Managing the Catalog

The catalog is the list of animals, lots, and configuration that defines what is being sold in the auction. You build the catalog from the auction edit screen before the sale. This page covers adding animals, assigning lot numbers and categories, setting sale order, defining charges and credits, and adding auction personnel.

Adding Animals

Animals are added to the auction from the auction edit screen. You can search by four different identifiers — use whichever matches your records. All four accept comma-separated lists so you can add multiple animals at once.

Adding by Herd ID

Enter one or more Herd IDs (the herd management ID from the animal record), separated by commas. The search is case-insensitive and matches against the herd_id field. If an animal is found, it is added to the auction catalog.

Adding by Registration Number

Enter a Registration Number along with an Association code and Prefix. The lookup matches the full combination of association + prefix + registration number. Comma-separated lists are supported. This is useful for animals primarily identified by their breed association number.

Adding by Electronic ID

Enter one or more Electronic IDs (EID/RFID tag numbers), separated by commas or whitespace. The system trims and normalizes whitespace before searching.

Adding by BHID

Enter one or more BHIDs (GEM's internal numeric animal identifiers), separated by commas. This is the most direct lookup method when you know the internal ID.

Adding from an Animal Set

Use the Set option to add all animals from a previously saved GEM set. This is efficient for auctions that draw from a consistent group of animals each year.

Allowing Duplicate Animals

By default, the system prevents adding the same animal twice to the same auction. If you need to allow an animal to appear more than once (for example, selling multiple partial interests as separate lots), enable the Allow duplicate animals option before adding. Once enabled for that submission, duplicates are permitted.

Removing Animals

Select the animals to remove and submit. Animals that have already been sold cannot be removed — once an animal appears in a buyer record (a bid has been recorded), the system blocks its removal. You must void the bid before you can remove the animal.

Lot Numbers and Lot Management

Lot numbers link animals to their place in the sale. Assign them from the animal list on the catalog edit screen.

Assigning Lot Numbers and Suffixes

Each animal has a Lot Number (numeric) and an optional Lot Suffix (text). The suffix allows grouping animals under a single lot number as siblings — for example, Lot 12A and Lot 12B are distinct entries that belong to Lot 12.

When you save lot assignments, click Submit Lot/Sale Changes to commit them to the catalog.

Composite Lots (Part of Lot)

A composite lot is a group of animals sold together under a parent lot. To create a composite:

• Set the parent lot's Lot Number and Suffix normally.
• For each child animal, set the Part of Lot Number and Part of Lot Suffix to match the parent lot.

When a bid is entered for the parent lot, the bid amount is distributed across all non-free animals in the composite. Child animals can be nested further — the system resolves the full hierarchy recursively. The maximum composite depth is 100 levels.

Free Parts

Mark a child animal as a Free Part (FREE_PART = Y) to include it in a composite lot without assigning any portion of the bid amount. Free animals are listed on the invoice and load-out sheet but carry a $0 price. This is used when an animal is included as a bonus or gift with the purchase.

Sell Percentages (Partial Interest Sales)

The Sell Percent field (default 100) lets you sell a partial ownership stake rather than the entire animal. For example, set to 50 to sell a 50% interest. Values less than 100 create partial ownership records at payment time. The auction reports track both the percentage sold and the gross value of each partial lot.

Print Catalog Flag

The Print Catalog flag (Y/N) controls whether an animal appears in the printed sale catalog. Animals marked N are still in the auction and can receive bids — they just won't print in catalog PDF reports. Use this for late additions or animals whose catalog status is pending.

Sale Order

Sale order controls the sequence in which lots are sold. The Complete Bids screen and the Progress screen both follow sale order.

Setting Sale Order

Each animal has a Sale Order (numeric) field on the catalog edit screen. Assign numbers in the sequence you want animals to sell. Gaps are fine — the system sorts by the numeric value.

Setting Sale Order to Match Lot Numbers

Use the Set Sale Order to Lot # button to automatically populate Sale Order from Lot Number for any animal that has a lot number but no sale order set. This saves time when your sale order happens to match your lot numbering.

Duplicate Check

Use the Dup Check button to validate the catalog before the sale. It checks for two types of conflicts:

• Duplicate Sale Order — two or more animals assigned the same sale order number
• Duplicate Lot + Suffix — two or more animals with the same lot number and suffix combination

The check displays the Herd ID and animal name for each conflict so you can resolve them before bidding begins.

Categories

Categories group animals into logical sale sections (e.g., Bulls, Females, Embryos). They appear in reports, the progress screen, and catalog PDFs.

Creating Categories

From the Edit Categories screen, define each category with:

• Code — a short unique text identifier (e.g., BULL, FEM, EMB)
• Description — the human-readable label (e.g., "Bulls", "Females", "Embryos")

Both Code and Description are required together. Codes must be unique within the auction.

Super-Categories and Subcategories

Mark a category as a Super-Category (SUPER = Y) to make it a parent grouping. Super-categories can have subcodes — base categories that roll up under the super-category for reporting and progress screen breakdowns.

To assign a subcode, the base category must already exist. Subcodes cannot be duplicated within the same parent.

Important: The category save operation is destructive — it deletes all existing category and subcode assignments and rebuilds them from the submitted form. Review the full list carefully before saving.

Assigning Categories to Animals

Each animal on the catalog edit screen has an optional Category dropdown. Only base categories (not super-categories) can be assigned directly to animals. The category drives report groupings and the per-category totals on the progress screen.

Miscellaneous Charges and Credits

Miscellaneous charges and credits are fee line items automatically added to buyer invoices. Define them once for the auction and they apply according to your rules.

Creating a Charge or Credit Definition

Each entry has:

• Description — the line item name that appears on the invoice (required)
• CR/DB — whether this is a Credit (reduces buyer's total) or Debit (increases buyer's total)

Important: Like categories, the misc charges save is destructive — it replaces all existing charge definitions with the submitted form contents. Review the full list before saving.

Amount-Based vs. Percentage-Based

A charge must be either a fixed Amount (dollar value) or a Percent (percentage of the lot sale price). You cannot set both — exactly one must be provided.

Per-Head Charges

Enable Per Head to multiply the amount (or apply the percentage) per animal sold rather than once per invoice. For example, a $25 per-head checkoff on a 5-animal lot charges $125.

Selectable vs. Automatic

• Automatic (SELECTABLE = N) — the charge applies to every qualifying invoice without user intervention.
• Selectable (SELECTABLE = Y) — the charge appears as an opt-in checkbox during invoice generation. The person generating the invoice can choose whether to apply it.

Conditional Charges (Payment and Delivery Conditions)

Use the Apply When fields to make a charge conditional on the number of animals in the invoice:

• Relation — one of: NA (no condition, always applies), LE, LT, EQ, NE, GE, GT
• Count — the threshold value used with the relation

For example, setting Relation = LE and Count = 5 applies the charge only when the buyer purchased 5 or fewer animals. Additional filters can restrict charges to specific payment types or delivery types.

You can also restrict a charge to specific Categories by providing a comma-separated list of category codes. When set, the charge only applies to items in those categories.

Apply After Credits

Enable Apply After Credits to calculate this charge after all credits and private credits have been applied. This is useful for percentage-based charges that should be based on the net rather than the gross amount.

Auction Personnel

Add the people working the sale to the auction's personnel roster. This populates the Personnel Report and can appear on printed documents.

Adding Staff Members

Enter the person's GEM ID (entity_id) — they must already exist in GEM and be known to your account. Select their role and submit.

Assigning Roles

Fourteen roles are available:

• Auctioneer, Consignor, Staff, Trucker, Consultant, RingMan
• Vet, SaleManager, Photographer, Owner
• SpecialAssignment, SpecialGuest, MarketingAgent, Manager

One person can hold multiple roles in the same auction — each role is stored as a separate record. To change a person's role, use the Make Role Changes option. To remove a person, select them and use Remove Selected From Auction.

Saving Auction Animals as a Set

Use Save as Set to save the current auction's animal list as a named GEM set. This lets you quickly reload the same group of animals for a future auction or reuse the list in reports and other workflows.

Invoice Comments

Per-Auction Invoice Comment

An auction-wide comment can be set from the Edit Auction Invoice Comment screen. This single text block (stored in the auctions table) is available as a general note visible across the auction's documents and screens.

For per-invoice comments — including printed comments, private internal notes, and delivery instructions — see Invoicing.