IB FieldBookIB FieldBook

User GuideUser Guide

Graham McLarenGraham McLaren

May 2011May 2011

IntroductionIntroduction

The Workbench opens with an assumed active 'breeding project' and an empty list of 'studies' in the StudyExplorer.

A 'breeding project' is usually formed around a technical objective such as 'Breeding drought tolerant rice for the Mekong region'. The project defines the databases to be connected and the users who have access.

A 'study' is unit of work within a project which generally has a specific objective such as '2011 multi-site evaluation of promising lines' and provides the structure to contain data sets relevant to that objective.

The IB FieldBook wizard goes you through eight steps required to construct a Trial Fieldbook by merging together a Trial Template, a Germplasm List and a Field Design

The first thing to do is create a study by clicking the 'New Study' button (or right-clicking the study header in the StudyExplorer).

Creating a Study

The Study filed contains a short, unique study name or code.Study type is a customizable pick list.Optional Study key is alink to a project managementidentifier.

Once you have a study highlighted in the study browser you can create a trial by right-clicking on the study name in the StudyExplorer, selecting ‘new’. and then selecting 'Create New Trial'

Creating a Trial within a Study

Step 1 requires you to select a trial template file by clicking the Browse button and navigating to your templates folder.The trial template specifies the trial treatment and sample structureand offers a list of traits for observation.You can view the selected template by clicking the Preview button

Step 2 allows the user to specify Study Conditions – conditions of the trial which apply to the whole study.The list of conditions is specified by the trial template and the usershould enter the values for those conditions in the Value column

For trials with multiple instances (eg. multi site or multi year) the user must specify the numberof trial instances usingthe Instance spin box:

Method of data entry for the study conditionsdepends on the Scalefor the condition:Some have pick lists,some dates, some freetext.

Step 3 allows the user to enter Trial Conditions. Trial Conditions are factors associated with an instance of the trial eg: each site, season or environment.The set of trial conditions are specified by the trial template andeach condition can have one value for each trail instance. Theuser may specify these values in the value column.

Some trial conditions may not be known at the time of producingthe fieldbook – for example the plantingdate may be a trial condition. If values are left blank they can be filled in once the fieldbook is produced as with other data capture.

Step 4 requires the user to specify a list of germplasm entriesto be tested in the trial.This can be from a specially formatted excel file, or from thedatabase connected to the fieldbook.

The trial templatespecifies what properties of the germplasm entrieswill be entered inthe fieldbook

Step 5 allows the user to specify the levels of treatment factors other than germplasm entries if they are specified in the trial template.Some trials have a multi-factorial treatment structure in whichfactors such as fertilizer, planting date or any other managementstrategy are tested in combination with germplasm entries.

These other treatment factors are specified in the trial template, and if present aredisplayed in a table wherethe user can specify thenumber of levels of each factor to be tested in the trial.If there are no other treatment factors this step is ignored.

Step 6 allows the user to select a set of trial constants to be measured in the experiment.Trial constants are observations associated with each trialinstance (eg site, season or environment).

Select trial constants tobe observed for each trial instance by draggingthem from the unselectedset to the selected set.Fields will be made available in the fieldbookfor the associated observations for eachtrail instance.

Step 7 allows the user to select a set of traits to be measured in the experiment.Traits are observations associated with each plot in each trialinstance and the trial template specifies a list from which theset to be measured in the current trial is selected

Select traits to be observed on each plotby dragging them from the unselected setto the selected set.Fields will be made available in the fieldbookfor the associated observations for eachplot.

Step 8 allows the user to select an experimental designand specify design parameters for the field layout.The field layout for the design is generated for each trialinstance.

Design factors for eachtrial instance (eg Rep, Block, Row, Column) are mapped to variables in the fieldbook accordingto properties specified in the trial template.

The Trial Editor allows the user to view and edit all elements of the trial fieldbook.Information from each step in the trial wizard is contained ona separate tab of the Trial Editor

The Measurements tab of the Trial Editor contains the plot leveldata table.Users can sort and scroll the data table as well as save it or exportit for use in hand-held data gathering devices. Bar-coded labels canalso be prepared for printing.

The plot level data table can be exported as Excel File or CSV files for handheld application like Fieldlog.To export as Excel, click the worksheet icon. To export as CSV files, click the handheld icon. The files can be transferred to handheld by using blue tooth or synchronization program like ActiveSync.

Transferring file by blue tooth:

Right click on the file and choose to Bluetooth. Select the handheld to transfer the files. Before doing this, ensure that the blue tooth is turned on in the handheld and your PC.