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BG-BASE News

Note: the following text has been taken directly from the Winter/Spring 1995 issue of BG-BASE News (yellow). No attempt has been made to reformat it for use on the web.

BG-BASE News Volume 3, Numbers 1-2

Introduction

While work began on BG-BASE over ten years ago, it was on March 1, 1993, that BG-BASE, Incorporated was established and that for the first time ever, a formal business relationship was established between the authors and a host institution -- in this case, The Holden Arboretum.

Prior to this, BG-BASE had been developed as a peripheral activity of the organization we happened to be working for at the time. While significant accomplishments were realized during those early years (and we are of course grateful to those institutions for their support), there were always questions raised -- by us as well as by the user community -- as to just where BG-BASE was going. What were our goals?

Several of you will recall that this issue was discussed with great animation at annual AABGA meetings in 1991 and 1992. And while BG-BASE is stronger now than it has ever been, after 10+ years of development we're still not exactly sure where BG-BASE is leading us! We can, however, point to some significant accomplishments over the past two years that we are particularly proud of:

• Version 4.0 of BG-BASE, using Advanced Revelation, was released in November of 1993.

• The number of BG-BASE users have increased from 40 to 60. (A complete user list can be found as an insert to this issue.)

• 20 gardens have upgraded from older versions of BG-BASE to version 4.0 or higher.

• Several newsletters have been published. (O.K., we're a bit behind on these!)

While much of the last two years have been spent "catching up", we are increasingly turning our attention to features that have been the topic of many enthusiastic discussions in the past. Implementing a bar coding system, facilitating data collection in the field, designing a public interface module, and holding advanced training seminars are all suggestions that will further solidify BG-BASE as the software of choice in the garden community.

Quite simply, that is our goal.

We want BG-BASE to be the best software available for documenting collections. The sole purpose of BG-BASE, Inc. is to advance this goal. We have no other business or peripheral interests. This is not a hobby for us. And having spent the majority of our careers working in public gardens, we think we are uniquely qualified to carry this vision through.

With this commitment comes certain realities. First and foremost comes the reality that BG-BASE must continue towards becoming a commercially viable entity. To that end, you will likely see advertisements for BG-BASE in AABGA's The Public Garden and other trade journals in the upcoming months. A long-awaited demonstration disk will be completed. Our mailing list will also be greatly expanded.

Ultimately, however, we realize there is no substitute for satisfied users. Users are our biggest asset, and no amount of advertising can have the same effect as someone saying they are pleased with the software. Accordingly, we do not take your input lightly. If you are using BG-BASE and have an idea on how we can improve it -- tell us! If you are considering using BG-BASE for the first time, we encourage you to contact any of our existing users to find out how they like the software.

While we are always looking for ways to improve the system, we believe current users will give BG-BASE a pretty good grade as it stands.

Kerry S. Walter & Michael J. O'Neal

Recent Installations

• Desert Botanical Garden (December 1994) Located in Phoenix, Arizona, this 140 acre garden was founded in 1939. In the early 1980's the garden reached an agreement with nearby Arizona State University to maintain the garden's plant records on one of the university mainframes. While this proved to be successful early on, the proliferation of low-cost PC's (and steep monthly maintenance payments to the university) caused the garden to re-think this strategy. Accordingly, all mainframe records (65,000+) were converted into ASCII format and loaded into BG-BASE. The garden also installed a small Novell Local Area Network (LAN) to facilitate access of the records outside of the plant records office.

• Brookside Gardens (January 1995) Located in Wheaton, Maryland this display garden is part of a 400+ park system administered by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC). The garden stored its records on a M-NCPPC mainframe computer from 1979 until switching to BG-BASE earlier this year. Several smaller Quattro Pro spreadsheets were merged into BG-BASE as well. This was one of the more difficult data conversions we have ever performed, requiring substantial interaction between BG-BASE Inc., Brookside Gardens and M-NCPPC staff over a period of several months. Staff from Brookside Gardens traveled to The Holden Arboretum for training -- and were also able to squeeze in a bit of cross-country skiing on the Arboretum's trails. (after-hours, of course!)

• Brooklyn Botanical Garden (March 1995) Located in Brooklyn, New York, and founded in 1910, this esteemed institution was sold on the merits of Advanced Revelation (AREV) years ago. In the mid-1980's the garden developed their own plant records system internally using Revelation version G2, which was then later upgraded to AREV version 2.0. In fact, the design of BBG's system closely resembled the earlier file structure for BG-BASE. This significantly streamlined the process of converting the garden's data, while even preserving some of the previously written programming code specific to BBG.

• Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (April 1995) Nestled at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, this Claremont, California garden 45 miles northeast of Los Angeles places a heavy emphasis on research and conservation. Here, records were converted from an existing in-house dBASE III system that, from a technical standpoint, the garden was no longer interested in maintaining. Garden staff also electronically scanned into ASCII format original collection data from accession books dating back to the 1930's. After additional manual editing, this data was also incorporated into BG-BASE. The garden is now considering options for the installation of a Local Area Network.

• Olbrich Botanical Gardens (June 1995) Installation of BG-BASE at this 15 acre botanical garden in Madison, Wisconsin, marks a milestone. For the first time ever, BG-BASE has been installed on a Macintosh computer. With full assurances from a local consultant that a Mac could indeed run Advanced Revelation, the garden purchased a PowerMac 6100/66 outfitted with a special Dos Compatibility Card. We are pleased to report that BG-BASE and the Macintosh are co-existing quite well! While the garden had several hundred records stored in a separate database, these plants had never been assigned accession numbers. The decision was therefore made to reenter these into BG-BASE, accessioning the plants as they were input.

Recent Upgrades

The following gardens have recently upgraded to version 4.1 of BG-BASE.

• Garden in the Woods (New England Wldfl. Soc.)
• Salisbury State University
• North Carolina Zoo

Technical Tip

Query Window - BG-BASE version 4.0+

Query is initiated while on the first prompt of any entry window by entering the backslash key (\) then by pressing [Enter]. Once Query is initiated, the prompt will change in appearance and the words "Query Window" will appear at the top of the screen. You can then move to any prompt in the window and enter the data to be searched for.

When might you need to use this feature while in BG-BASE? Say for example that you need to change the telephone area code for all of your plant sources from Wisconsin. In the first prompt in the PSOURCES.ENTRY window, press the backslash key (\), then press [Enter] until your cursor is at the STATE field. (You could also click on STATE using your mouse). Type WI then press [F9]. If any of your plant sources are located in Wisconsin, a browse list will be created and the first record from that browse list will be loaded into the window.

At this point you could change the area code, then press [F9] to save the change. The next record is then read into the window, after which you would repeat the process. You could also scroll back and forth between records by pressing [Alt-F] (move forward one record) or [Alt-B] (move backward one record). The left-hand corner of the status line at the bottom of the screen will tell you which record you are currently viewing as well as how many total records have been loaded into the browse list. To exit the browse list, press [Esc].

When performing your initial search, Query assumes that any data you enter must "equal" the data as stored in the field. To specify an operator other than equal, you may enter the operator in front of the search data. Some commonly used operators might be:

For example, initiate Query and enter [nursery] at the INSTITUTION prompt. This will locate all plant sources that have the word "nursery" somewhere in the title.

Query also supports selection criteria entered at more than one prompt in the window. With Query active, type WI in the STATE prompt and Madison in the CITY prompt. The system will only return records that match both criteria. If you wish to have the system return records that match either criteria, place a semicolon (;) as the first character in that prompt, such as ;Madison.

You can also enter more than one value in a prompt by separating the search values with a semicolon (;) or an ampersand (&). Separating the values with ; (semicolon) will cause the values to be linked with a logical OR in the search. Separating the values at a prompt with & (ampersand) will cause those values to be combined with a logical AND. To find plant sources in either Madison or Milwaukee, at the CITY prompt enter Madison;Milwaukee.

In addition to creating selection criteria, Query can include specifications for sorting. To indicate that a prompt is to be used in sorting, use the keyword BY. This BY phrase can be included anywhere in the data entered for a prompt, or can be placed in a prompt that you are not using in your search example. If you wanted your plant sources from Madison and Milwaukee returned to you in alphabetical order based on the name of the institution, enter BY at the SORT.NAME prompt. If you wish to sort by multiple criteria, all BY keywords should be followed immediately by a number for the sort priority. Thus, to indicate that a prompt is to be the primary sort prompt, the phrase should read BY1. Indicate additional sort levels by including the phrases BY2, BY3, etc. at different prompts.

Query also remembers the last query you constructed and executed. You can recall this last query if it was created in the same window, and if you have not logged off or changed accounts since you created it. To recall the entire last query (except for changes you made in the Query Select window), press [Alt-C]. Query will display all the selection and sort criteria you last used.

All of these previous actions are building a TCL SELECT command "behind the scenes". Press [Shift-F1] while in Query to display the Query Select window, which contains the SELECT command that Query has constructed. You can then edit the command that the system has already built for you. To save any changes you make, press [F9]. This will both save the changes as well as execute the query.

Because you are not truly entering records when in Query, some prompt specifications and window processes for the window are not active. The following changes are made to prompts and other processes in a window in Query:

• Multivalued and text prompts are treated as single-valued, one-line prompts.
• Output patterns and output masks are ignored.
• Pattern matches are disabled.
• Individual detail help messages or processes are replaced with global Query help.
• Window-specific softkeys are replaced with softkeys for the Query process.

Also, unlike a regular data entry window, Query allows you to access "symbolic" prompts (also commonly referred to as calculated prompts) as well as "normal" prompts. As you press [Enter] while in Query mode, you will know you have reached a symbolic prompt when the appearance of the field changes and your cursor is placed at the bottom of the window. If you need more space to enter selection criteria, use the [F3] key to display the prompt in a separate, larger window. This gives you more room to enter information. After you have entered the selection criteria, press [F9] to save your changes. You will then be returned to the Query window.

Query can be a powerful addition to your BG-BASE tool box if you need to update a group of records.

Technical Tip

Optimizing Files - BG-BASE versions 1.0-3.5

Periodically your Revelation files might need to be optimized to insure maximum performance. The TCL command RECREATE-FILE can be used to accomplish this. Prior to using RECREATE-FILE, you need to know three things about the file you wish to optimize:

1) How many records are in the file you are optimizing? This can be answered with the TCL command:

2) What is the average size of each record? This can be determined with the TCL command:

3) How many dictionaries are in the file you are optimizing? To determine this number, use the TCL command:

then multiply this number by two.

Armed with these three pieces of information, you can then issue the RECREATE-FILE command as follows:

For example, if your ACCESSIONS file had 9000 records, the average size of each record was 400 bytes, and there were 150 dictionary entries for the file, the command to optimize the file would be:

Caution: You should ALWAYS make sure you have a good backup of your system before using RECREATE-FILE. Also, if you are on a Local Area Network, contact your primary support office for additional information prior to using this command.

The RECREATE-FILE command can breathe new life into your BG-BASE application.

User Profile

When one thinks of botanical gardens and arboreta, the name PepsiCo does not immediately jump to mind. PepsiCo, Inc. is among the largest and most successful companies in the world, with products and services marketed in more than 160 countries worldwide. Major product brands include the familiar names of Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. Yet visitors to the company's world headquarters in Purchase, New York are treated to the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens.

Spread across 168 acres of carefully managed landscape, the sculpture collection was begun in 1965 by the former chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo, Donald M. Kendall. In conceiving the collection, Kendall imagined an atmosphere of stability, creativity, and experimentation that would reflect his vision of the company. The collection now contains more than 40 works by major twentieth century artists. In 1980, internationally famous garden designer Russell Page extended the existing gardens in order to more closely associate the sculpture to the landscape. This work was continued by designer Francois Goffinet upon Page's death in 1985.

As the gardens expanded it became evident that more thorough documentation was desirable in order to track planting activities, maintain accurate and up-to-date inventories, and to assist in labeling the collection. After much internal discussion between PepsiCo's horticultural and information systems staff, it was determined to be more cost-effective to use BG-BASE -- a ready made solution -- instead of having the information systems staff write an application internally to manage the data. Accordingly, in November of 1990 PepsiCo obtained BG-BASE.

Initial data entry was carried out by PepsiCo horticultural and clerical staff from existing hard-copy inventories and maps. Once the records were up to speed, management of the data was turned over to a local company that is largely responsible for maintenance of the gardens. Documentation of the collections has now become a specific part of the maintenance contract. However, all records are maintained on-site, readily accessible by PepsiCo staff.

Last year PepsiCo also obtained BG-Map, the mapping software developed by Glicksman Associates that works in tandem with BG-BASE. This BG-BASE - BG-Map combination assures that PepsiCo has the tools necessary to accurately track and map their plant collections.

(For additional information about the Donald M Kendall sculpture gardens, contact Peter Atkins at PepsiCo World Headquarters, 700 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY, 10577. For additional information about BG-Map, contact Mark Glicksman, Glicksman Associates, 1601 Church Road, Glenside, PA, 19038-4420.)

Paine to leave The Holden Arboretum

C.W. Eliot Paine, Director of The Holden Arboretum the last 12 years, announced his resignation effective July 31st. Under his guidance, the arboretum has grown into an institution with full research facilities, educational programs, and 54-member staff. When asked to comment on the arboretum's role in hosting BG-BASE, Eliot stated:

"I am very pleased that The Holden Arboretum was able to step forward to provide a stable home for BG-BASE when it was most needed. It continues to be a satisfying and mutually beneficial relationship."

Refusing to call his announcement a "retirement", Eliot will continue to live in Ohio and plans to become more involved with land and native plant conservation. Please join us in wishing him continued enjoyment and success in all future endeavors!

BG-BASE User's Meeting ---- Sun., 23 July, 12:15 pm; AABGA, Montreal

The fifth annual BG-BASE user's meeting will be held in Montreal, Canada on Sunday, July 23rd, from 12:15-2:00 pm, in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta (AABGA). All interested parties are welcome to attend. To register for the AABGA annual meeting (which includes the BG-BASE user's meeting), contact AABGA, 786 Church Road, Wayne, PA, 19087. See you there!

Thanks to all of you that have recently renewed your technical support contracts. Technical support is available only to gardens holding current contracts. For additional information, contact your primary support person.

Notes...

The U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, DC currently has a position open as Plant Recorder. Contact Holly Shimizu at (202) 226-4082 for more information.

And finally, if your U.S. technical support person has seemed a bit tired as of late, this can be attributed to the arrival of Mike and Brenda's first child, Elizabeth Jenna O'Neal, born February 5th.