Babase 4.0 was released on December 18, 2019. In this update, several changes and additions were made to support tracking an individual's group-of-residency. Better support for group fusions was also added.
The following changes make Babase 4.0 incompatible with prior releases:
The GROUPS.Study_Grp column was changed from a boolean to a date. (This change is likewise made in the GROUPS_HISTORY view.)
GROUPS (and GROUPS_HISTORY) has a new To_group column, used to indicate when a group fuses with one or more other groups to make a new group. The new "fusion product" groups are no longer allowed to have a From_group value.
The GROUPS.Supergroup column no longer exists.
The supergroup() function no longer exists.
There is a new MEMBERS.Supergroup column. To better handle group fusions, "supergroup-ness" is now a property of an individual on a date.
On July 13, 2020, several tables and views were added to allow the recording of inventory data. This includes the following:
The TISSUE_DATA table and TISSUES view, for recording data about tissue samples in the inventory.
The NUCACID_DATA table and NUCACIDS view, for recording data about nucleic acid samples in the inventory.
The NUCACID_CONC_DATA table and the NUCACIDS_W_CONC and NUCACID_CONCS views, for recording data about the concentration of nucleic acid samples.
The UNIQUE_INDIVS and POPULATIONS tables, to record the identities of all the possible individuals whose tissue and/or nucleic acid samples appears in the inventory. These tables facilitate the inclusion of individuals from other populations, in addition to the population already recorded in BIOGRAPH.
Several new support tables for validating columns in the above tables.
On September 11, 2020 the TISSUE_TYPES.Tissue_Type and TISSUE_DATA.Tissue_Type columns were changed from an integer to text. This change made the Tissue_Descr column in the TISSUES, NUCACIDS, and NUCACIDS_W_CONC views no longer necessary, so it was removed from all three of those views.
On December 2, 2020 the NUCACID_TYPES.NucAcid_Type and NUCACID_DATA.NucAcid_Type columns were changed from an integer to text. This change made the NucAcid_Descr column in the NUCACIDS and NUCACIDS_W_CONC views no longer necessary, so it was removed from them.
On December 8, 2020 the Exact_Date column was added to INTERACT_DATA and related views. This addition made the special requirement that groomings before 2006-07-01 be recorded with the first day of the month redundant, so this special case was removed.
On September 24, 2021 the WSTATIONS table was updated with the addition of the XYLoc and Loc_Source columns.
On October 26, 2021, several tables and views were added to allow the recording of hormone data. A new function was also created. These additions include the following:
The HORMONE_SAMPLE_DATA table and HORMONE_SAMPLES view, for recording hormone-related data about tissue samples used for hormone analysis.
The HORMONE_PREP_DATA table and HORMONE_PREPS views, for recording the laboratory procedures performed in preparation for a hormone assay.
The HORMONE_RESULT_DATA table and HORMONE_RESULTS views, for recording the raw result of each hormone assay performed on a sample.
The HORMONE_PREP_SERIES table, which facilitates the "many-to-many" relationship between HORMONE_PREP_DATA and HORMONE_RESULT_DATA.
The HORMONE_KITS table, which indicates how the raw values from different hormone assays should be corrected and standardized.
The ESTROGENS, GLUCOCORTICOIDS, PROGESTERONES, TESTOSTERONES, and THYROID_HORMONES views, which show all the assay results for a specific hormone with all of the relevant data about the tissue sample and laboratory procedures performed in preparation for the assay.
The corrected_hormone() function, which uses corrections like those recorded in HORMONE_KITS to calculate the "corrected" concentration of a hormone.
The TISSUES_HORMONES view, for the simultaneous addition of new tissue samples to both TISSUE_DATA and HORMONE_SAMPLE_DATA.
On January 19, 2022, the TEMPMAXS.Unadjusted_Tempmax column was added. To allow the possibility for "adjusted" values in the Tempmax column, constraints requiring it and Tempmin to be multiples of 0.5 were removed.