGIS_Imports\general.xslt
change this:
<xsl:when test="(substring($value,1,7) = 'http://') or (substring($value,1,7) = 'HTTP://') or (substring($value,1,6) = 'ftp://') or (substring($value,1,6) = 'FTP://')"><a target="_blank">
to this:
<xsl:when test="(substring($value,1,8) = 'https://') or (substring($value,1,7) = 'http://') or (substring($value,1,7) = 'HTTP://') or (substring($value,1,6) = 'ftp://') or (substring($value,1,6) = 'FTP://')"><a target="_blank">
Postscript:
The display of an https:// link in ArcCatalog is still still different, in that it is not blue nor clickable. If desired, this can also be fixed in a similar manner: