SeedUSoon Frequently Asked Questions

GENERAL

How much does SeedUSoon cost?

The SeedUSoon software is freely distributed to non-for profit academic research laboratories, pending the acceptance of the license agreement available on the download page. Private companies interested in our software are not allowed to download SeedUSoon here, and must contact us directly

INSTALLATION

What are the requirements to install the software?

We must distinguish between the user’s computer and the computer hosting the database.

The SeedUSoon software itself (for the user) is compatible with Windows, Apple MacOs and Linux environments. It must run JAVA JRE 1.8 or higher.

The computer hosting the database must run MySQL (version5.5.35 or higher). Extended computer knowledge is only necessary for the database installation.

Can I install the user’s software and the database on my own computer?

Yes, this is possible. Your computer must then run MySQL (version5.5.35 or higher).

Can I simply install the user’s software to have a look at the software before installing a database on a server?

No, you need a functioning database to open the user’s software. If you would like a demo of the software, please contact us.

We already have SeedUSoon 1.2.0 (or 1.1). Do we need to upgrade to 1.3.0?

The latest version of SeedUSoon contains many improvements and novel functions, so we do recommend the upgrade. You can get more details about novel features of recent SeedUSoon versions here. Important: all users need to connect to the server using the same version of SeedUSoon, so please make sure that all computers connecting to the database will upgrade to the new version as well. In addition, your administrator will need to upgrade the MySQL database located on the server (scripts are available here). Please note that the latest version of SeedUSoon contains enhanced security features, and for this reason the administrator will have to reenter the database password on each user’s computers at the first login. We apologize for the inconvenience.

How can I upgrade to SeedUSoon 1.3.0?

Once you accept the license agreement (here), you will have access to files allowing the upgrade of your software version and database. In addition, you will get access to the scripts that your administrator will need to upgrade the MySQL database located on the server. Please note that the latest version of SeedUSoon contains enhanced security features, and for this reason the administrator will  also have to reenter the database password on each user’s computers at the first login. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Important: all users need to connect to the server using the same version of SeedUSoon, so please make sure that all computers connecting to the database will upgrade to the new version as well. 

We do not know how to setup a MySQL server. Can you help?

We currently cannot offer this service. If you cannot get help from your I.T. department, there are companies you can contact for this type of service.

TROUBLESHOOTING

At start-up, I cannot record a new database connection in the scroll-down menu of SeedUSoon

There could be several causes. First of all, make sure that your computer has an active internet connection, since during the SeedUSoon startup, the software needs to access the database on a remote server. Some databases are only accessible through the intranet, in which case make sure that you have access to the intranet.The parameters of the database connection could also contain a mistake. Please ask your administrator to verify each fields of your database connection. Finally, make sure that you are not using SeedUSoon user’s login and password to create a new database connection: the database access have dedicated login’s and passwords which should only be entered by your administrator.

At start-up, I get an error message stating that my SeedUSoon version is not correct

Two possibilities: you either have an earlier version, or a later version compared to your colleagues. All users need to connect to the server using the same version of SeedUSoon. Please contact your database administrator, who will be able to let you know what is the current version supported by your database. If the database does not correspond to the latest version, we recommend upgrading at the same time the database version, and all user’s computers with the corresponding SeedUSoon application.

The database password was lost after upgrading to the latest version of SeedUSoon

The latest version of SeedUSoon contains enhanced security features, and for this reason the administrator will  have to reenter the database password on each user’s computers at the first login. We apologize for the inconvenience.

When uninstalling the software, I get an error message and the process stops.

We recommend uninstalling the software using the same account as for the installation.

Why is the software slowing down? (version 1.1.2)

Our first released version of SeedUSoon (1.1.2) experienced slowing down when connecting to very large collections of lines. Our later versions (1.2.0 and higher) are faster. We recommend upgrading to the latest version.

However, if you still experience slow access to the database, it might be worth contacting your I.T. department to increase the speed allocated to the MySQL database processing.

FILLING OUT A PLANT LINE:

Is this software only for Arabidopsis?

SeedUSoon comes with several options (Arabidopsis, but also rice, maize, etc.). In addition, you can customize the interface to include your favorite species.

Can we use SeedUSoon to record non-plant species?

Yes, several users already use SeedUSoon for this purpose. 

Our transposon mutants are based on naturally occurring transposons. Are these considered transgenes within SeedUSoon?

Yes, you need to use the “Transgenesis feature”. This will allow you to record both the transposon sequence and its insertion locus (an additional field appears in the plant table, but only for “transgenesis” features).

IMPORTING/EXPORTING PLANT LINES

Why are some file names modified after uploading?

PC computers do not allow some special characters. For this reason, SeedUSoon edits file names to suppress these characters, so that all database users can open any uploaded file.