[Babase] Re: OCH in cycgaps

Karl O. Pinc kop at meme.com
Wed Nov 12 11:29:37 EST 2008


On 11/12/2008 09:30:49 AM, kfenn wrote:
> I can't guarantee this is the complete answer because I haven't  
> worked on this recently
> 
> Lacey Maryott wrote:
>> Hey Tabby,
>> 
>>    Susan just brought to my attention that OCH has an entry in  
>> cycgaps for 1989 but her birthdate isn't until 1990.  Is there any  
>> way to trace what happened?

You could try searching the email logs.

> The gap exists in real cycgaps which is a table that Karl is  
> responsible for generating...I have only made some sporatic additions  
> to correct errors.  I don't know all the details of why it is there,  
> but it follows a pattern with all adult females at that time.  All  
> seem to have gap entries on 1989-12-31 with code 'E'.  This indicates  
> observation ended (the default condition of gaps is for the female to  
> be under observation).  It's probably a manipulation Karl had to do  
> in order to upload for the conversion.  The  consistency and quality  
> of the data improved around that time, or maybe the records up to  
> that point were proofed and cycles and gaps had been reconciled...?   
> I'm not totally sure of the reasoning, but its probably in the

During the conversion I put in gaps after asking Jeanne
what to do about various problems.  Jeanne responded with
what gaps to put in for what times on a per-group basis.
The thought was that we could make refinements later
if needed.  I may not have paid attention
to birthdate, or it's possible there may be something else going
on.  I'd bet I did not adjust the "endpoint" of the gap if the
birthdate fell within the gap.

Regardless, this can be cleaned up so that it looks tidy, or not.
On the not side, it does not matter.  In fact it might be useful
to leave as is if we want to go back and take a closer look at
exact start and end dates for the gaps on an individual (or
otherwise) basis. All the gap start and end dates
that might need refinement can be easily found if they're
the same for all individuals in the group.

Karl <kop at meme.com>
Free Software:  "You don't pay back, you pay forward."
                  -- Robert A. Heinlein



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