Introducing Ideas Genie Pro
Extensions to the Functionality

Using the Master database
There are a number of options.

Tip No 1 - Use it in review mode (Explore the master database)Start ANY action program (e.g. GA027, GA004 etc in IG, FG037 in Flower Genie)
Click on the data source pop-up
In the list, Select "IGMaster"
Explore the database
If you wish to add a plant from the database to your database, do this:

Tip No 2 – Add plants from the Master database to YOUR database on hard disc
When you explore the master database and you find a nice plant, you may want to add (or import)  it to your own database. Heres how (IGpro only at present)

Start  GA004
Click on the data source pop-up
Select "IGMaster Database"
Click Add a Plant button
Screen GA100S00 appears
Start typing the Genus name and keep typing until the required Genus name appears in the (first) green field immediately below.
Lets call that "GF1" = Green field 1
Click into GF1
A list of all plants in the master database for that Genus will appear.
If it says "New" at the end of the plant names, then, well, you’ve guessed it, its new to your database on hard disk.
To add, click on the required plant, and then "Add to my database" button.
And, guess what, the plant will be added to your database.
When the list is refreshed, it wont say "New" at the end of that plant name

More notes: It you look up Acer or Camellia, it can run into hundreds of plants.
Use the appropriate filter buttons to filter the list e.g. You can key a few characters with say "jap" to isolate the japonicas, or "A" to show cultivars beginning with A etc etc

Tip No 3 – Another example of Adding plants from the Master database to YOUR database on hard discYou are working on your own database and decide to add a new plant, preferably by importing it from the master database.
Heres how (IGpro only at present)

Start  GA004
Click on the data source pop-up
Select "IGMaster Database"
Click Add a Plant button
Screen GA100S00 appears
Start typing the Genus name.
As you type, keep an eye on the two green fields immediately below.
The first green field is associated with YOUR database (the GF1 field)
The second green field is associated with your master database (the GF2 field)
Keep typing until the required Genus name appears in the GF2 field.
Click into GF2
A list of all plants in the master database for that Genus will appear.
If it says "New" at the end of the plant names, then, well, you’ve guessed it, its new to your database on hard disk.
To add, click on the required plant, and then "Add from Master" button.
The plant will be added to your database.
When the list is refreshed, it wont say "New" at the end of that plant name

More notes
Try this:
In GA100S00, Start typing the Genus name again
Since you added a plant from the master, you now have plants from both Genus in each database.
Keep typing until the Genus name (in full) appears in both GF1 and GF2

Click into GF1
Plants in YOUR database which are not in the master will show up as "new"

 

EVENTS
(Applies to Specimens only)

A new concept.
When you finish a job, you can now record the action as an EVENT in Ideas Genie Pro.
Many tables had to be amended to allow this feature to work.

Tasks are based on Care items, which you create and maintain in GA003.
The first change there was to provide an extra field to allow you to record a “past tense”
Think of the Care Item which you used in Ideas Genie as present/future tense.
e.g. Prune
To define an event for this Care record, we simply use the past tense i.e. “Pruned”
When you upgrade to IG Pro, you will need to review your Care Items in GA003, and add an Event name for each record.

Events can be used with or without Tasks.
If you simply want to record the fact that you have done something to a plant, you can use GA004 or GA027 to access the specimen record. In the specimen record screen you will find a new button - Events.
You can record the Event by entering the date of the event and (optionally) some notes about the event.
When you make an enquiry about the specimen, the events are listed, in date order.

This feature is very important to Bonsai enthusiasts. In Bonsai Genie (an extension to Ideas Genie Pro) you can also record details of the Pots used for your Specimens, and photos of the actual pots. Can also be used for container gardening, if such detailed records are required.

If you wish to plan your tasks in advance and record the events, you’ll be pleased to know that the Tasks and Events features are completely integrated.

Tasks

By writing extra programming code, I’ve managed to make most programs universal, so that only one program needs to be maintained. A universal program can be downloaded and will work in both the Ideas Genie AND the Ideas Genie Pro installations. (Some Ideas Genie Pro fields and features will be disabled in an Ideas Genie installation)
The changes to GA012 (the Tasks program) were so extensive that this was not possible.
I had to make the decision to issue the Tasks program in IG Pro as a new program - GA047.

In GA047, you can now create three types of task (2 types in Ideas Genie).
In the additional Task type, you can manually select a plant(s), and a Care topic, and pick a date(s) to do the job.
Another new concept has been introduced in this program - Job Status.
In the job status screen (many happy weeks of development) you can mark the task as “Done” or “Dont Do” for each plant. When all plants are “Done” the entire task is automatically stamped as “Done”.

The Tasks program has also been extended to allow you to plan tasks at Plant Specimen level.

When you complete a task on a specimen, you have the option to create an “Event”.
Dont create “Event” records unless you really need them.

Global Editing
Enhancements

Global Editing is done in the screenset GA100S30PC, PD and GC.
You can get to this screen using GA004 and GA022.

Theres a number of subtle changes in and around Global Editing, which required the introduction of a number of “hidden” fields.

Ive probably been the first user to use the Global Editing feature to work with a large number of plants in one genus. The Master database has quite a few Genera with hundreds of plants.
The one which could grow to many thousands is the genus Rosa.
I developed features to make it easier to manipulate and filter the list of plants in a large genus.
By filter, I mean you can isolate a logical sub group of plants within the genus.
Thus, you can now filter the list on a particular species. If you are looking for a specific plant, you can filter on Cultivars beginning with “G” etc to quicky locate the plant.

Large genera usually have Divisions (or Classifications). Most gardeners are very familiar with the Rosa divisons - Climbers, Hybrid Tea’s, Floribundas etc.
Plant Divisions are defined using the program GA019 under the menu tab “Files”.
In Ideas Genie Pro in screen GA019S04, you now have a new field to record the “Classification Group” name.
The Classification Group name is a recognised abbreviation for the Division. I’ve allowed 8 characters, as its the largest Group name I could find in my research.
This short name becomes very useful in the Global Editing screens.
Ive used it to prefix each plant.