Specify 7.10.2 Release Announcement

[Grant]

Release Announcement

7.10.2 (23 April 2025)

If you have not updated to v7.10 or later, please follow the instructions available here first: Specify 7.10 Release Announcement

New Documentation

Batch Edit

Batch Editing Documentation Specify makes it simple to edit a batch of records directly through the Specify WorkBench interface. The Batch Editing tool is a powerful way to augment or modify existing records – potentially affecting thousands of records with just a few mouse clicks. Use Batch Editing to: Update fields to comply with Darwin Core standards. Add new information to multiple records at once. Standardize or correct grammatical and spelling errors. Below is an overview of Batch Editi…

Bulk Download Attachments from a Query Result or Record Set

Starting in Specify 7.10.2, users have the option to download attachments individually or to download all attachments in a specific set in bulk from query results or record sets. Query Results Create a query that returns all records you want to download attachments for. Click Query to return your results. Click Browse In Forms and click on the (Attachments) icon in the paginator at the top of the form. You can now see and download all attachments in all results or the resu…

Added

• Batch Editing for simple fields (#5417 – Requested by too many SCC member institutions to list)
• Added a ‘Download’ button to record set and query results attachments (#6052 – Requested by The University of Michigan, Naturhistorisches Museum Bern, Beaty Biodiversity Museum, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle Geneva, and Queensland Herbarium)
• The Form Meta menu is now accessible when using “View in Forms” (#5416)
• A default value can now be used for a query combo box (#6037 – Requested by South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity and The Ohio State University Mollusk Division)
• Adds tooltip for required fields in bulk carry forward config (#6202)
• Specify will use the default TypeSearches when a custom one is not defined for a table (#6236)
• Adds a new uniqueIdentifier field to Storage (#6249)

Changed

• Non-default Taxon trees can be deleted if they are not used (#6186)
• Adds modern attachment placeholder icons for video, audio, text, and other attachment filetypes (#6119)

Fixed

• Fixes an issue that prevented some WorkBench data sets from being uploaded due to invalid tree ranks (#6322)
• Fixes an issue where the defaults for insect collections were missing (#6383)
• Field formats in the Schema Config utility are now selected automatically when available (#6255)
• Primary Collection Objects (COs) in a consolidated Collection Object Group (COG) can no longer be deleted unless another CO is marked as primary (#6181)
• Fixes all cases where table aggregation separators were missing (#6115)
• Fixes all cases where taxon tree structure is invalid due to accepted names not being designated as accepted (#5366)
• Fixes all cases where coordinate text fields are empty but decimal coordinate fields contain values (#5368 – Reported by The University of Michigan, College of Idaho, and several others)
• Fixes an issue where the Data Entry screen does not appear in the ‘Geology’ discipline (#6365)
• Fixes an issue where unsaved changes would be lost when toggling the “Use Localized Field Labels” setting in the Form Meta menu

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The full changelog is available on GitHub

For source code go to the GitHub Specify 7 repository

For more information about Specify 7, or about this release, see Specify 7 | Specify Collections Consortium, or email support@specifysoftware.org.

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Update Instructions

If you have already updated your deployment environment for Specify 7.10, you can simply switch the docker tag being used to v7102-prerelease and pull the latest changes:

docker pull specifyconsortium/specify7-service:v7102-prerelease

Once done, you can restart the containers!

docker compose up 

Updating from 7.9.x → 7.10+

Docker Installations (Recommended)

Before you pull the latest changes, please note that you must update the version of the docker-compositions repository you are using if you deploy via Docker.

If you do not already have access, click here to request access to this repository or email support@specifysoftware.org with your GitHub username, member institution or collection, and any additional questions or notes for us!

If you have not already logged into your GitHub account with the appropriate permission to access the docker-compositions GitHub repository, you will need to do so first, otherwise you will receive a permission error:

Could not resolve to a Repository with the name 'specify/docker-compositions'. (repository)

If you are not logged in or do not have the appropriate permissions on GitHub, you will see a 404 when you go to this link. If your account is logged in and has read permission, you should see the appropriate repository.

The production branch of docker-compositions as been updated for Specify 7.10+! See GitHub commit here.

The main update for docker-compositions in Specify v7.10 is that the Specify 6 container is no longer necessary. The static files that Specify 7 relied on from Specify 6 have been relocated to the config directory in Specify 7. Setting up the new location for static files in Specify 7.10 required changes to the nginx configuration and the docker-compose file. The usage of specifycloud can manage Specify instances of both older versions and v7.10, dynamically configuring the static files for both scenarios.

The following changes have been made, so the user will not need to edit themselves:

• docker-compose.yml changes:

  • for the sp7 production docker containers, remove the sp6 volume mount - "specify6803:/opt/Specify:ro"
  • add - SPECIFY_CONFIG_DIR=/opt/specify7/config to environment
  • remove the Specify 6 container

• nginx.conf changes:

  • replace
    • this rewrite ^/static/config/(.*)$ /specify6803/config/$1 break;
    • with this rewrite ^/static/config/(.*)$ /static-files-sp7demofish/specify-config/config/$1 break;

When using the ‘just-specify-7’, ‘all-in-one’, or ‘multiple-databases’, pull the latest changes from the production branch of docker-compositions.

It’s best to not pull these changes until you start using Specify 7.10.

Edit the nginx config and docker-compose environment variables normally for your specific deployment.

Once this is up to date, you or an IT administrator will need to pull the Docker tag “v7102-prerelease” for the specify7-service.

docker pull specifyconsortium/specify7-service:v7102-prerelease

After this, you can start the container(s) for Specify 7!

docker compose up -d

Local Installations

Users who are managing a local installation (not installed using Docker) can pull the latest changes and deploy right away.

If you are using a local development scheme, one of our developers recommends adjusting the following variables:

In your Linux environment, set
SPECIFY_CONFIG_DIR=<path_to_specify7_dir>/config
You need to make sure you haven’t overridden settings/specify_settings.py with another settings file, such as settings/local_specify_settings.py. If you have, verify that these variables are set correctly.

The variable should look like this:
THICK_CLIENT_LOCATION=/opt/specify7
SPECIFY_CONFIG_DIR=/opt/specify7/config

If you are still experiencing issues, try editing your settings/specify_settings.py file:
THICK_CLIENT_LOCATION=<path_to_specify7_dir>