Data Model Creation with MetaConfigurator

In both research and industry, significant effort is devoted to the creation of standardized data models that ensure data adheres to a specific structure, enabling the development and use of common tools. These models (also called schemas), enable data validation and facilitate collaboration by making data interoperable across various systems. Tools can assist in the creation and maintenance of data models. One such tool is MetaConfigurator, a schema editor and form generator for JSON schema and for JSON/YAML documents. It offers a unified interface that combines a traditional text editor with a graphical user interface (GUI), supporting advanced schema features such as conditions and constraints. Still, schema editing can be complicated for novices, since MetaConfigurator shows all options of JSON schema, which is very expressive. The following improvements and functionalities have been designed and implemented to further assist the user: 1) A more user-friendly schema editor, distinguishing between an easy and an advanced mode based on a novel meta schema builder approach; 2) A CSV import feature for seamless data transition from Excel to JSON with schema inference; 3) Snapshot sharing for effortless collaboration; 4) Ontology integration for auto-completion of URIs; and 5) A novel graphical diagram-like schema view for visual schema manipulation. These new functionalities are then applied to a real-world use case in chemistry, demonstrating the usability and improved accessibility of MetaConfigurator.