Species Browser

update 2009/01/01

[Warning! Abandonware: I am no longer developing/maintaining this application]

Introduction

Species Browser is a simple application for browsing information saved from the web. Both a desktop PC version and a Windows Mobile version are available. I wrote it for my own use but I'm releasing it here as you might also find it useful.

Species Browser browses information you have saved. It does not come with any of its own data.

Folders

For it to work you need to save your information one folder per species. In the picture below you can see the folder structure on my mobile phone.
Here you can see my plant folders. I have similar folders for fish and 'Other' which contains info on invertebrates etc. Each of these top level folders is referred to as a collection. You can setup whatever folder structure you want. I then have the exact same folder structure on my desktop machine.

Files

In the pic below you can see the files in one of these folders. The images are used for thumbnails. The saved web pages are displayed on the documents tab and the notes file is displayed on the main page.

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The Windows Mobile Version

The pic above shows the main screen displaying information on Hygrophilia polysperma.

On the "Docs" tab you can view your saved web pages


The windows mobile version can only view htm and html pages. It can not display mht files. So if you are saving web pages with IE select "Webpage, complete" and not "Web archive".

Setup

Before you can start using the mobile app you need to setup your collections. I.E. you need to tell the app where to look for your files. To do this click on the "Menu", and select "Setup Collections"

You will then see the collection setup page. On this page you can create links to new collections and edit your existing collections.


To add a new collection

1. Click on the "New Collection"
2. Enter a name
3. Click the browse button"..." and browse for the folder containing your collection
   

Selecting a collection

You can now select a collection from the main menu

Selecting a species

There are two ways to select a species to view. Either select the item from the drop down or click on the "Species" menu item.
If you click on the "Species" menu item you will see this screen



On this screen you can select an item from the listbox or search for items containing a phrase. To search for a phrase type in the edit box at the top of the screen.

Selecting a document

Once you have selected an item from the listbox click the "Select" menu item to load it.

Once you have loaded a species you can view your saved documents by clicking on the "Docs" tab. As with the species page you can either select a document from the drop down or search for it.

Keyboard shortcuts

This pics shows how you can navigate the mobile app without using a stylus

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The Windows Desktop Version

I've done a lot less work on the desktop version as I mainly use the mobile version. However it does work...


The PC version is very similar to the mobile version the only difference being that the PC version allows you to edit the notes.

Setup

Click on the "Tools" menu, select "Collection Setup"


Click on "Add" to add a collection. The browse button lets you browse for your collection folder

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Download

Both versions are free. I may update them from time to time but I'm not making any promises :)


Prerequisites
To run the windows mobile version you will need to have the Microsoft .Net Compact Framework version 2 installed. If you don't have it you can download it here.

To run the windows desktop version you will need to have the Microsoft .Net Framework version 2 (this is not the same framework as the one above) installed. If you don't have it you can download it here.


Species Browser for Windows Mobile version 1.0.2.3
Download the mobile version's installer here

Species Browser for Windows Desktop machines version 1.0.2.1
Download the desktop version's installer here

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Feedback

Let me know if you are using Species Browser by emailing me <dart-software@pobox.com>.