The version manager allows guest users to download ontologies from the ontology server. Guest users do not need a password, but can only access ontologies marked public. Registered users can, in addition, upload ontologies and share ontologies with other registered users. Previous versions of ontologies are archived by the ontology server. Users can register by applying for an account here: http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/cobra-ct/COBrA_downloads.htm. Registered users with 'curator' status can publish ontologies to the community.

Download The Ontology Version Manager can be downloaded from http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/cobra-ct/COBrA_downloads.htm.

Installation The Ontology Version Manager is a stand-alone tool that requires Java 1.5 to run.
Mac users (OS X) can open the .dmg file and drag the directory to a suitable place. Double-click the icon to start the system.
Windows users should open the tar archive with an application such as WinZip and copy the version_manager directory to a suitable place. Double-click the icon version_manager.exe to start the system.
Linux users should un-tar the archive and run the system using the script run_version_manager

User Guide
The version manager is a client application that makes connections to a central database over the internet, therefore, users are asked to have patience should connection times be long. If the system is busy, users might have to repeat an operation (operations can be cancelled as described below).

• login login using the name 'guest' or the user name and password you registered. After logging-in, a list of ontologies should appear in the Ontology download panel. Selecting an ontology in the left list will cause all versions of it to be listed in the right list. Place the mouse over the ontology you are interested in to see a description of this particular version. The versions displayed can be controlled using the selection box.
• download once a version has been selected in the right-hand list it can be downloaded using the Download button. This may take a few seconds, so please be patient. Note that the blue icon on the top right of the application will rotate when the application is contacting the server. If you wish to terminate the download, use the Terminate database connection option under the File menu.
• upload To upload an ontology, select the file (which must be a valid OWL or XML file), select the name, select the new version number and give a short description of the new version. If the ontology is an new version of an ontology already in the system its name will appear in the drop-down list. However, if it is a new ontology, with no previous versions on the system, use the Add a new ontology name option to enter the name. Click the Upload button to begin the upload. You will be notified when the upload completes.
• share ontologies The ontologies listed under My ontologies can be shared with other registered users. After selecting an ontology, the names of users who can access it (i.e.download it) are shown in blue. To add or remove another users access use the Add access and Remove access buttons.
• publish curators can access all ontologies and can give them public access using the Publish button. A registered user who wants to publish an ontology should contact a curator, or email {stuart,ychen3}@inf.ed.ac.uk.

This page can be found at: http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/cobra-ct/tools/ovm_help.htm