Module 2: Navigating the Workbench Dashboard (getting around the breeding station) – Breeding Planner?Learning Objectives

Gain understanding of the workbench dashboard layout Understanding and navigating the interface (similar to understanding of and navigating a

breeding station)

Module MapIntroductionExposing the Activities MenuDropdownHyperlinksTabsView ListView GermplasmButtonsSummary

IntroductionThe Workbench is the Breeding Management System (BMS) user interface, from where the user can launch all breeding tools and access associated crop databases. The workbench home page runs in a web browser and is where new programmes can be created and previously started programmes browsed and opened. However, a connection to the internet is not required to run the Workbench. It is designed to suit the breeder’s day-to-day breeding operations, ensuring coherent presentation of data from centrally shared resources, and clearly differentiating folders and items within folders.

A good understanding of the layout and operation of features will facilitate navigation and use of the different features for improved efficiency in managing a program, hence encourage adoption.

The layout comprises of clickable:o dropdown menus to show/hide menu itemso hyperlinks to open up tabbed-forms and expose additional hyperlinkso toggle menu buttons

o buttons to open up tabbed forms or expose additional clickable hidden buttons, and for performing import/export operations

Follow and complete the steps below to familiarize yourself with the workbench dashboard.

Exposing the Activities MenuPicture these as your breeding station programs and activities represented in electronic form and managed electronically.

Click the white forward arrow next to BMS icon ( ) at the top left to open/expose menu items (click it again to hide items) (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Activities menu showing the different areas of research activities at a breeding station - the grey menu items are the equivalent of activities at an example breeding station showing different buildings/plots in the picture to the right.

Dropdown menusClick on a topic, for example breeding activities (Fig. 2), to open a dropdown menu. In the expanded dropdown menu under breeding activities, is displayed all the various breeding activities that will potentially be going on at your breeding station that you will now manage electronically with BMS, as opposed to previously doing manually in field notebooks or on spreadsheets.

Figure 2. Expandable dropdown menu for additional topics.

HyperlinksClick on hyperlinked topics to open a window or a form of topics to work with, e.g. Manage List (Fig. 3) to display Manage List form, Browse/Search, to open

Und

Browse/Search for List window, Import, to open Import Germplasm window, etc. These are the equivalent of pages in your hard copy field note book, spreadsheets of maps, entry lists, or planned crosses. You may also picture this as an expanding tool box that collapses to show only the top box. When you lift the handle (click hyperlink), in this case ‘Breeding Activities’, you are able to expose the hidden topics, that is, the other boxes underneath as shown in the screenshot below.

Figure 3. Hyperlinks open up windows or forms to expose additional topics or tools.

TabsClicking on a tab of a topic will open a window to work with on that topic such as:

View Lists TabView Lists tab contains hyperlinks (Fig. 4) and clicking on it allows you to browse/search for germplasm and/or import germplasm not in the database. You may picture this as the electronic equivalent of your master seed inventory book that contains a listing of all germplasm currently at your breeding station (crop database) as well as lists of germplasm not at the station, but which can be requested (imported from template) from other sources (other breeders, plant introduction stations, germplasm expeditions, etc).

Figure 4. Tabs allow you to view additional items/topics under the main tab topic.

View GermplasmView Germplasm tab (Fig. 4) opens a form which you can use to search the database for germplasm to populate the form. Similar to View List tab, picture this as the electronic inventory that contains a listing of all germplasm currently at a public germplasm center. You can do exact match only searches, include parents or search public data. You, the breeder, know what germplasm you have in your station’s collection - lines only, both parents, one parent, introductions from different sources, etc. A new hire is not as familiar but can search the cabinets and look inside files, books, record cards, etc., for this information - done electronically here.

ButtonsClick on a button (Fig. 5) to display menu items, open a form, initiate an activity (such as search, save, cancel, select, close, etc.).

Figure 5. Buttons initiate activity, expose more menu items, or open forms for completing tasks.

Example buttons are List Builder, Actions, Save, Reset as shown in screenshot above. Consider list builder as the equivalent of manually writing in notebook pages to make a new list of germplasm to grow out for observation and crossing, or of selected lines after analyzing data from an evaluation trial. The Actions buttons contain features that electronically allow you to more quickly/easily prepare, modify your list, modify notebook pages, or spreadsheets, by adding/removing items from the list, for example and viewing different pages/sheets at the same time (as compared to doing these activities by hand opening pages back and forth, adding or erasing to modify lists, etc.).

SummaryYou, a new hire, have been introduced by the station breeder/manager to the layout of the station regarding breeding programs, activities, and resources (germplasm, documents, field plots, etc.). You were also given a general guide on how to access documents, germplasm and field plots, and a demonstration on how to navigate the BMS workbench dashboard.

Now that you are familiar with everything about the station, your task is to start a new breeding program for a crop (sorghum) for which the available germplasm was only being maintained at the station through initial growing and rogueing and occasional

grow-outs to ensure purity and viability. You will now use BMS to carry out the details of the breeding pipeline as outline below and detailed in the modules that follow:

o adding a new program, o creating germplasm list, o importing lists, o making and managing crosses, o designing and managing nurseries, o designing and managing trials, o analyzing data from single site trialso analyzing data from multiple location trials

These activities will all contribute to your ability to make decisions on which populations/lines to select for further advancing, wide scale testing, and release as new cultivars/inbreds depending on the stage of the program. The goal is for you to reinforce your knowledge of breeding pipeline activities covered in content modules while learning to become an expert in the use of the BMS.