Summary
390R was a tie-up with no core recovered. The focus of this tie-up was to ensure the Core Description position was well documented in preparation of this technician leaving, training others on DESClogik, and contributing to GEODESC. Instruments and software were used minimally with no issues to report.
Issues and Updates
DESClogik
Current version: 16.2.0.0
No issues or updates to report. DESClogik was used for testing purposes only to familiarize other technicians with the process of creating and editing templates. As a part of the training. several value lists and sublists were updated and uploaded into value list manager. Value lists and sublists from X384 will be uploaded in Value List Manager to replace them as the most current lists. 'Test' expedition folders have been deleted off of IODP_Share. The macro 'Value List Builder' code was updated to account for recent changes in the server directories.
Thin Section Report Builder
Was not used and no issues or updates to report.
SEM
QAQC images of the reference mesh were taken and put into Confluence. No issues or updates to report. Tif images can no longer be uploaded to Confluence. To upload SEM images to Confluence open and save the images as .jpg. Unclear when this became an issue and is not related to image file size (our .tif images are ~1.3MB).
Paleontology Wet Lab
No issues or updates to report.
User Guides
A new user guide for DESClogik was created that walks technicians through the process of creating and editing templates. The intent is to assist technicians with DESClogik until the replacement description software, GEODESC, is ready to be used. At this time the expected date for GEODESC is the end of 2021.
GEODESC
Development and testing are both underway, with the primary focus being Template Manager and Data Capture. Over the winter break, shipboard technicians had panel reviews to gather new user feedback on applications and developed a list of suggestions for improvements. There are now TM and DC Change Request sheets on Zoho, where users can request a change, the request is discussed by the group and assigned a priority level. The group is hoping to start gathering external user feedback around June/July 2021, although details are still being worked out.
Screen Resolution and size for Core Description and Microscope computers given to James and Algie to aid in optimizing screen layout for larger monitors.
Template Manager
Test plan was updated to reflect specification changes and application behavior. Changes were made in the following tabs: Project Template, Copy Catalog Template, Edit Template, General Template Settings, Add General Observable, Entry Controls, Edit Entry Validation List, Numeric, and Formula. A few new tests were added to test newly developed features. All communication in slack was done using the message groups that included both description technicians. Specification and behavior changes have been recorded in Slack by Peter Blum.
A few notable template additions include: taxa and taxa-like columns with entry types of numeric, formula and text, and validation lists for taxa and taxa-like columns have been requested from Algie
A few notable specification changes include: The addition of another radio button 'Column' Display and selecting 'Edit' for the three display buttons take you to the same page, double click on a project template will open the Edit Template page, buttons will change from 'Keep Changes' and 'Return' to 'Save' and 'Cancel', selecting 'Save' on certain pages will take user back to the previous page,
It is recommended to look at the TM Change Request Spreadsheet in Zoho and slack communication between James and James/Peter to get a thorough grasp on all changes.
Shipments
No shipments were received for core description