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JoeReal · 10-24-2006, 06:39 AM

Just give me the db structure (field names etc), and the format to export to (tab delimited, CSV, excel file, SLK, etc.) and I would send you a copy for export.

Perhaps we can proof read the database structure and othe meta data definitions, to make sure we will not omit the most important ones. Of course what is important becomes subjective, but at least we try to be as inclusive. We can then rank the various banana cultivars according to their properties or values within a datafield. This is something that I haven't found in any of the online systems out there. For example, what is the cold hardiness rankings of the known banana cultivars within the database? This kind of information, you can only filter for, but never ever find neatly arranged from any of the online sources, and that is why we needed the database to do such things as ranking based on properties and not the number of hits to keywords as all the search engines do but totally useless to the kind of results we wanted.

Here's an example of the information that I use for my personal database. Remember that one capability that I like is sorting their values, not only searching for keywords. My database is automatically indexing all the words entered so I can easily find any keyword using soundex or other algorithms faster than the local google database search engine. We code and build our own database engines that runs on our PC. So here are some of the datafields which favors my primary reasons of growing bananas here in the US:

CultivarName - the single most mentioned or accepted cultivar name
Synonyms - all the possible synonyms. Should be searchable in case you can't find the name under CultivarName, this is the field to search.
Description - the general description of the cultivar.
GeneticGroup - such as AAA, AAB, AA, ABB, etc., the parentage if known
Origin - most probable place of origin, like Himalayas, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, FHIA, etc. And history about its discovery or breeding
Usage - the primary uses of this banana and their other main usage, ie, ornamental foliage, ornamental flower, dessert, cooking, wine making, banana chips, all of the above, etc.
TropicsBloom - average number of days to maturity starting from 1 ft pup pseudostem height under tropical conditions. If this is known, I can extrapolate this into number of warm days here in the US and estimate how long it would take to bloom.
TropicsHarvest - average number of days starting from full flag leaf extrusion to harvest (when the first hands start to turn yellow) under tropical conditions. Again, this can be extrapolated into the US growing conditions by counting the number of warm days under our conditions. Together with the number of days to bloom, the overall speed can be ranked as to which are fast growing or not, and which have
MatureHeight - the average known pseudostem height when they bloom.
SurvivalZone - the lowest USDA zone that bananas can survive without extraordinary (ie greenhouse) winter protection
FruitingZone - the lowest USDA zone that bananas can bear usable edible fuits without extraordinary (ie greenhouse) winter protection
ColdHardinessGeneral - the general accepted cold hardiness zone based on review of onnline sources
ColdHardinessPers - my personal cold hardiness scoring based on actual experiences relative to other cultivars grown and also from interviews of reliable friends and colleagues about their experiences in growing the same banana in their USDA zones.
TasteDescription - general taste description and average of personal ranking by various growers
Pests - known pests of this cultivar
SDisease - known diseases that this cultivar is susceptible
RDisease - known diseases that this cultivar is resistant to
Wind - resistance to wind
Pictures - local file links to display the various pictures
ResearchNotes - all the research note compilations that are intended to be searched locally
Links - online links about this cultivar
DateAcquired - (personal use only) date when this cultivar was first acquired
Sources -(personal use only) where the cultivar was acquired, or possible listing of sources and other nurseries
Price - (personal use only) price, including shipping and handling, or cost of gasoline trip to obtain from friend
PersonalNotes - my own personal notes about this variety as it performs in my yard

10-24-2006, 06:39 AM	#11 (permalink)
JoeReal Senior Member JoeReal's Photo Gallery Location: Davis, California USDA zone 9 Find me on the map! Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 905 BananaBucks : 16,703 Feedback: 1 / 100% Thanks: 19 Thanked 124 Times in 85 Posts Welcomes: 2	Re: Banana database at bananas.org? Just give me the db structure (field names etc), and the format to export to (tab delimited, CSV, excel file, SLK, etc.) and I would send you a copy for export. Perhaps we can proof read the database structure and othe meta data definitions, to make sure we will not omit the most important ones. Of course what is important becomes subjective, but at least we try to be as inclusive. We can then rank the various banana cultivars according to their properties or values within a datafield. This is something that I haven't found in any of the online systems out there. For example, what is the cold hardiness rankings of the known banana cultivars within the database? This kind of information, you can only filter for, but never ever find neatly arranged from any of the online sources, and that is why we needed the database to do such things as ranking based on properties and not the number of hits to keywords as all the search engines do but totally useless to the kind of results we wanted. Here's an example of the information that I use for my personal database. Remember that one capability that I like is sorting their values, not only searching for keywords. My database is automatically indexing all the words entered so I can easily find any keyword using soundex or other algorithms faster than the local google database search engine. We code and build our own database engines that runs on our PC. So here are some of the datafields which favors my primary reasons of growing bananas here in the US: CultivarName - the single most mentioned or accepted cultivar name Synonyms - all the possible synonyms. Should be searchable in case you can't find the name under CultivarName, this is the field to search. Description - the general description of the cultivar. GeneticGroup - such as AAA, AAB, AA, ABB, etc., the parentage if known Origin - most probable place of origin, like Himalayas, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, FHIA, etc. And history about its discovery or breeding Usage - the primary uses of this banana and their other main usage, ie, ornamental foliage, ornamental flower, dessert, cooking, wine making, banana chips, all of the above, etc. TropicsBloom - average number of days to maturity starting from 1 ft pup pseudostem height under tropical conditions. If this is known, I can extrapolate this into number of warm days here in the US and estimate how long it would take to bloom. TropicsHarvest - average number of days starting from full flag leaf extrusion to harvest (when the first hands start to turn yellow) under tropical conditions. Again, this can be extrapolated into the US growing conditions by counting the number of warm days under our conditions. Together with the number of days to bloom, the overall speed can be ranked as to which are fast growing or not, and which have MatureHeight - the average known pseudostem height when they bloom. SurvivalZone - the lowest USDA zone that bananas can survive without extraordinary (ie greenhouse) winter protection FruitingZone - the lowest USDA zone that bananas can bear usable edible fuits without extraordinary (ie greenhouse) winter protection ColdHardinessGeneral - the general accepted cold hardiness zone based on review of onnline sources ColdHardinessPers - my personal cold hardiness scoring based on actual experiences relative to other cultivars grown and also from interviews of reliable friends and colleagues about their experiences in growing the same banana in their USDA zones. TasteDescription - general taste description and average of personal ranking by various growers Pests - known pests of this cultivar SDisease - known diseases that this cultivar is susceptible RDisease - known diseases that this cultivar is resistant to Wind - resistance to wind Pictures - local file links to display the various pictures ResearchNotes - all the research note compilations that are intended to be searched locally Links - online links about this cultivar DateAcquired - (personal use only) date when this cultivar was first acquired Sources -(personal use only) where the cultivar was acquired, or possible listing of sources and other nurseries Price - (personal use only) price, including shipping and handling, or cost of gasoline trip to obtain from friend PersonalNotes - my own personal notes about this variety as it performs in my yard Last edited by JoeReal : 10-24-2006 at 06:48 AM.