Query

Visibility

The query containing results and fields is positioned a the left of the window. To visibility of the query can be set in the menu: Query - Show query:

The query fields are displayed in the main form beneath the list of the result items. You can change this arrangement using the  /  button to place the query fields on the left side of the item list.

To hide the area containing the search fields click on the  button. If the search area is hidden and you want to start a new search, just click on the  button.

Searching

To search for data, enter the restrictions in the fields for the search conditions and click on the  button. The agents found in the database will be shown in the list. To add agents with differing search conditions click on the  button. If you want to remove entries from the selected list, choose them and click on the  button. This will not delete the data from the database, but remove them from your query result.

The option to provide a result list with many columns is described in chapter Many result columns.

To change the displayed fields for searching data click on the  button to change the query options. 

A window will open containing the command used to retrieve the data (see below).

To keep the values you entered for the query, you can click on the button. It will change to and when restarting the program your query values will be remembered

To speed up the query you may use the optimized version (Standard query: Optimized query: ). The optimized query in combination with the remembering option includes the functionality to preselect data depending on the query restrictions, e.g. if you search for an identification and enter a taxonomic name the first identification matching the restrictions will be preselected in the main window as shown below.

The set the option for optimized queries and the option to remember the query settings as default, choose Administration - Customize display... from the menu. In the tab Defaults and miscellaneous select the Optimized and Remember option. The buttons in the query will be hidden providing more space. 

Certain query fields provide the option to add up to 3 duplicates of themselves. Use the button to add and the button to remove duplicates. The restrictions can be combined with AND + and OR |. Just click on the + resp. | sign to change between the modes.

Within the query options you have several possibilities to specify your search restriction. Use the drop-down menu to switch between operators. The available operators are shown in the tables below.
Availability: t = text, n = numeric, d = date, h = hierarchy, x = XML, e = EXIF, g = geography, a = annotation, m = module
For an introduction see two short tutorials

Query operators

Operators for text

Operators for numeric data

Operators for date values

Oparators for hierachy

Operators for XML

Operators for geography

Use (via local files or manual creation) resp. (via DiversityGazetteer) button to set geography

For yes/no fields exists a checkbox with 3 options: = yes, = no, = undefined

For a search within a lists (using the |, ∈ or ∉ operator) you may double click in the text field to open a window where you can enter your values. To separate the values either use the "|" sign or a new line as shown in the image below.

Query modules

In the query for values linked to another module click on the button to open a window where you can search for values within the linked module. A click on the button will show a list of the selected items. For some modules you can choose the cache database as source (if you have the proper permissions). This option provides a faster query esp. if e.g. the data of a related module are accessed via a linked server.

Tutorial:

Operator	Meaning	Example
∈	Search for entries with a list	Rosa | Rosa caninia \
∉	Search for entries not within a list	Rosa | Rosa caninia | ...
+H	search for entry including lower ierarchy	Picea | Picea abies | ...
+S	search for entry including synonyms	Picea abies | Pinus abies | ...
+HS	search for entry including lower hierarchy and synonyms	Picea | Picea abies | Pinus abies | ...
	Change filter mode between link and text	http://tnt.diversityworkbench.de/TaxonNames_Plants/4269 <> Picea abies L.

Query annotation

The query for annotations deviates from the standard query (see below). Additionally, you may specify a type of the annotation (Annotation , Problem , Reference ) and the linked table (see Annotation).

Query any fields

The query for any fields will search in several fields, e.g. withholding reasons in specimen, images etc. There are two versions: The first version (e.g. Notes) will search in all tables but not in collection event tables while the second version (e.g. Any notes) will search in any table (see image below).

Wildcards in SQL

There are 4 different possibilities for wildcards in SQL:

Many columns

The option to include several columns in the result list is only available for optimized queries . To display several columns in the result list, click on the button next to the order by column (see below). A window will open where you can select the next column for the sorting. Underneath the order by column the second column for the sorting will be added. To remove this sorting column you can click on the    button. By default the width for the columns is set to 10. You can change this according to content. To set the width to the maximal length of the current content, click on the button. To change the sorting of the added order column click on the button. The colums are separated via " | " as shown in the image below.

Scan mode

Scanner

With the scan mode you may use a barcode scanner or the camera of your computer or tablet using e.g. bcWebCam to search for a specimen. To work with the scan mode select the Scan mode in the Query menu. The query part will be hidden and the field for the scanned identifier will be accessible for the entry via the scanner. As possible identifiers you can choose among the accession number of the specimen , the ID of the specimen ID, the accession number of the part or the identifier of the organism . If the field for the entry of the identifier is not activated, move the mouse to the field to activate it. Once you scan the barcode the program will start the search for the specimen in the database. To return to another query mode deselect the Scan mode.

If the results captured by the scanner do not correspond to the scanned codes, the timer intervall may need an adaption to your scanner. To set the timer interval of the scanner, click on the button. The default is set to 200 ms. Change it until the results captured by the scanner correspond to the codes.

The second scan mode for collection codes (stable identifier for collections) or the name of the collection will list all specimen within a collection. For the query of collection names these must be unique within the database. The query for collections may include depending collections. By default only specimen of the selected collection will be shown. Click on the button above the button to change to the mode including specimen in depending collections.

Specimen list

The result list displays the specimens found in a query.

The specimens may be displayed with their e.g. with their accession number. To change the information of the specimen shown in the list, choose among the option provided in the [order by:]{.style1} combobox. Some possibilities are shown above: identifications, storage location or collectors number. After you changed the selection of the displayed information, you have to start the query to see it in the result list. To view further information on the chosen field simply place the mouse in the field. A text box will appear with the description of the field (see below).

You may restrict the maximum number of specimens and queryoptions (click on the button), if you have for example a slow connection to the database. As a default the maximum number is set to 100. If the number of data sets according to your query is higher than the maximum value set in the query options, it will be indicated in the header of the list.

To ensure that restrictions set in the query conditions will be applied to the specimen list make sure that you choose matching restrictions and order columns as shown below. In the upper example corresponding fields were used for restricting the query and the display (Tax. name). Here the query results will be restricted to said field.

In the second example a different field for the restriction was chosen (Last ident. <> Tax. name). The query result in consequence will list all data sets with entries found in the field Tax. name and entries which match the restriction (see below).

To search for specimens enter the restrictions in the fields for the search conditions and click on the button. The specimens found in the database will be shown in the result list. To add specimens with differing search conditions click on the button. If the list of items is longer than your maximum number of returned items you may browse the next items with the button. If you wish to remove entries from the selected list, choose them in the list and click on the button. This will not delete the data from the database but remove them from your query result.

The result list will contain data with [Read only]{style=“color: #707070; font-weight: bold”} access. For these data all controls and menus for editing the data will be disabled except the button for adding annotations .

Here are some examples you may select for display in the result list:

AccessionNumber: One entry is shown for each specimen with its corresponding accession number.

Last identification: The last identification for every unit in a specimen is shown in the list. As there can be several units in one specimen, several entries for one specimen may appear in the list.

Storage location: The storage location of every part of a specimen stored in the collections is shown in the list. As parts of a specimen can be stored in several collections under different names, several entries for one specimen may appear in the list.

Collecting number: The collecting number given by the collector of every sample of a specimen is shown in the list. A specimen may have several collectors each with a different number. Therefore, several entries for one collection specimen may appear in the list.