LOCATIONS_B (spatial LOCATIONS from B records)

Contains one row for each moment in time the spatial location of a follow’s focal was recorded; even when there is no other information on the follow – when there is no WATCHES record typed as a follow for the focal on the given day. To support recording spatial information when there is no follow information there are columns in this table for the Focal and the follow Date.

There must either be a related follow row or there must be information in the Focal and Date columns, but there cannot be both. This means the the following rules are enforced: Focal must not be NULL when WID is NULL, and vice-versa. Date must not be NULL when WID is NULL, and vice-versa. Date must be NULL when Focal is NULL, otherwise Date must not be NULL.

Further, follow information can be recorded in only one of SokweDB’s tables, in one row. This means that there cannot be a row on WATCHES with focal and date values that match a LOCATIONS_B row’s focal and date values. (This condition is checked on transaction commit.)

Any given follow can locate the focal in only one place at any given time.[1] This means two things. The combination of Focal, Date, and Time must be unique. And, the combination of WID and Time must be unique.

The system will generate a warning when there is no related follow, when the WID column is NULL.

The Date must be during a period when the focal individual was under study, on or after the focal’s BIOGRAPHY_DATA.EntryDate and on or before the focal’s BIOGRAPHY_DATA.DepartDate.

The time of the spatial recording should occur when the focal was under observation. The system will generate a warning when a LOCATIONS_B row does not have a ARRIVALS related row that records the presence of the focal at the time the spatial observation occurred. This means that a warning will be generated when there is a non-NULL WID value, but there is no related EVENTS row where the Behavior code is ARR and the EVENTS.Start value is less than or equal to the Time value and the EVENTS.Stop value is greater than or equal to the Time value, and the event has a related ROLES row where the ROLES.Participant has the same value as the Focal column.

Any given spatial location is recorded in more than one column. The data contained in these columns must be consistent. This means the following 2 conditions must be met. Y must be NULL when X is NULL, otherwise Y must not be NULL. If MapSeq is NULL then MetersToNextMapSeq must also be NULL.

LBID (spatial Location B-record ID)

A unique, automatically generated, positive integer which serves to identify the row. The value of this column cannot be changed. This column may not be NULL.

WID (Watch period ID)

The WATCHES.WID that identifies the follow during which the spatial position of the focal was recorded. This column must be NULL when there is no information on the follow other than the recorded spatial placement of the focal.

Focal (Focal animal id)

The BIOGRAPHY_DATA.AnimID identifying the focal individual. This column must be NULL when there is a related WATCHES row.

Date

The date the follow was conducted. This date may not be before 1960-07-14. This column must be NULL when there is a related WATCHES row.

Time

The time the follow was conducted. The value of this column cannot be before 4:00 or after 20:00.

X (X utm coordinate)

The X coodinate of the (UTM WGS84 encoded) location. An integer beween 79246 and 9486544, inclusive. This value may be NULL when the location was recorded in map traversal sequences.

Y (Y utm coordinate)

The Y coodinate of the (UTM WGS84 encoded) location. An integer beween 791268 and 9503828 inclusive. This value may be NULL when the location was recorded in map traversal sequences.

Elevation

The elevation of the location, in meters. An integer beween sdb_min_elevation_utm and sdb_max_elevation_utm inclusive. This value may be NULL when the location was recorded in map traversal sequences.

MapSeq

The number of the map where the focal was located, where maps are numbered sequentially within the series of maps traversed during the follow. This value may be NULL when the location was not recorded in map traversal sequences.

MetersToNextMapSeq

The number of meters to the next map sequence number within the follow. This number was calculated in various ways over time.

This column may not contain a negative value. This value may be NULL when the location was not recorded in map traversal sequences.

CommID

A code for the community the observers are associated with and intended to follow; the COMM_IDS.CommID of the community. This is not necessarily the community the focal is a member of, although it usually is. This column may not be NULL.

FollowNum

A text string used for checking. This column may be empty text. It need not contain characters, but it may not contain only whitespace characters. This column may not be NULL.

Origin

A code indicating the source of the location information. A LOCATION_ORIGINS.ID value. This column may not be NULL.

Notes

Free form textual notes on the focal’s spatial placement. This column may be empty text. It need not contain characters, but it may not contain only whitespace characters. This column may not be NULL.

Entered

The person who recorded the location. A PEOPLE.Person value. This column may not be NULL.

Footnotes

[1]

With the caveat that any one row in LOCATIONS_B has two ways to record a focal’s location, by map sequence number and by UTM coordinates. These two values are not required to be in-sync.

Page last generated: 2026-06-12 16:40:37 UTC