MIAMI UNIVERSITY DENDROLOGY EXPERT SYSTEM (MUDES)
DEVELOPED USING
    XID SERVICES, INC.
    Expert Identification Systems

     Post Office Box 272, Pullman, Washington 99163 Phone or Fax: (509) 332-2989
 Phone Toll Free: 1-800-USA-2XID (1-800-872-2943)
 hittp://www.pullman.com/Business/xid
        e-mail: rold@pullman.com


    XID IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM USER' S GUIDE

    With Tutorial Database

    Version 1.3 For Windows

    Copyright 1997 - 1998, XID Services, Inc.

HTML Version Created by

Roger D. Meicenheimer

2000


 USING THE XID IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM
 A TUTORIAL
 FOR WINDOWS VERSION 1.2


CONTENTS

Text in Bold indicates user action.
Text in Italics indicates XID/MUDES menu items.
 


STARTING XID/MUDES

NO INSTALLATION IS NECESSARY FOR THE MUDES.

IF YOU ARE USING THE MUDES DIRECTLY FROM THE CD:
 


IF YOU ARE USING A SONY 505 LAPTOP ON WHICH THE MUDES HAS BEEN INSTALLED:
 

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 IDENTIFYING A PLANT USING ATTRIBUTES OF YOUR CHOICE

    The current screen shows the main menu headings available under Database for XID Tutorial.   In this exercise you will identify Canada thistle by saying that it has spiny leaves, rhizomes, and wind-blown seeds. These choices could be entered in any order. Note the line on the bottom margin of the box shows that there are currently 72 species remaining in the database.  The highlight bar is on General.
 

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 USING THE "YES," "NO," "OR" COMMANDS

    YES:

    NO:


    OR:

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 IDENTIFYING A PLANT BY ASKING FOR SUGGESTIONS (ANALYSIS)

    In this exercise you will use the Analysis function to aid in identifying a dandelion.
 


    Marking attributes of your choice with YES, OR, NO can be combined in any sequence with asking the program for suggestions (Analysis).

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    SHOW DATA DISTRIBUTION

Examining the distribution of attributes among species within the database can sometimes be helpful in selecting attributes useful for rapid identification.  Attributes that are shared by many species are less useful for identification than attributes that are unique or shared by only a few species.
 

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 SHOW MARKS
Sometimes it is useful to review what attributes you have selected during the identification process.  This allows you to verify what you have selected and alter your decision if appropriate.
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LIST SPECIES/ITEMS AND VIEW REFERENCES
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 VIEW SPECIES/ITEM DATA
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SHOW UNUSUAL FEATURES
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ELIMINATING SPECIES/ITEMS OF YOUR CHOICE

Assume you know the specimen you are trying to identify IS NOT buffalobur, prairie wild rose, common teasel, or Russian thistle.

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MENU HELP


    If no help exists for any given menu or attribute, the help is automatically given for the next higher  menu level.

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 SPECIES/ITEM HELP
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 PROGRAM HELP

    No matter where you are in the program, clicking Help provides you with detailed, context specific help that explains how to use the screen you were on when you clicked Help.

When using the program, try clicking Help each time you see a new screen.

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INVISIBLE MENUS/ATTRIBUTES

    As menus and attributes become non-applicable to the identification process, they also become "invisible" preventing the user from selecting impossible choices and greatly reducing the complexity of the menu structure.

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 NOTES

     If you are sure your specimen has an attribute that is not in a menu (but the menu appears, with other attributes), your species might not be in the database, the author may have chosen not to include that attribute, or you may have made an incorrect mark elsewhere, causing the attribute  you seek to become invisible. For example, if your specimen has white flowers but the only choices in the Flower Color menu are Yellow and Purple, you can click Distribution to see if the author included white as a flower color and to see if it has disappeared. If it is shown, you should go to the Species List and click View Marks to display a summary of the marks you have made. if  there is a mark that is somewhat in doubt, go to it in the menu system and delete it (by highlighting the marked attribute and clicking the Delete button. This usually increases the number of species/items remaining and can allow you to get back on the right track if you have made a mistake.

    In the demo database, "false" data is used when it will make the program more efficient for the unskilled user. For example, a dandelion appears to have many petals, but actually they are many separate flowers, each of which has five petals. The data for the menu Number of petals therefore is marked for both five and >10.

    In the help screens of the demo database, sometimes a reference into the text Plant Identification Terminology (Harris & Harris 1994) is given to further expand upon terminology used in the program. The abbreviation "PIT" is used. This book is in print and can be ordered through most book stores or is available through XID Services.

    Many families have more than one name (i.e., Asteraceae and Compositae), and either one can  be selected in the Family menu. To eliminate such a family, however, both names must be marked as NO in the Family menu.

      When you have no more use for the Tutorial Database, you can delete it from the XID directory by deleting the file demoweedxid.

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EXITING THE PROGRAM
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TIPS ON MAXIMIZING SUCCESS WITH THE MUDES

There are many ways to successfully identify tree species, the following appears to be a common strategy adopted by many students with good results:
 

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