pcplantdb

["John Howe" <warlock@arashi.com>]

> John Howe wrote:
>> I have been lurking here for a while now and have been playing around
>> with
>> the pfaf mysql db on Linux.
>
> Cool. Hows it going?

Been playing around with the schema a bit. Looking at optimizations.

> Also worth having a look at http://www.itis.usda.gov/
> and the many databases listed on
>       http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/Links_4.html
>
> In general I think we (Ken) favors the www.ipni.org for
> authorative plant names.

I will check those out.

>> I am curious about how many schema revisions the pfaf has been through
>> and if there is any thought to running it past a couple of normalization
>> runs?
>
> Schema? Normilisation? Whats those? ;-)
>
> No we have not really examined such matters. The database
> has basically been created by Ken with a few tweeks by me.
> Neither of us have any formal training in database design
> and the database has never been subjected to these sorts
> of considerations.

Some good schema how-to sites follow I like:

http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=4887&pg=1
http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?Action=Author&StartRow=21&MaxRowsPerPage=20&Total=62&AuthorID=436
http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=8241
http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=8417
http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=8787
http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=9006
http://www.phlonx.com/resources/nf3.php
http://www.vbmysql.com/articles/normalize.html

> My thoughs are to actually have a good schema (which fields
> appear in which tables) for the pcplantdb
> which follows good normilisation rules. I'm not sure how closly
> it should follow the pfaf scheme. I've a few ideas about other
> fields which would go in.
>
> I'd like to encourage some more discussion on schema and get
> closer to the nitty gritty.

Having a clearly defined, extensible schema would be  good. This would be
a good design doc to have as the intricacies of modeling guilds gets
fleshed out.

>> I also have other questions about Guilds in general. Stepanie talked
>> about
>> the relationship between plants and insects. I would think that Guilds
>> would include animals, birds, insects and fungii as well. Will that be
>> included in mapping Guilds?
>
> If you so wish! Its actually possible to add new types of things
> quite easily.

I went back and started reading T. Hemmingway's book about Guilds as well.
He talks about insects, animals, and birds as well in the guild.

>> GIS mapping of observed guilds to entries?
>
> Nice, but could be a lot of work. We do need some
> mechanism to describe geological locations. Quite a tricky
> problems as sometimes we will want small areas (say a particular plant
> sighting) and other times much larger regions (say a Country).

Have you seen the PostGIS project @ http://postgis.refractions.net/

Hmm, track GPS of sighting, apply range to plants entry? Do you have plant
hardiness zones in the UK? Do you use a system like this one:

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hrdzon2.html

Is this an International standard? Or does the EU use something else? What
about Asia?

Another thing to track with the guilds is time ( seasonal time ). Like
tracking best time to plant/harvest/compost like that.

> Out of interest where are you based, who's system to you administer?

I am based out of Seattle, WA, USA. I run the systems @ arashi.com. I do
mysql/postgresql/php/zope hosting and host the California permaculture
lists. The past 4 1/2 years, I was the Sr. Unix Build Engineer/SysAdmin @
a local company and an admin at another ISP. I find myself with some free
time now.

I will be on the road a bit for the next couple of weeks, so my posts may
be sporatic.

Cheers,

John

>       All the best
>
>               Rich
>
> --
> Plants for a Future: 7000 useful plants
> Web:   http://www.pfaf.org/ same as http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
> Post:  1 Lerryn View, Lerryn, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0QJ
> Tel:   01208 872 963 / 0845 458 4719
> Email: webmaster@pfaf.org
> PFAF electronic mailing list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pfaf
>
>
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Howe, B.S, M.A.          http://www.arashi.com/
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