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Namespace Management

A namespace is a context within which the names of all objects must be unambiguously resolvable. The general authority and responsibility for the minting mechanism of PIDs are defined according to namespaces.

A namespace is immutable. It consists of base-namespace https://pid.example.com/ and namespace path. The recommended default is to use a path length 1 without further nesting into sub-namespaces and a sequence of numbers without leading zeros. Example of corresponding namespaces:

  • https://pid.example.com/1/
  • https://pid.example.com/72364/

Eligible users with either Contributor or Admin roles can manage namespaces.

Create Namespace

Select ID Management in the left sidebar to create a namespace and click on the NAMESPACES tab. A list of existing namespaces is shown. Click plus in the upper right corner to create a new namespace. Enter the following mandatory information in the presented form:

Reference Concept

The Reference Concept is a specific concept selected from the Reference Taxonomy assigned to the policy. This concept defines the type of entities (PIDs) that can be created under the namespace.

By default, only entities of exactly this reference concept type can exist in the namespace. Admins can optionally allow subclasses of the reference concept for a namespace. When this option is enabled:

  • The namespace can contain entities whose type is the reference concept or any of its subclasses (including subclasses of subclasses, and so on).
  • The subclass hierarchy is determined only from the Reference Taxonomy assigned to the policy.
  • When users create a new entity in such a namespace, they can choose the specific type (reference concept or one of its subclasses) before the creation form is shown; the form and mandatory fields then depend on the selected type. When subclasses are available, we can select the type from the dropdown when we create a new entity from the Datasets overview page or the Dataset details page.

For Hash namespaces, only one hash configuration can be defined; it applies to all types (the reference concept and any allowed subclasses) in that namespace.

ID Generator Configuration

The Accurids ID Generator allows for the generation and maintenance of persistent identifiers (PIDs) - long-lasting strings that uniquely identify any object independent of storage location.

The following options can be configured depending on the chosen policy:

  • Authority: Responsible system for the ID minting
    • Accurids
    • External system
  • Configuration Type: Type of generator to create
    • UUID: creates a random 128-bit number encoded as hexadecimal
    • Counter: creates an ascending number
    • Alphanumeric: creates an arbitrary string of alphanumeric characters
    • Hash: create a hash value from the input of required properties
    • Manual: any manual input

For further customization, the following parameters can be configured upon creating a generator.

Generate Identifiers

Eligible users can create identifiers. Those users are the namespace owner (denoted under "Owner") and Admins. To generate identifiers, click the ID Generator symbol that is displayed on Namespace overview and Namespace details pages.

Enter the number of identifiers you want to create and click the Generate button. A text field with the generated IDs (one per line) is shown. You can copy them to clipboard by clicking the symbol and pasting generated IDs directly into your program of choice, e.g., a spreadsheet application.

When generating IDs from the Namespace overview or Namespace details page, only the parent (reference concept) type can be used; there is no dropdown to select sub-classes.

Generic Configurations

The following parameters can be configured for further customization upon creating a generator. The available parameters differ by type of ID Generator:

Configuration Type Parameter Allowed values Description
Alphanumeric ID type
  • Alphabetic
  • Alphanumeric
  • Numeric
 defines type of alphanumeric characters used
Alphanumeric ID case
  • Upper
  • Lower
  • Mixed
 defines a case of alphanumeric characters used
  • Alphanumeric
  • Counter
 ID prefix any string defines a prefix appended in front of created IDs
  • Alphanumeric
  • Counter
 Number of digits any integer between 1 and 100 defines numbers of digits in the created IDs
UUID n.a. n.a. no configuration parameters required
Hash Hash function
  • MD5
  • SHA1
  • SHA256
 defines the hash algorithm used
Hash Hash properties any property uris defines the properties to be used for hash calculation
Manual n.a. any string no configuration parameters required

Hash Type Generator

  • In earlier versions, the properties used for hash calculation were derived from the SHACL constraint dataset. Starting with version 2.15, these properties are automatically migrated to the Hash properties field on the namespace page. This makes the hash calculation logic visible and easier to review. This migration applies only to existing namespaces.

  • For new namespaces, users define the hash calculation properties on the namespace page during creation. These properties are then automatically shown during entity creation on the GEV page and are required fields.

Redirection Configuration

Accurids redirection component allows configuring URL rewriting rules to resolve persistent identifiers so that users and machines can obtain information through a simple HTTP lookup. The redirection target can point to other applications or Accurids itself when the target application is temporarily unavailable or returns not found response code (HTTP 404 code). More details

View and Modify Namespace

To view details on an existing namespace, click the eye icon next to it. A details page containing details and the status (active or inactive) of the namespace will be shown.

In this page, several aspects of the namespace can be modified.

The Reference concept can be edited by clicking on Change reference concept button which will open a popover that allows to select the reference concept and optionally to allow and select subclasses.

The audit trail information can be viewed by clicking on the Audit Trail icon, which will open a window with a detailed log of all performed actions, including:

  • Modified date
  • Updated fields
  • Modified by