Difference between revisions of "FAQ"

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(Data entry/import)
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* References to MorphBank images
 
* References to MorphBank images
 
* ''FASTA files (fall 09)''
 
* ''FASTA files (fall 09)''
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=== Can projects be merged? ===
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* Yes, data can be moved from one project to another, though not all synonymous data are merged at present.  You'll need to use the console interface to do this.  See the Proj#merge_to_project.
  
 
== Data export/access ==
 
== Data export/access ==

Revision as of 07:37, 24 September 2009

Contents

General

What is mx being used for?

What software is needed to run mx?

  • Mx can run on a wide range of platforms. See Installation.

Can you run mx locally and then sync your data to the server?

  • answer

Can I run mx without a web-based server?

  • Yes, the application can be run locally, though it hasn't been designed with this in mind or optimized (speed) for this usage. Keep in mind you won't be able to share the application over the network or internet, i.e. it could only be accessed at one machine.

Data entry/import

What mechanisms are available for entering data?

  • Data can be entered in a number of different ways
    • individually via forms
    • in batches via the web interface
    • in batches via the server side console (Rake tasks)
    • individually via the Rails console

Manually entering data one a time can be very annoying, what kind of data can I batch load into mx?

  • Nexus formatted matrices
  • Lucid's .xls formatted exports
  • .obo formatted files (in part)
  • Newick formatted trees
  • Specimens and lots
  • Individual Otu names
  • Verbatim collecting events (labels)
  • Single word epithets (children) of taxon names (e.g. species names for a genus or genera of a family)
  • Image files (via a Rake task/command line)
  • References to MorphBank images
  • FASTA files (fall 09)

Can projects be merged?

  • Yes, data can be moved from one project to another, though not all synonymous data are merged at present. You'll need to use the console interface to do this. See the Proj#merge_to_project.

Data export/access

Production servers

What's the preferred production/development update path?

  • BACKUP DATA with 'rake mx:db:dump_data', a dump goes in /db/dumps. Update source (at present the latest source is on the relatively stable /edge/branch). Migrate the database with 'rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=development' (you may want to test prior to or after this step with 'rake test'). Dump the data again (first step). Copy this copy to db/dumps in your development environment. Load it with 'rake mx:db:restore_last' (note his dumps the current development, so if the reload fails you'll have to delete this dump as it will be more recent than your production copy). Develop. Repeat.
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