Quick start

Quick start

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Create new database:

To create a new database use menu item - Database|New

In the dialog that appears, type database title, your name, database folder (it will be created in the specified folder), and a select a folder form the directory tree in which your database folder will be stored.
If you type a password you will be prompted to enter it each time you (or somebody else) open this database.

Add taxa:

You can insert new taxon by:

Press Ctrl+N

Press a button 'New' on a tool bar (

) or in menu 'Edit'

Click right mouse button and select 'new' from context menu

After you perform this action new empty line appears in the list. Fill all the fields...
...and press 'Post' (

) using the same options as mentioned above (pressing 'Cancel' (

) at this stage results in the canceling of the whole record). If this was a taxon first in the list (or first in the database) you will be prompted to specify the category of the taxon.
When you use categories like Genus, Species or Subspecies, type them exactly as they are here (do not use lower case or abbreviations!)
After that all other taxa will be assumed to be in the same category, which means that Category field will be filled automatically for new taxa in the same level but you can always change it to any other category.
if Taxon has no sub (child) item use "New child item" button (Ctrl+Shift+N) to add new sub item. If you leave the category field empty you will be prompted to enter the category of new taxon.
If the parent is 'Genus' or 'Species' then categories are assigned by default 'Species' and 'Subspecies' respectively.
'Cancel' button cancels all changes after last pressing of the 'Post' button (NOTE: Record is posted automatically when you move away to the next record).
For instance, if you pressed 'New', typed some thing, and pressed 'Cancel' - the whole record will be cancelled. If you are editing the existing record, pressing 'Cancel' will result in restoring the record as it was before you started editing.

To edit the contents of the tree simply click the cell you want to edit and either press Enter or click again to enter the cell.

To delete taxon press Delete button

Images attached to deleted taxon are not deleted (they remain in the image library).
Taxon cannot be deleted if it has sub taxa.
Distribution layer for the taxon will be deleted after a prompt (if confirmed).
samples of the taxon are also deleted (the message comes out before deleting each sample and, if cancelled, the whole process of taxon deletion aborts).

Add image to taxa:

Displays images of the selected taxon.
Images can be loaded either from files or from the image library (read more).
Double-clicking the image displays it full screen.
If there are several images, Navigator at the bottom of the image window allows browsing through them.
Use context menu to see available options.
Thumbnail list of images is displayed on the left of the image if

button is pressed.

Shows thumbnails of all images loaded for selected taxon.
Is part of the Taxa images window.
If

button is pressed. Images displayed include not only images linked to selected taxon but also images linked to sub taxa of selected taxon.

Add characters and linking to taxa:

To edit the character tree use buttons on the toolbar and context menu:

You can group characters by their similarity using folders. There is no limit of how many items can be included in one another.

"Move" button, if pushed down, allows you to change the placement of the characters in the tree by dragging them to a new location.

To move the item to the uppermost level drag it lower than the last item in the tree:

Use a set of small buttons at the bottom of Character states table (+,-,post, cancel) to edit the list of states for each character and via context menu you can load images for character states:

For Numeric character the following table appears:

If you have just a value (not range) you record it into the first column. If you have a range - enter both values.
Note: These values are assigned directly to the selected taxon (while string states are assigned to taxon only when the check box is clicked [details]

Identification:

Identification is managed in Identification control window.
At any stage you can

go back;

restart;

delete used characters from any point;

use temporal identification paths;

check image of any taxon;

check image of any character state;

view all image of selected character. i.e. conduct identification by comparing images of character states;

check taxa of selected character state;

Working with Samples table:

Basic procedures are described in topic: Working with tables and trees.

Two special column require a bit different handling when editing.
"Taxon" and "Locality" columns take their content from relevant sections of database. Choose values from drop-down lists that appear when you click the cell content.

You can also type the beginning of the Taxon or locality and the rest of the word will be automatically located:

References:

This section is a reference manager of TAXIS. The format in which references are stored is compatible with other bibliography managing applications (EndNote, ProCite, etc.) via RIS support. Input form is provided to facilitate manual data recording.
Reference records can be linked to Taxa. Table has common properties with other TAXIS tables.
"Organizer" can be used to have more control over you references.

Most important commands can be accessed via context menu (in addition to Main menu and toolbar):

·	References

·	RIS support

Taxa

·	Linking references to taxa

Synonyms

Importing

·	Exporting Working with tables

Searching

Sorting

Customizing

Printing

GIS:

GIS section of TAXIS is responsible for handling geographic data (supported formats).
The basic idea behind the implementation of GIS features in TAXIS is to facilitate the work for researchers dealing simultaneously with biological and geographic data. TAXIS provides a way to link taxonomic database entities and geographic maps in one application. Creating distribution maps is possible without leaving TAXIS and using the familiar tools available in other GIS applications. Samples can be plotted on the map on-the-fly while browsing through specimen data or taxonomic data plotting all specimen records for selected taxon.
Handling of vector maps is organized in the same way as in popular GIS applications. Vector and raster files can be loaded as map layers. View properties can be adjusted for each layer and the whole map view can be saved and opened later.
Built-in full featured editor allows creating and editing of vector layers without leaving TAXIS but in the same time retaining the compatibility with other GIS applications.