I’m considering to import my soil samples, and interpret them so the pH etc is entered as multiple quantities in a (soil) test log.
Planning on taking soil samples with GPS coordinates and tag them to a map.
And maybe use the quantities for something later.
Is there a “best practice” for this?
Multiple test logs assigned to the field?
I found this rather old topic Add individual fields for specific soil test measurements discussing quantities. Thats about what I wanted to do.
Added the tests to a field, and pinned them all to their location in the field.
It came out pretty nice I think.
@mstenta, do you know a way to view all the soil tests in the field on one single map?
And a quantity question : I used no unit for these quantities. Just a label.
I presume that’s troublefree?
There is probably a better answer but…
Have you currently saved all of the locations as points? like POINT(SampleLat SampleLong)? you could create one more log for locations with all of the locations saved separated by comma’s and call it something like “Sample Map”? You could even draw your “walk” pattern between the samples then?
Ah ha! @pat check out this: Documenting conventions
Soil test data is actually the first example convention documentation I started drafting up. Take a look at this specifically: farmOS-conventions/index.md at wip · mstenta/farmOS-conventions · GitHub
Not yet, but we’ve talked about that more generally. For example: being able to view logs of ANY type on a map, with filters…
Yep troublefree! Take a look at my proposed convention doc linked above for more detailed thoughts on soil test quantities.
I generally record the sample points in the Lab Test log itself. That’s what I described in the convention. That combined with a “Log map” option would provide some nice capabilities IMO.
Do you record all of the samples in a single log then?
or how do you end up with a map containing all samples?
Here is an example of the walk paths of samples taken on my own farm with multiple samples taken along each path
edit:
OK, reading your convention doc it looks like multiple samples per log but then how would one know which point is which sample, maybe the ability to label the points would improve it?
No I follow the rule of “one log per bag of dirt”. So if you take samples from a few points, mix it together, and send that to the lab, that’s one log.
I don’t currently, but that’s what I would love to think about making possible more generally with something like:
For example: being able to view logs of ANY type on a map, with filters…
Imagine going to a land asset, clicking the Logs tab, and seeing a map that shows all log geometries, similar to how all asset geometries are displayed in places like /assets/land.
Ah yes, that is more or less what I was trying to achieve with one additional log just to produce that map, it could be achieved by collecting all of the GPS points from a group of logs and combing them in a singe “Map log” (as a work around at least till something better comes along). Points could be manually extracted from each log, but I’m sure something more automatic could be achieved too with a little code provided by a module or even using an external script via the API
Oh… suddenly a lot to read. Thanks. 
I’ll comment later on.
This was actually very useful info.
These things are good to know, and helps building a structure compatible with new features that may surface some day. The developer has better understanding of this than the user.
So this was a great “Best practice”. 
Not a bad idea. Doable, and still maintains the test logs in a way that makes sense if new features are added.
I like this idea. And it could make sense in a lot of use cases.
In the meantime, I’ll stick to a log pr bag of dirt, and one log to rule them all.
A bit jealous about your map @Farmer-Ed. This can’t be standard Farmier functionality?
Just to clarify these are not farmOS maps, they were generated by a sampling service who did the entire operation from gathering the samples to analyzing and producing a report. They obviously use maps based on open street map too. But it would be nice for farmOS to display individual layers to represent NPK pH Mg Ca etc.
I have dabbled a bit with custom layers, but that’s obviously not an option with Farmier.
Ah. I see. Just a picture then. But that works too.
