Monday, March 14, 2016

Scythebill 12.8.3 - UK names, and better world support for lat/long


Scythebill 12.8.3 is here! As always, download here, and let me know if you have any problems, either on Google+Facebook, or by email

This is largely a bug-fix release, though the specific bug is one that's lately been a thorn in the side of many of Scythebill's users.  If you write lat/long coordinates as "37.7833 -122.4167", you've been fine.  But if you write them as "37,7833 -122,4167" (with commas as decimal separators), you've likely run into any number of problems, with error dialogs, or location maps not loading, or "Search nearby" failing...  These should all be resolved, though (of course) let me know if you're still seeing problems.

Scythebill also now includes an "English (United Kingdom)" preference for IOC bird names.  When chosen, Scythebill will use names the Queen herself would approve of - Arctic Skua (not Parasitic Jaeger), Guillemot (not Common Murre), and a simple Robin, Wren, Swallow, Goldfinch, etc.  These alternate names are only available for species on the British list;  for the rest of the world, you'll have to put up with the standard IOC names.   Also, this only affects naming, not taxonomy.  So Bean Goose is still split, "Hudsonian Whimbrel" is still lumped, and so forth.

Other changes include:
  • The Western Australia checklist is now in agreement with an official one, thanks to Martin Cake.
  • A wide variety of first-country records from around the world have been added, as well as some simpler errors (like Spot-flanked Gallinule's presence in Bolivia).
  • When adding a "remembered" report, you can overwrite a report with an existing name instead of being forced to choose a different name.
  • BirdLasser imports are a bit more aggressive at merging sightings into a single "visit".
  • Scythebill gives a more informative error if saving should fail.

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