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Documentation Technical documentation for the Get Information about Schools service.

Group And Staff Field Metadata

This page compares the metadata models used for organisation group fields and governance/staff fields.

Scope

This view focuses on:

  • group field metadata, positioning, validation and permissions;
  • staff field metadata, positioning, role rules, validation and permissions;
  • common patterns and differences between group and staff logical fields.

It does not show audit tables or validation tables marked as inactive.

How To Read This Model

  • Group and staff field metadata follow the same broad logical-field pattern.
  • One logical field key can drive display, mapping, validation, permissions and change workflow.
  • Group fields have a tab catalogue; staff fields use position and role-specific rules.
  • Staff fields include role-specific behaviour such as required, warning-only, not-needed and reflected.
  • Permission tables share the same basic grain: user group plus logical field.

Application-Derived Insights

  • Field metadata is a control model for runtime behaviour, not simply documentation.
  • Group, staff and establishment field metadata repeat the same pattern but with domain-specific extensions.
  • Target modelling could benefit from a shared logical-field abstraction, while preserving domain-specific rules.
  • Validation tables marked with no observed activity should be checked before being carried forward.

Group Field Metadata

erDiagram GroupField { nvarchar shortName nvarchar displayName nvarchar path nvarchar fieldType } GroupFieldPosition { numeric id nvarchar shortName nvarchar tab_code int orderBy } GroupFieldTab { nvarchar code nvarchar name int orderBy } GroupFieldPermission { nvarchar groupCode nvarchar shortName tinyint canRead tinyint canUpdate } UserGroup { nvarchar code nvarchar name } GroupField ||--o{ GroupFieldPosition : positioned_field GroupFieldTab ||--o{ GroupFieldPosition : tab GroupField ||--o{ GroupFieldPermission : permissioned_field UserGroup ||--o{ GroupFieldPermission : user_group

GroupField

GroupField is the metadata catalogue for logical fields on organisation groups, trusts, federations and children’s-centre groups.

Business-friendly pattern:

For this logical group field,
how is it named,
displayed,
found in the group model,
validated and controlled?

GroupFieldPosition And GroupFieldTab

GroupFieldPosition and GroupFieldTab control where group fields appear.

Business-friendly pattern:

For this logical group field,
where should it appear in the group user interface?

GroupFieldPermission

GroupFieldPermission controls user-group access to group fields.

Business-friendly pattern:

For this user group,
what can it read or update for this group field?

Staff Field Metadata

erDiagram StaffField { nvarchar shortName nvarchar fieldType nvarchar displayName nvarchar path tinyint sensitive } StaffFieldPosition { numeric id nvarchar shortName int orderBy } StaffFieldRole { numeric id nvarchar staffField nvarchar staffRole tinyint required tinyint warning tinyint notNeeded tinyint reflected } StaffRole { nvarchar code nvarchar name } StaffFieldPermission { nvarchar groupCode nvarchar shortName tinyint canRead tinyint canUpdate } UserGroup { nvarchar code nvarchar name } StaffField ||--o{ StaffFieldPosition : positioned_field StaffField ||--o{ StaffFieldRole : role_rule StaffRole ||--o{ StaffFieldRole : staff_role StaffField ||--o{ StaffFieldPermission : permissioned_field UserGroup ||--o{ StaffFieldPermission : user_group

StaffField

StaffField is the metadata catalogue for logical governance/staff fields.

Business-friendly pattern:

For this logical staff/governance field,
how is it named,
displayed,
found in the staff record model,
validated and controlled?

StaffFieldPosition

StaffFieldPosition controls staff/governance field placement.

Business-friendly pattern:

For this logical staff/governance field,
where should it appear in the user interface?

StaffFieldRole

StaffFieldRole stores staff-role-specific field behaviour.

Business-friendly pattern:

For this staff/governance role,
which fields are required, warning-only, not needed or reflected?

StaffFieldPermission

StaffFieldPermission controls user-group access to staff/governance fields.

Business-friendly pattern:

For this user group,
what can it read or update for this staff/governance field?

Reading This Diagram

These ERDs are explanatory views. Field metadata is one of the main ways the legacy model turns broad physical tables into controlled logical fields.