Specify 7.12.2 Release Announcement

[Grant]

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Costasiella Pruvot-Fol, 1951 collected in Tasi Tolu, Timor-Leste, Dili Municipality by Florida Museum of Natural History Invertebrate Zoology (licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0). https://gbif.org/occurrence/5139695573

Specify 7.12.2 Release Announcement

Specify 7.12.2 makes it easier to browse collection data, tailor Specify to your institution’s workflows, and understand what your searches return. The new Data Views tool opens records by table and lets you review a selected record alongside the results. A redesigned Schema Config makes field settings easier to find and adds a way to import an existing configuration. New Taxon Tree preferences give you control over synonym counts and the records returned by its Query button, while clearer agent labels and more flexible table formats make results easier to interpret.

Explore Your Data with Data Views

Data Views lets you open a table’s records without building a query each time. Choose a table, scan and sort its results, then select a row to preview the full record beside or below the list. You can use the familiar Query Builder interface to choose the columns, filters, and initial sort order for each view. This gives collection administrators and data entry users a practical starting point for routine browsing, while allowing institutions to provide shared views for common workflows.

• All-new Data Views tool for viewing records in any table (#8251, #8475 – Requested by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and many others)

  

  
  

  

  

Documentation

Data Views (7.12.2)

This guide explains how to use Data Views to browse records by table, preview records beside the results, and choose the fields and filters shown in each view. Data Views gives you a quick way to open a table’s records without building a query each time. Select a table, review its results, and open a record when you need its full form. You can also configure a table’s Data View using the Query Builder tools. [Data Views navigation menu item] [Data View default tables] …

A Redesigned Schema Config Interface

The redesigned Schema Config brings table and field settings into a clearer workspace. Search for a table, review its fields and relationships, and update captions, descriptions, visibility, formats, and other settings from one place. A new Import tool lets administrators apply a configuration from a JSON file, making it easier to reuse established settings when configuring a discipline.

• Improved Schema Config interface (#8427 – Requested by many members)
• Schema Config import tool (#8452 – Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, University of Michigan, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canadian Forest Service, University of Kansas, and many others)
  
  
  
  
  

Documentation

Schema Config (7.12.2)

This guide describes how to use the Schema Config tool to customize the fields, captions, descriptions, and field functionality in your database. Schema Config lets you customize how Specify names, describes, displays, and validates tables and fields for a discipline. Use it to set captions, hide unused fields, choose formats and pick lists, and configure related rules. This does not modify the underlying database schema, only the captions, descriptions, and behavior seen in the appli…

More Control in Taxon Tree Searches

Taxon Tree searches now give users a choice between Taxon and Preferred Taxon when the tree’s Query button builds a Collection Object query. Search by Taxon to find records determined under a particular name, including a synonym; search by Preferred Taxon to follow the accepted name. A new optional count also shows how many Collection Objects were determined using synonymized names, giving those records greater visibility while you browse the tree.

• Choose Taxon or Preferred Taxon for searches (#7837 – Requested by Canadian Food Inspection Agency, University of Kansas, Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and California Academy of Sciences)
• Display synonym counts in the Taxon Tree (#8437 – Requested by Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and Muséum d’histoire naturelle Geneva)
  
  
  
  
  

Query Builder and Formatting Improvements

When results include several Agent relationships, the Query Builder now adds relationship labels that help distinguish names and their roles (such as creator, determiner, and preparer). The split view from Data Views has been added here as well!

Table formats can now also include text before or after a field value, as well as standalone text. These options make formatted records clearer in results, and let institutions present values with the necessary context for data exports.

• Agent relationship prefixes in Query Builder (#8586 – Requested by Muséum d’histoire naturelle Geneva and others)
• Add support for text before and after, and static values, in table formats (#8552 – Requested by Muséum d’histoire naturelle Geneva, University of Kansas, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, The Ohio State University Museum of Biological Diversity, and many others)
  
  

Fixes

• Preserve Agent Type when merging agents without auto-populate (#7828)
• Handle empty system information during setup (#8415)
• Prevent the Attachments page from crashing when the asset server is unavailable (#8421)
• Add a custom delete operation for the parent field in TaxonTreeDefItem (#8375)
• Pull existing locality values from WorkBench datasets (#8374)
• Preserve WorkBench business rule payloads so validation errors are clearer (#8048)
• Update attachments in Batch Edit instead of cloning the record (#8400)
• Reopen rollback status after a conflict response (#8373)
• Correctly audit tree deletions and merges (#8456 – Reported by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)
• Stabilize GeoMap Leaflet map data (#8548)
• Skip missing tree ranks in queries (#8510)
• Treat a missing picklist as unassigned in WorkBench (#8591 – Reported by Museo Cantonale di Storia Naturale, Naturhistorisches Museum Basel, and Museum für Naturkunde Berlin)
• Keep autocomplete suggestions usable in form tables (#8592)
• Avoid assigning a Collection Object Type that is already in use in the collection (#8594)
• Resolve duplicate picklist titles by using the first match in WorkBench (#8585)
• Scope ‘Entire Table’ pick lists can now be disabled (#8538)

Internal

• Embedded the Francois One font, used for table icons, to improve performance (#8601)
• Upgraded the back end from Django 4.2 to Django 5.2 LTS (#8052); updated Django requirements (#8468)
• Updated Node.js (#8417)
• Added Dependabot rules (#8436)
• Updated project dependencies (#8357, #8398, #8412, #8445, #8459, #8461, #8463, #8466, #8476, #8478, #8480, #8482, #8483, #8486, #8506, #8519, #8525, #8527, #8533, #8537)
• Added automated tests for resources, accessions, gifts, borrowing, record sets, collection events, deaccessions, Batch Edit, loans, Security and Accounts, and disposals (#8489, #8464, #8502, #8493, #8528, #8532, #8553, #8556, #8540, #8581, #8500, #8589, #8578, #8608, #8576, #8575)

Dependency Updates

Dependency	Update	PR
Django	Upgraded from 4.2 to 5.2 LTS; requirements updated	#8052, #8468
Node.js	Updated Node.js	#8417
undici	7.25.0 → 7.29.0	#8357
fast-uri	3.1.0 → 3.1.5	#8398
postcss	8.5.10 → 8.5.26	#8412
pytest	7.2.1 → 9.0.3	#8459
YAML	Updated	#8466
React Router	6.30.3 → 6.30.5; react-router-dom also updated	#8461, #8486
dompurify	Updated to 3.4.14	#8463
ws	Updated	#8359
brace-expansion	Updated; a second version bump is listed separately	#8476, #8482
requests	2.32.4 → 2.33.0	#8478
jQuery and @types/jquery	Updated	#8480
webpack	5.106.2 → 5.110.3	#8445
browserslist	4.28.2 → 4.28.9	#8483
@babel/core	Updated	#8533
csv-parse	5.6.0 → 7.0.2	#8506
uuid	Updated	#8527
baseline-browser-mapping	Updated	#8525
postcss-selector-parser	Updated	#8537
decode-uri-component	Updated	#8519
esbuild and tsx	Updated	#8361