Changes to the ZIMS for Studbooks PMx Export – March 2019

Several changes have recently been released to improve the PMx data exports created by ZIMS. Below is a list and explanation of updates to the exported files.

Note: The changes to the ZIMS for Studbooks PMx export will require all users to download the newest version of PMx. The new ZIMS export are not supported by older versions of PMx.

PMx is currently available here and is supported by SCTI (not supported by Species360): https://scti.tools/

Additional PMx Resources:

Primary File changed from “ ped ” file to “ ZIMS ” file

The ZIMS PMx export now creates a file named “.ZIMS” – this replaces the previous “.ped” file.
When creating a PMx project the primary file is now the .ZIMS file (instead of .ped).
This new file includes additional information that was not previously included in the .ped file.
A header has been added to each column of the .ZIMS file.
The new information exported in the ZIMS file is as follows:
- House Name
  - This column displays the most recent house name entered by either the user or the institution in the studbook. If no house name is entered for the animal, this column is blank.
- GAN
  - Displays the GAN for the animal. If the animal has no GAN, this column is blank
- Tags
  - Displays the most recent tag entered by the user or the institution for the animal. If no tags are entered for the animal, this column is blank.
- Bands
  - Displays the most recent band entered by the user or the institution for the animal. If no bands are entered for the animal, this column is blank.
- Transponders
  - This column displays the most recent transponder entered by the user or the institution for the animal. If no transponder is entered for the animal, this column is blank.
- Rearing
  - Displays the rearing type of the animal. If the animal has multiple rearing records, it will display the most recent rearing type entered for the animal.
- Birth Type
  - Displays the birth type of the animals: Wild, Captive, or Undetermined.
- Birth Location
  - Displays the institution or location this animal was born. Undermined/Indeterminate born animals display Undermined/Indeterminate.
- Contraception
  - This information is not yet exported. Development is in progress.
- Taxonomy
  - Displays the most recent taxonomy entered for the animal.
- Estimated Conception Date
  - Displays the estimated conception date for the animal based on the birth/hatch date and the gestation/incubation period entered in the studbook.
- Regional Association
  - Displays the regional association the animal is currently located in. If the animal is at a location that is not listed at a regional association, this column is blank.
  - If the animal is at an institution that is part of multiple regional associations, all the regions will display in the export delimited by a comma.
  - The regional association is pulled from the institution list in ZIMS
- Demographically Selected
  - This column will indicate if the animal was included in the filters selected by the user in the demographic PMx export.
  - If the animal met the filter criteria (date, institution, UDF), then it will display as T. If the animal did not meet the filter criteria (date, institution, UDF), then it will display as F.
- UDFs
  - Column Name: Is the name of the UDF Type with a prefix of UDF (UDFTaxonomy or UDFEducation).
  - Adding the prefix prevents the export from potentially having a duplicate header if the UDF is named the same as a default column in the export.
  - This column (or columns depending on how many UDFs are in the studbook) displays the UDFs entered for an animal.
  - If an animal has multiple UDFs, each UDF type receives its own column and the value assigned to each animal displays in the rows
  - If the UDF values have any punctuation or special characters, they are removed when exported.
  - If no UDFs vales are entered for an animal, this column is blank.
  - If there are no UDFs in the studbook, then there are UDF columns in export.
  - This is the last column in the export since the number of columns can vary.

PMx Export Date Estimate Text Change from Undetermined/Indeterminate

Dates estimates have been exporting as unknown – they will now export as entered in ZIMS – either undetermined or indeterminate.
- This will impact the following columns:
  - Birth Date Est.
  - Entry date Est.
  - Exit Date Est

Improvements for MULTs with Varying Percentages Assigned

MULTs are created by groupings of potential parents. The parents within the MULT group can have a different percent likelihood assigned among the different offspring assigned that MULT.
- If there are MULT groupings that are assigned different percentages for the parents included in the MULT now a letter is added to the end of the MULT to designate that the MULT is different.
  - Example:
    - MULT1 = 1 (25%) and 2 (75%) for animal #123
    - MULT1 = 1 (50%) and 2 (50%) for animal #456
    - These become MULT1a and MULT1b in the ZIMS export
    - If there were additional animals with the same MULT and different percent layouts then the lettering system would continue: MULT1c, MULT1d, MULT1e.....MULTaa,MULTab.....
- If there are no animals in the studbook that are assigned the same MULT with a different percentage, then there will be no lettering system applied to the MULTs.

“ Apply Dem filters to all filters ” button on PMx Export Screen in ZIMS

When the user selects the "Apply Demographic Filters to all filters" button in the PMx export screen the demographic filters are applied as follows:
- The selected date, institution, and UDF filters are applied to the genetics selection.
- The selected institution and UDF filters are applied to the census selection – date will remain December 31 of previous year (user can manually edit). Previously the date filter was also applied to the census selection.

Revised 5 March 2025