Biota: The Biodiversity Database Manager
|
New Features in Biota Version 1.6.1 (Release Date 18 March 2000) Version 1.6.1 is a maintenance update and has no new features. For bug fixes in this version, click here. |
|
New Features in Biota Version 1.6.0 (Release Date 15 November 1999) For full details on these features, as well as bug fixes in this version, click here. New Image Formats and Compression Options. With Version 1.6.0, Biota now offers crystal-clear, multi-format, cross-platform image handling on both Windows and Mac OS. On both platforms, Biota can now import and export images in ten different formats, including JPEG, BMP, PICT, Photoshop, and TIFF (GIF's can be imported, but not exported), whether compressed or uncompressed. In addition, a large number of image compression options are now available on both platforms, for compressing any existing Biota image, or for on-the-fly compression when pasting images from the Clipboard. Automatic Image Linking by the Create Web Pages Tool. The Create Web Pages tool (Export menu) now automatically produces JPEG image files and links them to the text pages. Find and Replace Can Add or Change a Prefix or a Postfix. This new feature works even for Record Codes and other Key values. Automatic Entry of Valid Species Code in the Import Editor. If you import new Species records using the Import Editor, Biota will inquire whether you would like the Species Code values copied into the Valid Species Code field. Automatic Recording of Determination Histories by the Import Editor. If you update existing records using the Import Editor, Biota can automatically create Determination History records to document and changes that affect specimen determinations. Memory Feature and Date Options in the Export Specimen Flatfile Tool. The Export Specimen Flatfile tool (Im/Export menu) now remembers the fields you select, between uses within a Biota session. The Collection Date fields ([Collection]DateCollected and [Collection]DateCollEnd) can now be selected individually or combined them into a single Date Range. Species Code Option in the Export Taxonomic Flatfile Tool. If you include the Species level in the option screen for the Export Taxonomic Flatfile tool, a checkbox is enabled to allow export of the Species Code. Locality Name Option in the Lookup Collection tool. When you use the Look Up Collection button (Specimen input screens), you can now find Collection records according the linked Locality Name. Additional Wider Output (Record Listing) Screens. If your monitor is at least 800 pixels wide (or you can set it to display 800 pixels width), Biota 1.6.0 presents wider output screens than previous versions for the Determination History and Specimen Series output screens (to match the wider Specimen, Species, Collection, and Locality screens introduced in Biota 1.5.0). In addition, the Var Fields tool (which allows you to change the fields shown) has been added to the Specimen Series output screen.
|
|
New Features in Biota Version 1.5.0 (Release Date 25 June 1999) For full details on these features, as well as bug fixes in this version, click here. Image Comparison and Analysis Tools. If your monitor is at least 800 pixels wide (or you can set it to display 800 pixels width), Biota 1.5.0 offers a completely new set of tools has been added to help you work with Images stored in Biota Data Files. If you need to compare images among species to speed identification of specimens or you use images in teaching or presentations, you should find these tools useful. Wider Output (Record Listing) Screens. If your monitor is at least 800 pixels wide (or you can set it to display 800 pixels width), Biota 1.5.0 presents wider output screens than previous versions, for the Specimen, Species, Collection, and Locality tables. Sort No Longer Lost When Records Deleted. In previous versions, if you sorted records using the Sort Editor in an output (record listing) screen, the sort was lost if you then deleted one or more records in the selection. New Options for Export Collections or Localities x Species Table. In Version 1.5.0, both of these tools offer options to include Collections or Localities with no Specimens (blank rows) and/or Species with no Specimens (blank columns). Additional Tools for the Synonymy System. Two new tools have been added to the Synonymy system that are useful in generating taxonomic catalogs and in routine maintenance of synonymies. Find Species with Junior Synonyms and Find Junior Synonyms (both in the Find menu). Longer Site Field in the Collection Table. The [Collection]Site field has been enlarged from 40 to 80 characters in length. Quotation Character Warning in the Import Editor. Under certain conditions, when you save a file as Tab-delimited Text in MS Excel, Excel adds quotation characters (") to cell values that include commas or periods (but does not display these characters when you re-open the text file in Excel!). Biota now checks for quotation characters in the input stream when you use the Import Editor. New maintenance tool. Additional check-and-repair component in the Auxiliary Fields Maintenance Utility. Sound Error Feedback for Series Find and Series Find and ID Tools. When you use the Auto Accept feature of the Find Specimen Series and Find and ID Specimen Series tools and Biota cannot find a match for a Specimen code you have entered, you will now hear two beeps.
|
|
New Features in Biota Version 1.4.0 (Release Date 20 November 1998) For full details on these features, as well as bug fixes in this version, click here. Find and Identify the Specimen Record Set. A checkbox option in the Find and Identify Specimen Series tool (Series menu; see Manual, pp. 234-242) permits you to apply a new determination to each record in the current Specimen Record Set. If the Determination History system has been enabled (see the Manual, Chapter 19), a record of the change, who made it, and when, will be created for each Specimen record in the Record Set. This new option is especially useful when you split a species, and need to re-determine one group of records while leaving the others untouched. Find Orphan Junior Synonyms. Providing enhanced support for the Synonymy System (Manual, Chapter 20; Supplement 2, pp. T15-T16), this tool is found at the bottom of the popup list of table names in the Find Orphan Records command (Find menu). An orphan synonym is a Species record for which the Valid Species Code does not correspond to any Species record in the Data File. Find Specimen Records for the Determination History Record Set. This tool (Special menu) allows you to find all the current Specimen Records that correspond to a set of Determination History records. Mailmerge-ready Format Option for Herbarium Label Export. You can elect to export the text for a set of herbarium labels to a tab-delimited text file, with fields as columns, records (individual labels) as rows. A header row is included, with field names. This format is directly readable by MS Word as a mailmerge data file, allowing you to design your own herbarium label layouts, manipulate the exported information, or add more information (such as exported Auxiliary Field data for the same records). Export Specimens Examined List. In previous versions, if you wished to export a Specimens Examined List for the Specimen Record Set, you had to establish the corresponding Species Record Set as well (Manual pp. 463-470). In Version 1.4.0, this is no longer necessary. You can elect to base the List either directly on the Specimen Record Set, or base it on all specimens for the species in the Species Record Set.
|
|
New Features in Biota Version 1.3.1 (Release Date 21 April 1998) For full details on these features, as well as bug fixes in this version, click here. Image Link Option for Web Pages. Choose how
Species Images are treated in the web pages. Biota can
either place the images "in-line" with text on Species Web
pages (the default, as described in the Biota Manual, pp.
480-481, and Supplement 1, pp. S55-S56), or, alternatively,
create hyperlinks on Species pages to images placed
individually on separate Image Web pages, each launched in a
separate window. |
|
New Features in Biota Version 1.3 (Release Date 16 February 1998) For full details on these features, as well as bug fixes in this version, click here. This is a brief summary of new and modified tools and features in Biota Version 1.3, as compared with Version 1.2. Supplement 2 to the Biota Manual provides details. When you order Biota, you will receive printed copies of the Manual and Supplements 1 and 2. Automatic support for international date format. The non-U.S. date limitation described in the Manual and Supplement has been completely eliminated. Biota 1.3 follows your operating system date setting. All Biota Data Files are back compatible. Longer data fields. Data fields are now 80 characters for Locality Name (Locality table), Species Author, Subspecies Author, Variety Author, and Common Names (Species table), and all Auxiliary Field Values fields. New Export options. Now you can export Localities-by-Species incidence or abundance tables, as well as Collections-by-Species tables. Both tools now offer two additional file formats: EstimateS format (visit http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/estimates) and Cornell Condensed Format (CANOCO and DECORANA). Duplicate Locality Name warning. Biota now warns you if you enter a Locality Name that is already in the database. Feet to meters conversion. When clicked, a button in the Locality input screen converts the units of Elevation from feet to meters. Queries based on Notes. You can now use the Search Editor to find records based on the author, date, or content of linked Notes records. New options for Herbarium Labels. You can now change font size for label text, choose 4 or 6 labels to a page, opt to place the Collector's Number in its own field or after the Collector's name, print labels with or without borders, save the label text to disk file instead of printing, and save settings between sessions. Image Zoom windows. You can now display images individually in 768 x 576 pixel windows (PAL video format), for study and comparison. Keyboard override of wildcard input for linking fields. This change allows you to create new parent records on the fly when the Key value matches the first part of an existing Key value. Junior synonym Specimen record display. You can tell Biota to display Specimen records for junior synonyms when you click the Specimens button in the Species input screen of a senior synonym. Find Valid Species in the Species Record Set. Now, you can search all Species or limit the search for valid species to the Species record set. Auxiliary Field maintenance. A new tool checks for and corrects up any relational anomalies in Auxiliary Fields. Special character import/export in Windows. All
"high-ASCII" characters (characters with accents and other
diacritics) are now handled correctly when using Biota's
Import Editor or export tools, eliminating a limitation in
earlier Windows versions. (Not a problem on the Macintosh
platform.)
|
|
New Features in Biota Version 1.2 (Release Date 20 June 1997) For full details on these features, as well as bug fixes in this version, click here. Here is a brief summary of new and modified tools and features in Biota Version 1.2, as compared with Version 1.0. Supplement 2 to the Biota Manual provides details. When you order Biota, you will receive printed copies of the Manual and Supplements 1 and 2. Windows and Macintosh versions. Biota now offers both Windows (95 or NT) and Macintosh versions with identical interface and functionality and completely cross-compatible Data Files. Entry Choice Lists. There is now a keyboard shortcut for selecting and entering items from Entry Choice Lists. Automatic generation of Record Codes. Biota now offers greatly expanded control over all aspects of automatically generated Record Codes, including setting the alphanumeric prefix, the starting value and format of the integer counter, and an option to have Biota not only create by also enter Record Codes automatically. Automatic handling of both International and U.S. date formats (Version 1.2.4 and later). Biota keeps track of the date format setting in your operating system and transparently matches that format in the interface. Data Files remain 100% cross compatible (International and U.S. formats) and back-compatible. Intercept for invalid number formats. To function correctly, Biota requires the internal setting in your operating system number format to be set to use the period (not the comma) as the decimal character. Version 1.2 checks this setting during its launch sequence and protects your Data File by halting the launch until the setting is correct. New format option for Latitude and Longitude values. By setting the Lat Long Accuracy field in a Locality record to "Minutes" (or "Minutos"), you can instruct Biota to display and print Latitude and Longitude values in degrees and minutes only. If you set Lat Long Accuracy to "Degrees" (or "Grados"), Biota will display and print Latitude and Longitude values in degrees only. Support for alternate geographical coordinate systems. Three new Alt Coordinate fields have been added to Biota's Locality table to accommodate alternate (non-latitude/longitude) geographical coordinate systems, such a UTM or Lambert coordinates, or the Township-Range-Section system of U.S. Public Land Surveys. You can choose to display or print alternate coordinates in place of (or in addition to) latitude and longitude. This Supplement provides a discussion of common non-latitude/longitude systems and suggests strategies for conversions among systems for Biota records. Changing the fields displayed in an Output Screen. You can now change the fields displayed in certain columns of the Specimen, Species, Collection, and Locality output screens. The columns are labeled Variable Field 1 and Variable Field 2 (plus 3 and 4, in the Locality output screen). You control the display using a button, labeled Change Var Fields, found at the base of the output screen. Disabling/enabling the Duplicate Specific Epithet warning message. A new checkbox in the Preferences screen (Special menu) allows you to enable or disable the validation check for duplicate Species Name values. New fields in the Species table. Biota Version 1.2 has new fields in the Species table for Subspecies, Subspecies Author, Variety, Variety Author, Common Name, Distribution, Type Locality, Type Depository, and Section (a second subgeneric taxon level). Display Types buttons for finding type-specimen records. You can quickly find and display any type-specimen records (as recorded in the [Specimen] Type Status field) for a Species or an infraspecific taxon record using the three Display Types buttons in the Distribution and Types input screen, accessed from the Species input screen. Using the Search Editor with Auxiliary Field Values (1.2 and later) and Note Text entries (1.2.4 and later). Using a special option in the Search Editor (Find menu) you can now search for Specimen, Species, Collection, or Locality records (and related records) based on values in Auxiliary Fields for those records. You can also find parent records (Specimen, Species, Collection, Locality, or Loans) based on the content of notes linked to them. Printing Collection Labels. The Data Options for exporting or printing Collection Labels (labels based on Collection records and linked Locality records) now include three new fields&emdash;the Alternate Coordinate fields discussed mentioned above. Printing Herbarium Specimen Labels. Many new options have been added to the Herbarium Labels tool. You can append Locality and Collection Notes to locality descriptions; choose among new options for the source of Collector's Numbers; specify inclusion of one or two additional, labeled fields of your choice from the Locality, Collection, and Specimen tables; control the labeling of other data fields; and specify the fonts used for the label data and Project Name areas. Version 1.2.5 offers even more options, including export of herbarium label text to delimited text files. If you use Biota to print Herbarium labels, you should download Version 1.2.5. Creating temporary taxon records based on imported text records. You can tell Biota to create a temporary taxon record, automatically, at all lower taxonomic levels (down to Species) whenever you import a new record at the Genus level or above. Setting the destination folder for Web page files. You can now specify a destination folder for the files created by Biota's Create Web Pages tool (Im/Export menu). New data options for Web pages. You can include any or all the new fields in the Species and Locality tables on exported Web pages, if you wish. Merging imported records with existing records. A
new option in the Import Editor (Im/Ex menu) lets you import
records from a text file without flagging or importing
records for which the Key field matches the Key field in an
existing record. This tool allows you to merge data from two
Biota Data Files or import from repetitive flatfiles without
having to delete duplicate records in the text file.
|