After a brief display of the Splash Screen, you will see an Introduction Screen. Click on the Enter button to start the program proper.
After the Introduction Screen all main pages automatically resize to your screen resolution. Animals UK plates are at their most crisp and clear at a resolution of 1152x864.
After the Introduction Screen has closed you will see the Database Selection Form with pictures of animals in each database. Click on the mottled boxes above will give a brief description. Right click on a picture will give you a list of the items in the database. Left click opens the database.
When you choose a database the first Identification Form will open. The first identification form cannot be closed although it may be minimised or resized.
These forms contain one or more numbered groups of buttons each with a question at the top. Identification of your specimen proceeds by clicking the button above the best answer to each question. It is best to make no selection if you are not sure of an answer as a wrong geuss only reduces the chance of correct identification. You may use the pictures of species to make your final judgement. If you wish to change your answer simply click another button, or click the same button again to deselect it and not answer at all.
As well as identifying a specific creature, you may also use as many or as few of the buttons as you like to simply locate creatures with a particular characteristic. For example, select the 'Eight Legs' button in the land invertebrates database to see all the spiders.
For some Button Groups about colour you can select more than one button. This will be indicated in the question. Once the number of buttons you may select has been reached a small dialog will inform you you need to deselect an existing selection.
When you can make no more answers on a page proceed to the next using the Next button on the left and make more choices in similar fashion. If you wish, you can go back to a previous page using the Last button and change selections already made.
When you click the Match button the program searches the database for matches to the choices you have made and orders it so that the best matches are first. The way the matches are displayed depends on the options selected. The default is to open Species Plates for the eight closest matches but you may also opt to open the Thumbnail Browser, from which you may select full colour pictures of the identified creatures.
There are two ways to view Species Plates for creatures in the database without going through the identification process.
The Name Browser is a small window with a list of names of all creatures in the database. Double click on any name, or selection and OK, brings up the Species Plate for that creature.
The Thumbnail Browser shows the main picture for each animal in the database on a reduced scale, together with name and the last match score. You may view the entire database using the forward and back buttons. Double click on a picture brings up the Species Plate for that creature.
Initially, the database is presented in the database browser and thumbnail browsers in alphabetical order. After you have been through an identification process they are presented in order of closeness to the answers selected on the buttons. Grouping from the Options Menu also allows a more limited grouping according to various criteria, for example by number of legs or beak shape.
A Species Plate is opened when you identify a creature with the appropriate view option or select a species from the browsers. It is a full colour plate of that species. Controls on the plates give you further information, the characteristics you chose, if any, and in some cases, a link to a related plate.
Maximise to see full details. You may maximise, minimise or dismiss a Species Plate using the standard windows Control Box at the top right, the Icon at top left or from the Windows Menu.
A Species Plate has the species name in the toolbar caption and, if not full sized, in the top border. If you have used identify it also has a match score. A score of 100% represents a perfect match. The page itself shows one or two pictures of the identified item together with basic details. Additional information is available by click of the Book icon in the top left corner of the main picture.
A number of interactive exercises are available from the Data Menu or Toolbar.
Additional information is also available from the Data Menu, the Toolbar and from within other forms.
The Information Index button on the toobar also provides access to the printable worksheets which are available from the Windows Start Menu.