Important Update: Schema Configuration Reversions in Specify 7.12.0

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Hi Specificians, :specify7:

We are reaching out to inform you of an issue discovered in the initial Specify 7.12.0 release that may have inadvertently modified your database’s schema configuration records.

Please be assured that your underlying collection data records are completely safe.

During startup, the update caused some schema records to revert to their default states. As a result, your custom captions and descriptions may have been reset, and any pick lists, web links, or formats tied to specific fields may have been unassigned.

This issue impacts the following Schema Config values:

  • Tables in Schema Config
    • Label (Caption)
    • Description
    • Assigned Table Format and Aggregation
    • Is Hidden
  • Fields in Schema Config
    • Label (Caption)
    • Description
    • Assigned Field Format, Web Link, or Pick List
    • Is Hidden
    • Is Required

The actual field formats, table formats, aggregations, pick lists, and web links themselves were untouched. They have simply lost their assignments in the schema config and can be safely re-assigned.

This bug has been resolved in the Specify 7.12.0.5 update. If you have not yet updated to 7.12.0, your database will be completely unaffected when you move to the latest version.

Hosted Users

For institutions hosted on Specify Cloud, our team is already taking action. We will automatically restore your schema configuration to the state it was in immediately prior to your update.

Please note that this means any intentional changes you have made to your Schema Config since the update to Specify 7.12.0 will be reverted. If you have made extensive changes recently that you do not want to lose, please reply to this email or reach out to support@specifysoftware.org, and we will gladly re-integrate those changes for you.

Self-Hosted Users

If you host your own Specify instance and updated to any version between 7.12.0 and 7.12.0.4, you will need to restore your schema configuration tables from a pre-update backup.

We have created a step-by-step guide to walk you through this remediation process:

https://discourse.specifysoftware.org/t/resolving-schema-config-reversions-in-specify-7-12-0-self-hosted-users/3559

We sincerely apologize for any disruption this may cause. If you have any questions or need assistance with your configuration, please do not hesitate to reach out to us!

Best regards,
The Specify Collections Consortium Team

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