BrAPI (Breeding API)

Overview

BrAPI is an application programming interface for plant breeding. It allows Field Book to directly communicate with compatible databases to import fields and traits and export collected data. This eliminates the need to manually transfer files and enables Field Book to offer more sophisticated features including field and trait metadata and data syncing.

Setup

BrAPI can be set up in the BrAPI Settings. To use BrAPI, set the base URL to the URL of a valid BrAPI server and authorize it. Once authorized, Field Book will be able to communicate with the server to import fields and traits and export data.

Brapi url authorization — Example BrAPI URL authorization.

Import fields

BrAPI field import screen — The BrAPI field import process.

To import a field using BrAPI, press in the top toolbar, select BrAPI as the source, and press the ‘Load Fields’ button

Field Book will import a list of possible fields (known as studies in the BrAPI standard) from the BrAPI Base URL set in the BrAPI Settings.

Available fields can be filtered by program and trial using the menu options in the top toolbar. The list can be filtered by Observation Level using the dropdown below the server URL.

If the returned list of fields contains more than a single page, the ‘Next’ button will advance to the next page. Once a field has been selected, the field structure can be previewed by pressing the ‘Preview Field’ button

Previewed fields are imported by pressing the ‘Save’ button. Only fields that have been imported via BrAPI can be exported to BrAPI servers.

Import traits

Depending on the BrAPI server, fields may have linked traits that are imported with the field. Additional traits can be imported via BrAPI by selecting import from the Traits menu, then selecting BrAPI.

BrAPI trait import screen — The BrAPI trait import process.

Field Book will import a list of possible traits (known as observationVariables in the BrAPI standard) from the BrAPI Base URL set in the BrAPI Settings.

Traits are selected and then imported by pressing the Save Traits button. Traits can be imported individually or in groups.

Field Book will report Selected traits saved successfully, and return to the traits screen with the imported traits selected.

Export data

Once data has been collected it can be exported via BrAPI by pressing Export and selecting BrAPI from the Export Data options.

Before the export is finalized, Field Book will display a summary of BrAPI Export statistics. These include a breakdown of the number of new vs synced(imported) vs edited observations, as well as skipped observations. The same statistics are displayed for images.

BrAPI export process — The BrAPI data export process.

Pressing the ‘Export’ uploads the observations to the external BrAPI database.