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feat: improve schema descriptions#8075

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issue-8074
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feat: improve schema descriptions#8075
grantfitzsimmons wants to merge 3 commits into
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issue-8074

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@grantfitzsimmons grantfitzsimmons commented May 12, 2026

Fixes #8074

This PR is simple. It updates the default schema localization file to populate more useful and accurate table descriptions into the schema for new databases & disciplines!

See https://discourse.specifysoftware.org/t/specify-table-names-and-descriptions/3609

Checklist

  • Self-review the PR after opening it to make sure the changes look good and
    self-explanatory (or properly documented)
  • Add relevant issue to release milestone

Testing instructions

  • Add a new discipline to the database
    • Verify that the new table descriptions are present in the Schema Config
  • Create a brand new database
    • Verify that the new table descriptions are present in the Schema Config

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@grantfitzsimmons grantfitzsimmons marked this pull request as ready for review May 13, 2026 03:33
@grantfitzsimmons grantfitzsimmons requested review from a team May 20, 2026 21:07
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@bhumikaguptaa bhumikaguptaa left a comment

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  • Add a new discipline to the database
    • Verify that the new table descriptions are present in the Schema Config
  • Create a brand new database
    • Verify that the new table descriptions are present in the Schema Config

Works as expected, was able to see all the table descriptions.

@bhumikaguptaa bhumikaguptaa requested a review from a team May 21, 2026 15:25
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@emenslin emenslin left a comment

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  • Add a new discipline to the database
    • Verify that the new table descriptions are present in the Schema Config
  • Create a brand new database
    • Verify that the new table descriptions are present in the Schema Config

Checked both with adding a new discipline and creating a new database and both had the same issues, I didn't check every table but I checked several and this is what I noticed. I'm not sure if any of these are worth delaying merging but since there are a lot that are different I figured I'd request changes.

  • Absolute Age, Component, Collection Object Type, Taxon Attribute, and Tectonic Unit don't have a description. Absolute Age Attachment and Citation, all Relative Age tables, and all other geo related Collection Object tables all contain descriptions.

Several other descriptions don't match the what is said in the table names and descriptions document (https://discourse.specifysoftware.org/t/specify-table-names-and-descriptions/3609)

Geography in specify

  • "Represents political boundary (Country, State, County, Township, etc.)."

Geography in the table description document

  • "Hierarchical tree representing political boundaries (Country, State, Province, County, Township, etc.). Used to classify localities and agent collecting regions."

Storage in specify

  • "A tree data structure for describing where Collection Objects are physically stored."

Storage in table description document

  • Hierarchical tree representing the physical storage locations in the collection (e.g., Building > Room > Cabinet > Drawer > Tray). Used to track where Preparations are physically housed."

Taxon in specify

  • "Describes the taxonomy of a Determination."

Taxon in table description document

  • "Hierarchical tree representing the taxonomic classification of organisms (Kingdom > Phylum > Class > Order > Family > Genus > Species). Used for determinations and organizing collection objects."

@github-project-automation github-project-automation Bot moved this from 📋Back Log to Dev Attention Needed in General Tester Board May 21, 2026
@grantfitzsimmons grantfitzsimmons requested review from a team and emenslin May 21, 2026 17:51
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@Iwantexpresso Iwantexpresso left a comment

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  • Add a new discipline to the database
    • Verify that the new table descriptions are present in the Schema Config
  • Create a brand new database
    • Verify that the new table descriptions are present in the Schema Config

jus checked the newest implementation and didn't find any issues with the descriptions I looked at. Nice work!

@Iwantexpresso Iwantexpresso requested a review from a team May 21, 2026 21:42
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Improve table and field descriptions

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