A new update of Plant Base has been released today and available on the Download page. This is for desktop/laptop editions – Windows, MacOS and Linux.
Primarily a maintenance release with the main objective of cleaning up and optimising some of the code. It also improves synchonisation between OS editions where a few sections had got out of step. The changes result in some improvement in run-time efficiency but the end-user will be very unlikely to notice any difference!
It is another maintenance update with a few small bug fixes plus some other little changes.
On the Plant List Details tab, the records can now be sorted by almost any of the fields (all except the GPS co-ords). This can be useful when doing project planning and was requested by several users.
There is also an enhancement to the local language selection, which has an additional option to replace common data records with translations, that is for things like colour names and plant types. It’s important to understand that this updates the database, so “power” users who make a lot of changes might need to consider this. Just like the text translation files, these new common data translation files can be created or amended by end-users – information is in the Help.
The Linux edition is now at Beta 11 and a free life-time licence is still available on request. This version has a few tweaks to the user interface to improve appearance for some desktop environments and themes. Certainly will not be perfect on every system, but looks very good on many! The more traditional DE’s such as Xcfe, MATE and Cinnamon tend to give the best appearance out of the box, but it’s often worth experimenting with the theme settings.
A revision of the plant data is included, bringing the database release to 31. There are some new plant records and pictures along with a large number of updates. Many of these are for plant name changes and plant family classifications. Some familiar plants now have different names – please don’t blame us for these, we are just trying to follow the main taxonomic authorities who make changes according to the latest scientific research (there are even more in the pipeline!). Of course we always include the older names as synonyms, so they can still be found in the database!
We recommend that all existing users update the new program version – easy, quick and safe. Loading the new database files is an optional choice, as usual all recent database releases are compatible with all program versions. Instructions to merge personal data are in the support section of the website.
This is only a minor maintenance update with a few small bug fixes and other minor changes. For the Windows edition this includes support for the recently released update of Extra Keys.
However, there is one significant addition which is a new UI language option for Swedish. This excellent contribution was made Plant Base user Kenneth Williams and I’m very happy to include it in this release.
The Linux edition is now at Beta 10 and a free life-time licence is still available on request.
There is no change to the plant data at this time, it’s the same as the last two versions – but work on the next database release is in progress!
It is essentially a maintenance release with some bug fixes plus a few small changes for the user interface.
It also includes updated plant database files, data release 30, which has some new plant records and pictures as well as many amendments to existing records. A lot of these are due to more plant name changes and reclassifications from the taxonomy authorities such as the RHS and Kew. Some of the name changes are quite controversial and maybe not welcomed by traditional gardeners. For example rosemary is now a Salvia rather than Rosmarinus. However, they do have a scientic basis and I guess that we will all have to get used to them! In all cases the previous names are kept in the database as synonyms.
For existing users updating the program version is, as always, very quick and easy. To update the database files please follow the instructions on the website and in the Help file.
For all editions, Windows, Mac and Linux, there are a number of bug fixes. For that reason I would recommend that all users update the program. It’s quick and easy and does not need to have any effect on the database.
There is also an updated database release – 29. Existing users can choose whether to update now, or later, or stay with their existing data. It has some new plant records and pictures, but yet again most amendments are due to plant name and classification changes.
There is an additional function that enables selecting plants from within an existing Plant List. This can be quite a handy thing for anyone who uses Lists extensively. It’s implemented only by a simple extra drop-down box on the Select Plant tab. The List used for a search is complete;y independent from the current active Plant List – this is important because it enables plants from the search result of one List to be easily added to a different List.
For the Mac edition there are two other significant changes. The normal application is now a 64-bit build. This is a requirement for the latest versions of MacOS. An equivalent 32-build is still available and included in the install files. User with old hardware may need this, specifically models with “Core Solo” or “Core Duo” processors. Also other elderly machines with limited RAM may be better running the 32-bit app. The other big change is that a separate folder to hold the application files is no longer needed. All the help and language files are now contained within the PlantBase.app package bundle. This makes it more like other typical Mac applications.
For the Linux edition, which has by far the newest program code, there have been numerous extra bug fixes and small user interface improvements. As for Windows and Mac it is available in both 64-bit and 32-bit form. While I still regard the Linux edition as a Beta test release, it has been running very well on my own systems. It is certainly equivalent to the Windows and Mac programs, with which much of the code is shared. Due to the huge number of different Linux distributions and desktop environment, it’s impossible to ensure running on all variations. Distros based on Debian, such as MX, Mint and Ubuntu, should be no problem and I’m hoping to find time to test on others.
I’m pleased to say that the application installed and ran with no problems whatsoever. His system was already enabled to allow installation of non-store applications, so after downloading the standard .dmg file, Plant Base was up and running in a couple of minutes. No fuss and everything worked correctly.
Unfortunately no amount of testing can guarantee problem-free running on every system as there are innumerable possible variations of end-user’s hardware and configuration. But this test does give good verification that in principle the Plant Base program will execute on most Mac systems, right up to the latest releases.
The current standard Plant Base for Mac is a 32-bit application. In the near future Apple intend to end support for 32-bit. A 64-bit edition of the Plant Base program already exists but is not on general release yet due to the limited ability of in-house testing. It’s available on request and we are looking at providing it for normal download.
This is mostly another maintenance release with some bug fixes. There are also a couple of additional new features.
The plant list data details tab now has a choice of two different view types – either the original “grid” view, which is unchanged, or a single record view. For the single record view, the list records can be navigated sequentially in the same way as the main plant record. This view is also used to enter or edit the data fields, replacing the previous separate pop-up window.
A new choice under the File menu provides a simple function to create and save copies of the current database files. This is just a quick and convenient way to make backup files or save copies in a chosen location as preparation for transferring to another system.
There are also a number of minor fixes and adjustments for the user interface.
Along with the program version is a new release of the plant database, number 28. There are a few new plants and pictures, although not a great many. However, there have been quite a lot of amendments and corrections to existing records. Some plants have had the inevitable name changes and re-classification since the last release of the database, so they have been included whenever I’ve noticed them in reference material.
There is not yet a new release of the plant database to go with it, so it’s only the program part. As usual, updating the plant data has been happening continuously but is not significant enough to justify issuing yet – so that will come later on.
The most noticeable change to the program is only a small thing, which is the addition of a roll-up/roll down button for the select plants tab. This quickly makes more space for viewing the results of a plant selection. The biggest change is less noticeable, but might be important for those users who need to switch between separate copies of the database files. The method for opening database files has had a big overhaul and is now simpler and quicker to use.
Possibly the most important aspect of this version is that it has been the basis for the very first complete program for Linux systems – more about this shortly!
This is essentially another maintenance release and there are no really big changes. It does contain some important bug fixes, so it is a recommended update for all existing users.
A handy small feature has been added – searches on the Plant Selector form are now remembered as a history. The criteria for the previous 200 searches are stored and can be retrieved by date and time, or just scanning back through.
There are also a few other minor changes to the program and a new release of the database is included – we are now on Release 27.
For new users, the trial period has been extended to 20 days.
For Mac users who run Plant Base from the normal Applications folder, the configuration settings file, PlantBase.prefs, has be relocated to the ~/Library/Application Support folder. Hopefully this will avoid any confusions with Mac’s plist files in the previously used Preferences folder. Our testing for the MacOS edition is much more limited than for Windows as we only have one machine. That system must necessarily remain on an old release of the operating system, so we cannot test on later ones.
Testing for the Windows edition has been done on XP, Windows 7, 8.1 and 10.
Preliminary testing has gone well. However, please remember that this is essentially a new program for the Mac operating system and there will be further development, bug fixes and so on.
It appears there are not many choices of real plant databases for Mac, so we hope this edition will give users an additional option. Note that Plant Base is a fully native OSX application and is a stand-alone product that requires no additional software or expenditure.
An important principle is that the data files are totally compatible with the Windows edition. They can simply be copied between machines, in either direction. We have now tested this many times with no problems at all. It will also be true of the Android and Linux native editions, currently under development.
Installation is straightforward – please see the README file included in the dmg.
There is a full product installation available for download and also a small “application only” update file for existing users who installed an earlier Beta release. The last version can always be found on our Downloads page
The license terms are exactly the same as the Windows edition. Existing Plant Base users can use their original registration code, it covers both editions. New users can run as a trial for 15 days and permanent licenses may be purchased on the website in the normal way.