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Understanding Ideas Genie
principles.
Document Reference UIG/CPClassifs
Issue Date 9th Aug 2002
How are they used by
Ideas Genie?
How are they defined within
Ideas Genie?
Summary of the rules for creating
Culture/Property Classifications.
Plant Culture/Property Classifications in
Ideas Genie are sets of definitions used to classify a) what a plant requires
to make it succeed in cultivation or b) The Properties of a plant or c) the
problematical aspects of a plant.
Some examples:-
a) Cultural requirements:- sunlight, soil,
pH etc.
b) Plant Properties:- Height Bands, Colour
Bands, Flowering time etc.
c) Problematical aspects:– Pests, Diseases
Ideas Genie is
issued with a number of these classifications already defined (including the
above). Ideas Genie gives you the facility to add, change or remove these
classifications if they are not to your liking, or if you have additional
requirements, or if you wish to convert these to a different language.
Think of these classifications as the
criteria you would use to extract (query) a list of plants from a database.
Listings of plants fitting selected classifications (queries) are particularly
useful to the likes of Landscaper Gardeners, Nurseries and Garden Centres.
Good gardening books will have a paragraph
on Cultivation for each plant. Brief Cultivation data will also be found on
Plant Labels. Good horticultural internet sites will have articles on Plant
Culture. Ideas Genie has data areas allocated for you to enter this
information.
So why do you need Plant Culture/Property
Classifications?
They are needed to provide a means of
logically entering the Cultivation data. They are the computer equivalent of
nice little boxes, with names, provided for you to put things in. In addition
to having "blobs" of random information, you have a device to allow
you to put relevant bits of the blob into matching boxes.
OK, so now the computer is happy with the
logic of Plant Culture/Property Classifications. Why then do you need Data
Areas for storing the "blobs" of information?
To support your decisions on how you
allocated the data to the "boxes"!
Ideas Genie allows you to cross reference each source of information.
The data blob you create may originate from a number of sources. You can create
a reference to each individual source within the "blob" and easily
trace back to the source using a unique Ideas Genie feature. (More on all of
that in another section)
To expand the analogy:-
Plant Culture/Property Classifications are
the names for the boxes.
You use program Files > Plant
Culture/Property Classifications-GA003 to create the names for the boxes, oops…
Classifications!
You create the "blobs" using the
Plant Data Entry programs (Programs > GA004 and Programs > GA022) and in
the same programs, decipher the data and use the Global Editing features to
"put the data into the named boxes"
Plant Culture/Property Classifications are
used when you extract a list of plants from your database. (Query Program –
GA006)
A single classification, or a combination of
these classifications, can be used to generate a query. For example, a
Landscape Gardener may wish to extract a list of plants which conform to these
statements. The Client may have specified that they do not want invasive plants
or plants which need to be staked.
Sunlight:- Suitable for Full Sun
OR
Sunlight:- Suitable for Semi Shade
AND
Height Band:- Suitable for Front of Border
BUT NOT (read the following lines as
"plants which have…..")
Characteristics:- Categorise as Invasive
Characteristics:- Categorise as Need Staking
This data extraction is known as a query.
Each line of the query is termed a Query Statement. Note how each statement
makes a (fairly?) intelligible sentence.
Note:- The Query program (additionally)
allows you to select from a list of Plant Types to limit the query output. e.g.
Shrubs, Perennials etc.
See Ideas Genie Programs:-
Files > Query Program – GA006
How are
they defined within Ideas Genie?
Culture/Property Classifications are defined
using Files > Plant Culture/Property Classifications – GA003.
The object is to make up query statements
which can be read as "intelligible sentences" as mentioned above.
Each statement is made up of three elements.
The Classification, The Grade and the (Grade) Qualifier.
Grades are sub components of
Classifications. You can have any number of Grades structured into a
Classification..
Qualifiers? Well… they qualify or sub divide
the Grades. Again, you can any number of Qualifiers per Grade, but you want to
keep these to an absolute minimum.
Examples of statement structure.
Sunlight grades are probably the most
diverse parameter discussed in documentation and can make it difficult to make
comparisons when you use a number of books for reference, so we will use that
Classification as an example.
Example 1
Sunlight:- Suitable for Full Sun
“Sunlight” is the Classification.
“Full sun” is a grade of “Sunlight”
“Suitable for” is the most common Qualifier
for the Grade “Full Sun”
Other grades might be Semi-Shade, Deep
Shade, Dappled shade etc. There is no hard and fast rules here. You might find
the Grade “Semi-shade” used in one book and the term ‘Half shade used in
another. They are of course, exactly the same.
Tip:- You can edit the record in Ideas Genie
to your own personal preference.
Example 2 An
example of using another Grade within “Sunlight" could read:-
Sunlight:- Suitable for Deep Shade
“Sunlight” is the Classification.
“Deep Shade” is a grade of “Sunlight”
“Suitable for” is a Qualifier for the Grade
“Deep Shade”
Tip:- Reuse Qualifier names where possible.
In this case we have reused “Suitable for”. In fact we have used it
extensively.
Example 3 You
can have negative qualifiers. Here's an example:-
Aspect:- Un-Suitable for East Facing
“Aspect” is the Classification.
“East Facing” is a grade of “Aspect”
“Un-Suitable for” is a (negative) Qualifier
for the Grade “East Facing”
Tips on defining Plant Culture/Property
Classifications
Create Classifications, Grades and
Qualifiers to suit the data you extract from your reference sources.
Typical advice in books may read:-
“…..this plant is suitable for Full sun” or
“this plant does best in Full sun” or
“prefers full sun”
Where possible, keep Qualifiers to one per
Grade. We recommend one qualifier to cover all three descriptions above as
these are used purely for Query purposes, i.e. the trusty "Suitable
for". You can put the exact wording in the "blob" (see above).
Adhering to these tips will lead to:
Data Input:- Fewer definitions of data (less
input)
Output:- Fewer "Query" statements
to yield a list of plants.
Exchanging Databases: Simplified swapping of
Data with other Ideas Genie users.
We (ideasforgardens.com) have defined a
range of Plant Culture/Property Classifications relevant to our database which
will serve as an initial standard.
We realize that other users will have more
exacting requirements.
Please help us to maintain our standard for
Plant Culture/Property Classifications by communicating your extensions to the
range.
Here's a few advantages:-
As you know, members of the Ideas Genie
community can exchange databases. If members adhere to the Standards then
copying a Plant from a donor database (exchanged on CD) onto another members
computer will not create additional Classifications on the target computer.
Summary of the
rules for creating Plant Culture/Property Classifications.
If you MUST create additional
classifications:-
Keep Classifications to an absolute minimum.
Keep the number of Grades per Classification
to an absolute minimum.
Keep the number of Qualifiers per Grade to
ONE where possible.
Make Qualifiers "positive" where
possible.
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