Some sections of the program are not finished yet, but with most of the main features working I thought that some users may want to to take an early look at it.  As with any Beta software, it is best to treat it with a little caution! However during many hours of testing here, recent builds have behaved well with no major issues.

There will be further Beta versions as bug fixes are done and extra code added. I’m expecting it to take quite some time yet before getting to Release Candidate stage.

Although the new program has a few small extra features, the main aim is to match the functions of the original. Other feature enhancements will be considered for future versions.  Another big motivation is that the new database format will also be used for the Android edition. Although progress on the stand-alone Android program has been slowed up by development of Plant Base 2, it is now working with the exact same database files.

Effective from today – see the purchase page

The price drop is a part of other business changes that I described in my previous post.

We have now installed the automated licensing system for web payments, so that new customers can get their Plant Base registration code straight after paying for it.  No more waiting for one of us to manually generate it and also reduces the need for us to arrange office cover while we are away.  The mechanism uses the standard PayPal IPN and PDT facilities, which turned out to be a be a little more complicated than first envisaged.  However it appears to be working well.

The new lower price applies to all customers – there will no longer be special discounts. We will also be treating the PC and mobile editions as separately paid products – specifically the forthcoming Android mobile edition (still in the pipeline).  However, users registered before 31st March 2012 will still be able to get it free.

From this spring there will be some some significant changes in the way that the business operates. We are moving onto a strictly part-time basis, to allow scope for other activities. The biggest impact is on the garden maintenance side of the business and other on-site visits, which will be reduced to a minimum. The other effect is that there may be lengthy periods when there is no contact cover, so from time-to-time there might be delays responding to emails.

The impact on Plant Base development is likely to be small, or possibly even beneficial. Progress will no doubt continue to be erratic, as it’s been over the last couple years, but hopefully development will have greater focus. Some trips away from the office will be specifically for research and plant photography.

There are exciting future plans for Plant Base, but of course they will only be possible if funded by sales. As office cover will be intermittent, web purchases will soon be automated. Most buyers already use the downloaded install file and then just purchase the registration code. The code will be generated from a web-form and available in minutes instead of waiting for a human written email. The web-site will no longer normally offer CDs for purchase, as there could be unacceptable delays to post them. It doesn’t mean that we will never produce and post the software on CD, just that it’s best to check on availability beforehand.

As a purchase automation spin-off, there will also be an automated email system for lost registration codes. Other additional help and information for users will be available on the web-site.

To go hand-in-hand with these efficiency savings, the price of Plant Base is being reduced to just £25.

There is no program version update to go with it, the production program for Windows remains at version 1.6.1 and the mobile edition at 1.7. The downloadable install files now use Data Release 22, as will all newly supplied CD’s. The free web database, Plant Base Online, has also been updated to the same release level.

This update adds approximately 300 new plant records and about the same number of new pictures. This isn’t a great many considering it is over year since the last update, however more importantly it also has amendments to over 500 existing plant records. Some of the amendments are quite significant, such as changes to official plant names according the most recent botanical wisdom. For example, the well known and much loved Dicentra spectablis now becomes Lamprocapnos spectabilis. There are many others.  No! -  I’m not sure that I like the name changes either, but the database attempts to follow the authorised taxonomy.

It is always difficult to decide when a database release is ready to publish, much harder than a new program version. The plant data is being updated almost continuously, so there is no clear cut-off. The actual process of preparing the release always tends to create delay, because while the database files are being reviewed, it shows up ever more plant records that I would like to improve and update. However that could easily go on forever, so in the end there has to be a rather arbitrary cut-off.

• PBO Viewer  – 1.0.6
• PBO Viewer Plus  – 1.0.5

These updates are to give much better scaling for a wide range of screen sizes. The original versions did not handle Android tablets at all well, but they should now display correctly on most 7″ and 10″ tablets.

Some minor formatting issues were also fixed and there is allowance for additional variations of phone screen resolutions, for example the  HTC Sensation with qHD 540×960 screen. The apps also work fine on Android x86 netbooks – we tested on an Acer Aspire One.

The apk files for this release have been made with the very latest version of the Basic4Android development system. This fantastic programming tool just keeps getting better!

The number of different screen size and resolution combinations for Android devices is now quite bewildering! Fortunately the Android operating system does a reasonable job of scaling for the best match, but can still result in some pretty odd looking displays. So the application needs to apply specific adjustments. I can’t say for sure that it will work on all devices, but I’ve tested on quite a lot – though mostly in emulation. Much of this work is a good stepping stone towards the full on-board database edition.

We are still not supplying any physical CD packages yet, due to holding off on getting more produced until the next release is ready. This will probably be a data update for the current version and should be out reasonably soon.

The most noticable difference is moving to a slightly wider page view, which will hopefully make them easier to read. Nearly everyone is now using larger, higher resolution screens than when the website was first written. It makes sense to take advantage of that. There are a number of other changes that are not really visible, but improve load speed and efficency.

I’m not altering the organisation of the site or page names – so all external links will still work.

As usual the pages are tested with all popular browsers, even the dreaded old IE6.

As usual, the database content has been continuously updated throughtout the year, so a revision release is on its way. As the season winds down I’m hoping there will more chance to progress with forthcoming versions. In the meantime there is still plenty to do out in the gardens and a few pennies to be earned!

Apart from the initial search form, the rest of the app is exactly the same as the basic, free, PBO Viewer. There is a small charge for the Plus edition to cover the extra time involved writing the search feature, which is quite involved. We think it represents good value though.

PBO Viewer Plus is available directly from the Android market at:
https://market.android.com/details?id=deeproot.PBOviewerPlus

The selection form is quite large with 32 criteria choices (none are mandatory!). I considered several ways to preset this, but in the came to the conclusion that it was best just to have a single scrollable page, rather than splitting by tabs or something more complicated. Comments on this are welcomed.

Obviously individual sections have been tested during development, but that doesn’t give an overall view. So I have now started to use the new program to manage updates on the real full scale database. This is a converted copy of the live “master” database and the intention is to take it forward as new master (subject to extensive checking, naturally!). So in effect, all new and updated plant data and pictures are now being enter with Plant Base 2.

This test phase has already revealed a number of minor issues, but otherwise things are looking good so far! All “core” functions are present, but there are still quite few sections missing. So it will be quite some time before live release, but hopefully a public Beta test version is not too far away.