VegBank

what fields do we want on the simply query page?

• Bug 862 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

• Bug 861 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

simple query has been designed and needs to be 1) evaluated and probably reduced
in complexity a bit (stems are currently commented out)
The proposed form (in its built state after ant) :
http://tekka.nceas.ucsb.edu/~lee/forms/plot-query.html
The form pre-build http://tekka.nceas.ucsb.edu/~lee/forms/plot-query-prebuild.html

then 2)
Gabe needs to implement the new form.

A rough guide to the fields as they are in the form and where they need to be
queried in vegbank is on
http://tekka.nceas.ucsb.edu/~lee/forms/plot-query-instructions.xls

1. Remove the soil depth criteria from the query
2. Move the NULL and NOT NULL up to the tops of the picklists immediately
above ANY
3. The variables “Cover Method Name”, “Stratum method name”, “Name of
plot submitter”, “name of observation compiler”, & “project name” need either
pull down lists or better a click to find with a separate window that allows
these to be searched and the name selected or cut and pasted across. Perhaps
want to include wildcard symbol as option in the directions.
4. The same issue pertains to the community classification as in 3.

Very soon, but not for release 1.0, we need to have the query result cashed so
that a second query can be run on the results to further narrow down the set
of plots selected.

We also need to have the option to click on the selected plots and place in a
shopping cart – John was working on this and I am not sure how much of it
currently is functional.

Gabe is currently working on this form. I'll update Bob's comments after he has
finished, only adding a few extra links and display updating.

What is the official status of this bug today?
How does it relate to bug 712?
http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org/show_bug.cgi?id=712

I have made some enhancements to the simple query. Users are now given hints
where min/max values can be entered (elev,slope,dates,area).

Along those lines, what do you think about having an option that automatically
limits some or all of the picklist values so that they are constrained to
existing data only? e.g. if there are currently no plots in the state of
Quintana Roo, don't even include Quintana Roo in the picklist.

As Mark suggests, when viewing the picklists for construction of a query it
makes much sense to display only those values for which there are plots.
However, what is the performance cost? Do we have to redetermine which fields
to display each time, or can this be cached someplace and updated as new
fields become represented? I don't want to invest alot in this yet -- it is
down there at approximately a version 2.5 bug.

Bob

I agree with Bob in that the simpler query (with all states) is easier to
maintain. It would be helpful, after we work on some "canned" queries, to
provide a link next to the list: click here for a list of all states with plots
and the number of plots in each. This would show the user a live list of our
current plots and where they occur.

The advantage to listing fewer states is that users are less likely to be
frustrated in that they can't find any plots.

The advantage to listing all states is that 1) easier to maintain query page and
2) we better show the schope of VegBank - where we are moving. We'd like to
have plots from Mexican and Canadian provinces, in other words, at least at some
point.

bug 712 has to do with querying plants/communities which is a bit different from
this bug, which deals with querying plots.

This form is largely evaluated and revised. Any enhancements for it can be
requested here. Lately, we've decided to limit the state/provinces in the
picklist to just those that have plots in the database.

I think this query is great now. Time to resolve this bug. Improvement
suggestions can be made on bugs 1191, 860

changed from components that are to be deleted to "misc" so that bugs don't get
deleted with component. Sorry for all the email.

changed from components that are to be deleted to "misc" so that bugs don't get
deleted with component. Sorry for all the email.

Original Bugzilla ID was 863