Minor Release v8.6.3 (15^th May 2024)

The following release notes apply to the minor update v8.6.3.15245:

Added Features

Filters: Improved coordination and data grid refreshing when adding and removing data grid row and system filters, including Show Tagged.
Count tags: Faster process to count tagged records which also influences table opening speed (when tables are opened, tags are counted).
RSO/Propagation/Production calculations and events: A range of improvments to the way living collection RSO/Production/Propagation calculated fields and events are processed.
Record Zoom refresh: The Zoom and Cell content now update when the data grid is refreshed.
Export to Excel/CSV: Faster process to export tagged records to Excel/CSV.
Map Checked field set to NULL: Map Checked bool field is set to NULL when garden plants are moved.

Bug Fixes

Document folder deletion: Document Folder deletion was causing an error, also with folder merging, now fixed.
RDE specimen import - force link to CE: An error fixed when using the option to force link a specimen RDE record to an existing Collection Event.
RDE image totals: Fixes issue with RDE image count recalculations.
Plant Passport on living collection accession form: Extra space provided on form. Long passport entries were being truncated.

Minor Release v8.6.2 (8^th March 2024)

The following release notes apply to the minor update v8.6.2.15202:

Added Features

Index Seminum: Index Seminum (IS) features as used in the Living Collections module have been substantially extended. It is now easier to view accessions associated with a given IS catalogue; to link selected entries from the current IS to transactions; and to create reports that list IS accessions per transaction.
Production/Propagation calculations Auto-calculations that take place in the RSO/Production/Propagation module have been refined and extended.
Species Propagation Defaults: The species propagation default values table now includes a lookup to the propagation containers table and, if a container with the same description as the prop pot size text is found, the tray description, containers per tray and labels per tray values are also transferred to the equivalent prop forecast fields.

Bug Fixes

Species and living collection reports: Reports in a few instances were incorrectly listing unused custom fields in the report dictionary and/or not assigning the custom field column header names - this has been fixed.
Inactive Column Manager: Corrects issue with some grids having an inactive column manager item in data grid context menu (data grid right-click menu list).

Minor Release v8.6.1 (14^th February 2024)

The following release notes apply to the minor update v8.6.1.15190:

Added Features

Calculated species names: Subgeneric epithets have been removed from the species full name calculation. Projects that wish to include subgeneric ranks in reports can so so by adding the individual epithet names.
Specimen RDE imports/Collector names: Collector names are now included in the specimen RDE analysis and matching phase to overcome issues where RDE records have very sparse data. Collector names were previously not used in matching due to their potentially variable formats. These names are now used in matching RDE records to those already in BRAHMS.
Collection Event selection tool: The Collection Event GUID has been added to the collection event selection tool data grid to aid record selection. It is set to not visible by default. A right-click on the selector tool data grid lists all available fields.
Taxon description RDE imports:Taxon description RDE file imports for genus and family text entries no longer create irrelevant 'Indet.' species entries. Previously, an unwanted 'indet.' species was added to the species table, especially when importing genus descriptions.
Propagation/Production/RSO duplication: Enables the duplication of production/propagation (PP) and RSO records using Ctrl+F4. When duplicating a PP record, an RSO record is added if the PP record was derived from an RSO record. When duplicating an RSO record, a new PP record is created. Duplicated record field values are set appropriately with new PP/RSO numbers and the status set to 'Pending' in RSO and 'NR' (= New Record) in PP.
Production Forecast Initial Quantity: Reinstates ProdForecastQuantityInitial as a calculation of Plants per Container x Container Qty. This calculated field is available in living collection production data grids.
Propagation record accepted names: The Accepted taxon name is now visible in PP records.
RDE determination file imports: Additional error logging has been added to RDE det file analysis phase to trap and report on import issues.

Bug Fixes

PostgreSQL data export: Database exports to XML have been improved to take account of recent species table self-referencing column additions, notably for basionyms. In some cases, this was causing an error when e.g. exporting from PostgreSQL and subsequently importing the XML to SQLite.
Goto accepted name in RDE: Fixes issue with docked species selector 'Go To Accepted' function in RDE files.
Elevation decimal places: Elevation column integer values on the collection events form incorrectly displayed the evelation values with 2 decinal places.
Multi-search tool:The multi-search tool could throw an error if tags were not cleared, and a matched record was already tagged.
Portuguese translation: A handful of corrections made to the Portuguese (Br) translation resource file.

Release v8.6.0 (31^st January 2024)

The following release notes apply to v8.6.0.15163:

Added Features

System/Data Tools

Note for users managing living collections: Please make sure that your user file has an entry in the field 'User's Garden Name'. In Edit mode, you can use a lookup to select the garden. If this field is empty for many users, please let us know as we will send a 1-line command to add the garden name for all users.

Weblink configuration: Users with the appropriate permissions can now add, edit and share dynamic links to selected websites. Dynamic weblinks can be added with search parameters using standard or custom fields. Weblink icons and toolbar text can be selected. Weblinks can be personal to a user or shared on network systems and may be added to any table. Thus, as an ornithologist, mycologist, plant taxonomist or a researcher with another specialist interest, you can select your personal Web Link connections as well as use sites that have been shared across your BRAHMS project. Further details are provided in the BRAHMS manual section 'Dynamic weblinks'.
Portuguese and German editions: In addition to UK and USA English, you can now select Portuguese (Br) and German language editions using the Options dropdown on the log in form. A large % of the system has been translated – any non-translated items will appear by default in English.
Cloud server options: Options for using cloud servers to store your data have been simplified using an easy-to-use VPN or URL whitelisting. For projects that do not have their own server resources - or for any other reason do not want to manage their data in-house - cloud server may be the answer. To discuss cloud options, contact the BRAHMS project and ask for a demo of cloud-based solutions.
Auto-Refresh in data grids: Data grid Auto-Refresh can now be configured to refresh data on a frequency from each 10 seconds to 10 minutes. Refresh frequency settings are user-specific and can be adjusted when turning auto-refresh on. The refresh notification is also restricted to the active grid even if applied to multiple opened tables.
Field-level help extended to RDE: You can now view and, with the appropriate permissions, add/edit help text for RDE fields. As in the main databse tables, you can use Ctrl+I to open the field description and help text. The help text is shared with the fields in the main database. Thus if you have help text for e.g. Collectors already added, this will already be available in RDE.
System Options Shared Folders: The folder options have been revised to remove the Reports shared folder (now redundant) and to clarify the application of the other shared folders.
Custom DateTime fields: It is now possible to set a flag using a new field in the custom fields table to indicate whether or not times are included and editable for all custom field dates. By default, the "include time" flag is false which means you cannot edit or view the time component.
Query tool: Implements ability to edit the advanced query tool selected filter row data value. For example, if you have a query entry using Collector Number, you can now edit the number being queried rather than adding a new entry. Note that the main query tool is usually considerably faster than using the data grid filter row when you are applying > 1 filter parameter.
SQL commands: Removes most restrictions on the direct query (SQL Execution) tab - only statements that start with 'SELECT' are prohibited (as they cannot currently be processed). The vertical scroll bar is now visible and you can use Ctrl+HOME to goto top of the command section. Obviously, caution is required as you could accidently delete a lot of data with a delete statement. The SQL command feature will be targetted in a forthcoming update to provide additional help with field selection and command syntax.
People and Address table adjustments: Addition of new calculation script to update alternate names in the People table and the calc. full name in people table. Increases size for the alternate names (50 -> 128 and institute (10 -> 128). The system no longer alters initials from a person record when constructing an assembled name string - initials are taken as they are in the people file. In the Addresses Table, the Organisation Status field size increased from 5 to 25 characters.
Journal and gazetteer lookups: Improvements to these lookups with improvements to the default visible fields.
Getting started with BRAHMS: The BRAHMS training guide has been updated. The guide provides a rapid walk-through of key functions and features available in BRAHMS. No previous experience using the software is expected.

Species/Taxonomy

Species form configuration: Configuration options have been added for the Species form to control the behaviour of the expandable form sections on the Nomenclature > Name tab. Thus, users with no interest in cultivated plant names can hide form sections that display data relating to horticulture. Where a form section is visible, its expanded/collapsed state is tracked in the user's personal config options file and is restored to the last used state when the species form is opened.
Species Traits/Uses tab: The species form has a new tab under Species Features to list and edit plant traits and uses for the current record. These link to entries in your Species Use Dictionary.
Species name calculations: Speeds up recalculations of a number of species table calculated fields including Accepted Names for synonyms. Updates calculation scripts to include subgeneric epithets. Homonym numbering is now excluded from HTML name calculations.
Species validity: The Validity field (now renamed from Invalid) has been added to the species form.
Hybrid symbol lookups: Adds Species/Genus hybrid symbol editors. The genus hybrid field may include × or + (graft-chaimaera symbol). The species hybrid field can include ×.
Species synonym listing: Improved sorting of synonyms where synonym categories are used.The basionym and any homotypic names directly linked to the accepted name are now followed by heterotypic names with their homotypic names (if any are added), all names being sorted by publication date within their respective groupings.

Collection Events/Specimens

Adding determinations: A tool has been added to add a single determination to specimens of all tagged Collection Events. You can add the species name, determination person, date and notes. The det can be restricted to a selected institute or added to all specimens of the tagged collection events. You can opt to select the new det as the current det of the colection event, this being the default action.
Specimen institutes listed: Calculates an A-Z list of specimen institute codes (with count when > 1) for each Collection Event (CE). The summary is added to the new CE table calculated field #Specimen Institute List, an example being: 'BM (2), K (2), L, US'.
Barcode/Accession searches on transaction form: There are now 2 separate search boxes, one for barcodes and one for accession numbers. Searches are triggered by pressing enter (or, for barcodes, by scanning a barcode which adds a carriage return equivalent to pressing enter) or by clicking the associated barcode or accession search button.
Link specimens to a different Collection Event: A new collection event selector tool is available in the specimen grid and specimen RDE files. In RDE, this function also gives a warning that it will overwrite all CE properties in the current RDE record when a selection is made. The specimen form also has a new button available to select a different collection event.
Specimens table description text: Description text is now visible in specimen.
Specimen form buttons: The form buttons for all selector operations on the specimen form have been adjusted for consistency with other BRAHMS forms (now uses the edit icon (pencil) button style).
Host species and Tax Status fields: The fields Host Species and Taxon Status are now visible in the collection events (+ calc. html name).
QDS centroid: Enables setting lat/long values to QDS centroid on Lat-Long Editor Form.
Specimen form det editing: Adding/editing dets on the specimen form now updates the specimen determination fields if the added/edited det has its current det status set to '*'. For specimen dets edited from the collection events or specimen forms, the det. history editor now also enables setting the current det. status via a new checkbox visible on the form.

Botanic Gardens

Garden location custom fields: You can now add custom fields to the botanic garden localities table.
Editing data across multiple gardens A non-admin user with the apropriate permission (edited in permissions under Specific Actions > Living Collection Tools) can now switch from their home garden to a different garden with full edit access.
Collection toolbar (Living Collections): The Collection toolbar has been re-organised to improve efficiency by reorganising button groups and introducing a number of new split buttons. For example, for living collections, plant events, requests and Assoc Coll. are now under the Plants table drop-down.
Index Seminum transactions: Adds ability to link tagged Index Seminum entries to a transaction of an appropriate category, for example 'Index Seminum 2024'. New transactions, which include the recipient institution address, can be added on the fly.
Plant confirm status: Adds a new Living Collection tools form for With tagged -> Confirm status to enable setting the event date, the event person and an optional event comment.
Plant location changes for tagged: A new plant option using With tagged -> Change Location to move all tagged plants. You can now set the (required) event person and optionally add event comments.
Plant commemoration category: Prominently displays commemoration category on the plant status change form. The plants form Tributes tab now has a highlighted background and bold font to indicate where a commemoration category is present for the current plant. The status change form asks for an acknowledgement that a status change (not confirmation) is being made for plants that have a commemoration category and a comment is also added to the status change event “The commemoration category ‘’ was acknowledged and the status change was confirmed by ‘known as’, current date/time”.

Rapid Data Entry (RDE)

RDE manager checks: Additional error checking and logging has been added when retrieving the list of user assigned RDE folders. These checks can be especially useful on networks with many users and RDE folder assignments. As an example, any registered RDE folders that cannot be contacted/located are listed.
RDE for literature: Literature records can now be imported from RDE.
RDE field-level help: Refer to entry under System/Data tools.
RDE import analysis: The RDE import wizard import analysis can now be exported to Excel in a more concise format, making it easier to assess the quality of the RDE file data. The export will respect grid filter row filters if any are applied.
RDE import - force new collection events: With specimen RDE files, you can select to force link each specimen record to a new collection event by selecting the new RDE field 'Force New CE'. Note, by default, when importing RDE files, the system will check for existing matching Collection Event records.
RDE import - force use an existing collection event (CE): In RDE files, the Collection Event lookup will backload the GUID of the CE record in your BRAHMS database and by default, will tick the new field 'Force Existing CE'. On importing to BRAHMS, any RDE records that have this field ticked will locate the correct CE record and link the RDE specimen data to these located CE records.
RDE import form Excel: When importing data to RDE from Excel files, you can now import the Collection Event GUID. This is useful when used in conjunction with the above list Force use existing CE item.
Recalculations in RDE: Addition of new button to RDE Data Tools to recalculate species names and image counts on demand. Improvements made to recalculation of data relating to types and additional determination names.
Generic homonyms: Genus homonyms are now used to differentiate genera when importing data from RDE.
RDE Manager fields: The field order in the RDE Manager has been adjusted to move less used fields to the end of the data grid view.
Verbatim fields for DMS and elevation: Fields have been added to RDE (specimens) and Collection Events for lat/long degrees, minutes, seconds, ns/ew, elevation min/max in feet. The decimal degree lat/longs and elevations in meters are calculated from the verbatim fields if they are null at the time of saving the record, if not null, they are not changed. These new fields are also visible in the specimen table.

Entity related

Entity features: In collaboration with RHS, the entity module for managing plant names has been updated to improve multiple aspects of name and hybrid formula management. The Entity system, which offers an improved way to manage the complexity of standard and cultivated plant names will be documented and published in the first part of this year.

Map Editor

Map Point editor zoom: The zoom scale and cantering settings have now been separated into 2 options which can be independently auto-updated and/or auto-recentered and manually updated with reset buttons.
Map Point editor location search: After a location search, added pins are not automatically centered and the map scale is not changed. Options are provided to control and reset map centering.
Map point editor notes editing: The Map Point Editor now has a more prominent Notes tab which includes Locality Notes, LLDatum, LLOrigin and Evelation text. These text notes can be edited and saved.

Reporting/Exports

Plant Label Manager: Addition of new label manager for Living Collections to manage all plant labels. Labels can also now be created/requested directly from the species table.
Literature reporting: Data from the Journals table can now be included in literature reports.
Seed Accession reporting: Adds ability to include additional data in seed accession reports. These are Seed Processing and processing steps; Moisture Content; Tetrazolium tests and test results; Germination tests, test treatments, replicates and replicate observations; Collection duplicates; and Storage records.
Species reporting: Adds ability to include species literature references in species reports. Previously, these were only added for taxa descriptions.
Excel exports improved: General improvement to excel exports in terms of column widths and sorting for exported data.

Images

Image ordering/Grouping: Adjusts ordering/grouping of collection/specimen images when displaying linked species images in the species grid.
Image names and barcodes: When importing images from a selected folder to RDE, you can select to set the specimen barcode field to the image file name.
Importing images to RDE:Updates RDE data importer to add specimen barcodes from 1 image in a records imagelist when importing data from Excel.
Image links: Images can now be linked to the people and visitor tables.

Bug Fixes

Sigma Summary with NULL filters: Fixes issue where Sigma summaries could fail when the grid filter row contained one or more "=NULL" or "<>NULL" expressions.
RDE Taxon Descriptions for Genera: Genus text imports were erroneously linking to species 'genusname sp.'. This has been fixed.
RDE Determination imports: An issue relating to the use of ‘current det’ with RDE determination file imports on some systems has been fixed.
Accession number and transaction links: Accession number searches now work on any length strings. Previously, if less that 5 characters/numbers were entered, the search was not triggered.
Alt+X to close table: Re-instates code to respect the Alt+X shortcut key to close a grid document.
Living Accession dets: Fixes an issue with Living Accession determinations accession number filtering.
IPEN: Removes IPEN from Living Collections table, now present only in Living Accessions and Index Seminum entry tables (accession IPEN is available to view in plants grid).
Cancel export to excel: If you cancel an export to Excel (on various tools options), this no longer displays an error message.
RDE table integer fields: Fixes an issue with the format used to display integers in RDE tables when in edit mode.
Management Grouped Values table: Fixes viewing of the Management->Grouped Values table.
Garden Projects: Fix for issue where garden projects table data is not displayed.
Excel exports: Restores the sort order for Excel exports.

Release v8.5.2 (11^th September 2023)

The following release notes apply to v 8.5.2.14964. This is a 'minor version' only update. It will issue a database update.

Added Features

Data Tools

Barcode audio feedback: Adds 'Found' and 'Not Found' audio feedback for barcode searching.
Barcode filtering: Greatly more efficient filtering for all barcode tagged (“B”) records (collection events, specimens, seed accessions and plants), especially in tables with large numbers of records.
Barcode searches: Updates barcode searching options to prevent a new search being initiated until the previous search fully completed. Previously, searching for multiple barcodes rapidly on some systems led to records not being correctly located.
Dialogue button ordering: Improved consistency for form button ordering e.g. Save and Cancel.
Auto-Refresh: Auto-Refresh is now disabled while in Edit mode. Although rarely used, this was causing issues when Auto-Refresh was triggered before any on-going edits were saved.
Lookup double-click: In edit mode, double-clicking a read-only lookup column will now trigger the lookup (selection) function previously only triggered by F9/ribbon button/Ctrl+L. When not in edit mode, it behaves as before to tag the record. Note that this does not work for custom fields with drop-down or button selections.

Botanic Gardens

RSO (Request Scheduling and Ordering) Scheduled Start Date: Removes Production and Propagation start dates from RSO forecasting and adds Scheduled Start Date to RSO Propagation Forecasting. Scheduled Start Date is in fact a text field as it needs to hold dates, week numbers and some other values.
RSO Species and Vendor matching: The RSO Manager functionality for Species and Vendor matching has been altered. Matching now respects filters (always, not optional) and users can optionally restrict matching to tagged RSO records only (checkbox controlled, true by default). Users can also optionally select to tag newly matched and/or updated records that were initially not located (i.e. new species/vendors) and tagged "!". A restrict to tagged filter is not required when using the 'tagged only' option.
RSO propagation default fields: In RSO, if a valid order species is set that differs from the stored value or a valid order species is present and the propagation material flag is switched to true, this now triggers an update to the production default values and, if the propagation material flag is set to true, the propagation defaults (as stored in the species default values table).
Plant move/split: The plant move/split tool adds the event date as the planted date for the split plants rather than the current date. Plant date event records are updated if the date is changed.

Collection Events/Specimens

Specimen lists on Collection Events form: Adjustment to the specimen list sort order on the Collection Event form. This now sorts by Museum code + Added on ascending (was descending).
Collection Event form layout: Alteration to Collection Events form layout to reduce unused space.
Gazetteer lat/long: Adds Gazetteer Lat/Long values to the Geography tab on the Collection Events Form.
Determination DCR lookup: Conversion of the single character determination table field DetConrev from a fixed list (D, C, R) to a multiselect custom lookup control.
Transaction Form/Editor: Improvements to transaction form layout to reduce cramping of some text areas and buttons. Also more logical transaction form tab layout.

Taxonomy

HTML name update: Updates the species calculated HTML name (with italic and other mark-up as appropriate) whenever the species name is edited, as it already does for the calculated Full Name. Previously required a manual recalculation of that field. The calculated HTML version of the taxa name is especially useful for adding to report templates.

System

PostgreSQL indexing: Further indexing refinements for PostgreSQL.

Bug Fixes

Barcode duplication: Missing museum code and duplicate barcode exceptions are now caught and handled when using the specimen editor form.
Species merge with curation taxa: Fixes issues with curation species (as stored in the main specimen table) when merging, transferring tags or deleting related species records.
Red ! warning issue on data grids: The use of 'Restrict to tagged' when in Edit mode no longer results in a red "!" being added to the data grid margin with a data grid lock.
Tag Group Manager: Fixes an issue when adding/updating tags with certain operations - and also where > 250 tags being added.
Edit on/off saves: Fix for issue where exiting and re-entering edit mode without having moved records could prevent some lookup fields in a record being saved. Although rarely reported as an issue, this has now been resolved.
Propagation event comments: Propagation event records now correctly display comments when listing events on the propagation form.
Confirm plant status: Fixes an issue noted on some systems when using the Living Collections plant table tool 'With tagged => confirm status'.
RSO file auto-archiving: Now respects the RDE auto-archiving setting when importing RSO RDE files.
SQLite lookups: Fixes an issue noted in some SQLite databases where some lookup values were not displaying as expected.
Seed germination/viability test results: Adjustments to seed germination test and viability result calculations.
Taxa Descriptions: Fixes issue with passing Taxon Description data to species reports.
PostgreSQL recalculations: Adjusts PostgreSQL recalculations to correct DMS and short/long date calculations for Collection Events.

Release v8.5.2 (22^nd August 2023)

If upgrading to a new version, we recommend you refer to the section Installation - replace or overwrite the software folder? in the installation guide.

The following release notes apply to v 8.5.2.14914

Added Features

Seed Module

Seed Collection Quality Evaluation: A collection quality evaluation tool has been added to the seed module. This refers to a series of Seed Conservation Standards (http://brahmsonline.kew.org/msbp/Training/Standards) developed and adopted by seedbanks across the global Millennium Seed Bank Partnership. The new tool provides an objective method to evaluate collection quality based on a list of ranked collection standards. Seed quality can be assessed at the accession level and/or summarised by country of origin, supplier, taxon group or any other selected data category.
Seed Counts and Weights: New set up options are added to control how seed quantity is managed by default (count or weight or both). Weight calculation options, as provided on the main seed accession form, have been clarified to separate manual single count mode vs sample weighing mode. It is now possible to directly enter initial and current seed weights.
Seed Storage Locations: A new table has been added to record main seed store locations. In addition to location code and name, you can store the location status, temperature and relative humidity. The locations table is a key part of the revised seed storage and distribution features. The headings for seed accession storage sub-location names can be configured using new set up options.
Seed Storage and Distribution: Seed store location and quantity components have been extended to manage the storage of seed units with fixed counts or weights, for example, 50 x 5g. packets. New functions have been added to manage the distribution of seed in transactions.
Moisture Content and Tetrazolium testing: It is now possible to add multiple moisture content and tetrazolium test records per seed accession. Thus, for example, it is possible to monitor moisture content over time.
Seed accession sample fields: A number of sample size/population related fields have been moved from the seed accession to the collection event table.

Mapping

ESRI ArcGIS mapper: Updates ESRI ArcGIS WPF to version 200.1.0 from 100.15.1
ArcGIS Map tagging and map searching: Improvements to the ArcGIS map tagging tools, map filtering and map tag removals. The tagging tools allow you select map points and then filter on the selected points. Selected map points are tagged with 'M' and saved as a Tag Group which is then available in the Tag Group manager unless the map selections are cleared. In general, ArcGIS map searching has been improved with related data grid updates. The map now refreshes after clearing search areas.
Using Tree Views with ArcGIS: ArcGIS maps can be used in conjunction with the Tree View control. Maps auto-update when Tree View filters are auto-applied. The Tree Views themselves can be designed to include any hierarchy from your visible fields list. This feature provides a cool way to view your data graphically and update maps for selected tree view nodes.
ArcGIS base maps: Alterations to ArcGIS base maps. Last base map used is remembered/restored as a local user preference.
Map Editor locality notes: Collection Event locality notes are now displayed in the Map Editor banner - helpful for choosing or adjusting map locations.

Data Tools

Edit History tag transfers: A new Edit History Tool 'E tag => Source' has been added to transfer tags from the main Edit History table to the source records. Source records are tagged ‘E’. You can transfer tags to multiple tables at the same time. Edit History filters are respected. Thus, you could tag all Edits for a selected user or all edits made in a selected time period - and then tag all the relevant records across your database.
Tag Group Manager: The Tag Group Manager tool layout has been improved. A new option to update tag groups with additional tag members without affecting existing tags has been added. Also, tag additions now respect data grid filters.
Related record counts: A new tool added to display counts of all records related to the current record. This is available on the Zoom drop-down (Related record counts). The short cut key is ‘Ctrl+Shift+?’.
Multi-Search tool: This tool has an improved layout and you can now optionally respect filters when doing multi-value searches.
Find/Replace tool: The Find/Replace tool can now be used to clear a text field, regardless of the field content. This is done by adding % to the 'Find' text box and leaving the 'With' box blank. You can also use this method to add the same value to all fields by entering a value to the 'With' text box.
People lookups: For consistency, all direct person table staff name lookups now use the assembled name-strings lookup.
RDE Forced Lookups: In RDE, if using forced lookups for collector names, this now also includes additional collectors. Also, F4 copy now works on columns set to forced lookup.

Botanic Gardens

Botanic Gardens app: Version 2.0.0 of the BRAHMS android app for updating garden records has now been published. The revised app is further optimised for capturing data and images to update your garden records. This includes an overall upgrade to the app's user interface with improved menu layout and grouping of toolbar options; a revised plant details page with optimised layout and a larger map area; improved query tools including a new fast Plant ID locator; revised column design and selection options; a mechanism to review which plants have been edited and to visualise these on your maps; and new mapping functions. The app works offline and thus can also be used in areas without access to the internet or telecom networks. For full details of the updated app, refer to the garden app documentation. The revised app will be available for licensing as soon as the standard IP due diligence processing is completed by the University.
Garden locations editing: A new user permission has been added to allow a user to add/edit botanic garden locations. Previously, this was limited to administrators/managers.
Living Collections form: Alterations to the living collection plant form improve its layout flexibility especially with respect to the label requests section and the record navigation/copy buttons. Also adds the planted by text box/lookup.

Collection Events

Collection Category lookup: In the Collection Events table, the collection category can now be edited using a fixed drop-down list.
#DMS and date calculations: Recalculates collection event fields for DMS and dates if lat/long and/or dates are edited. Also when importing from RDE.
Common Names tab on Collection Event form: Common names can now be added and edited directly from the main collection events form using the new common names tab.

Preserved Specimens

Specimen RDE link to transactions: When importing specimen RDE files, you can now optionally auto-link specimens to a transaction.
RDE for specimen determinations: A new RDE has been added to upload determinations (= annotations) for specimens. Specimens are matched on either barcode or accession number. The uploaded dets can optionally be set as the current specimen determination and as the current det for the parent collection event. New taxa are added to your species list as necessary. As with all other RDE imports, the import includes a full analysis preview.
Batch add specimens: A tool to batch add specimens (e.g. DNA samples) to tagged collection events has been added.
Specimen barcode searching: Searching for specimen barcodes, especially in large databases, is now more efficient.
Specimen listing order: On the Collection Events form, specimens are now sorted by institution code and category.
Barcode duplication: Barcode duplication (per same institution code) is now prevented in the main database as well as in RDE.
Return all for transactions: A new option added to the transaction form linked specimens tab to ‘Return All’ specimens.

Taxonomy

Species table Basionym fields: New fields for basionym and basionym category have been added to the species table. The basionym is stored referentially and has a lookup option. Basionym categories can be defined and stored as a custom lookup.
Taxa citation field lookup: Adds journal abbreviation lookups to family, genus and species protologue citation fields.
TDWG totals calculation: The TDWG geographic distribution total (number of unique level 4 areas) is now available in the main species table.

System

PostgreSQL database efficiency: Restructuring of some PostgreSQL views to make them more efficient, e.g. specimens grid view.
Field changes:
- The Visitor log now displays the visit end date;
- The fields Old Barcode and Comments have been added to specimen form;
- The Higher Classsification table Group name field increased in size form 25 to 50 characters;
- The garden label requests table now includes the fields ‘Short text note’ and ‘Label Details’;
- You can now optionally view the gazetteer and country lat/long fields in the collection events grid;
- The Journal Selector includes additional visible fields;
- Increases size of specimen Museum Location column (location in institute) from 10 to 25 characters.

Bug Fixes

RDE taxa related issues: Issues with RDE imports of species names with certain combinations of missing data and/or duplicated or null species names have been fixed.
Taxa descriptions: Fixes bug where the language/description group were not saved for taxon descriptions in the species form. Related to this, in some systems, the Edit functions were not enabled. The display of taxa descriptions has also been improved.
Transfer tags in RSO/Propagation: Fixes issue with RSO and propagation record tag transfers.
Slow typing of cultivar names: Addresses the issue of space removal when slowly typing cultivar names which include a space.
BOL uploads: Fixes an issues with uploading family and genus names on some systems.
Gazetteer syn lookup: Fixes an issue with the gazetteer table synonym lookup.
Weblinks:Fixes some irregularities with the available WebLinks options, especially in PostgreSQL.
Multi-column summary with tag field: Fixes multi-column summary issue when 'tag' column is included in the summary.
Find/Replace issues: Fixes an issue with the Find/Replace tool in a small number of tables including Garden Project RSOs.

Release v8.5.1 (6^th June 2023)

The following release notes apply to v 8.5.1.14762

Added Features

Log in speed after authentication: Opening BRAHMS is now faster after user/password authentication.
Table index updates: Table indexing has been altered across all data store types for improved efficiencies.
Re-calculation scripts: The scripts that update calculated fields as available from Management > Re-calculation are further optimised and now run considerably faster, especially notable in PostgreSQL databases.
Record saving: Any outstanding edits are now force-saved when the current table is closed.
Grouping custom fields: Projects with custom fields can now organise these into named groups using options provided on the Custom Column Editor form. Where available, custom fields are displayed on the 'Custom Fields' tab on forms in collapsible sections within your assigned groups. Field group sort order can be adjusted.
Help text editor: Users with the appropriate permission (Permissions > Specific Actions > Editing Tools > Can edit field description text) can now edit field level help text. Descriptive text can be added for all fields in all tables. For example, you may wish to add guidance on how to format Collector names or how to enter seed X-Ray data. Your edited text, which may be in any language, replaces any default field help text as provided by BRAHMS. The column descriptions window has the keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+I.
Column information: In addition to help text, the column descriptions window (Ctrl+I) also includes properties of the column’s physical field name, type, size and status.
Excel match/transfer: Further efficiencies added when matching using GUID fields.
Synonym group tagging: When viewing synonyms on the species table form, options are provided to tag with ‘G’ all species records in the current synonym group. A filter option is also provided to display the ‘G’ tagged records.
Overhaul of RDE manager: The RDE manager faster to open, especially where projects have many files in different folders. The RDE manager now has a grid filter row to aid RDE file selections.
Column views: You can now store saved column views in sub-folders. This applies to personal and shared views.
Multi-Search Tool: This handy tool now defaults to data matching using ‘=’ rather than ‘contains’ where no previous match value was saved. Otherwise, it will use the user’s last setting. Non-text columns always use ‘=’ for comparison.
ArcGIS mapper: Much improved speed of map-point loading. Also provides a mechanism to control the maximum number of map-points displayed. The range is 1,000 to 100,000 with 50,000 as the default.
Map resolution lookup and checks: Lookups are now available for map point and elevation resolution on the map editor and collection event forms. The ‘map point checked’ tick box field has been added to map editor and to the collection event form geography tab.
QDS calculations: QDS (Quarter Degree Square) values are now updated if lat/long values are edited directly in data grids. QDS values are no longer overwritten by null latitude/longitude values and thus, can be added independently of latitude/longitude.
Host Species: Adds read-only HostSpeciesID to collection event data grid view to allow users to upload host species GUIDs via match-transfer. This is potentially useful as host species not currently uploaded via RDE.
Species curation tool for herbaria: A new species update function in specimens grid for curation. This is used for label / folder label printing where specimens may be physically located under a name different to that of the current det. Developed with the Naturalis Museum.
Specimen table determinations: The preserved specimens table now includes the current determination name (from Det History) for the current specimen in addition to the collection event name.
HTML versions of taxa names in data grids: Correctly italicized names are included for convenience in data grids. These can be easily included in reports avoiding the complexity of name formatting.
People table: ORCID and WIKI now hyperlink-enabled in the data grid.
Country table: New columns added for country code and country sort code. These are available also in collection events and specimen grid views.
Field adjustments: Increases max chars of Collection Events Field Number from 15 to 20 characters. Removes the 255-character limit from RSO request comments.
Propagation form: New configuration options allow inventory measurement of propagules or containers.
RSO (Plant Request, Schedule, Order) enhancements: Users can now customise grid column layouts when moving between tabs and sub-tabs; Data from RSO and Propagation tables are now available when reporting from RSO; Adds additional fields to simple species editor, thus, if adding species on the fly, you can add e.g. tax status, habit and lifeform; Accessions can now be unlinked from an RSO/Propagation record; Various functions can no longer be applied to ‘all’ records, forcing users to select current or tagged records - which is safer; Improved lookups in RDE.
Plant Trials: In collaboration with RHS, the plant trials module has been updated. Updates include options to linked tagged accessions to trials; import trial accessions directly from RDE; and the addition of a new plant form Trial tabs to list all plants and the results per trial.
Plant split: This living collections function no longer clears the main locality name when splitting a plant with stock level > 1. It does clear subareas and lat/long values. Thus, it is now faster to move stock to different subarea within same location. It is also possible to set an event date for plant move/splits.
Living collection event and request editors: comments can now be edited.
Journal abbreviation lookup to taxa citation field: lookups to often complex journal abbreviations now available for family, genus and species citations.
Common names lookups: Adds collection event lookup to common names grid. The common names table species name link is updated from a collection event lookup.
Naming new databases: Checks mssql or postgresql new database names and prevents the name starting with a number.
Lookup selector forms: Improved formatting of text displays on several lookup selector forms.

Bug Fixes

Record deletion messaging: No longer issues 'succeeded' message when record deletion is cancelled.
BRAHMS online (BOL) data uploads: Data uploads to BOL are improved with feedback to the relevant table fields ‘Last Uploaded On’ and ‘Last uploaded By’.
Merge genera: Fixes issue with merging records, notably genera, an issue that arose in some databases.
Species form synonymy refresh: Synonym lists refresh correctly in UI when edited on the species form.
Gazetteer RDE imports: Fixes issue with misbehaving progress bar during import of Gazetteer RDEs.
Web link updates: A number of Web Link URLs have been updated to match website URL updates. These include IPNI, African Plants Database and GBIF.
Excel match/transfer: Fixes issues with tagging matched records and matching on real numbers. These issues only apply to certain combinations of data settings.
ArcGIS mapper: fixes issue with initial mapping if no data is available in plants grid.
Natural sort: Natural sort excludes trade names if not configured in name calculations.
RDE taxa imports: Fix for null species names in combination with ‘sp’ and ‘sp.’ equivalent names.
Living Accessions: Fixes issue when adding new collection event from the Living Collection Plant forms when adding a new Living Accession. Addresses issue of Living Accession form going to ‘save mode’ unnecessarily.
Transaction institute: Fixes issues for Transaction when looking up an institute code.
Docking seed accessions/test data grids: Fixes issue relating to docking (seed test below seed accession) then opening a side window in one of the grids and switching between the grids.
Column summaries: Fixes issues with some grid filters and column summaries involving families/higher classifications.
Reporting from RDE where no custom fields: Fixes issue with creating/editing reports in RDE files that do not have the ability to add custom columns (e.g. RSO and Taxa descriptions).
Display of custom date fields on form: improved display.
Propagation form > Accession > Plant List: The option to change plant status is now correctly saved to plant table.
Seed Accession RDE import: fixes issue when records had map reference AND cultivated set to true.
Excel to RDE: Fixes issue with Excel import into RDE that caused conflict with RDE manager accessing the .dat file during import - Excel import is slightly faster.
Transaction form specimen listings: Fixes issue with slow display of linked specimens on the transaction form linked specimens tab.
QDS calculations: Calculations for certain lat/long combinations corrected.
Colour-fragrance record deletion/data grid: Fixes issues with record deletion in SQLite and also display of these records in SQLite.
Entity related columns: Prevents appearance of entity related columns in standard mode. Some entity columns were appearing in some configurations.

Release v8.5.0 (12^th February 2023)

The following release notes apply to v 8.5.0.14523

Added Features

Multiple Classification: It's now possible to implement multiple classifications for family-genus relationships - a genus name can be linked to more than one family name. This may be a simple name change (Compositae/Asteraceae) or a more fundamental rearrangement. The use of different classifications may be required by herbaria/museums where there is more than one family-genus curation system in use and/or for reporting purposes. This feature was developed in collaboration with Naturalis (Netherlands). Users can be assigned a default classification but can switch systems on the fly if given the rights to do so. Procedures for managing multiple classifications are documented in the BRAHMS guide section 'A closer look at taxa and related data > Multiple Classification Systems'.
Literature table: The literature table has some field changes and additions to provide increased flexibilty with data storage. The fields volume, issue, part and supplement have become text fields for increased flexibility and new fields have been created to store an article number, figures and errata. The page start/end numeric fields are replaced with a single 'pages' character field. These changes are auto-updated with all existing data. The 'DOI' and 'Reference URL' columns now process dynamic hyperlinks.
Plant Requests, Scheduling and Ordering (RSO): The RSO options, developed in collaboration with Chicago Botanic Garden, are used to manage the high annual flow-through of requests for new plants from garden curators, be these for temporary/seasonal display or full accessioning. Plant requests are submitted by curators using RDE. Requests are normally associated with a Garden Project (e.g. Spring annuals 2023 or Orchid Show 2023), partly for budgetting purposes. The RSO components include functions for the approval of requests; checking species names, editing or adding names as necessary; scheduling for a required delivery week; forecasting growth/space requirements; optimising ordering across requests from selected vendors; and processing deliveries into production or propagation. RSO records can be archived. The new RSO features are fully documented in the BRAHMS guide sections Plant Requests, Scheduling and Ordering (RSO).
Plant Propagation and Production: Plant Propagation and Production features have been overhauled adding in new features for forecasting space and other growth requirements together with new storage options and data archiving. Prop/Prod records can optionally be associated with RSO records and share the same line number. A number of new lookups are added for Prop/Prod fields including a lookup to a new Plant Containers table. Prop/Prod events now have their own table - this option is found on the Collections menu Prod/Propagation menu drop-down when in living collections mode. The revised production/propagation features are fully documented in the BRAHMS guide section Production and Propagation.
Column wrap and sort: Column wrap and sort options can now be set on or off by default under System > Options > Grid Options. These settings can also be changed on the fly usinbg the new check box options provided on the Grid Tools toolbar.
Plant stock adjustment reason: You can now optionally add lookup values to provide a reason for changing plant stock levels. If lookup values are not added, or the lookup is not set to 'Must Choose', free text can entered as before. The manual section 'Adding stock adjustment reason lookup values' explains how to register lookup values. Plant stock calculation now allow storage of '0' instead of NULL when all stock has been removed.
Taxon descriptor editor: Updates taxon descriptions editor to make the lower reference management section expandable/collapsible and adds a font-size slider to the description text editor.
Form layout: The layout on a number of data forms has been improved, especially where multi-select controls are used.

Bug Fixes

Data saving in RDE: Adjustments to selector tools have been made to prevent the occasional failure to save data added to a field in RDE.
Cultivar names: Fixes issue with storing cultivar names containing a trailing apostrophe (as in Out Walkin').
Additional RDE import logging: Additional logging added to RDE imports to help pin out any future import issues.
GUID matches on Import/Transfer: Fixes issue that prevented updating foreign key GUID's using the match transfer tool.
SQLite personal database creation: An error, noted in some systems only with new datbase creation, has been fixed.
Recalculations for plant counts: The # field counts for living and non-living plants in the species table were not being correctly updated for living. This has been fixed.

Release v8.4.0 (07^th December 2022)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v. 8.4.0.14433

Added Features

Windows login case-insensitive: Windows/Domain user login usernames are now case-insensitive.
Command line to run recalculations: By starting BRAHMS with the Windows command ‘brahms.exe -recalc’, the system runs all calculation scripts for each database project in each shared data location added to your application shared folder. No UI is displayed. The command can also be run using a windows task to run brahms.exe -recalc at defined times/days.
RDE file opening and visible columns: RDE file opening is faster due to an improved method of evaluation RDE file structure. RDE column selections and layout are better remembered from the previous session.
RDE file merging: It is now possible to merge tagged RDE files into a single RDE file (‘Merge RDE files’ on the main RDE manager menu). In this new merge function, the RDE files must be of the same type and have exactly the same structure, including any custom fields.
New specimen calculations: New calculated fields added to the main specimen table to show transaction totals and transactions per specimen.
Specimen form: A new tab for the specimens table form to list all linked transaction, historical and active.
Transaction totals: Transaction link, return totals and summary texts are now dynamically updated in the relevant transaction record data grid # fields.
Species reports: Reports created in the main species table now include options to include data fields from the family and genus tables.
Calulated fields in reports: The mechanisms to add calculations and calculated fields to your reports is now fully documented in the BRAHMS guide section Reports and Report Templates > Adding Calculated Columns.
Synonym summary: A new calculated field in species table to list all synonyms directly help for the current species. Mostly provided for reporting purposes.
Find/Replace in RDE: The Find/Replace tool permissions no longer apply to RDE files. RDE users can always use Find/Replace.
Header wrapping and grid padding/alignment: Grid data cell value padding and alignment have been further been improved with column header wrapping now enabled. Header content will wrap when column widths are reduced.
Default lookup values: If a default lookup value is added to the lookup settings, this value is now added when adding new records that include the relevant lookup field. The Not Nullable field must be selected for this to operate.
Min/Max values for numeric lookup fields: You can now add min/max values to your custom field settings for integer/real columns. If a value is entered below the min range, the value will be set to the min value, same for max.
Grid field focus after tabbing: When tabbing to a lookup field in the data grid, the focus is now set to allow the use of keyboard up down arrow to select a value is standard and multi-select lookups (i.e. tab-type is now possible with custom values).
RSO/Propagation: The plant Request, Scheduling and Ordering (RSO) and Plant propagation/Production components have been substantially updated - these updates will be separately documented.

Bug Fixes

Transaction-specimen processing All calculated values including transaction summary, #returned, #linked specimen counts, are now correctly updated. Returns are also now working as expected.
Collection category Fixes an issue with grid collection event record addition. Records are added according to the currently selected category (in the collection event menu drop down).
Summary tool merge values in PostgeSQL: Fixes an issue with the column summary merge data value option for PostgreSQL users.
Living Status code Fixes a recently introduced issue with creating plant records when living status codes were longer than 4 characters (e.g. 'Alive'). This also adjusts the 'shortnote' status change reason from 30 to 128 characters.

Release v8.3.2 (17^th November 2022)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v. 8.3.2.14382

Added Features

RDE Menu Adjustments: RDE archiving functions are now grouped into a single split/dropdown menu option.
RDE Menu Additions: A new option to toggle the archive flag for all tagged RDE files has been added to the above RDE Menu item.
RDE Archive on Import: A new option has been added to auto-archive successfully imported RDE files. This option is located below the 'Transfer to BRAHMS' RDE tool visible when an RDE file has been opened

Bug Fixes

Database Mappings 2 columns had misssing mappings which caused problems particularly for Postgre database users who were unable to view data in species and living collection tables.
Sigma Value Merging When merging Sigma values for custom data columns where one or more grid filters were active, the values were not merged.
Grid Row Filter to Exclude NULL Using the '<>NULL' filter in a grid filter row column to show only non-null values in that column caused problems with subsequent tagging operations in the grid.
RDE Column Manager Reload The 'Reload' button in the RDE Column Manager is now functioning correctly to reload the selected column view.
Missing Column View Locations When using folders on a network to store shared grid column views and where a user did not have access or had disconnected the networked folder then this resulted in an internal error that prevented any data from being loaded into any grids.
Custom Value Lookups Editing values in grids where custom lookup values have been setup for 1 or more columns has been improved to enable immediate interaction (tab & type) with the dropdown list, by typing or using left/right or up/down arrows (alt+down arrow opens the list if required)
Plant Last Event/Request Updates In the plants table the last event/request date and group were not being updated when events or requests were imported via RDE files used by the BRAHMS Mobile Garden App.

Release v8.3.0 (09^th November 2022)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v. 8.3.0.14340

Added Features

Menu adjustments: Some menu adjustments have been made, notably: transaction menu options have been moved from Management to the Collections menu where they more logically belong; the option to switch #Calc fields on/off now moved to Data Tools > View toolbar; Selection and + Selection filter options are moved to Query toolbar option drop-down; some further toolbar options with text edits to reduce width.
Calculated fields: Throughout BRAHMS, calculated fields have been standardised and extended. New calculated fields have been added across the system. Previously these fields (mostly numeric totals) were updated on a table by table basis using the Edit > Recalculation option. Calculated fields are now centrally managed in a new ‘Recalculation Scripts’ table available on the main Management menu. This requires a permission setting for access. More than 200 calculated fields are listed together with the date and time each field was last updated. The scripts used can be viewed but not edited. In the next release, projects will be able to add their own scripts to update custom fields. Using the tools provided, you can update all or selected calculated fields. Calculated fields have also been streamlined in RDE files.
Data grid filter row: The data grid filter row options as used for fast querying have been improved to better manage complex filter terms with AND/OR logical combinations of fields and search terms that include spaces. Some filter criteria were adversely impacting on tag related functions. For example, you could now add the search criteria '2km from AND trail 12 AND lower track' to a filter on locality notes.
Importing custom fields from RDE: When transferring specimen, living collection or seed accession RDE files to BRAHMS, data in custom fields can now be directed to a specified table. For example, when importing a specimen RDE, some custom fields may be located in either the collection event or specimen tables. With Living Collections RDEs, custom fields may be imported to plants, accessions or collection events. With Seed Accession RDE, custom fields may be imported to seed accessions or collection events. The destination table is selected from the RDE import wizard and your selections are remembered.
System version control: Users are now prevented from logging in to a data store that has been updated by a newer version of BRAHMS. This prevents possible damage to the database configuration and set up options. Note that this change only applies to users of 8.3 upwards - thus projects upgrading to 8.3 should ensure there are no older versions in use.
RDE folder manager: The RDE folder manager is no longer opened by default (Admin uses only). A new tool is provided to open the manger. The manager also includes a new tool to a add a user to all registered RDE folders.
Merge custom field data values: It is now possible to merge data values in custom fields using the Merge To Selected option provided with the Data Tools > Summary tool.
Record Copy function: The Ctrl+F4 record copy function can now be used in all tables (unless edit protected) by users with 'Add permissions' and this will copy read-only fields with foreign keys. For example in Living Accessions, in Edit mode, select a record and enter Ctrl+F4 to copy the entire record to a new record, incrementing the Accession number according to your selected rules. The same for records in Plants and all other tables.
Transactions: Some additional fields are available in transaction material listings including species CITES codes.
Hyperlinks: URL references can now be opened when viewing text in the cell viewer or Zoom windows selected text. Hyperlinks have also been added to certain obvious fields such as IPNI in the species table.
Plant reports: Plant Event and Request records are now available when creating reports from the main living collection plants table.
Plant move/split: The living collection Move/Split plant function has been updated to make it more obvious which plant record is being edited – based on whether the plant is being moved or split. If being split, the form indicates that a new plant will be created. The location and sublocations of the new plant are initially set to null – but can be edited.
Living Accession/Wild Origin det differences: A ‘Tag mismatched species’ option has been added to the Living Collection toolbar to tag records where the accession det differs from a linked collection event (wild origin) det.
Last plant event/request entry for new plants: On adding new plant records, a 'Status confirmation request' record is now added. This ensures a date is added to the last event/request fields in the main data grid, previously depending on a planting date. The request entry is added with RequestType = ‘Confirmation’, RequestGroup = ‘Plant Status’, Request = ‘Confirm Plant Status’ and the request status is set to ‘Pending’. If a plant status changed/confirmed event is subsequently added, the request status is automatically set to ‘Completed’.
Garden locality selector: This selector now includes the garden area name and code.
Plant status form: The 'Reason for Change' and 'Additional notes' on the Living Collections status confirm/change form are now disabled unless there is a status change. If there is no status change, the form is used to confirm the existing plant status.
Propagation and Production: The production and propagation components have been updated. A new containers table added which includes the quantity of containers per unit. Custom fields can be added; decimal values can be added to tray quantities with propagation tray quantity values rounded up to nearest 0.5 value; the ability to archive records; the ability to view RSO fields in propagation.
Request, Schedule, Order: The RSO module has been updated with improved lookups; a new reordering function; the ability to auto-generate new accession numbers for relevant material; last minute species ordering adjustments; and the ability to archive RSO records.
Collector/Author name editing permissions: A new permissions option has been added to control which users have permission to directly edit author (literature, family, genus and all species epithets), collector and determined by names. These fields become read-only and can only be edited by look-up (F9).
Incrementing Sequence Editor: The last (highest) number used for auto-calculated number series, such as those used in Accession, Transaction and Propagation numbering, can now be adjusted using the option provided on System > Incrementing Sequence Editor.
Image links to literature: Images can now be linked to literature entries.
Barcode/Accession formatting: A prefix specific 'separator' can be added to Accession/Barcode generation rule options.
System updates: ESRI ArcGIS Runtime updated to 100.15 and Xceed DataGrid to v7.1

Bug Fixes

Garden app RDE imports: Adjustments have been made to prevent app RDE imports overwriting legitimate data values that have been edited since the app RDE file was created and also not overwriting any desktop data values with null values from the app.
BRAHMS Online data uploads: Further corrections to BOL data uploads.
Query tool 'auto-filter': Fixes query tool issues when using 'auto-filter'.
Merge data values: Merge data value from Summary Tool now correctly respects filters.
Create new PG/MSSQL databases: Auto-lower cases and removes spaces for catalogue names.
Full name calculations: Fixes species name recalculation script issue where species group, trademark, cultivar and trade series author names were not being added when force all/last author flag was set to true.
Tag groups in RDE: Tag groups disabled in RDE (as not available in RDE).
Transaction-specimen updates: Fixes issue with specimen list not updated after unlinking.
Last event/request date for plants: Adjusts same day additions to correctly update the main plant grid last event/request date/data category
Synonym links in species: Prevents synonym cyclical links in species.
Edit History UAT: Edit History UAT date template added to display local date/time correctly.
Custom boolean field editing: Fixes issue where boolean custom fields were set to read-only on forms.
Country table synonym lookup: Correctly lookups up country name.
Literature link table filters: Fixed for # fields.
ArcGIS mapper: Improved indexing and. fixes to map searches.

Release v8.2.0 (30^th July 2022)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v. 8.2.0.14109

Added Features

Adapting to smaller screens/different resolutions: Undocked lookup dialogues have been re-sized across BRAHMS to a default size of 800 x 700px. Thus, these lookup forms are better adjusted to smaller screens and a wider range of screen resolutions.
Recalculate: The Recalculate option for all #calc fields has been moved from Data Tools to the Edit option drop-down. It has also been assigned with a new permissions option. Thus, the use of this option can now be restricted. NB - this option is being further updated in our next revision to provide greater control over how and when individual #calc fields are updated.
Read-only custom fields: Custom fields can be set as read-only using a new check-box option provided in Management > Custom Columns.
Home Institution setting: The Home Institute/default museum code option has been removed from the Management dialogue. This is now set per-user in the main user list. It is a requirement for those using the preserved specimen options.
Accession/Barcode formatting setup: Formatting options for Accession numbers and Barcodes are edited from System > Options > Preserved Collections. These are tabs to register museum codes and then to format the numbering. These rules can be added for any museum code registered in this option. Barcodes rules themselves can optionally be based on accession number rules.
Accession/Barcode generator: Based on the above formatting rules, new accession numbers and barcodes can be auto-generated for tagged records in the main specimen table. In the open specimens table, use Collections > Acc no./ Barcode generator. Numbers are based on your configuration settings. Numbers will increment from the last used numbers - per each museum code.
Text field splitter: A ‘String Splitter’ tool has been added to the Edit option drop-down enabling values in one text field to be separated to a second text field, based on selected splitting character(s). For example, you may wish to separate text after a space to a different field.
Sequence generator: A general number generator has been added to the Edit dropdown. This can be used on numeric and character fields, restricting to tagged records as required. Padding, prefix and suffix options are provided for character fields.
Report editing access: Shared report templates can now be edited by users with system admin or manager roles as well as the report originator.
New RDE for plant Requests, Scheduling and Ordering (RSO): A new RDE file option added for plant RSO data.
Garden location on plant splits: When splitting plants to 1 or more new locations, the sublocations and map references are set to null for the moved plants.
Plant location deletion: The edit plant location option on the plants form has been altered to open the plant Move/Split form. Location deletions have been prevented. Null locations effectively hide a plant in the grid.
Plant accession grid and form updates: New fields added to living accession table: Legal Framework/Restriction Category; Mass(bool), Index Seminum Year & Catalogue No.
Living Collections plant table - last event/request action: The main plants table has 2 new fields to display the date of the last known action for each plant - and the type of action that took place - these coming from plant Events or Requests. These new fields can be used to filter, select and tag plant records that have not been recently assessed.
Add plant event: The addition of a new plant record now results in the auto-addition of a 'planted' event if, at a minimum, the plant year is not null. If plant day and plant month are also available and the date is valid, this will result in the plants 'last event or request' date and group being set in the main plants table with a Last event group entitled ‘Planted’ being added.
Plant event date sorting: On the Events tab of the main Plants form, events are now sorted using the event date rather than the data entry date. The most recent event/request at the top of the list.
Incomplete plant event dates: Adjustments to plant status and stock check forms to enable partial event dates to be added. The 'event person' can be edited either directly or via namestring look up.
Family and genus codes: The local institute codes stored in the family and genus tables are now visible in the collection event and specimen tables.
IPNI data field: The species table field IPNI is now visible in living accessions and plants.
Major and Minor Administrative areas: Storage for these gazetter fields increased from 25 to 50 characters.
Species form Synonym tab: The species form Synonymy tag options have been streamlined to use less space.
RDE image import: In RDE files, you can use Data Tools > Import/Link images to batch import image link to RDE records. Images may be physical file paths or URLs. Matching can be on one or more selected fields in your RDE file.
RDE barcode checks: The specimen RDE importer now has checks for existing museum code/barcode combinations in your database. If a duplicate combination is found, the analysis shows an Error and the RDE record is tagged with '!'.
Excel to RDE: The Excel to RDE importer has additional feedback and error checking. It also includes improved Excel date field conversion checks.
Homonym numbering in taxa RDE files: In taxa RDE files, this tool can be used to tag homonyms with ‘H’ and also to auto number homonyms to make them unique.
Default background image: This has been changed to the BRAHMS logo. Remeber, yu can set your own backgorund image(s) from System > Options.

Bug Fixes

BRAHMS Online data uploads: Issues with data uploads to BOL using the Publish Online options have been fixed. In some databases, synonym links in the main species table were causing upload errors.
Match Transfer: Fixes Match Transfer from xlsx files – especially some issues relating to read-only fields.
Null in find/replace: Find/Replace option now accepts nulls in ‘replace with’.
PostgreSQL update scripts: Further improvements made to PostgreSQL update scripts which in some intermediate updates were causing an error.
Last plant event date/group in plants: If more than one a plant event is added on the same day, the last added event group is used to update the main plants table.
Map Editor zoom: Adjustments to map editor base map loading - the editor no longer zooms out on null points when Auto-zoom is not on.
RDE for taxa descriptions: Comments added to taxa description RDE files are now correctly imported to the taxa descriptions table rather than updating the species records themselves. Updates to text entries in RDE can now be uploaded to update existing records.
Literature form: A binding error on literature form has been adjusted. Reference authors were pointing to an incorrrect field.

Release 8.1.1 (16^th June 2022)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v. 8.1.1.13991

Added Features

Index Seminum: For botanic garden projects, it is now possible to develop seed catalogues directly from BRAHMS. The Index Seminum catalogues can be built up based on accessioned and non-accessioned material for wild or cultivated plants. Facilities are provided to create named catalogue entries, often one per year, with descriptive data held under user-definable headings. One example may be your local growing and climate conditions. You can then link seed entries based on your current garden accessions, collection events and/or manually add details for non-accessioned material. Full reporting options are provided enabling you to format catalogue text headings and your selected seed entries, sorted and numbered appropriately. Reporting can be used to generate PDFs and other output formats.
Species synonym listing: When listing synonyms from the species form, new options are provided to tag all taxa in the current synonym group with 'G'. You can tag multiple synonym groups in this way. You can also filter to the names in your tag group(s) - and thus easily locate the relevant names for editing. The tag group filter overrides any current filter settings enabling you to see taxa outside any current filters you may have set.
Google Earth: When mapping to Google Earth, a greater amount of descriptive text is now displayed when clicking on map points. This includes a more detailed summary of the geo-data.
QDS calculations: QDS (Quarter Degree Square) values are now updated when you manually edit latititude/longitude values using the Map Editor or Collection Event form (geography tab).
Taxa Descriptions: New fields are added to the Taxa Descriptions table for Language and Description Grouping. These fields are also added to the relevant RDE table. RDE imports have been adjusted to import all entries unless the descriptive text is identical to another entry. The Taxa Descriptions editor form is re-sized to fit smaller screens.
Excel Match/Transfer: The Match Transfer tool now alows matching on relational and read-only fields (fields in your view but stored in a related table. Data transfer to these fields is not permitted and the transfer tick box is selectively disabled.
People file recalculation/synonymy: The main People file has a new recalc option that updates the calculated full name field. Synonyms of person names can be stored and in these cases, the accepted name can be displayed. A lookup option is added to the Synof field.
XML import speed: The XML data importer is considerable faster. The importChunkSize value in the brahms..exe.config file can be adjusted. The default setting of 100 is increased to 250 but can be further manually edited to higher values e.g. 2000.
RSO imports: The living collection RSO (Requests, Scheduling and Ordering) component will now import data from any .xls file e.g. xlsx and xlsm.
Map Editor Zoom: The Map Editor no longer auto-zooms to world centre when a record has null lat/long values and auto-zoom is disabled.
Login Form: The BRAHMS login form now indicates your project licensing period and has a link to our software release notes.

Bug Fixes

RDE specimen file creation: A versioning number issue when creating new specimen RDE files has been fixed.
PostgreSQL database updates: A PostreSQL update error, only encountered in certain database versions, has been fixed.

Release 8.1.0 (1^st June 2022)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v8.1.0.13932

Added Features

Reports Manger: A Reports Manager has been added to BRAHMS making it easier for users to generate reports. Saved report design templates can be registered and optionally shared with all users who can then create reports, avoiding the designer. Users with appropriate permissions can design, edit and register reports. Registered template files (.mrt) are now incorporated into your database and thus there is no need to locate and share the physical files. Existing .mrt files or files you have received from another project can be imported and thus registered in the manager. Report templates can be exported to .mrt files for exchanging with other users/projects. Details are provided in the section Designing and running reports > The Report Manager in the BRAHMS manual.
RDE File Creation: The creation of new RDE files by standard users has been simplified with the addition of an RDE template file manager. The RDE File Creation Wizard is bypassed and user can choose one of the project RDE templates as registered. A folder can be selected for your project RDE templates. Users with appropriate permissions can access the Design Wizard as before. For details, refer to the manual section Rapid Data Entry > Managing RDE files > Designing and creating new RDE files.
Publish Online: As well as creating websites and editing web pages, you can now upload selected data to BRAHMS online (BOL) using options provided on the Publish Online > Manage Data menu. The categories of data that may be uploaded are Taxa, Collections/Specimens, Living Collections, Seed Accessions, Transactions and Images. Upload restrictions can be applied. For example, you can restrict uploading only to records than have been edited since last uploaded. For details, refer to the manual section Publishing online with WebConnect > Uploading data from BRAHMS to BRAHMS online.
Literature management: New features have been added to the main literature table including improved lookups, additional calculated fields and a literature table form. As well as providing edit features for the literature records themselves including any custom fields, the form has options to list existing literature links across BRAHMS and also to view and edit species-literature links. The new calculated fields indicate the number of links literature entries have to records in BRAHMS.
Specimen form: The preserved specimens table has a new form. This can be used to edit all aspects of the current specimen record including type status and custom fields. It is also possible to add and edit specimen determinations.
Query improvements: Improved indexing has been implemented in several tables leading to faster opening and query performance. In some cases, there are substantial improvements. One example is the living collection plants table where filtering options, especially those including tags are much faster. /li>
Field additions and adjustments: The geographic name fields for Major Admin Area, Minor Admin Area and Locality Name have been increased to 50 characters. The Barcode field has been increased from 15 to 20 characters. The main Edit History table now includes the tag field. Comments are added to Determination History table. CalcFullGazetteer is added to the gazetteer table, literature link totals to the main literature table. Addition of Associated Species, Geology, Soil Description, Landform, Aspect, Slope to Collection Events. Addition of 'Name Verified By' and 'Verified When' to Seed Accessions. The species table "CF" has been renamed to "Name Qualifier". Addition of the fields Family and CalcFullName to transaction links table. A new field for Garden Area code has been added to the garden locations table, also visible in the living plants table. Confusion over naming of the country ISO 1 2 3 fields resolved.
Record Verifications/Edit History: Edits made using the Record Checks tool are now registered in the Edit History table.
Seed Accession RDE: Addition of a comprehensive RDE import for Seed Accessions including pre-import data analysis.
Excel to RDE importer: Adjustments have been made to the importer making it easier to match Excel columns to your RDE file.
RDE - common names/language: Common names and their language are now imported from specimen RDE files and added to the common names dictionary.
Match/Transfer tool: The Match Transfer tool has been improved. GUIDs can now be imported to update existing GUIDs. Thus, you could use Match/Transfer to update the gazetteer GUID in Collection Event records. Also, fields than cannot be updated with this tool (mostly from related tables) are now excluded from the field selection list - avoiding confusion about which fields can be updated.
Multi-Column summary tool - duplicates: A new function in the Sigma+ to tag records for deletion by selecting the fields on which to compare then pressing the 'Mark Duplicates...' button.
Species name checks: A tool has been added to tag Seed and Living Accession records where the species name differs from the associated Collection Event record.
Species tool to tag accepted names:A tool has been added to tag all accepted names for tagged records. Thus, if you tag a series of synonyms, you can tag all the accepted names for these synonyms.
Request Schedule Order (RSO): The Living Collections Request, Schedule and Ordering component provides a mechanism for garden curators to submit plant requests for both seasonal and accessioned plants. Plant request details can be uploaded directly from formatted Excel templates that have lookups to the database to control standards. Request data includes items such as the species, preferred delivery container, vendor, catalogue references, costs and the ‘required for’ date. These data are then subject to approval, order scheduling and ordering. This process includes options to forecast production/propagation space and other requirements. Requested species and vendors are checked and adjusted by users with permission to do so. New approved species and vendor entries being added to the central database as required. Material to be accessioned is registered in the accession table on arrival. Request data are pre-loaded to the production/propagation table and can be further managed from there. This topic is fully documented in the main guide.
Production and Propagation: The Living Collections production and propagation components have been heavily upgraded, now working for seasonal as well as accessioned material. A more comprehensive set of fields are now available including forecasting fields. Events (similar to plant events) can be added to these records allowing you to track events such as container changes and plant moves. These topics are fully documented in the main guide.
Production/Propagation defaults for species: A new table added to the main Taxa menu for Species Production/Propagation defaults. These are values that would typically apply to all Prop-Prod entries for a given species, an example being the preferred growth medium.
Plant Trials: A plant trials component has been added to the living collections module leading to trial plants being assessed and potentially awarded a merit level. Trial accessions records are held separately to other accessions in a special Trials Garden entry. Trial accessions may optionally have plant records added. Trial results are linked at the accession level. Results include assessments for and against merit awards being given to an accession. This component has been developed in collaboration with the RHS.
Plants location summary: The plants table in living collections has a new calculated field for location summary. This lists, in summary format, the different locations an accession occurs in.
Plants last event/request date: The plants table includes two new fields to indicate the date a plant last had an event or request added (status confirm/change, label print, etc.) together with the category of the event/request. This is useful as a quick visual clue as to when a plant was last checked or otherwise processed. As an example, the new fields can be used with filters to tag records with no recent status check or label print.
Garden app: The current map location is now more easily added; improvements to app RDE imports where missing plants are trapped; prevention of incorrect lookup list value character string lengths; improvements to filtering options which now default to 'contains' rather than 'starts with'.
Database Connections Manager: The Connection Manager has been updated to enable 'Additional' connection string parameters for PostgreSQL and MSSQL Server. These may be required on some systems.

Bug Fixes

RDE imports - case related issues: A number of errors with RDE imports across of categories of RDE files have been corrected, especially those involving gazetteer accents and case.
RDE imports - import date: RDE file import dates were sometimes not updating in the RDE manger table to show when a file was imported. These dates are now checked and updated if required.
Database Manager with multiple projects: An error that prevented a non-admin user from switching to a different database project in the same data store has been fixed.
UTC and dates: Although dates are now stored in UTC format, the display of dates such as Added, LastModified and LastUploaded) now correctly use the local date time.
Filter removal issues: Fixes issue with use of the 'No Filter' option where Grid Row filters were incorrectly managed.
Custom Lookups: Speed improvements to custom lookup editor. This is implemented by excluding certain fields that were slowing up loading of the lookup lists - and do not require lookups.
Plant name change function: Now adds the correct name change date to the plant event record and also correctly adds/displays the Accession record determination entry."
RDE imports: Formatting improvements when adding new assembled name strings.
Mapping: An error when filter to exclude cultivated plants fixed.
Taxa Descriptions/Literature: An error when linked literature to taxa descriptions has been fixed.
Specimen RDE additional dets: The current det (in the main grid record) is now copied back to additional dets if an additional det is set as the current det. the grid also now refreshes to show the updated/changed det.
NULL garden locations for plants: The addition of a garden location is now enforced when adding, moving garden plants.
Garden app: Various issues fixed in garden app including filtering on null columns and addition of missing garden location code field; trapping of event data errors.

Release 8.0.10 (02^nd December 2021)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v8.0.10.13600

Added Features

Database exports/transfers: A function has been added to export an entire database in XML file format. Large XML files are broken up into a series as necessary. The export tool is found on System->Database Project Manager->Export. Amongst its uses, this function provides a mechanism to transfer a database from one BRAHMS store format to another. For example, you can easily transfer your database from SQLite into PostgreSQL or MSSQL Server. It also provides a mechanism to export an entire database in a standardised XML format.
Legal documentation: The existing permits/legal documents functionality has been upgraded with a more flexible approach allowing users to define any category of permit within a given legal framework, and to link one or more permits to any record. A new table is provided to list all permits and agreements with their details (number, where/when issued, valid until, due diligence, etc.). A further table is provided to view all permit links system-wide. In certain tables (Collection Events, Living Accession and Seed Accessions), the selected permit restriction status is displayed in the grid. Certain categories of restricted materials can be excluded from distribution transactions. Documents can be associated with permits. Default lookup lists are provided for permit types (e.g. 'Collection permit'), legal framework (e.g. 'Nagoya') and Restriction categories (e.g. 'Restricted by agreement').
Management menu: The main management menu has been reorganised with new menu group areas for transactions and legal permits.
Transaction links browser: A transaction browser has been added to the Management menu. This browser lists material of different categories (preserved specimens, plants, seed, etc. ) linked to any transaction.
Literature links browser: All literature links can now be viewed in a new Bilbio menu data grid. Here you can filter to the record data category and the record identifier (e.g. a species name)
Date time storage: BRAHMS now stores all newly added/edited date times as Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) values. Previously, the system used local date times (local to server). This means that any additions and updates made by database users working on the same database but in different time zones are more easily sorted. Existing date/times are not altered.
Species descriptive texts in species reports: It is now possible to include species text descriptions as defined in the Taxa Descriptions table in reports created from the main species table. References linked to descriptions can also be added.
Genus table synonymy: Genus table updated to allow editing of and display generic synonyms in the data grid.
Seed Module: A range of further additions to the Seed Module including the ability to link seed accessions to batches via transactions. Batches are now registered as incoming transactions.

Bug Fixes

Custom field issues: A number of errors related to the deletion and the use of Find/Replace in custom fields have been fixed.
Transfer tags up: The transfer tags option was, in some cases, not copying tags up to the species table and higher.
Match/Import from Excel: The Excel Match/Import tool has been updated to trap a wider range of data errors including data parsing errors.
Entity related issues: Applies only if operating BRAHMS in Entity or Mixed mode. A range of known issues with entities, entity name linking and entity hybrid formula calculations have been resolved. For example, it is no longer possible to link a species to more than one Entity.
Weblinks menu: Issues with the duplication of the Weblinks menu items under some circumstances resolved.
RDE custom field filter/tagging: Fix for RDE tagging issue (e.g. Tag all) when filtering on custom fields. Also addresses invert tags in RDE.
Plant events imports via Excel: Fixes missing 'Result' column data in Plant Event Excel data importer.
Living Accession calculations: Calculation of plants per accession are corrected with respect to plant status (alive or otherwise).
RDE imports and case matching: Gazetter name entries with the same but differently cased names no longer cause matching issues with gazetteer IDs. Several further RDE import issues as reported have been fixed.
Signing out: Various improvements made to Sign out.

Release 8.0.9 (31^st October 2021)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v8.0.9.13531

Added Features

Access to demo data: Users can now download demo data in XML format and then import these data into a data store of their choice (PostgreSQL, MSSQL Server or SQLite). The demo data is available here. The updated BRAHMS guide provides details on importing XML.
Rapid Data Entry file (RDE) transfers to BRAHMS: Procedures to transfer data from all categories of RDE file into BRAHMS have been overhauled to make the process faster, more efficient and provide feedback using a % progress-bar. With improved and targeted indexing, imports are faster. RDE can now be used for larger data files. The default is now to restrict to tagged. Behind the scenes, RDE file structures have been simplified by the removal of numerous no longer required Boolean fields that were previously used to assist with import checking and analysis.
Storage of collector and author names: A restructuring of the way these data are used and stored in relation to the assembled names-string table has been completed. This applies to all collector, taxon author, reference author and determined-by names. While the assembled name-strings table can still be manually edited and used for lookups, in all cases, these names are stored as text strings in the relevant tables themselves rather than as foreign key links to the assembled name-strings table. As a consequences of this change: it is now easier to edit these data in the respective tables; choose the formats required for e.g. collector names; use tools such as find/replace and merge values; and use import/match from Excel. There is also improved efficiency with data display in general as there are fewer data relationships and improved efficiency when checking and importing data from RDE.
Update assembled name-strings: A new function added to the main Column Summary tool in the relevant tables to check and add selected collectors, additional collectors, taxa authors, detby names and reference authors to the assembled names-string table. This option, combined with the above restructuring, means you now have greater control of the quality of data in the assembled names table.
People table: This table is no longer auto-updated when RDE files are imported, leading to spurious parsed entries. It can be developed as a clear and stable lookup dictionary. New fields have been added for ORCID and WIKI URL references.
Darwin Core Archive (DwC) exports: It is now possible to create DwC exports from the main specimen and taxa tables using the toolbar options provided. The occurrence.csv is provided with eml.xml and meta.xml files in a single DwC Archive zip.
Additional Collectors: This field for associated (team/additional) collectors has now been added as standard to collection events. The field is displayed in all tables where collector names are displayed. It is exported as a non-standard DwC field ‘associatedCollectors’.
Seed Manager Module: A major update to the Seed Module is included in this revision. This module, developed collaboratively with the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP) at Kew, has broad curation and research applications for projects that collect, store, test and distribute seed. Included are options for recording detailed seed passport data, seed cleaning and processing, calculations for seed weights and counts, X-ray, tetrazolium and germination testing. For germination tests, results can be scored across replicates for any number of test days with selected observation intervals, leading to the final calculations for germination and viability%. The test scoring form can be conveniently used on a lab bench tablet.
Webview2 control. BRAHMS now uses the Microsoft Edge Webview2 control for rendering embedded weblinks and the Publish Online module.
Report system fields: Home Museum Code, Home Institute Name, Home Garden Code and Home Garden Name (taken from the currently logged in database project member profile) are now available when designing BRAHMS reports. Thus it becomes possible in multi-site projects to set report conditions based on the user.
Transaction reports: The number of fields available to choose from when designing transaction reports (loans, exchanges, etc.) has been extended. For example, all species level name epithet fields are now available to format into reports rather than just the calculated complete name.
Collection Events toolbar: This toolbar has been revised to save space and clarify options. The 'Restrict to selected categories' checkbox has been removed as no longer required.
Living Collections toolbar: This toolbar has been revised to reduce complexity and clarify by re-naming and combining some options in toolbar menu dropdowns. For example, the Label Templates table, edited less frequently, is now a dropdown under ‘Labels’ where Label Requests is the default selection.
Living Collections Move/Split:The option to move/split plants is now available as a main toolbar option rather than only on the plant form.
ArcGIS mapper point selection: Procedures to select and tag points have been overhauled with a new map toolbar (Enable/Disable map point selection). You may want to select a series of points to edit, further check or process in some other way, for example, change the identification. You can select 1: many map points. These are highlighted. And then you can apply a filter on these points and then view/edit your selected records in the main grid. Furthermore, the selected/tagged map points are automatically used to create a Tag Group ‘Map Tags’ in the current table. This means that your map selections can be restored and also shared with other users. This is a handy way to locate and then edit map point errors.
ArcGIS mapper: The mapper has also been improved to speed up plotting larger files and allow map searching. The mapper now uses default dark grey base map for easier viewing. Improvements made to map point plotting and searching. If necessary, the Reload Map Data button can be used to refresh your map with relevant selections.
ArcMAP and QGIS data exports: The data passed to these external GIS now correspond to the current field view. Thus, you can now pass data from any selected fields including custom fields. The map export forms now default to last used project rather than a new project each time.
ArcMAP/GIS aprx files: Map project selection now includes aprx as well as mxd files.
Sharing saved queries: Query commands created and saved from the Query Tool can now be shared with other users by selecting the Share option on the 'My Saved Queries' tab.
Multi-column summary: A new feature to calculate counts of data using 2 or more columns. Thus, you can total up the number of records per ‘Family + Country’ or ‘Year + Country + Genus + Species’. An interactive column selection interface is provided and these selections can be saved. Results can be filtered and sorted. Results can also be exported to Excel.
Invert latitude/Longitude: New tool to invert signs of lat/long values accessed from the Map context ribbon menu for grids that contain Lat./Long. data. This helps quickly correct groups of map points that have been entered or imported with incorrect NE/EW settings.
Range filter tool: This new tools allows you to apply filters on ranges of values for date, numeric and character fields. Accessed from the main 'Query Tool' drop down menu, using Alt+F11 or from the right-click grid context menu. Especially useful for adding date filters.
IPNI data transfer to RDE: In Taxonomy RDE files, you can draw in data from an IPNI search. This option ‘Import Data from IPNI’ is available on the RDE toolbar when in a Taxonomy RDE file.
RDE toolbar: RDE toolbar options have been simplified. RDE analysis and import is now streamlined under a single option.
RDE for Mobile App: New fields are exported to the app: Label Range, Provenance Type, Collectors, Donors and their codes, Field Number with prefix/suffix.
RDE Record ID field: The numeric field Record ID is now available to view in all RDE files. This unique sequential integer field, which is auto-populated, can be used e.g. to filter and then tag record in batches.
RDE importer for specimens: The ability added to bypass (time consuming) checks for new specimens/determinations when importing RDE files. These checks are often not needed for new data being imported – and the option speeds up the analysis phase, especially notable in large files.
Shared Mobile App RDE folder: This new share folder option allows mobile app RDE files to be created in a separate, named RDE file folder.
View/goto Collection Event from Specimen: A new link option provided to view or go to the parent collection event record when browsing specimens.
Determinations 'detby name' lookup: Lookup option for determination names added to determination data grid.
Excel Match/Transfers: These transfers are now better able to handle Excel dates. Case-sensitivity from excel column matching has been removed.
Column Manager: A new refresh button added to force refresh grid fields. This is available in main tables and RDE. RDE column manager improved to allow restore defaults.
Main BRAHMS application window: Saves/Restores main BRAHMS window location/size at startup/exit.
Shared paths: Shared paths can now be non-read only. Path check on log in disabled as this was, in some cases causing problems.
JStor and GBIF access: Access to both now possible after the WebView2 update, avoiding incidence of ProtocolError status reports’.
Excel to RDE error trapping: Warnings are now given if a data conversion fails ( e.g. incorrect data type) with Stop or Continue options. The error can be skipped so as not to lead to the loss of a large transfer.
Memo field text boxes: All text boxes on forms have been improved with vertical scroll and text wrap.
Default field view adjustments: Throughout BRAHMS, various adjustments to the UI to improve field settings, for example, including new fields in the default views and adjusting field widths. Filtering is available in more tables, for example, custom fields.

Bug Fixes

Reinstates RDE Edit History functionality: A glitch in access to RDE edit history has been fixed.
RDE file custom fields: fixes issue with RDE file custom field editing.
RDE file copying and re-naming: fixes a number of issues related to RDE file copying (with and without data) and RDE file renaming.
Author Selector highlights record: The active row in the author name selector is now highlighted as with other grids.
Multi-summary count: Error with exporting summary results to Excel fixed.
Living Collection no accession rules: The ‘no rules’ for accession and plant numbering are now respected.
Label printing: Printing now takes account of the current garden selection.
RDE mobile app file creation: Error with RDE file create overwriting existing fixed.
Comment save: Fixes issue with saving comments when comments tool window is closed.
Garden accession numbering: Corrects issues with setting and using free text entry for Accession and Plant IDs on a per garden rule basis, also fixes potential incorrect rule selection/display when living collection options are viewed and the default (increment) rule was not in use.
Entity mode fixes: A number of fixes when using BRAHMS in Entity or Mixed mode rather than in Standard mode. Entity/Mixed mode offers a new way to manage the complexity species names (especially with cultivated plants) as developed by the RHS.
RDE file imports with restrict to tagged: Fixes generic higher classification, family, genus and species RDE file analysis methods to improve matching and updating RDE and fix issues when restricted to tagged.
Excel Plant Event imports: issue fixed with column names not matching when importing directly from Excel to plant events.
Family/Higher classification: These values are now corrected updated and refresh in grids when selecting/clearing a genus selection using the species form.

Release 8.0.8 (14^th June 2021)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v8.0.8.13241

Added Features

Data grid and tool window management: To resolve a long-standing issue where grid windows would frequently become undocked when switching from one to another if one or more tool windows were also active, the underlying docked-window management strategy in BRAHMS has been refactored. An added benefit of this has been that tool window views are no longer ‘reset’ when changing grids. Overall, there is improved coordination of all opened grids and any opened forms and tool windows.
Document management: Links to URLs as well as physical documents are now possible. New data grids have been added to a now updated Images/Documents menu to view and filter on document folders and all document links. Using the document editor form, you can now copy a linked document to all tagged records. The calculated fields for #docs is updated as docs are linked/unlinked.
Image management: Improvements have been made to the image viewer which now auto-sizes opened images. New data grids have been added to the updated Images/Documents menu which allow you to view and filter on all registered image folders and all image links. For example, you could easily list and view all images linked to a set of related taxa or specimens. The calculated fields for #images is updated as docs are linked/unlinked.
Image copyright messaging: Image copyright can be stored in 3 places: 1. taken from the IPTC image header; 2) in the image record itself (copyright field); 3. a default setting for all images with no explicit copyright entry is added using the new System>Options> Images tab.
Tool window efficiency: Improvements made to overall system efficiency by ensuring that, when closed, all tool windows do not continue to occupy memory.
PostgreSQL: PostgreSQL database connections: Addition of working PostgreSQL database connections plus an update to database connection dialogue to include a PostgreSQL database creation wizard.
An Excel importer for plant events: Plant events can now be imported directly to the Plant Events table from Excel. Matching on either the record GUID or Plant ID, you can import Event Type, Event Group, Event, Result, Day, Month, Year, Event Person and Comments. Refer to the Plant Events section in main guide for further details.
Print Preview: The Print Preview reporting option is more efficient and has improved messaging.
Tag record with double-click: Records can now be tagged by double-clicking in any record field when not in Edit mode. If you are in Edit mode, you can dbl-click in the Tag field to tag. This does not move to the next record as it does with F6 or the standard tag toolbar option.
New RDE export function for gardens app: A new RDE export option is provided as a tool in the main plants table and in the garden localities table. This creates an RDE file with plant details and optionally, all existing events and requests for the exported plants. Also included in the RDE are lookups for the custom label designs, all garden locations and all relevant custom lookups including those for events and requests. The RDE file is sent to the mobile device (e.g. tablet) and once edited, can be opened, edited and subsequently imported to BRAHMS. The import process updates plant records (adding new plants if registered on the app) and adds new events/requests. New plants can be added for new or existing accessions. Images gathered on the app are also processed and linked to plants.
Mobile app for botanic gardens: The first version of the BRAHMS garden app is now available for use. The app, which can be used entirely offline, is used for garden inventory work with the ability to gather plant-related data including map locations and images. For further details, refer to the main BRAHMS website.
Species table: The field previously called ‘Old Species Code’ has been renamed to ‘My Species Code’ and is now included wherever species name fields are available. A new field 'SeasonOfInterest' in added to entity and species.
Species duplicates: The checks made and warning messages issued when duplicate species names are added have been revised and improved.
Family and Genus lookups: The genus lookup in the species table and the family lookup in genus table now include author names to help differentiate between homonyms.
Det Date lookup: A date lookup option has been added to the determinations form.
Multi Value Search: Multi-value searches can now have search mode set to 'contains' (= default), 'equals' or 'starts with' when searching for a list of matching items.
Mapping to QGIS: You can now open both .qgs and .qgz files as saved QGIS projects. The QGIS form remembers your last selected project. You can also save your exported data without opening QGIS. Several QGIS video samples are provided on brahms/software/v8videos
Mapping to GeoCAT: A greater number of collection events fields are exported to the GeoCAT spatial analysis tool broadly following DwC guidelines. GeoCAT is a handy tool to help with Red listing and spatial analysis. It synchronizes with GBIF and Flickr to display raw occurrence data.
Mapping to ArcGIS API: Updates to BRAHMS ArcGIS Map operations. The mapper currently includes a 'Refresh Map Data' button in case the mapper does not respond to all tagging/filtering operations.
Improvement to Map Editor: The map editor banner now updates without a mouse-over and the view now zooms out to full extent when Lat/Long is 0/0.
Entity name management: Various updates have been added to the Entity name management system, this in collaboration with RHS.
Toolbar items resized: The main Data Toolbar options have been somewhat re-sized and organized to minimise toolbar collapsing.
Updated documentation and video trainers: The BRAHMS documentation is updated on content/software/v8/BRAHMS_Manual.pdf and there and newly added training videos on brahms/software/v8videos

Bug Fixes

Reporter data in plants table: Wild Origin and Accession level data are now correctly sent to reporter, if these options are selected.
Goto Accepted name/filters: The option Goto Accepted name from a synonym on the main species form was failing if a species sort was in place. If the accepted name lies outside a set filter, the system issues a warning message.
type species selector: The type species selector button on the Add specimen form opened when adding a specimen directly to the specimen grid has been fixed.
Tagging with filtering: Further changes around filter/tagging issues to prevent 'red triangles' from concurrent asyc database calls, for example using TAG ALL with a <> or NULL filter.
Rename/move RDE files: Issues caused by renaming and/or moving RDE files have been resolved. This option is now called 'Rename' on the RDE Manager menu.
Delete custom fields: Removes ability to mark for deletion and delete custom fields directly from the Management > Custom Fields menu.
Visitor Log: Data are now correctly stored in this table. Previously, data in some fields were not being saved.
Author selection: Improves species author selection for misapplied, ambig. and hort. entries.
Transfer tags: An error linked to 'host species names' in collection events was causing transfer tags to fail in some cases.
TNRS website link: The URL link to the Taxonomic Name Resolution Service has been updated.
Species form synonymy tab: Fix for species form close error after visiting synonomy tab.
Determination editor: Fixes issue with specimen det form editor toolwindow title.
Linking specimen and det tables: Fixes the option to link Specimen and Determination tables.
CF name checks: CF category and CF Epithet are now used when checking for identical names.
Address table merge/tag transfers: Address->Tag Children of Address records was missing tags for linked Transaction records. The Address->Merge function was neglecting Addressid update for transactions linked to addresses being merged.
Collector codes in reports: Fixes issue with collecotr codes not appearing in reports after the creation of a new garden accession record.

Release 8.0.7 (31^st March 2021)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v 8.0.7.13081

Added Features

Shared folders: You can now defne shared folder locations for sharing data grid views and report templates in a user designated shared folder feature. This means these file no longer have to in the default application shared folder. The shared folder facility will next be extended for image and document shares.
Acquistion to Accession: For the living collections module, the term 'Acquisition' as used to represent living collection accessions has been renamed back to Accession. The Accession table includes the field Accession #.
Name selector: Forenames have been added to the name selector list to help with selections.
Living plant events: Improved default field order in the living collection events grid, moving the event categories to the front.
Living collection source plant: Addition of Living Collection Source (as available in collection events grid) to the specimens grid view and also the collection event form.
RDE for plant events/requests: A new RDE and RDE import option has been added to process plant event/request RDE files generated from the plants table and as used by the BRAHMS mobile App. Further read-only fields added to the plant event RDE include IUCN and Seed AccessionNumber.

Bug Fixes

All Find/Selector dialogues now respect the use of Enter to initiate search. Some forms were closing on Enter.
Fixes an issue in Labels table with lookup for label report tempate when stored in user defined shared folder.
Fixes various transaction related issues: Unable to enter/edit a transaction number when auto-calculate transaction was disabled in options; the option to list preserved specimens items in a transaction was incorrectly listing plants; unlinking a transaction item did not always refresh items listed in grid; the exception error 'null object reference' caught when closing transaction form.
Fixes an issue with display of Associated Collections (Plants) which was linked to the use of multiple site gardens.
Removes redundant foreign key relationships to species and botanic garden localities from livingcollection events.
Fixes author namestring creation/matching for cases where 3 authors or more were joined incorrectly using an ampersand (A & B & C => A, B & C) - also applied to Basionym authors if more than 2 were present.
Grid now refreshes after random tagging.
Fixes an issue when generating label requests for all tagged plant records.

Release 8.0.6 (17^th March 2021)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v 8.0.6.13029

Added Features

Support videos: a series of short BRAHMS training videos is gradually building up on brahms/software/v8videos.
Database creation: the process to create new, personal SQLite databases from the Data Connections Manager has been streamlined and provides more feedback.
Plant RDE for garden inventory: A function to create an RDE file for tagged plants (or plants from tagged garden locations) has been added. The RDE file, designed for general garden inventory work, can be used with the BRAHMS mobile app. When creating the RDE, you can optionally include existing plant event/request records (all events/requests or for a selected date range).
Lookup and find options: system-wide improvements and standardization of all lookup window ‘Find’ options. These now require a press to excute and have associated help text explaining the search terms that can be used. The Find search box options often provide some smart searching options where multiple terms can be entered. The grid filter row can also be used for searches. Additionally, the Address lookup now offers a search on institute name and/or surname along with museum or organisation code. And the application of person/name strings has made more consistent when using people lookups, with names always pulled from the assembled names strings table. The Gazetteer lookup has new option when used in major area field to facilitate country and major area selection only.
Multi-value search: a new tool has been added allowing you to provide a list of search values for a given column. The search will tag any found values and report on any values not found or values that caused an error (e.g., a non-numeric value for a numeric column). An example use: copy/paste from another document such as Excel (or type in directly) - a list of barcodes, accession numbers, transaction numbers or garden location codes to the multi-value search tool text area. Run the search to locate and tag these records in the respective table.
Query tool: an option added to re-name a saved query/filter as set in the advanced query tool. Also, you can no longer save a query with the same name.
Grid layout and field defaults: overall improvements to data grid layouts in many tables including field order and default widths. Addition of some further read-only foreign key GUID fields, useful for cross-referencing. Many small improvements, for example, genus name visible by default in collection events. living status visibile in the plant events and plant requests tables, further institution/ donor address fields now visible in the main transaction table including phone, postcode, email and address details.
Edit History: a data record summary field has been added to all tables that use Edit History. This summary is now visible in the main Management > Edit History table - increasing the utility of this table as you can more easily see which record the edits refer to. The same record summary will be used to identify image, document, transaction and literature links.
Image import: the fields FotoNumber, FotoPrefix and FotoSuffix have been added to the Excel Image Import Wizard.
Saving records: improvements to the process used to save records when a form is opened prior to saving data edited in a data grid. Similar improvements made to forms where lookups or sub-forms opened prior to saving form data. Additionally, a system message often issued when adding a new record prior to saving a cell is now suppressed.
System indexing: improvements to system indexing which have clear benefits for certain categories of query and sort. Notable improvements to the main specimens table. Improved speed counting tagged records.
Species form: the main species form "Collection Summary" tab has been extended with separate options to list collection events, preserved specimens, accessions, plants and seed records.
Species recalculations: recalculations for species have been improved to separate Living Alive and Living Other totals, also counting plants with NULL value status.
PBR field added to species: adds a PBR flag to Species to indicate Plant Breeders Rights are in force.
Preserved specimens: updates to the main Collections menu Specimen details option (now renamed to Specimen Manager) to open a fully-fledged specimen/det manager to view and manage related collection event specimens and their dets. Improved options for adding specimens directly to the specimen table using Add.
Plants form: tab rearrangement and change of some data loading methods to make more efficient. The phenology tab now auto-adds the required event group, type and event fields to custom lookups if not present so that new phenology traits can be easily added as event lookup values.
Plant tributes: adjustments to plant tribute fields inclding the addition of Commemorative Tree Number.
Transactions: custom fields can now be added to the main transaction table. Improved ability to link/unlink all plant records to/from a transaction using the ‘Link to Transaction’ option on the Collections toolbar as available when in the Plants table. The plant restriction category is now displayed at the bottom of the form.
RDE import reporting: improved feedback and reporting when importing RDE files.
Garden plant numbering: it is now possible to set up shared or separate auto-calculated accession and plant numbering systems for multi-site botanic gardens. This is managed from the System > Options > Living Collections.
Garden locality field sizes: locality area and type widths increased from 30 -> 100.
Locality codes in RDE for gardens: botanic garden locality codes can be used without a locality name as long as the code/name exists in the main database botanic gardens localities list.
Map editing: map Editor button added to Collection Event Editor Form.

Bug Fixes

The Find/Replace tool now correctly respects case with editing. Find replace also now works in RDE custom fields.
Random tagging (Tag drop-down option) now respects applied filters.
Case is now respected in Summary tool merge operations in RDE and in the main database.
The application main window title is correctly updated when using sign-out and signing into a different database.
In certain system cultures/languages, some form components of BRAHMS were misbehaving due to the different formatting of decimal numbers (comma instead on period). Now fixed to respect local system culture settings.
ArcGIS mapper now operating in RDE – it was knocked out for a while due to a formatting issue.
ArcMAP bug where maps were sometimes redrawn 2 or 3 times has been fixed. Additional feedback is provide during data point loading. Improvements when using the unhighlight function to restore the original symbol rather than always a standard red marker. Fixes transposed display of mouse coordinates over map when using DM or DD.
Fixes bug where the printed label 'request status change' change from 'Pending' to 'Processed' did not respect the selected label size/type parameter and so, incorrectly, changed all label requests that had a matching request category for all sizes/types.
A timer has been added to the Living Accessions Form InitializeComponent to help monitor slow loading of this form - as reported on some networks.
Fixes issue where the Ctrl+N key triggered copying a record rather than the Add Record command.
The Match/Import tool is now disabled if a user has read-only access to the respective data grid. Match Transfer from Excel now requires a user to have Edit permissions. Image Import from Excel also equires a user to have the Add permission.
Fixes a direct label print issue when using in move/split plants.

Release 8.0.5 (9^th January 2021)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v 8.0.5. 12850

Added Features

Filters added via the data grid filter row are now only applied after the Enter/Tab key is pressed or the focus is moved from the filter row cell in use. Previously, filters were auto-applied after typing into the filter cell, potentially applying a filter before filter entry completed.
Data provided to the reporter can now optionally be restricted to visible grid columns, hence lowering memory requirements and allowing the generation of larger reports.
Addition of an 'Additional Report Data' prompt to include/exclude related data for Entity Data reports.
Match/Import transfer from Excel: feedback is now provided for cases where there is a data type mis-match between the Excel file value type and the destination property type (e.g. non-numeric data -> numeric field).
Species property ‘Registered Trademark’ now available to view in the Living Collections grid.
Living Collection Garden Subarea properties (1 – 6) now available to view in the Living Collection Requests and Label Requests grids.
A new, simplified, Production Propagation Form has been added. This form, which can be used on tablet-sized screens, provides provision to add/edit production records; list and edit plant status; show plant events; and edit acquisition level status, for example, if all plants in production die.
Plant and Specimen RDE files now include Collector and Project and Grant (a.k.a. Expedition) Codes – these are imported with collection event data.
Improvements made to the Management->Custom Lookup Value editor for those cases where there were a very large number of values present for a given field (e.g. events).

Bug Fixes

Fixed issue with multi-value selection pop-ups where using the ‘Esc' key to close (cancel) the values list could also close a parent dialogue windows.
Fixes transposition of lat./long. in the Lat./Long. Editor header display when showing decimal degrees and decimal minute values. This only affected display, the data was correct.
Restores ‘Status text’ display to the main window status bar used when displaying notifications of updates/shutdown etc.).
Fixes addition of Collectors Code in RDE and Collection Event Form when a collector is selected.
Fixes relation naming bug when opening reports from Entity table along with improvements to efficiency of related (additional) report data preparation.
Fixed bug where unsaved edits in the main plants form could be lost when performing a stock change/confirmation, changing or confirming the living status or adding a name verification.
Add record and Image Import from Excel were incorrectly enabled for the image records grid. These are now correctly disabled for the image records grid. Image Import from Excel is also now disabled for any grid where image linking has not been enabled.

Release 8.0.4 (10^th December 2020)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v 8.0.4.12793

Added Features

Overall system indexing has been improved by including non-clustered primary key values.
Improvements to the use of <, <=, >, >= filter operators on numeric fields when using the data grid filter row.
The Find/Replace tool can now be used on custom fields.
Improved date entry across the system allowing calendar lookup or entry of separate day month year values, as available. For example, a collection may only have a year.
"Copy cell value" has been added to the grid right-click context menu.
The transaction editor now makes it clear if and when a transaction number is auto-generated.
Improvements to living collection Acquisition and Plant forms and the overall accessioning process. For example, plant restriction status (stored in acquisitions) is now additionally displayed in the plants table and is also colour coded on the plant form.
A new living collections tool has been added to manage taxa name changes with options to update the names of multiple acquisition and plant records, keeping track of the old name.
A new table and a related data grid added to hold all garden label definitions including whether the label can be directly printed or must be requested along with a new user permission controlling the ability to make label requests.
It is now possible to reset the default column view and to save column layouts in RDE files.
ArcGIS and Google Earth mapping is now enabled in RDE tables.
Reorganisation of RDE data analysis and data import with improved feedback and speed.
Additions to RDE for living collections include addition of Associated Species, Threats, Seed Accession number, Collection Strategy Justification, Restriction status, taxa Verification details.
When updating BRAHMS to a new release, the auto-update messaging has been improved. Auto-update is a standard procedure that alters and updates your data store as required by an updated BRAHMS version.
Access to BING Image of the day has been disabled for now. This is because of a potential copyright conflict. We hope to be able to re-introduce once clarified with Bing/Microsoft.

Bug Fixes

Fixes issue of database title remaining unchanged when changing databases under some circumstances.
Fixes issue preventing non-admin users from editing comments (when permitted) - may also have had other consequences for read-only status of non-admin users.
Fixes an error with the Invert Tags tool.
Fixes issue with the saving of the home institute code in System Options. Also the issue where the home institute code was set to null when exiting BRAHMS using the window close button (X) top right rather than System > Exit.
Fixes a Ctrl+F4 copy record problem in some RDE files.
Fixes the Gazetteer Lookup tool in RDE.
A range of further minor issues across the system have been corrected.

Release 8.0.3 (10^th October 2020)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v 8.0.3. 12660

Added Features

System

Changes to start up and sign-out: The main window is displayed before the login window is presented. It is now easier to sign-out, to change data locations, and/or the current user identity.
Navigation controls for background image slideshows (user images/Bing image of the day) are now available in the status bar.
Bing image of the day backgrounds are saved to your pictures folder in a subfolder called BingIOTD along with description/copyright text.
In System Options, the Data Grid options have been reordered. The Column Header sort option now comes first and spacing between the 3 available options has been reduced to aid visibility. The dark grey background has been removed.
A new 'operating mode' has been added to BRAHMS on the System > Options > Entity options tab. This adjusts the data available and visible in various data grids and in particular, on the species, collection event and living accession (acquisition) forms. The available operating modes are 1. Standard mode: this is the default standard BRAHMS operating mode with direct links to species names throughout the system; 2. Entity mode: this hides direct links to species data throughout the system but instead, provides links to Entity names. 3. Mixed Mode: This provides access to both Species and Entity level information. It is possible to override the default operational mode setting for certain users or user roles using an override flag in the user permissions setup. Further details on the use of entities will shortly be added to the manual.

Tagging

The ability to share Tag Groups has been added along with a new permission option to allow/disallow tag group sharing.
A new function to randomly tag a number or percentage of records.
Improved efficiency of Tag Transfer tool.
A visual indicator of tag transfer progress is now shown.

Filtering/Querying

It is now possible to edit a saved filter set and save it with a new name.
A bracket reset button has been added to the Advanced-Filter Tool.
It is now possible to filter directly from 'My Saved Queries' in the Advanced-Filter Tool using the existing 'Apply Filters' button or the new 'Run' button.
New filter row move buttons (top, up, down and bottom) are available in the Advanced-Filter Tool (design mode) to allow re-ordering of filter rows.

Reporting

It is now possible to optionally add Accession (Acquisition) and Wild Origin (Collection Event) data to Living Collection reports.
It is now possible to optionally add Collection Event data and Determination data (for all or current dets only) to Specimen Reports.
Progress is now displayed during the data preparation phase for reports run from any data grids.
Report Data peparation has been adjusted to use property names as column names but also adds column headers as captions. Linked data columns will always uses the column header but with spaces and periods removed for the column name and the column header unaltered as the caption. These changes should help make report design easier.
Data containers are now better managed during Report creation reducing the possibility of memory leaks.

Botanic Garden Management

Garden assignment (in user setup) is now fully respected throughout the Living Collections Module and all associated lookup dialogues (plants, acquisitions and garden locations) and garden related edit functions. A garden specific filter is available which defaults to a user’s assigned garden and optionally allows read-only access to non-assigned garden records.
A determinations (plant identification) grid has been added to the Living Collections Module menu.
An AGM flag was added to Entity data to indicate an "Award of Garden Merit".
An option is provided to set the default setting on the plant name change form when it is opened: All plants; Current Plant Only; Users Last Selection.

Taxonomy

A text field for the Family APG System has been added to the Families grid/form. The Family APG System, Family local reference code and Family Museum/Institute code have been made visible in genus data. These fields plus the Genus Location Reference code, Genus Store Number and Genus Nuseum/Institute code are also available in the Species view.

Bug Fixes

Fixes issue in RDE Living where Garden name was set to be read-only and had an incorrect lookup to garden localities. Adds new toolbar button to autofill empty gardens from a selected record with a non-empty garden name.
Fixes issues with adding a new determination and setting it as 'current'(also adds feedback during updates to Identification records).
Fixes error thrown when deleting propagation data having associated stratification and/or emergence records.
Fixes refresh issues after changing a name in the living accessions grid.
Disallows access to Project Member configuration data when a user is not yet logged in (affected the Main Window and RDE and Map modules).
Fixes issue where newly added garden localities were not visible due to a missing botanic garden identifier
Fixes a bug in display of Taxon Descriptions for species (the data was stored correctly but references appeared to be linked to other records with similar names.)
Fixes bug which failed to corrctly clear tags on request during Tag Transfer operations. When no records were available to tag, the existing tags were not cleared.
Fixes some issues with living collection accession/acquisition and plant identifier rules setup.
Added a missing Genus grid property (Genus Number).

Release 8.0.2 (7^th September 2020)

The following release notes apply to BRAHMS v 8.0.2.12579

Added Features

Editing plant events is now linked to permissions. Database admin can restrict which events a user may edit, optionally allowing editing of event notes where general editing is not permitted.
Direct printing of certain label types is now available from the plant label requests forms. Direct printing does not register label requests in the Label Requests table.
Plant Habit field to add to the Add Plant form.
The Add Plants Form now includes Plant Acquisition received as and quantity fields.
Determination details are now available in main grid of specimen RDE files allowing direct entry, or match transfer import of primary determination information for the specimen.
Added ability to create new author/collector (etc.) name combinations directly in the assembled name strings grid.
An RDE for common names has been added.
The RDE species lookup copy to rank option now always defaults to ‘All Ranks’.
Adjustments to the Active Directory User addition. It is now possible to load and select, or type, the short domain name prefix to be added to a user’s SAM Account Username to match what is used when a user logs in.
A new tool added to the Families grid to add an Indet. Species record for all families to represent any name only identified to the family level.
The Find and Replace tool now respects Data Grid filters and also adds an edit history record for all changes.
A new Entity selection tool added. This allows selection of the correct entity using any of its linked species and/or common names. It does not currently work for hybrid formula names.
Additional views for production propagation and trial propagation via a filter mechanism for the propagation records table are now available.
All plants derived from an acquisition being propagated are now displayed on the propagation form Plants Tab. Plants added from a propagation (i.e. have a propagation number) are displayed in bold.
A right-click context menu has been added to all data grid views providing quick access to commonly-used Grid Data menu options.
Feedback on export tagged records progress is now given.
Ability to restrict Custom field addition now available in user permissions.
Ability to restrict Find/Replace tool use now available in user permissions.
RDE Autofill of a default acquisition number for new Acquisitions is now available in the Plant RDE file.
Addition of a new tab to the Plants form displaying Zoom records and ‘Go to Record' buttons for the related Acquisition, Collection Event (wild origin) and species.

Bug Fixes

SQLite Acquisitions summary recalculation caused an error.
Occasional edit mode error when a new record is being added.
RDE first record added did not correctly use lookups unless file was closed and re-opened.
“Supplied as” registered as an Acquisitions lookup did not work in RDE files.
When grid row filters were used in combination with other filters (e.g. summary tool and quick filters), the filters remained applied but the row filter text was lost.
Specimen grid view was reported as slow to respond.
Web Connect image uploads would cause an error if the file existed already.
Using System > Manage Database Projects > Edit was not saving edited Project titles/Descriptions.
When creating a new SQLite database, the new name was not correctly stored in the connection string.
Using the Edit Lookup values tool from the edit menu in RDE caused system freezes.
Filtering on some dynamically calculated fields in some grids caused an error.
The species tool to tag synonyms of tagged records caused an error.
On the species form, it was not possible to add a space to range notes text.
In RDE files (specimens), the species lookup option ‘Go to Accepted’ was not working.
RDE manager ‘Update all’ caused an error.
Fixes to specimen RDE Type-species re-import caused by 'IsNewType' flags not being reset prior to analysis.
Fix bug in Move Plants form where saving the record caused a conflict due to altered Last Modified On/By data.
Fixed issue with linking dets to specimens via the specimen grid link dets function.
Fixed bug in RDE Description during total records count causing an error when no data-source was present.
Fixed bug when checking for a restricted Living Collection Event and no restrictions existed.
Removed incorrect read-only restriction from “Received As Taxon” in the Living Accessions grid.
Fixed bug in RDE import of living collections where the generated Plant ID did not respect the current plant id configuration rules for the destination database.

Minor Release v8.6.3 (15th May 2024)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Minor Release v8.6.2 (8th March 2024)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Minor Release v8.6.1 (14th February 2024)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release v8.6.0 (31st January 2024)

Added Features

System/Data Tools

Species/Taxonomy

Collection Events/Specimens

Botanic Gardens

Rapid Data Entry (RDE)

Entity related

Map Editor

Reporting/Exports

Images

Bug Fixes

Release v8.5.2 (11th September 2023)

Added Features

Data Tools

Botanic Gardens

Collection Events/Specimens

Taxonomy

System

Bug Fixes

Release v8.5.2 (22nd August 2023)

Added Features

Seed Module

Mapping

Data Tools

Botanic Gardens

Collection Events

Preserved Specimens

Taxonomy

System

Bug Fixes

Release v8.5.1 (6th June 2023)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release v8.5.0 (12th February 2023)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release v8.4.0 (07th December 2022)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release v8.3.2 (17th November 2022)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release v8.3.0 (09th November 2022)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release v8.2.0 (30th July 2022)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release 8.1.1 (16th June 2022)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release 8.1.0 (1st June 2022)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release 8.0.10 (02nd December 2021)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release 8.0.9 (31st October 2021)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release 8.0.8 (14th June 2021)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release 8.0.7 (31st March 2021)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release 8.0.6 (17th March 2021)

Added Features

Bug Fixes

Release 8.0.5 (9th January 2021)

Minor Release v8.6.3 (15^th May 2024)

Minor Release v8.6.2 (8^th March 2024)

Minor Release v8.6.1 (14^th February 2024)

Release v8.6.0 (31^st January 2024)

Release v8.5.2 (11^th September 2023)

Release v8.5.2 (22^nd August 2023)

Release v8.5.1 (6^th June 2023)

Release v8.5.0 (12^th February 2023)

Release v8.4.0 (07^th December 2022)

Release v8.3.2 (17^th November 2022)

Release v8.3.0 (09^th November 2022)

Release v8.2.0 (30^th July 2022)

Release 8.1.1 (16^th June 2022)

Release 8.1.0 (1^st June 2022)

Release 8.0.10 (02^nd December 2021)

Release 8.0.9 (31^st October 2021)

Release 8.0.8 (14^th June 2021)

Release 8.0.7 (31^st March 2021)

Release 8.0.6 (17^th March 2021)

Release 8.0.5 (9^th January 2021)

Release 8.0.4 (10^th December 2020)

Release 8.0.3 (10^th October 2020)

Release 8.0.2 (7^th September 2020)