A Community Conservation System
To help community groups produce and operate management plans for green spaces
(Produced by the ‘Going Green Directorate’)
1 User Interface
Sub-window 1 List of Folders: The left part of the window (1) shows the nested folders,
which contain the records for Byron’s Pool LNR. The current folder, in this case
'Site
Information'. is highlighted with color. This window works like a standard Windows navigation
system, and folders can added and be moved into new arrangements to suit the user.
Sub-window 2 List of Records: The upper right window area (2) shows the list of records in
the current folder, in this case there is only 1 record. The current record is highlighted with color.
Sub-window 3 Selected Record: The bottom part of the window (3) shows the form and its
record fields. In this case the form is ‘Site Information’ and its fields contain basic information
about the LNR. At the bottom of the record is a window containing fields listing the
site’s
features. Clicking on a site feature in this window takes you to the feature’s form. The
information in all fields can be edited.
To add a new site to the database, highlight the Site Information folder, add new folder using the
"Add" menu commands or the Add Record/Add Folder toolbar. Use Add Record to add a
duplicate of the current site information record, which you can then edit with information about
the second site. Folders for its features, factors and projects can be added to the new site folder.
To add a new feature to a site, click on the feature window and use the Add menu.
2 The Other Forms
In addition to the first form named Site Information, the database contains three other kinds of
forms. These are contained in their respective folders: ‘Feature’, ‘Factor’ and ‘Project.
2.1 The Feature Folder
The feature folder contains records of the site's conservation features, which are displayed in the
‘List of Records’ Window. To select a record for editing, click its name in the top window
records list with the left mouse button. It’s form will appear in the bottom Select Record window.
The record in the ‘Selected Record’ window of a feature contains a field for its management
objective and the practical targets of management, which, when measured, show how close
management is to the objective.
There is a factor widow at the bottom of the form, which lists the factors that have to be
managed to achieve the target. Clicking on the name of a factor takes you to its record. A form
for a new factor is added by clicking on the factor window.
2.2 The Factor folder
The factor folder contains records of the factors for each feature that have to be managed in
order to reach the management objective for the feature. When the folder is open all the factors
are displayed in the ‘List of Records’ Window. To select a record for editing, click its name in the
records list with the left mouse button.
The record in the ‘Selected Record’ window of a factor contains a field for the rationale
explaining how the factor is limiting effective management.
2.3 Projects
There is a project widow at the bottom of the form, which lists the projects which have been set
up to manage the factor in order to achieve the management target. Clicking on the name of a
project takes you to its record. A new project form to manage a factor is added by clicking on
the factor window.
The project folder contains records of the projects for each factor that specify how the factor is
to be managed in order to reach the management objective which was set for the feature. When
the folder is open, all the projects are displayed in the ‘List of Records’ Window. To select a
record for editing, click its name in the records list with the left mouse button.
The record in the ‘Selected Record’ window of a factor contains fields for scheduling the work to
be carried out and recording what was actually done and who did it.
It important to check the condition of the feature before and after the project work is carried out.
This is done using the monitoring record sheet tabbed to each project form. The monitoring
record schedules the monitoring work, it’s rationale and method, and includes a field to contain
the results of monitoring. The results of monitoring define the outcome of the management with
regard to a particular feature. There is a drop-down field to check the state of the feature as
‘unfavourable’ if the management objective has not yet been reached, or ‘favourable’ if
management of it is on target.
A monitoring project may simply mean taking a photograph of the feature for comparison with
previous pictures. If this is the case, there a field for inserting a digital image.
3 Attachments.
You can attach files, such as documents or digital images, to any record by simply right- clicking
the record name in the Record’s List window, then using the
Record context menu that is
revealed. A record with an attached file can be identified because there will be a paper clip icon
in a box in the upper left-hand corner of the file, with a number indicating the number of
attachments it has. The attachment can selected and be opened by clicking on this box.
Documents and images can be placed in named folders by attaching them as records to forms in
a special folder.
4 Selecting information from the database
4.1 Custom Export
The contents of records may be exported into html files or a MS Word document. First the
record type is selected and then the export menu is opened from Custom Export. From this menu
an export template, either html or Word, may be chosen and activated. This delivers the contents
of the record or records as a list of fields and their contents. In this way, for example, it is
possible to print out a complete site description from the ‘Site Description’ field.
4.2 Query
A query is a user's request for information from a database. A query consists of the following
logic:
-
The Specification of record’s source for analyzing rules conformity;
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A Set of rules, according to which the records will be checked for consistency;
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The Specification of how the request results should be displayed.
For example, the logic for user who wants to get from the Byron’s Pool database a list of all
projects carried out in the year 2005, sorted by name, would be:-
-
"from the Byron’s Pool" as a source;
-
"written in 2005" as a rule;
-
"a list of projects, sorted by name" as a specification of how the results should be
displayed.
This procedure is carried out by following the on- screen prompts, which begin with the New
Query button in the window situated at the bottom of the Folder Window.
There is a Post-query tab to specify the actions to be performed on the selected information after
the query has been made, such as defining a particular template for print out.
Detailed instructions for this entire procedure are given in the integral Help system.
