The entry form
The entry form is where you add and edit the ONIX metadata of a title, in ONIX 2.1 or ONIX 3. It offers a Simplified Form for the usual fields and an Advanced Form for every ONIX composite, tells you at all times whether the title is valid, and saves either in place or on the way back to the title list.
Where to find it
- From the title list: Edit (or View when you only hold the Read right) on a row, Duplicate to copy a title, Add new title to create one. The Edit default values action opens the same form for the catalogue's default values.
- Saving needs the Modify right on the catalogue (edit), Add (new title or copy) or Edit default values. Without it the fields are read-only and the Save button is disabled. A locked title can be saved only if your locked profile leaves some fields editable. Saving a title that still has validation errors requires the Save invalid title right.
- Enrich with AI (a sparkle icon in both toolbars) exists on an ONIX 3 title only, for the accounts that have the ONIXEDIT AI add-on (or could add it). It needs the right to save the title and is disabled on the default values, on a locked title and while a media file waits to be uploaded. See How to enrich a title with ONIXEDIT AI.
Screen overview
- Form view selector — the View drop-down lists the Public forms: Simplified Form and Advanced Form. For a locked title, a padlock and the name of your locked profile follow it.
- Validation state — This product is valid! or This product is invalid! with the View error summary link.
- Header toolbar — Refresh Errors re-runs the server validation; the sparkle (Enrich this title with ONIXEDIT AI, ONIX 3 with the add-on) sends the title to the assistant; XML shows the ONIX of the title; TOC opens the table of contents; the save icon opens the Save options menu; the cancel icon (Cancel your changes and return to the list) goes back to the list.
- Tab strip — the fields are grouped in tabs (see below). A red tab header contains at least one error.
- Bottom action bar — Info, Show XML, TOC, Save (same menu) and Cancel your changes and return to the list.
Above the tabs, the simplified form keeps the essentials visible on every tab: the cover images, the record reference, the ISBN13, EAN and ISBN 10 identifiers and the title.
Tabs of the forms
| Form | Tabs |
|---|---|
| Simplified, ONIX 2.1 | General Information, Imprint, Contributor, Text, Supply detail, Subject and Audience, Measure and Extent, Illustrations, Related product, Website, Prize and Promotion, Custom fields |
| Simplified, ONIX 3 | General Information, Imprint, Contributor, Text content, Supply detail, Subject and Audience, Measure and Extent, Illustrations, Related product, Related work, Website, Prize and Promotion, Custom fields |
| Advanced, ONIX 2.1 | Details, Specification, Contributor, Publisher, Supply detail, Marketing, Series / Set, MediaFile, Illustrations, Epublication, Rights, Religious Text, Miscellaneaous, Custom fields |
| Advanced, ONIX 3 | Product, Descriptive Detail, Collateral Detail, Publishing Detail, Related Material, Production Detail, Product Supply, Custom Fields |
The Custom fields tab appears only when custom fields are defined for the catalogue and visible to you. In the advanced ONIX 3 form, each block has its own sub-tabs.
How to add a title
- In the title list, click Add new title. The form opens pre-filled with the catalogue's default values; a catalogue that auto-numbers record references shows
[AUTO NUMBER]until the first save. A title generated by ONIXEDIT AI opens in the same form, without the default values, with a banner above the form listing the placeholders left to fill. - Enter the identifiers and the metadata. The form looks for a duplicate as soon as an ISBN13/EAN is complete — not while you are still typing it — and asks This ISBN13/EAN value already exists in [[CATNAME]] catalogue. Do you want to go edit the existing product? If you click No, you will need to enter a new ISBN13/EAN value. — Yes opens the existing title, No clears the identifier.
- Open the Save options menu and choose Add this new product (CTRL + S) to keep working on it, or Add this new product and return to the list.
How to edit and save a title
- Open the title with Edit and change the fields; switch to the Advanced Form in the View selector when a field is not in the simplified form. Switching keeps your unsaved changes.
- Save with the Save options menu:
- Save this product (CTRL + S) saves and keeps you on the form. It is the action behind Ctrl+S (⌘+S on a Mac).
- Save this product and return to the list validates first. If errors remain, the Validation errors found dialog lets you choose between Save product and Return to product; without the Save invalid title right only Return to product is offered, and the in-place save then validates too.
- A green Product saved. message confirms the save. Media files chosen in the form are uploaded at this moment — see Cover images and media files.
How to duplicate a title
- In the title list, find the title and click Duplicate.
- The form opens with a full copy of the metadata, except the record reference and the ISBN/EAN identifiers, which must be unique to each title.
- Enter the new identifiers, adjust the metadata (for example the product form of an e-book edition) and save with one of the Add actions. The copy exists only once saved.
How to enrich a title with ONIXEDIT AI
On an ONIX 3 title, the accounts that have the ONIXEDIT AI add-on get an Enrich with AI button (a sparkle) in both toolbars. It sends the title as it is in the form — unsaved edits included — and the assistant completes it without losing anything: what the title already contains is kept, and a value is replaced only when your instruction names it.
- Click Enrich with AI. The button is disabled while a media file chosen in the form waits to be uploaded: save first (Save the title first: a media file is waiting to be uploaded.).
- Optionally tell the assistant what to add or change —
The author is Sara Gruen and the price is 24.95 CAD— then click Enrich. It takes a few seconds, during which the dialog shows what the assistant is busy with. Without instructions it only adds the missing elements: default values, and the required elements as[[ ... ]]placeholders. Instructions can run to 20,000 characters, counted under the box. - Review the result: the Added and Changed lists name each field with its path, the assistant's notes explain what it assumed and what remains to check, and Show the ONIX product (XML) shows the whole message. Refine with the box at the bottom if needed; each turn counts as one generation.
- Click Apply to the form. The fields are updated and a banner above the form lists the placeholders left to fill; Undo the AI changes puts the title back as it was, until you save. If an identifier the assistant wrote already exists in the catalogue, the form asks the same question as when you type one.
- Save as usual. Nothing is stored before that, and saving with placeholders left asks for confirmation.
How to view the XML, the table of contents and the title information
- XML / Show XML opens the ONIX XML of the title as it will be exported, with a copy button.
- TOC opens the Table of Content, a tree of every field of the current form: filter with Search, double-click a field to jump to it — see Fields and help.
- Info (bottom bar) opens Title Info: internal id, creation and last-modification dates and users, last validation date, and the XML and JSON Permalink of the title.
How to leave the form
Click Cancel your changes and return to the list (bottom bar or header icon). With unsaved changes the form asks Are you sure to leave? Product changed and not saved!; Yes discards them. Closing the browser tab triggers the same warning.
Tips
Keyboard shortcuts
F8 moves to the next validation error; when none is left, the form says You're good! No more validation errors found in this product.
Concurrent edits
If someone saved the title after you opened it, your save is refused with This title was modified since you opened it, probably from another session. Your version can no longer be saved as is. The Reload the latest version button discards your unsaved changes and reloads the stored title; copy long texts elsewhere first.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Save this product and Save this product and return to the list?
Both save the title. The first keeps you on the form to continue working and is the only action behind Ctrl+S; the second validates the title, warns you if it is invalid, then returns to the title list.
Why is the Save button disabled?
You lack the right needed on this catalogue (Modify to edit, Add to add or duplicate, Edit default values for the default values), or the title is locked and your locked profile leaves nothing editable.
What does "This title was modified since you opened it" mean?
Someone else (or another of your sessions) saved the same title after you opened it. Your copy can no longer be saved; reload the latest version, then apply your changes again.
When does the form check for a duplicate ISBN13/EAN?
As soon as the identifier is complete, and again when you leave the field. Nothing is checked while you are still typing an incomplete value. The same check runs when ONIXEDIT AI writes one into a generated or enriched title.
What does Enrich with AI change in my title?
Nothing is removed. The assistant adds the elements that are missing, the required ones as placeholders, and applies what your instructions say; a value already present is replaced only when your instruction names it. You review the additions and changes before applying them, and can undo them until the next save.