IB FieldBook User Guide Graham McLaren May 2011

Introduction 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 a link to a project management identifier.

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 structure and 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 user should 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 number of trial instances using the Instance spin box: Method of data entry for the study conditions depends on the Scale for the condition: Some have pick lists, some dates, some free text.

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 and each condition can have one value for each trail instance. The user may specify these values in the value column. Some trial conditions may not be known at the time of producing the fieldbook – for example the planting date 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 entries to be tested in the trial. This can be from a specially formatted excel file, or from the database connected to the fieldbook. The trial template specifies what properties of the germplasm entries will be entered in the 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 which factors such as fertilizer, planting date or any other management strategy are tested in combination with germplasm entries. These other treatment factors are specified in the trial template, and if present are displayed in a table where the user can specify the number 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 trial instance (eg site, season or environment). Select trial constants to be observed for each trial instance by dragging them from the unselected set to the selected set. Fields will be made available in the fieldbook for the associated observations for each trail 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 trial instance and the trial template specifies a list from which the set to be measured in the current trial is selected Select traits to be observed on each plot by dragging them from the unselected set to the selected set. Fields will be made available in the fieldbook for the associated observations for each plot.

Step 8 allows the user to select an experimental design and specify design parameters for the field layout. The field layout for the design is generated for each trial instance. Design factors for each trial instance (eg Rep, Block, Row, Column) are mapped to variables in the fieldbook according to 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 on a separate tab of the Trial Editor

The Measurements tab of the Trial Editor contains the plot level data table. Users can sort and scroll the data table as well as save it or export it for use in hand-held data gathering devices. Bar-coded labels can also 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.