Chrono Strat and Chrono Strat End returning the same value in Queries

[MFKouk]

We have been experimenting with Queries at my uni, and realized something problematic with the Chronostatigraphy Tree in tge Paleontology disciplines

For our purposes it is imperative that we use both the Chrono Strat and Chrono Strat End fields for a given Paleo Context. We have set the field up in the XML form and everything.

Problem is, whenever we Query for C.Strat and C.Strat End, the fields it returns are identical to the entry in C.Strat, despite the differemt values of the fields appearing in the form itself.

Is there a bug happening, or is there some kind of oversight on our part?

[Grant]

Hi @MFKouk,

Can you let us know which version of Specify you are using? My colleague and I could not recreate this issue. There are several ways to set up Paleo Context, so it’s possible that you modified the XML yourself or that the query is configured unusually.

Can you also export and share the query with us? If you are willing to grant temporary access to your database or would like to share a backup with us, we can take a look that way as well. Thank you!

[MFKouk]

Hello, thanks for answering.I am on v7.11.1. I did edit the XML of the form to make Chrono Strat End appear (since it was hidden). I will post the XML View Definition at the end.

Currently we are on a testing stage of Specify 7, trying out various features and capabilities of the software in order to prepare soon a fully configured version for our institution.

One thing that we care about is ths DwC export, which requires distinct chronostatigraphic fields (Start-End) in the category of Geological Context ( Darwin Core Quick Reference Guide - Darwin Core )

For example, we have fossils whose age is determined as Pliocene-Pleistocene (earliestEpochOrLowestSeries - latestEpochOrHighestSeries) or Tortonian-Messinian (similar earliest-latest Stage/Age), thus require two fields to record this information.

To determine the earliest chronostatigraphic value we use the “Chrono Strat” field, and to determine the latest chronostatigraphic value we use “Chrono Strat End”

While preparing the query to export a test csv file, I fell on an interesting behavior. This can be showcased by the following screenshot, the query export itself and the csv file.

If I set the query for Chrono Strat/Chrono Strat End in “Collecting Information > Paleo Context > Chrono Strat/Chrono Strat End > any rank > Name”, it displays the correct values of the fields. However, if I instead set it into “Collecting Information > Paleo Context > Chrono Strat/Chrono Strat End > [Rank] > Name” and I choose a rank (ex. Age/Stage, Series/Epoch etc.), it only displays the value of the Chrono Strat field, for both Chrono Strat and Chrono Strat End!

Our goal is to export the full array of Chronostatigraphy (for both Earliest-Latest combinations) as displayed in the DwC Geological Context category

Thank you for your assistance

–-Export of the Query—

C.S. Start-End Query.json (10.0 KB)

–-CSV file with the query’s data—

C.S. Start-End Showcase.csv (2.6 KB)

–Screenshot showcase on how the results are displayed in the query—

–Display of Query Setup in the Query Builder’s UI—

–Desired Output of the CSV file or DwC Example—

–Paleo Context View Definition—

<viewdef name="PaleoContext" class="edu.ku.brc.specify.datamodel.PaleoContext" type="form" gettable="edu.ku.brc.af.ui.forms.DataGetterForObj" settable="edu.ku.brc.af.ui.forms.DataSetterForObj">
	<desc>Paleocontext form.</desc>
	<enableRules/>
	<columnDef>100px,2px,295px,5px,120px,2px,295px,0px,p:g</columnDef>
	<columnDef os="lnx">115px,2px,324px,5px,145px,2px,324px,0px,p:g</columnDef>
	<columnDef os="mac">130px,2px,365px,5px,163px,2px,365px,0px,p:g</columnDef>
	<columnDef os="exp">p,2px,p:g(2),5px:g,p,2px,p:g(2),0px</columnDef>
	<rowDef auto="true" cell="p" sep="2dlu"/>
	<rows>
		<row>
			<cell type="label" labelfor="pcn"/>
			<cell type="field" id="pcn" name="paleoContextName" uitype="text"/>
			<cell type="label" labelfor="3"/>
			<cell type="field" id="3" name="lithoStrat" uitype="querycbx" initialize="name=LithoStrat"/>
		</row>
		<row>
			<cell type="label" labelfor="2"/>
			<cell type="field" id="2" name="chronosStrat" uitype="querycbx" initialize="name=ChronosStrat;displaydlg=ChronosStratDisplay;searchdlg=ChronosStratSearch" isrequired="false"/>
			<cell type="label" labelfor="5"/>
			<cell type="field" id="5" name="chronosStratEnd" uitype="querycbx" initialize="name=ChronosStrat;displaydlg=ChronosStratDisplay;searchdlg=ChronosStratSearch" isrequired="false"/>
		</row>
		<row>
			<cell type="label" labelfor="t1"/>
			<cell type="field" id="t1" name="text1" uitype="text"/>
			<cell type="label" labelfor="t2"/>
			<cell type="field" id="t2" name="text2" uitype="text"/>
		</row>
		<row>
			<cell type="label" labelfor="9"/>
			<cell type="field" id="9" name="tectonicUnit" uitype="querycbx" initialize="name=tectonicUnit;displaydlg=tectonicUnitDisplay;searchdlg=tectonicUnitSearch" isrequired="false"/>
		</row>
		<row>
			<cell type="label" labelfor="4"/>
			<cell type="field" id="4" name="remarks" uitype="textareabrief" rows="2" colspan="6"/>
		</row>

[MFKouk]

I am also adding a screenshot of our Paleo Context Form.

Based on the data we have entered, we want to acquire the desired Output of the CSV file in the screenshot posted above.

[lexiclevenger6]

Hello @MFKouk,

Thank you for attaching the screenshots and query definition–they were very helpful to us when trying to recreate the issue. This is indeed a bug, and it is caused by issue #7436 on GitHub, which causes the wrong data to be returned when two fields have the same heading in the query (in this case, Stage/Age). You will need to use the (any rank) > name field like you did at the top of the query to avoid the issue.

Our developers are looking into a permanent fix. Please let us know if you have any more questions!