Tag status-- logic for dead saplings

[lizmatthews03]

For dead saplings (any category, e.g., dead fallen, dead standing, etc), the tag status should be Retired in Office. Should we make this update automatic in Db?

[johnpauls]

I have been thinking that maybe part of the problem is that our Tag Status is mixing 2 different things:

1) How should the database treat the tag - Tree, Sapling or Retired 2) Where is the tag located : Field, Office, Missing

If these were separate, then any dead sapling or shrub could automatically have a Retired status and the Location could be updated later on rainy days - if the tag is in the office then "Office" else "Missing". This could be a task similar to processing field photos.

For Dead Fallen trees - automatically put "Retired" and "Field" but if someone brings back a tag or realizes one is missing, it could be changed when the sapling tags are updated.

If we do this all of our current "Retired" sapling and shrub tags could be listed as missing, and as time permits we or the field crew could work through the tags in the office and change them to an "office" location.

I think this way we could separate the confusion around where a tag is from how the database should treat the tag. However this is likely not a small project, so it may not be worth the effort.

[blcampbell]

This ties into #10 and with it can help clarify needed changes. It's a fairly large task so would need longer time to develop appropriately, however if this makes sense from the field and overall workflow it's probably worth at minimum a discussion to see whether it should make the "cut" for future development.