VegBank Help

VegBank Help -- How to use the plot-query

General notes: The plot-query form can be used to specify criteria for simple queries for VegBank plot-observations. Here, the term "plot" is used synonymously with "observation." Each section allows querying of different types of attributes. Leave fields blank to ignore these fields in the query. Make sure you select whether the query should match ALL or ANY criteria you specify at the end of the form. Generally, an ALL query is preferred by most users.

Note about Marked Rows:

For criteria on this page that are numbered in Rows (for example, querying by plant names), an observation is returned if it matches ALL crieria for a row. If you want to match ANY criteria, use different rows.
For example, if you specify :
ROW 1: plant name = "Acer" , cover minumum = "20" , cover maximum = "40"
---VegBank returns plots that have plants that are named "Acer" AND have a cover >= 20% AND cover <= 40%
If you specify:
ROW 1: plant name = "Acer"
ROW 2: cover minumum = "20"
ROW 3: cover maximum = "40"
---VegBank returns plots that have "Acer" on the plot (regardless of its cover value) AND/OR a taxon (regardless of name) of the plot has a cover >= 20% AND/OR a taxon (regardless of name, not necessarily the same taxon as above) on the plot has a cover <= 40% (where AND/OR is specified at the end of the form).

Minimums, Maximums, Include Nulls:

Similarly, if a field has min and max fields, observations will be returned that have attribute values greater than or equal to the minimum AND less than or equal to the maxiumum.
Any fields that have the option of including nulls in the query results will look for plots that have the attribute value specified (if any value is specified) OR the attribute value is null.
For example, if you search for plots with elevation minimum of "50" and maximum of "200" and check the "include nulls?" box,
---VegBank returns all plots that have an elevation between (50 AND 200) OR have no elevation value at all.

--NULL-- and --NOT NULL-- picklist values
	Note also that you may select multiple choices in fields that have choices specified. Choose "--ANY--" to ignore the field. The values "--NOT NULL--" and "--NULL--" appear at the end of each list, and can be used to specify where the attribute value is non-null (the field has a value) or is null (the field in blank). These, too, may be selected along with other values in the list.

How to Enter People, Dates, Units

Enter a person's name as "Surname, GivenName(s)" (example: "Doe, John" or "Smith, Paula Esther").

Enter dates in the format "M/D/YYYY" (example: "1/23/1984") .

Enter numerical values without any units (example: for "500 meters", enter "500").
For fields that have a unit of percent, enter the value of the percent, not the decimal equivalent (example: for "35%", enter "35", not "0.35").