A Happy New Year to all!

This will probably end up as a vague ramble but I'm wondering whether anybody else has "added" sightings and found that they somehow got lost in the ether.  I have just finished adding an entire wadge of sightings from a trip and have run a complete list, only to find that many of my observations have apparently disappeared.  Has anybody else noticed anything similar?

To give a bit more detail, I add sightings by location and time/date by clicking on entries in the appropriate checklist and adding comments when I have anything to note.  I click on "Add sightings" and compare the total number of sightings the program reports with the number of entries in my field notes.  If the two totals agree, I click on "Yes"; otherwise I go back and check to see what I've missed.  I then go on to the next location I visited and so on.  Peculiarly, though, it seems that even though the program tells me that I'm adding, say, 100 species, only 99 entries are actually added to the "Sightings" database (this isn't a problem with my choice of taxonomic list - when I go in to the Access database I can see that only 99 entries have been added).

Obviously I can add sightings and then use "view/edit" to check that the program really has added 100 sightings but this is a drag.  As I've been using the program for years without any problems (although my numerous previous posting provide some evidence to the contrary) I don't think I'm doing anything wrong.  But as I've learned, idiots have the wonderful ability to cause difficulties to even the most idiot-proof programs so I can't be sure.

I guess I should say what version of the program I'm running but I confess I can't remember.  I'll check at home if it's important.

Does anybody have any thoughts?

Best wishes,

Graham

Hello Graham,

This is rarely reported, and when it is, it always ends up being something logical, such as a filter setting when retrieving the sightings, or not asking for subspecies when the missing sighting was for a subspecies, or using one tax list to enter the sightings and another to retrieve the sightings (the 2nd tax list not having the 100th thing in question), etc.

Also, give me the details please on exactly how you enter sightings: checklist or keyboard mode; tax list, location filter, any other settings at all (a screenshot of your sightings entry setup window would do also). If Checklist Entry mode, which style do you have checked? Do you ever use the "Add Name" button? If you use this, it can add any name in your database - even though it is not attached to the currently used tax list - and therefore will not show when you try to retrieve your sightings by that tax list. For example, Let's say you are using the ABA tax list, and you saw a Fox Squirrel on your trip; you could use the Add Name button to add the Fox Squirrel to your current checklist entry grid - but that sighting won't show up when you go to retrieve sightings using the ABA tax list.

You should be running v3.6.49, but please do check when you get home - just to be sure.

With the thousands of BD users, I can't imagine a bug like this going for 1 month (let alone the 4 years that 3.6 has been out) without dozens of users reporting it. But, still, you never know. This is what I would do... if you have notes that says (using your example) you have 100 sightings, and you think you entered 100 sightings, and now you can only pull up 99 of the 100 sightings you believe you entered... go through your notes and find the missing sighting that is in your notes but not in BD. Try searching for that sighting using a broad filtering; e.g. only specifying the date of those entries; or all entries for that thing or location; etc. And see if that sighting doesn't show up, but under settings that you were excluding based on earlier filters in use.

Things like the above always tend to be the answer. If BD were simpler and only allowed you to use one tax list without so many filters etc, these types of things would tend not to trip people up; but it happens every now and then.

Let me know what you find and how I can help. The absolute key is to find the sighting in your notes that you feel you entered but is missing in BD. You have to start there. Let me know.

Jeff

HI Graham,

"Eastern/Red Fox Squirrel" - Sciurus niger. Tree squirrel in eastern (moving west) NA.

I can empathize with the eye-sight and hand-writing problems. I am getting my first pair of prescription glasses ever, tomorrow. Tired of having one pair around my neck for reading, one for the computer and one for all other vision. Been on computers since 1978, so I have basically never handwritten anything since, and if I try - well forget it, it isn't readable.

I doubt it is 3.6.29 - but you never know. Please run the 3.6.49 installation (it is free) from the Downloads page on this web site by clicking on the Network Installation link - on all your systems. It is very quick and will get you upgraded quickly to eliminate that as a possible problem.

I am concerned about your report that the Review window sometimes does not show you all the checked off things. This may be fixed when going from .29 to .49.

No - your database size should not have anything to do with this.

Perhaps you can create a test observer and see if you can reproduce this problem usign the test observer. Just try a couple different rapid checklist entry sessions with the test observer and see if, 1) you can reproduce it, and 2) if you can figure out what causes it to happen.

Let me know please,

Jeff

Hello Graham,

i) the time is not registered for a sighting unless you manually specify it. You must manually specify the time on each entry.

ii) there are no known problems with sightings not being entered or going away. Usually when these things come up, the sighting was inadvertently entered under a different location or time (or incorrect name) and searching for it doesn't find it due to this.

Jeff

Hi Graham,

One thing that does trip folks up is that if the width of the date/time field in the View Sightings grid changes (gets just a bit shorter) then the time will not show unless you widen that field. It will truncate the time and just show the date due to column width. The time hasn't gone away, just truncated. One way to tell if this is the case, is to edit such a sighting and see if the time shows in the time field; or drag to widen the date/time field.

Just a thought,

Jeff

Dear Jeff,

I'll try to be a touch clearer on what I mean and perhaps you can let me know what I'm doing wrong.  I use the checklist method to enter sightings, as in picture 1, which shows me about to click on "Add Sightings" having entered time and date, as well as location etc.

With previous releases (up to 3.6.29), everything was entered correctly into the database (apart from the odd missing record - see the main thrust of this thread) but the result with 3.6.49 is shown in the second picture - the sightings are entered correctly but without the time.  I can naturally use "View/Edit Sightings" to add the time manually - picture 2 shows me about to do so - but this is a bore and entails more work every time I add any sightings to the database.

Am I doing something incredibly stupid or is something strange happening?  More to the point, can anybody reproduce the problem or is it a peculiarity of my system?  And even more to the point, will the problem persist with 3.7?

Best wishes,

Graham

Hello Graham,

Well - I'll be darned. v3.6.49 does NOT save the time. I confirmed the same behavior on my system. But v3.7 does save the time. And, as you have found out v3.6.29 saves the time also. I don't know what happened in there; but v3.7 does it correctly. You are not doing anything wrong.

So, my question, why aren't you using v3.7?

Jeff