There are two ways to use this function. 1. If both an item and value are supplied, then the
object's metadata entry named item is updated to the
supplied value.
2. If item and value are not supplied, then
action must be supplied. This is a character string specifying
some action to be performed on the object, e.g. a manipulation of a
column. The action must refer to the object as x; see
Examples.
3. Applied to an adv object (i.e. data from an acoustic
velocimeter), oceEdit treats items named heading,
pitch, roll appropriately, depending on the type of
adv instrument used. (This is necessary because different
manufacturers produce different forms of these items, i.e. Nortek
reports them on a time base that is different from the velocity
reporting, while Sontek reports them on the same time base.)
In each case, a log entry is stored in the object, to document the
change. Indeed, this is the main benefit to using this function,
instead of altering the object directly. The log entry will be most
useful if it contains a brief note on the reason for the
change, and the name of the person doing the work.