Australian Native Plants Selector
A Program for PCs
Latest Uploads
APSquery (Now Vista-compatible V1.9.4.1): Thursday 9th October, 2008
Go to APSquery Download
APS-SA Plants Database: Friday 3rd October, 2008
Go to APSdata Download
NOTE: APSquery and APSdata must be installed together if
changing from V1.8.5 or earlier due to modified database format.
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APSquery: I have developed a program called APSquery which
allows me to find Australian Native Plants to suit specific requirements.
APSquery uses a database created and maintained by the
Australian Plants Society (S.A. Region, Inc),
which contains descriptions of approximately 5500 native plants.
Most are proper species, but the list also includes a number of common hybrids and cultivars.
The database has been developed with emphasis on plant characteristics in Mediterranean to
semi-arid climatic conditions. It will best relate to South Australian conditions, and is reasonably
close for Western Australia and Victoria. However, it may be less accurate for eastern seaboard environments.
A program of this nature is of necessity rather complex, given that there are over 40 selection criteria
which can be chosen to help find the plant you want.
Using APSquery for the first few times can be likened
to using a word processor; you can do basic operations,
but practice and frequent use of the help files is essential.
However, APSquery has been written to make
it easy to use.
It contains a comprehensive help file to explain every function and criteria.
There are even six topics in the Help Menu of APSquery
to help new users:
"Quick Start Help"
"Really Quick Start Help"
"Names Selection Help"
"Criteria Option Selection"
"Marking Information"
"Photographs Help"
APSquery runs on any standard PC with
at least 1024x768 pixel resolution and 16-bit (64K) or better colour resolution.
It is regularly tested with Windows-XP, and should run with Windows-98, Windows-Me, Windows-2000 or Windows-Vista.
Self-installation programs provide simple installation of the application and database.
Vista? Refer to Vista Note below for status of Vista-compatible version.
Linux? If you are running Linux, you should be able to run
APSquery under WINE.
Click for a screenshot of the opening menu.
Note the criteria in the basic selection page, which are an extraction of the
eight most common criteria from 43 criteria on the nine other pages.
Click here and here
and here for other screenshots in the sequence.
APSquery features include:
Extensive suite of search key criteria, divided into categories.
On-screen view of a Brief Information Page for all plants matching the specified criteria.
On-screen view of a Full Information Page for plants selected from the Brief Information Page.
Ability to save information as files, or to print any selection from either plant list.
Option preferences are stored in the Windows Registry.
Font selection (including colour) is independently defined for the Information Pages.
Quick Preview (via a separate window) of Full Information.
Quick Search for a known Genus and species, a Basic criteria selection, or for Keywords.
Ability to display photographs of selected plants.
Compatible with Windows XP Themes settings.
Criteria can be selected as either ANY or ALL options for a match.
Change to CHM format help file structure.
V1.8.5 updates:
Select any criteria checklistbox as either matching with ANY or ALL options selected.
Prevent showing descriptions which are not adequately defined.
Faster reload after doing a data reset.
Automatic looping option when more than one photograph exists for a plant.
V1.9.0 updates:
More criteria and more options in some criteria.
(Note: criteria selection boxes in pink are not yet fully implemented in the database.)
Common Name Search now in the Quick Search area.
NOTE: if updating from V1.8.5 or earlier you will need to load both APSquery and APSdata.
V1.9.1 updates:
A photograph can be included when printing preview data.
Ability to select photograph position when printing.
V1.9.2 updates:
Warnings when top or bottom of plant list reached.
Internal coding improvements.
V1.9.3 updates:
Improved control of error conditions.
Option to include plant description with photograph prints.
V1.9.4 updates:
Now Vista compatible with CHM help file format.
The application is completely self-contained. It does not require on-line access during use. The database is issued independently.
Application and database updates are released as separate files, so you only need to check the versions on the top of
this page and compare them with those in the Title Bar of APSquery.
This version of APSquery is FREE for your enjoyment.
Your comments and feedback would be appreciated to make it an even better program.
A wide range of photographs for many plants listed in APSquery will be released on CD-ROM.
Release of the CD-ROM with about 4000 photos for about $50 is planned for late 2008.
Approximately 3500 photographs covering almost 1600 plants have already been processed,
but have you ever thought of the effort required to obtain, digitise, process and validate photographs for more than
7000 plants?
Revisit this site for further reports on progress (rather slow right now).
In the meantime, to whet your appetite, click for a 400x400 or 200x200 sample.
Better still, download the sample set below along with
APSquery to see what it can do.
To find out more about APSquery, download
Guides.zip (25KB) (in plain Text, RTF, MSWord-97 and HTML format)
or view Guide.pdf (153KB) in Adobe Acrobat® format.
APSquery is supplied as two separate installation files,
one for the application and the other for the database.
Each file is small enough to fit easily on a single 3.5" floppy disk.
You will need to download both files for a new installation or when
APSquery changes, but only the
APSdata database file for data upgrades.
APSquery Version 1.9.3.7
(Uploaded 3rd October, 2008) is FREE here! Just click on this link:
APSqry193.zip (968KB) to commence download.
OR
APSquery Version 1.9.4.1
(Uploaded 9th October, 2008) for Vista or WinXP is FREE here! Just click on this link:
APSqry194.zip (962KB) to commence download.
Note: APSquery V1.8 introduced plant descriptor and photograph linking.
1: If an old plant name is used, APSquery will locate newer description data if possible
2. All photographs for renamed plants (both old and new names) will be collected for display.
APSdata 081002
(Uploaded 3rd October 2008) is also free here! Just click on this link:
APSdata.zip (1059KB) to commence download.
NOTE: Both APSquery and APSdata must be installed together even as an update
if changing from V1.8.5 or earlier because the database format has been modified.
This version of APSquery
is similar to the one which will be used at the
2008 APS-SA Spring Flower Show and Plant Sale.
Don't forget to revisit to check for updates of APSquery
or its APSdata database.
Windows Vista?
Failure to show Help files has been solved (I hope!) in V1.9.4.0, now uses CHM help file format.
There appear to be no other real problems except that:
APSquery files (application, data and photographs)
must be installed by a user with Administrator access privileges.
Alternatively, versions up to V1.9.3.7 can be used by running the file WinHlp32.exe
(This can be downloaded from the Microsoft download site - follow the instructions carefully!)
Sample Photographs:
To obtain a sample of about 100 photographs, click on this link:
APSphotoH.zip (3441KB) to commence download.
This is a self-installation process which places the photographs in the selected folder.
ScreenSaver: Do you want APSsaver,
a screensaver that uses these photographs?
Download APSsaver.zip (339KB), unzip it and and follow the directions in the text file.
You will have a screensaver like the bouncing ball, except it will use photographs of plants.
If you are looking for a dictionary of about 23,600 botanical names targetting Australian Native Plants,
look no further than my Australian native flora dictionary.
This dictionary is actually 7 separate files, designed to work in most common word processors, including:
Microsoft Word for Windows (Word95, Word97, Word2000, Word2003)
Microsoft Word for the MacIntosh
Microsoft Works for Windows (to V3.0)
Word Perfect 8 for Windows
Lotus WordPro
Adobe Pagemaker V6.5
Genus/Family Table
Now Available - a cross reference table showing the genus/family association for over 5000
Australian Native Plants.
This table has been developed to improve the performance of my free
Australian Native Plants Selector,
but can also be used independently if you only want a table of association.
Just click
Here to find the TAB delimited list.
Howard
This page has been accessed
times since 23rd November, 2005
DISCLAIMER:Chariot, as my Internet Service Provider,
is not responsible for the maintenance or content of these pages.
Edited with AceHTMLfree..
Last Update Thursday 9th October, 2008
© Copyright 2002-2008 Howard Harvey
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