This article defines Space ID and describes elements used to generate it. See the Space Inventory Handbook page for related articles. See the SIMS User Guide for instructional SIMS articles.
This article is broken into the following sections:
Definition
Each space at Ohio State has a unique identifier in our Space Information and Management System (SIMS), internally called the Space ID. The following describes how that unique identifier is developed.
Space ID Format
The Space ID consists of 4 primary parts: Building‐Floor‐Room‐Cubicle.
Building
Can be a 3- digit or 4-digit character string of numbers only. Any building that is currently 3 digits will remain that way in SIMS. Any new building that receives a 4-digit building number will receive a 4-digit character string. Examples are:
- 001 = Bricker Hall
- 354 = Rhodes Hall
- 1951 = Mirror Lake Pump House
Floor
The floor can either be a 2- or 3-character string of numbers and letters formatted as ##A. Examples are:
- TL = Tunnel
- 0B = Basement
- 0G = Ground
- 01 = First Floor
- 12M = Twelfth Floor Mezzanine
Room
The room can range from a minimum of 4 characters to a maximum of 6 characters of numbers and letters formatted as A####A. The alpha characters are not always present. There is always a leading ZERO for room numbers that are 3 digits or less. Examples are:
- 0124
- 0026
- 0515A
- S0974
- X0026E
Cubicle
The cube identifier is always a 3-character string of numbers only. Cubicle numbers are also used to delineate lab benches in large labs. Examples are:
- 001
- 024
- 127
The shortest possible Space ID formatted correctly would be 11 characters in length: ###‐##‐####
The longest possible Space ID formatted correctly would be 19 characters in length: ####‐##A‐A####A‐###
Considerations
- Other University systems can modify this identifier for their own needs if there are character length limitations for this field. Facilities Information and Technology Services can also feed the data to other systems in an agreed upon format.
- The cubicle number is a relatively new addition and will not be used in all situations in which cubicles or lab benches exist. Data can be aggregated to the room level for use in other system if needed.
- For severely character length restricted data fields, we will ensure that the full ####‐A####A is not used. This situation would only occur if a new building has 10 or more floors and requires a prefix for the room number. If this situation occurs, we will use one of the few remaining 3-digit building numbers to ensure a compact space ID that does not exceed 10 total digits with the dash included (assuming the floor is not included).