tkme's main edit window consists of two panes. The left hand pane (the Element Window) displays the metadata elements present in an open metadata document as an hierarchical tree. The contents of right hand pane (the Value Window) is dependent on the element selected in the Element Window. If the selected element is a container element that may have child elements, the Value Window is grey and contains the name of the selected element. If the selected element can take a user value, then the Value Window is white and the user can edit the window contents. At the bottom of the border between the the Element and Value Windows is a a small square block which is a 'sizing handle' to allow relative sizing of the two windows. The bottom line of the main edit window is a status line that displays the optionality (mandatory, optional, mandatory if applicable) and repeatability of a new element selected from the Add menu. The top of the main edit window holds six different menu picks: File, Edit, View, Add, Snippets, and Help.

The Value Window supports standard windows keyboard shortcuts for cutting and pasting (control-x, control-v) text in the value window. Right click in the Value Window to display a context menu with several handy functions. 'Revert' on the context menu will bring the value in the Value Window back to what it was when you started editing the value. 'Wrap' on the context menu performs a soft-wrap of the value (the text) in the Value Window. 'Hard Wrap' on the context menu performs an 80-character hard wrap (inserts carriage returns) in the paragraph the cursor is currently in, but not globally for the all paragraphs in the Value Window.

The File menu presents the sort of choices one would expect on such a menu - Open, Save, Save As, Close, and Quit. Noticeably absent is a Print pick. 'Recent' allows files that have been recently opened with tkme to be re-opened. 'Configure' allows tkme to read an mp/cns/tkme configuration file, but this is an awkward way to invoke a configuration file (it is much simpler to load it from tkme's desktop shortcut).

The Edit menu is where the real power of tkme becomes apparent. Certain tkme edit operations (Cut, Copy, Paste, Clear and Prune) apply to the entire element subtree selected by selecting a container element in the Element Window. The function of these edit operation are fairly self-explanatory, except for Clear and Prune. If a valid (hierarchically indented) metadata subtree is selected in another application (say a text editor or another instance of tkme), then copied to the Windows clipboard, Paste will allow this subtree to be inserted if the insertion point is an allowed location. Clear removes the values from any elements that take a value from any elements that are hierarchically lower than the selected element. Prune eliminates all empty branches hierarchically lower than the selected element. Prune may be beneficially released at the Metadata element level to globally remove dead wood from a metadata document. In a nutshell, Clear operates on values, Prune operates on elements. Swap exchanges the position of a selected element (and its children if present) with the element above it in the Element Window that is at the same hierarchical level. Paste only allows element to be pasted in where the production rules allow the element subtree to be pasted in. Duplicate clones the currently selected element (but not its children and not its value) then places it below the selected element. Replace presents a search and replace dialog box that will operate on the selected element, the selected subtree, or the entire metadata document.

The View menu picks allow the depth of the element tree displayed in the Element Window to be altered globally or on an element by element basis. If the children under an element are hidden in the Element Window via this menu, the parent element is indicated with a '+' in its display. Double-clicking any element except the root Metadata element will hide or display all the child elements under that element. The Wrap pick on the View menu performs a soft wrap of the value that is displayed in the Value Window.

The Add menu presents a list of elements that can be added hierarchically below the currently selected element. The user can pick any single element from the list or all of them by selecting 'All of the above.' When the mouse cursor is poised over an element in this pick list, its optionality and repeatability are displayed on the status line at the bottom of the main edit window. To add multiple elements below a parent element it is necessary to repeatedly select the parent element and access the Add menu. When the selected element takes a value, it cannot have child elements, so the Add menu advises the user to enter value information.

The Snippets menu gives rudimentary database capabilities to tkme. A 'snippet' is a fragment from a metadata document that has been saved and named in tkme's snippets directory. Oftentimes metadata share common information such as a contact person, a coordinate system or a source. By saving these common information as snippets the user can access them when needed for insertion into new metadata documents. The Snippets menu has two functions - create a snippet and recall a snippet. When an element is selected, the Snippets menu will allow this metadata fragment to be saved via a standard Windows file save dialog box. Snippets can be logically segregated into subdirectories, and tkme is hip to this when one needs to recall a snippet. tkme won't let the user insert a snippet into an incorrect location.

The last menu is the Help menu; it can spawn three different windows. The Version pick opens a window that displays the tkme version number, some very basic and helpful hints for using tkme, and Peter Schweitzer's contact information. The Element pick opens a help window that displays the CSDGM information and production rules for the currently selected element. This window has a tendency to get lost under other windows, so bring it forward by selecting it from the Windows toolbar, then position it where you can leave it open for reference as you create metadata. The Output pick displays a window presenting a view of the entire metadata document. On the left hand side of the Output window is a series of numbers that represent the line numbers in the ASCII metadata document that tkme is working on behind the scenes. These line numbers are a useful reference in case one is using them to resolve some errors that mp has detected. The Output window does not update automatically if editing is accomplished using the main edit window after the Output window has been opened. Select the Update pick from the View menu of the Output window to refresh the Output window and reflect changes. There is strong and useful coordination between the Output window and the main edit window. If the user selects a line in the Output window by mouse clicking, then selects the Edit button at the top of the Output window, the main edit windows selects the associated element and jumps its display to that location. The Find button will help the user locate a text string that appears in the value of a metadata element in the Output window. Type the string you are looking for into the box next to the word 'Find' at the top of the window. Initiate the search by pressing the 'Enter' key on the keyboard or by mashing 'Find' with a mouse click. Find the next instance of the string by mouse-clicking 'Find' again. Find searches forward from the current cursor location in the Output window and stops when it gets to the end of the document. The Fonts pick on the Help menu allows the user to adjust the fonts that tkme uses for the various windows of its display.

The tkme interface presents an innovative way to view, create and edit metadata. For many users it will not be initially as intuitive to use as more conventionally appearing and operating tools such as SMMS. Nonetheless, the tkme editing method provides a very powerful mechanism to edit metadata and after a short period of time to get used to the interaction between the main edit and the Output windows, most users will come to appreciate the strengths of this tool.

The tool provides the Add pick list which allows a user to incrementally build a the framework for a metadata document however the experienced user will more likely begin with a site template document that already contains elements and values appropriate to the documentation. Snippets provide a way to recycle metadata between metadata documents; conventional Windows cut and put operations allow data to be extracted from other relevant documents and pasted into a tkme metadata document. The tool allows a metadata document to be built in stages if necessary. The documentation on use of the tool is fairly minimal, however due to its inherent simplicity this is not a real serious lack. The documentation of the standard and its elements is context sensitive and as good as any available CSDGM documentation. The help system is not a standard Windows help file, but it is perhaps even more useful than a Windows help file because it can be edited and added to. tkme has no spell checking capabilities.

The tool is furnished as a self extracting/self installing file for Windows. The necessary Tcl/Tk resources are installed as part of the process (Windows versions). When tkme is obtained as part of the mp/cns/tkme/mq distribution package, the archive expands to approximately 8 Mb after installation. The tool can be installed to any directory and operates reliably as a networked application. Updates to the tool can (and should) overwrite earlier installations of the same files. Considering the problems many Windows applications have with overwriting .dlls and maintaining the the Windows registry, it is refreshing that tkme doesn't use either of those. This contributes to its ease of installation and probably to its stability as well. No conflicts have been noted between tkme and any other application.

tkme's help file for metadata elements is a pure ASCII text file that can be edited and embellished to provide additional help for the user. tkme benefits from the use of a configuration file, and is most handily started up by way of a desktop shortcut (although it can be launched from the command line in a DOS window).

Compiled binaries and the source code for tkme are publicly available. If history is any guide, then the tool will be updated to support any changes that occur to the metadata standard.