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Fishwise Database Help

You can search the Fishwise Database, of about 97 000 Species Names and over 103 000 Common Names, by:

• GenusSpecies Name
• Species Name
• Common Name

(We will soon be adding searches for Genus and Family)

Initial View:

The initial view displays all the records in the relevant table.

When a filter is activated it always operates on the full list of records. 

Filter:

The filter feature enables you to create a filter which, when applied to the displayed list of all records, obtains the record or group of records that you require.

Auto Complete:

The "Auto Complete" feature can be very useful if you are not sure how to spell something you are looking for. To use this feature you must tick the "Auto Complete" box before making any selections and entering data into the input box. When this feature is switched on it checks in the data base to find records that match the data that you have entered and lists the matching records in a drop down box. Because the data base is being continually accessed over the internet, this feature can be very slow. Try it to see whether it proves useful for your requirements.

Start New Search:

To start a new search and clear all the filter options click on the "Clear Filter" button.

Temporarily remove some of the filter options created:

Uncheck any items in the "Filter Criteria List" that you want to disable. Click on the "Refresh Filter" Button and a new filter will be activated using only the ticked items in your list.

Permanently remove some of the filter options created:

Click on the "Clear Unchecked" button to remove all items that have been unticked from the "Filter Criteria List".

Search History:

When you click on a Name to view its details, the filter criteria is automatically saved and can be used as a quick method for viewing the details at a later stage. To use this feature, select an item from the "Search History" drop down box and click on it. The detail page of the selected item is then displayed. The most recently selected record is shown at the top of the "Search History" list. This feature can only be used after at least one record has been selected and its details have been displayed.

Working with the Filter Criteria List:

After a filter is created, it is added to the "Filter Criteria List" together with a 'ticked' "check box". The "Filter Criteria List" is located at the bottom of the "Filter" box on the right hand side, just below the "Add to Filter" box. The "check boxes" can be 'ticked' or 'unticked' (switched on or off) to add or remove the relevant portion of the filter. Once you have made a change, all you need to do is Click on the "Refresh Filter Button to get a new set of results. By adjusting the filter criteria in this way the flexibility of the filter is increased resulting in an extremely powerful search capability. If you do not get the results you expect, always check the "Filter Criteria List" to ensure that the filter criteria are correct. If you are not sure, click on the "Clear Filter" button to start again so that any possible conflicting filter items that could affect the search are removed. 

Examples:

Get all the species that are in the genus Amblyeleotris

Select "Genus Species Search" > Choose option "Starts With" > Enter Amblyeleotris > Press Enter or Click on "Add to Filter" button. The results page will now show about 46 records all starting with Amblyeleotris.

The "Filter Criteria List" now has one item in it:

• [GenusSpecies Starts With "Amblyeleotris"] This List allows you to check what filter you have created and to manipulate it.

Get all the Valid species that are in the genus Amblyeleotris

If you look at the records that are displayed after using the previous Filter you see that each row shows some colored icons. The Icon Key at the left, tells you what each icon means. You can also find out what an icon means by moving the mouse over it. You will see that the icon for all the Valid records is a blue colored ball with a 'V' embossed on it. To only show the Valid records you must add additional information to be used by the Filter.

Select "Status" from the drop down box. > The second box automatically shows "Equals". In the input box now type in "Valid" - if you wait for a while an option list is displayed from which you can select an item > Click on 'Valid' and the results page now displays about 38 records which are the Valid species in the genus Amblyeleotris.

The "Filter Criteria List" now has 2 items in it:

• [GenusSpecies Starts With "Amblyeleotris"]
• [AND Status Equals "Valid"]

We would now like to find all the Valid species in the genus Amblyeleotris where Randall was an Author.

Select "Author" for the first box, choose the option 'Contains' in the second box and type in "Randall" into the input box. Press Enter or Click on "Add to Filter" and 11 records are displayed. As you can see Randall is either the only author or is one of the authors in each of these records.

The "Filter Criteria List" now has 3 items in it:

• [GenusSpecies Starts With "Amblyeleotris"]
• [AND Status Equals "Valid"]
• [AND Author Contains "Randall"]

We selected the option "Contains" Randall and got 11 records.
Now select option "Starts With" Randall you will get 8 records
Now select option "Equals" Randall you only get 7 records

Look at the records and try to understand why we get different numbers of records for the different Filter options. If you untick the the last 2 items in the "Filter Criteria List" and click on "Refresh Filter", you will get the 11 records we had earlier. If you tick the last item and click on "Refresh Filter" you get 7 records. Always check the "Filter Criteria List" to understand why you are getting the records that are displayed. Now tick the second last item in the "Filter Criteria List".The "Filter Criteria List" should now have 5 items in it:

• [GenusSpecies Starts With "Amblyeleotris"]
• [AND Status Equals "Valid"]
• [AND Author Contains "Randall"]
• [AND Author Equals "Randall"]
• [AND Author Starts With "Randall"]

If you now untick them all and Click on "Refresh Filter" you will get the entire list of Genus Species (approx. 97 100 records).
Now tick "AND Author Contains Randall" and click on "Refresh Filter" and you get 776 records where Randall is either the only author or one of the authors.
Now tick "AND Status Equals Valid" and click on "Refresh Filter" and you get 643 records where Randall is one of the Authors of the species that are valid.
Now tick "GenusSpecies Starts With Amblyeleotris" click on "Refresh Filter" and you get the same 11 records that we got in Example 3 above.

You can ADD new items to the Filter, You can tick and untick items to get exactly the records you require. This is an extremely powerful search tool and it is worth your while to familiarise yourself on the way it works.

Hint:

If you do not get the results you are expecting, always check the "Filter Criteria List" to see what items
are ticked, make any necessary changes and then activate the new filter by clicking on the "Refresh Filter" button.

Diacritical Marks:

When creating a filter using an Author name, diacritical marks are not a problem. For example if you want to enter Müller all you need to do is to enter Muller (without the diacritical mark) and both Müller and Muller will be used in the filter.