Structure of the D-Key Card

The card consists of a sheet on which two images to be compared are placed. Each of these pictures, showing a distinguishing feature, is described in a text field below. By clicking one of the lens buttons in the middle of the form, the associated pictures are inserted and the background colour of the accompanying text field changes to white. Up to four image pairs can be matched with each other. In case of concordance with one of the types in the left or right half of the card the appropriate Arrow Keys are pressed to move to the following pages until the species level is reached.

Table Windows, Attention Windows

Table Windows comprise up to 6 images that display the various distinguishing features in species or genera, which can be identified on one of the following pages. The user may change between two viewing modes: the Table tab allows the comparison of smaller sized images (figure 2, table left). In the Zoom tab, all images are displayed separately in a bigger size and may be queried in sequence (figure 2, table right).

Attention Windows offer specific information about identification problems or confusion of species.

Morphology Windows

Most text fields contain blue-coloured links to the Morphology sub-application. When using these links, a window is opened indicating the exact position of the selected detail (figure 3). This information facilitates the finding of morphological features relevant for identification.

The card allows you to navigate forward and backward within the key (the user's path is stored in the program History) and to select certain pages or taxa.