[Babase] biograph update_statdate and dcause questions

kfenn kfenn at princeton.edu
Wed Jan 2 13:55:17 EST 2008


Hi again Karl,

I finally got a single baboon uploaded into babase_test, biograph.  
There are two checks in place that are new and are causing me some problems:
1)  statdate cannot be null. 
I can't  upload the census until  I make an individual exist in 
biograph.   I can't upload a new individual to biograph unless I supply 
a statdate.  I have no (real) statdate until the census is uploaded.  (I 
put a fake statdate in to get the baboon above loaded.) I know you made 
the following suggestion for manual inputs:

When manually putting in a new biograph row when you don't have
a statdate, it's easiest to set the statdate to the birthdate
and then let the system track it automatically.  That's for
when individuals are alive.  If you want to put in a dead
individual you may as well just put the statdate in in the first
place.

So I have to do the same when using the upload program?  I don't love 
the idea of having to check every new individual to make sure their 
statdate gets updated properly after census gets loaded, but I will if 
this is the only way to get around things.

2)  Why is the dcause for any status 0 (alive) individual now required 
to be 0?  Why aren't null dcauses allowed?  The 0 dcause value also 
isn't explained in the documentation...allowable dcause values are 1-8 
in the documentation right now.   Should this be corrected or can we 
allow null dcauses when status = 0, OR is the 0 an artifact of the 
conversion that you never intended to be an allowable value for the table?

I'm sure this is just the tip of the iceberg and I'll be bothering you 
all week.  Sorry!

Tabby

-- 
Tabby Fenn
Research Assistant

Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
401 Guyot Hall
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ  08544

609 258-6898 (Ph)
609 258-2712 (Fx)



More information about the Babase mailing list