The bulk prices column is left blank because that information is not given.

As a supplier the most direct way you can help this project is to supply your seed information for us to include in the database. If you do that you can further be of huge assistance by putting your information into a form close to what is needed for loading into the database. A fair amount of detail follows so it's important not to be put off by it. The most important point to remember in making you seed data easy to load into the database is to be completely regular in the way you type it in. Try to do each seed entry in exactly the same way. This means the same fonts, the same capitalisation, the same spacing, the same tabbing , etc. Make sure your seed entries are clearly separated from each other. For instance at least one blank line could be put between separate entries so long as there are no blank lines within an entry. If some category of information is only available for some seeds then leave a place holder for those seeds where it is missing. For example some people might like to put the latin name in parentheses following the common name. If the latin name is unknown for a particular seed then still put the parentheses following the common name but leave them empty.

There is no one right way to format the information and it's not expected to be perfect. Any effort made towards regularising the seed data can be of help. Some more detailed instructions and examples follow.

To actually load the data into the database the information is first put into a plain text file (usually with file extension .txt) in "comma separated values" (CSV) format. Since the data is ultimately put into plain text format it might be best to prepare the data in plain text format. This means that if, for example, MS Word is used to type the data in, that it would be best to open up a plain text file with file extension ".txt". After typing the data in the plain text file can be saved in MS Word's proprietary ".doc" format if it is desired to style it more elaborately than a plain text file allows. The plain text version would be submitted for loading into the database.

In the comma separated values format each seed entry is entered on one line. This means the line is allowed to wrap if it is very long, but no line breaks are put in, and if the editor or word processor automatically puts in line breaks they have to be removed. In each line the categories of information are separated by "commas". In reality the separator character can be any convenient character on the keyboard but must not be a character that appears anywhere in the data being entered. This means the comma is not likely to be a good character to use since it will likely appear in the description. I find the vertical bar "|", usually on the upper right of the keyboard on the same key as the backslash "\", is good to use as the separator because it rarely appears in normal writing. Here's the example from above written in comma separated values format:

vegetable|bean|phaseolus vulgaris|Blue Lake|Top Notch Organics|A very nice pole bean.|certified organic|25g|90|$3.00||90%|5-10days

Note that this should be one long line but that the browser you're viewing this page with will likely put in a line break so that it appears on two lines. Also note the 2 vertical bars in a row. They indicate the missing "bulk prices" category. Here's another example but with more missing information:

And here's the same example in "comma" separated values format:

vegetable|bean||Blue Lake|Top Notch Organics|A very nice pole bean.||||$3.00|||

If there are categories never used in your data then they can just be omitted. For example if only the 6 categories used in the previous example ever appear in your data then the previous example can be written as:

vegetable|bean|Blue Lake|Top Notch Organics|A very nice pole bean.|$3.00

Here's an ad hoc format that would be easy to convert automatically to the CSV format:

---------------------
vegetable
bean
phaseolus vulgaris
Blue Lake
Top Notch Organics
A very nice pole bean.
certified organic
25g
90
$3.00

90%
5-10days
----------------------

Here each seed entry is separated by a sequence of hyphens. The exact number is not important, just more than one is enough if a sequence of 2 hyphens doesn't appear in your data. Each category appears on one line with a blank line indicating missing information.

Since some information is repeated a lot, like the general category "vegetable", you might want to adopt a format that avoids retyping that same information over and over. For instance you could do something like this:

Here the common information "vegetable" is entered and all entries fitting into the "vegetable" category are indented. This is just an example of what is meant by completely regular. This approach could be further developed by picking out the common "bean" category and then doubly indenting all following "vegetable"+"bean" entries.

One conceptually easy way to enter your data in a database friendly way would be to use a spreadsheet program. The spreadsheet corresponds closely to the way data is arranged in tables in the database. Simply set up your spreadsheet with the columns labeled with the categories and enter the data in the cells. Spreadsheets have autofil functions so entering repeated data is easy. Once the data is entered in the spreadsheet it can be exported in a CSV format.

Those who are technically inclined might be interested to know that an ad hoc textual format submitted for inclusion will probably first be converted to "xml" format. Xml is closely related to the html format in which this page is written in and is particularly good for manipulation by computers and displaying and exchange on the web. The previous example looks like this in xml:

<seed>
<general-category>vegetable</general-category>
<generic-common-name>bean</generic-common-name>
<generic-latin-name>phaseolus vulgaris</generic-latin-name>
<cultivar-variety>Blue Lake</cultivar-variety>
<supplier>Top Notch Organics</supplier>
<description>A very nice pole bean.</description>
<certification-status>certified organic</certification-status>
<package-size-weight>25g</package-size-weight>
<package-size-count>90</package-size-count>
<price>$3.00</price>
<bulk-prices></bulk-prices>
<quantities-available></quantities-available>
<germination-rate></germination-rate>
<germination-time></germination-time>
</seed>

Here information is put inside element tags like this:
<element-name>information</element-name>
The format is hierarchical with each seed entry being enclosed with seed tags and then further the information for the individual seed entry being further categorized.

Another method for loading your data would be via on on-line web form, e.g.

This form is not functional but can easily be made so. An on-line system for editing your data could also be set up.

If you are inclined to participate in this project it might be best to just send your data in whatever form you already have it and let me (Arthur Ralfs) take a look at it. If you want to help put it into a more congenial form for loading into the database I can make some suggestions based on how your data is currently formatted and your current skills and tools available.

One issue that might have occurred to you is that making your information nicely formatted for the database would essentially involve typing up your data twice, once for database inclusion and another time for your catalogue. However this is probably not the case. If I have your data in, say, xml format, then it is relatively easy for me to reformat it. For instance suppose you make up your catalogue in MS Word and include some nice visual formatting. If I have your data in xml format I could probably format it as a text file so that it could be imported into MS Word and already be most of the way to being formatted the way you want it. Ideally your information would be entered just once in a format which would allow generating your catalogue, database input, website, and any other format you use your information in, automatically from that one source.