Dive Logging App

Overview

The Dive Logging App is a Shiny app that allows the user to enter cruise, dive and transect metadata, personnel and equipment configuration. The process can appear quite complex, as the intention is to create a relational structure that can be imported into the main database. By following the given process, this information can be entered with a minimum of fuss.

The application itself (source code) is hosted on a Web server, but it is intended to be deployed to field laptops and imported from there. Currently, the management functions available on this Website only work with the online version, but it is planned that database files from the field computers will be uploadable.

Usage

It is best to follow this sequence of operations to avoid causing too many headaches in the import process.

1. Visit the Dive Logging App.

Cruises

These are the cruises during which all other activities occur.

1. Click Cruise in the menu on the left.
2. Click + Add to add a new cruise. A dialog will pop up.
3. Enter the cruise name, which will already have been assigned and look something like PAC2023-001. Enter the cruise leg, which is an integer starting with 1 (the default). (Some cruises have multiple legs.) Enter an objective, summary and notes. The objective is text about the intent of the cruise, for example, where they are going, and they intend to study. The summary is written after the cruise and lists successes, failures or other notable information about it. The notes section is for additional comments.
4. Click Submit.

Personnel

These are the people who can be assigned various roles on the cruise and dives.

1. Click Personnel in the menu on the left.
2. Click + Add to add a new person (if they are not already in the list). A dialog will pop up.
3. Enter the initials, first name, last name and email address of the person. The initials are used to identify the person in other records, and must be unique.
4. Click Submit.

Equipment

This is the inventory of available equipment. If you have two identical pieces (e.g., two GoPro cameras with the same specifications) enter them separately, distinguished by serial number and short code.

1. Click Equipment list in the menu on the left.
2. Click + Add to add a new piece of equipment (if it is not already in the list). A dialog will pop up.
3. Enter the short code, brand, model, serial number and type of the equipment. The short code short, lower-case string used to identify the equipment in other records, and must be unique. The type is one of a list of types of equipment. The list is not formally defined -- look at other items to get an idea of how to label the item.
4. Click Submit.

Equipment Configurations

Equipment configurations describe the configuration of pieces of equipment used during dives. You may create a unique configuration for each dive or create a default to use on all dives (the import program will create a new copy of the default for each dive so that future edits to one dive don't affect the others).

On any given dive there will be a ship configuration, to which configurations for instruments (e.g., the ship's GPS and compass) can be attached, and a submersible or ROV configuration, to which configurations its instruments (e.g., camera, lasers and USBL) can be attached.

1. Click Equipment configurations in the menu on the left.
2. Click + Add to add a new equipment configuration. A dialog will pop up.
3. Select the type, instrument or platform.
4. Select the short code for the piece of equipment to configure.
5. Give a unique name to the configuration. One option is to name it with the cruise, leg and item, such as, "PAC2023-001_vector_default". This platform configuration could then be used for all dives on that cruise, so long as the configuration does not change.
6. Select zero or more variables and provide a value. Click the + Add button to add more. These variables are stored with the configuration to indicate properties such as the pitch and roll angles of a camera, or the linear offset of the GPS from the centre of the ship. As you add items, the _Configuration_ field will update with a JSON representation of the items. This can also be edited directly.
7. Click Submit.

Dive Configurations

Dive configurations tie the instrument and platform configurations together so that they can be assigned to specific dives.

1. Click Dive configurations in the menu on the left.
2. Click + Add to add a new dive configuration. A dialog will pop up.
3. Enter a name for the configuration. You may use a similar strategy as with the equipment configuration, using the cruise name and leg, such as, "PAC2023-001_dive_default". This configuration can be used for all dives, so long as the configuration does not change.
4. Select a ship configuration.
5. Select a sub configuration.
6. Add zero or more ship instruments -- these are equipment configurations that are to be attached to the ship.
7. Add zero or more sub instruments -- these are equipment configurations that are to be attached to the submersible.
8. Click Submit.

Dives

These are the actual dives that occur during a cruise using the equipment configured in the dive and equipment configuration sections, crewed by people added in the personnel section.

1. Click Dives in the menu on the left.
2. Click + Add to add a new dive. A dialog will pop up.
3. Select the cruise and cruise leg.
4. Enter a name for the dive. These may be numbered sequentially or be given specific names by the operators. Click the Check button to ensure that the dive name hasn't been used already on the cruise. They must be unique.
5. Select the dive configuration to use for this dive, and add the initials of one or more pilots, which can be selected from the list.
6. Enter the start and end times of the dive.
7. Click the + Add Transect to add a transect. A dialog will pop up. (Note: you can skip this step and add transects later.)
8. Add a start and end time for the transect, as well as an objective, summary and notes, if available.
9. Click Submit
10. Repeat the above steps if there are more transects.
11. Enter a site name for the dive. This should be general enough that dives in the same general area will reference the same site, though there are no specific rules. For example, one could use "Knight Inlet" rather than the numeric ID of a station within Knight Inlet.
12. Add an objective, summary and notes, if available.
13. Click Submit.

Transects

Transects occur within dives, as discrete spans of time during which the submersible is gathering data along a transect. They are optional but serve as a useful record-keeping tool. Do not omit transects if documentation is available.

1. Click Transects in the menu on the left.
2. Click + Add to add a new dive. A dialog will pop up.
3. Select the cruise, cruise leg and dive name.
4. Enter a name for the transect.
5. Enter the start and end times of the transect.
6. Click the + Add Transect to add a transect. A dialog will pop up. (Note: you can skip this step and add transects later.)
7. Add a start and end time for the transect, as well as an objective, summary and notes, if available.
8. Click Submit

Checks

The checks page is a feature that will report duplicate dives and other issues. It will be more useful for field instances of the app than the online version, which necessarily has a large number of duplicate dive names.