This is Max. (Well, if Max was human this is what we think he’d look like, the kind of guy you’d be happy to leave your kids with. Some people think this is actually Fred MacMurray, but we’re not so sure. The original image had Max promoting a glass of beer. We’ve substituted that with something more politically and environmentally correct.)
If you spend a lot of time dealing with species names, Max can make your life a lot easier in a whole range of different ways. People dealing with species databases typically spend a lot of time creating data tables, checking or entering names, coming up with species name coding systems once they get sick of typing the full name in, printing species lists, entering sites details and so on.
Well, does it bother you that your list of species names is hopelessly out of date after only a week? Ever got tired of entering those long names only to find your error rate alarming? Ever come back to an old database and found that many of the names had changed? Ever got sick of becoming an IT database expert when you’d rather be doing some science?
And what about localities? If you're not a GPS user, you'll know the tedium of converting between latitude/longitude and projected co-ordinates as well as trying to calculate your localities defined by reference to a named place. What about your old records that used datums prior to GDA94 datum?
These problems can make database management a real chore, not to mention decreasing the usefulness and value of your data because your names aren’t current anymore. This is where Max can help. Max comes bundled with the Census of Western Australian Plants. It also comes with an electronic collecting book for capturing specimen label data. In fact, if you are a regular contributor to the WA Herbarium we strongly encourage to use Max so that a), your names are more likely to be up to date and b) so that you have a standard database structure for your specimen data.
So, if your question is as simple as “How do I spell Eucalyptus?”, Max can help by displaying a list of names from his available species master lists. If you want to enter your data into a well-structure collecting book, Max can do that for you. If you want to know what names have changed recently, or what names in your database are no longer current, again, Max can help. Additionally, you can display distribution maps and images of certain Western Australian plant taxa.
In other words, Max is an all-rounder, making many of the tasks associated with using species names and compiling species databases easier.
Read on to find out how to download and register Max.
Max V3.5 is now available. It contains a number of bug fixes as well as support for Microsoft Access .accdb files.
See "What’s new in Max?" for more information.
Download and evaluate Max at no obligation for 30 days (after that, Max won’t run without providing a permanent serial number.) Once you’ve downloaded the installation program, run it and follow the instructions.
Important: Max needs a serial number before it will run. You must register with the WA Herbarium to get a serial number, even if you only wish to evaluate the product. This enables us to gain an idea of who uses Max and the species name data that comes with Max. It also puts us in a better position to provide support. Visit the registration page to register your copy of Max.
Once you’ve registered Max, go to the Max Download Page to download it from our anonymous FTP site. Once installed, consult the readme.rtf file for more information.
Visit our purchasing page for information on Max pricing, or our ordering page for information on ordering Max.
We hope you enjoy using Max and appreciate your feedback. Feel free to email Paul Gioia.
The Max installation file is a single file of about 51 MB. With broadband it may only take a minute or two to download.
It is advisable, though not always necessary, to uninstall any previous versions of Max before installing the current version.
The installation program will ask for a user name, company and serial number (you will receive your serial number directly by email once you have registered). Remember, Max won't run without this information.
Max V3 will run on Windows XP and 7. Once installed, consult readme.rtf for more information.
Order Max or regular updates of WACensus
The development of Max has been undertaken by the Science Division within the Department of Environment and Conservation in Western Australia. We believe there is a real need for the names of Western Australia’s plants and animals to be as widely available as possible to more effectively document the biota and facilitate the conservation process. It is not our intention, therefore, to profit commercially from providing basic names data.
However, the cost of maintaining a comprehensive names database, constantly reviewing the literature and trapping name changes is substantial. While larger organisations have the resources to develop forms-based applications that intelligently deploy names data, these are beyond the capacity of most community groups or individuals. Thus we have sponsored the development of an intelligent names browser, collecting book and editing utility, and the associated development costs. Max pricing is not based on cost recovery (which would obviously incur far higher prices). Rather, it is a means to subsidising the ongoing provision of high quality names data together with regular updates, as well as assisting the ongoing development of Max.
The WA Herbarium, which provides the names for Western Australian Plants and houses the development of Max, encourages collaboration with non-profit research institutions, conservation agencies and individuals or groups having an explicit conservation focus. Fauna names are provided courtesy of the Western Australian Museum, with additional names added by DEC's Species and Communities Branch.
The basic unit cost for Max is A$385.00 (includes 10% GST). However, discounts for Max may be available, on application, if you fall into any of the following categories:
Of course, any discounting is subject to the discretion of the WA Herbarium. Feel free to email us for more information on available discounts, explaining how you fit into the above categories.
Site licensing is available for all categories (except academic and private, which already have substantial discounts). The first unit is charged at full price. Subsequent units are charge at half price. For example, three copies of Max would cost A$385 + (2 × A$192) = A$770.
In addition to purchasing Max, you may also choose to obtain monthly updates of the names of Western Australian plants and animals. This is a particularly worthwhile investment if you wish to take advantage of the latest nomenclatural and taxonomic information on Western Australian plant and animal species and Maximise the value of your database. Note that, at this stage, updates to animal names are likely to occur less often than plant names. We hope to improve the frequency of animal name updates over time.
Updates can be purchased for A$165 if Max has also been purchased, or A$220 if only WACensus data are required (all prices are inclusive of 10% GST). This will entitle you to monthly updates of WA plant and animal names for one year from date of purchase.
Order Max or regular updates of WACensus
You have two ways of ordering Max: by cheque (Australia only), or by credit card. Which ever method you use, please register Max if you haven't already, so that you can receive your serial number(s). Max won't run without them.
Please fill out the relevant fields below and print the page using your browser's Print button. Cheques should be made out to the WA Herbarium. Then send this page and your cheque to:
Please fill in the relevant fields below and fax us this page at +61 8 93340327. Your order will be confirmed by email.
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For information on the price of Max, visit our purchasing page.
Note: All prices inclusive of 10% GST. For more information contact Paul Gioia.
By registering to evaluate Max you give us a better idea of who is interested in Max and how we can improve Max functionality. To register for access to Max please fill in allthe fields below, and click on the Submit button.
The fields Name and Company will be used to generate a personalised evaluation serial number. Your Name and Company will be displayed by Max each time you start it up. Please enter them exactly as you wish them to appear. It is also very important that your reply email address is correct or we can't send you your serial number.
For more information contact Paul Gioia.
The following features have been added or modified since the last major version of Max:
Fauna Names
The new version of Max includes fauna names. In collaboration with the WA Museum and DEC's Species and Communities Branch, we are now able to provide WA vertebrate fauna with unique NameIDs as we do with flora. This ensures there will be no clash in combining flora and fauna data because all IDs are issued from the one number pool.
By default all new databases use default master lists containing flora and fauna names. (For backwards compatibility, views containing just flora names are also implemented.) This means both flora and fauna names will appear in dropdown lists when adding new names. This is a new addition to Max and support for the new names is still limited. For example, Max will still only implement a flora collecting book. New fauna collecting books may be included in upcoming versions. A later version will include also filtering so that you only see the groups you want when adding records.
Family number is now deprecated
Family number (e.g. 106A, field FAMILY_CODE) has been deprecated. FAMILY_CODE will be retained in the families table for backward compatibility, but will no longer be updated, and will be blank for new families. At a future date the field will be removed.
Max is designed to support data standards implemented by the WA Herbarium. One recent change, as part of the move to the new Herbarium building, is the system used to identify and physically locate families. For many years family number (field FAMILY_CODE) has been used to uniquely identify families and has been cited in the literature. This field was also used to systematically sort families. However, since the implementation of NAME_IDs at all levels of the taxonomic hierarchy, family number has been effectively duplicating this function.
As of Max Version 3.2 the identification and sorting functions have been separated. Families are now solely identified by NAME_ID. This field has been added to the families master list. In the species and genera master lists, the field is called FAMILY_NID to avoid clashing with the NAME_ID already in that table. Thus, you can make a join between the species and family lists by using FAMILY_NID (species or genera list) <-> NAME_ID (families list).
To facilitate systematic sorting, a new field LINEAR_SEQUENCE now exists in the families table. All Max reports incorporating family information now use LINEAR_SEQUENCE for sorting. The contents of this field have no inherent meaning and are used solely as a sorting mechanism. The number itself is not guaranteed to remain the same and should not be cited.
Families table now includes higher order information
The WA Herbarium now maintains higher order names for many taxa, from class through to kingdom. This information is now included in the families table in a simplified form, together with the NAME_IDs for each taxon name. Note that gaps exist for many names. These will be filled over time.
Genera table added to Max's master lists
The Max master lists now include genus names.
GenusID is deprecated
The field GENUS_ID in the species table has been historically used to uniquely identify genera. For reasons similar to family names, this field is now deprecated. Every genus has a unique NAME_ID and there is no need for the GENUS_ID field. It will be dropped in a future release of Max.
Below is a summary of fixes and enhancements made to Max3, since the intial release. Please report any other bugs you find to Simon Woodman
| Issue: Query Builder |
Error when opening query builder on collecting book. |
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New Functionality |
Export to CSV |
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Modified Functionality |
Hide the Collecting Book | Export | Waherb menu option |
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Issue: |
Collecting Book Error in Label Printing Dialog. |
| Issue: Query Builder |
Genera table not available |
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Issue: Name Qualifiers |
Taxon name qualifers were not displayed correctly |
| Issue: Collecting Book |
Could not modify the Author field |
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Issue: Collecting Book |
Max didn't recognised previous collecting book structure |
| Issue: Table Design Form |
Could not creating supplement table |
| Issue: Supplement Names |
Could not add a new supplement name |
| Issue: HTML Report Report Failing |
The HTML report has been corrected and the default template updated. |
| Issue: Collecting Book |
Copy Previous Record and Copy from Template |
| Issue: Florabase Integration |
Photos and Maps not working |
| Master List Restructure | Family Code Deprecated
Family code has been deprecated and replaced with the new Family Name Identifier. |
| ISSUE-0000926 | Installation Focus
Registration details dialog box in the installation problem did not always show in front of the main installation screen. |
| ISSUE-0001933 | Coordinate data entry in collecting book issues
Entering co-ordinates in UTM produced a shift in the co-ordinates when converted to decimal degrees. The collecting book currently only stores co-ordinates in decimal degree format, but will be updated later to store the co-ordinates as entered by the user. In the mean time the co-ordinate conversion routines have been revised so that there is no shift in the co-ordinates when converting between decimal degrees and UTM. |
| ISSUE-0001051 | Name Changes report in MAX 3
Users can now specify if they want to see just names that have been added to the master list, rather than including any name updates. |
| ISSUE-0001069 | Ctrl-D wierdness after re-ordering columns?
If columns in a data table had been re-orderd, using Ctrl+D (copy from the field in the previous record) produced unexpected results. |
| ISSUE-0001071 | Copy record plant name
Re-instated the context menu for the full species name displayed at the top of both the data table and collecting book forms. |
| ISSUE-0001068 | Page on Modifying reports contains typo
Fixed. |
| ISSUE-0000943 | Duplicate Record doesn't copy all fields.
Species name fields were deliberately not being copied when duplicating a collecting book record. This has been modified so that now they are. |
| ISSUE-0000938 | Autopopulate of collecting book record
Confusion relating to the fact that the collecting book setting is table specific. This setting has been added to the table design form to make it more obvious to the user. |
| ISSUE-0001002 | Copy Previous Field / Record oddness
Copying the previous field was not consistent depending on whether the user had pressed the Insert key to get a new record in a data table, rather then clicking the + button on the navigation bar. Functionality between the two has now been made the same. |
| ISSUE-0000963 | Species name does not display when scrolling through MySQL database table
This error was caused by the MySQL ODBC driver not being configured properly. The options "Don't Optimize Column Width" and "Return Matching Rows" need to be select in the MySQL ODBC DSN Configuration. |
| ISSUE-0000961 | Access violations after using Alt+M for Data Links connections
The more information dialog box was producing access violations when connected to a non-microsoft access database. These have been corrected. This problem was probably introduced when fixing ISSUE-0000930. Errors also occurred when scrolling through a query result set. |
| ISSUE-0000951 | Save Changes before creating User-Defined Fields in a Collecting Book
If the current record in a collecting book was being edited when the user clicked on the "Add Field" button on the last page of the collecting book, then any pending changes were lost. The current changes are now posted to the database before allowing the user to add a new field. A similar issue applied to switching between form view and datasheet view, with the same resolution. |
| ISSUE-0000945 | Can't import data table
If the user was trying to import a Microsoft Access table that contained a boolean field, refered to as a Yes/No field in Microsoft Access, then an exception was produced. Max was not correctly recognising this type of field in the source table, so could not create the destination table for the data. |
| ISSUE-0000942 | Add button for creating supplemental name
A button has been added to the toolbar to give the users a quick method of adding a name to the supplement table. |
| ISSUE-0000941 | File name not displayed on label
There is an option on the print labels dialog box for the filename to be displayed on the label. This had no effect. Now when the user selects this option the name of the Microsoft Access database is added to the bottom of the label, followed by the name of the collecting book in brackets. |
| ISSUE-0000937 | Ctrl T doesn't work if Copy From Tempate is not already selected
A new function has been added to the collecting book where the user can populate details of the record from the template database by selecting from a list of values. Ctrl T initiates the process. Several issues were encountered during the development of this process, all of which are now resolved. |
| ISSUE-0000935 | Precision of GDA coords is only 3 decimal places
The existing coordinate conversion from geographical to UTM coordinates was rounding the UTM coordinates to 3 decimal places. This rounding has now been removed. |
| ISSUE-0000936 | Disable autoincrement on collector number in template
When entering new records into the collecting book template table, the collector number was being incremented. This should not have been occurring and has been fixed. |
| ISSUE-0000933 | Creating a new table
When the user creates a new table from the table design form, they are prompted to enter a name for the new table. If a table already existed with the same name then an exception occurred. Now a check is done to see if there is a table with the specified name and if so the user is prompted to replace the existing table. If they choose not to do so, they are returned to the dialog box where they can specify a different table name. |
| ISSUE-0000932 | Null values in drop down boxes of collecting book
There are several fields in the collecting book where the user enters the value via a drop down list. Originally there was no null or empty value in the list if the user wanted to clear the value of the field. Pressing the Delete key whilst the control had focus worked, but was not obvious. A blank entry has now been added to the top of the list to clear the field. |
| ISSUE-0000930 | Name status line not updating
The status line for secondary name identifier fields was not updating properly if the master list for the secondary name was different to the primary name identifier. The name for the secondary name identifier was being looked up in the wrong master list. |
| ISSUE-0000928 | Max update and evaluation serial numbers
The Max update utility would not update the users version of Max if they were using an evaluation serial number. This has now been changed. |
| ISSUE-0000927 | Access violation on updating Max
The Max update utility produced an exception if Max was not already installed on the users machine. Now the user is notified that they need to install Max before running any updates. The utility then terminates cleanly. |
| ISSUE-0000798 | Max Files are dropping the 0 (zero) at the beginning of the Bar Code number
The CSV export files for used to import the data into WAHERB were being incorrectly produced with the leading zeros on the sheet number field. |
| ISSUE-0000922 | Name not showing for secondary NameID |
| ISSUE-0000921 | Field roster navigation |
| ISSUE-0000888 | Set a maximum column width when a Max data table is opened |
| ISSUE-0000887 | Max Data Tables restricted to 6 secondary NameID fields |
| ISSUE-0000886 | Find and Replace dialog improvements |
| ISSUE-0000885 | Validation on the Main Name ID setting on the Table Design form is case-sensitive |
| ISSUE-0000881 | Pass-Through Query too restrictive for Non-Microsoft Jet database |
| ISSUE-0000880 | Modify start-up screen to display any Data Links Connections |
| ISSUE-0000867 | Creating a subset of a collecting book |
| ISSUE-0000845 | Reinstate the display of the last date that the master list was updated |
| ISSUE-0000842 | HTML report fails when generated from a MAX species data table |
| ISSUE-0000869 | Querying WAHERB using "IS NULL" or "IS NOT NULL" criteria returns wrong record count |
| ISSUE-0000868 | Filter using null or not null isn't working |
| ISSUE-0000866 | Use the up and down arrow keys to navigate through the records in a Collecting Book |
| ISSUE-0000863 | Can not restructure a SQL Server table that contains an identity column |
| ISSUE-0000861 | Re-introduce the Report Explorer menu option |
| ISSUE-0000860 | UTM codes not converting to Degrees, Minutes and Seconds in Collecting Book |
| ISSUE-0000859 | Make the automatic sizing of columns on reports an option |
| ISSUE-0000853 | Can not filter a table in a MySQL database |
| ISSUE-0000858 | Error when copying a SQL Server table |
| ISSUE-0000850 | Table Design does not load correctly for MySQL databases |