Tutorial 6: Adding Text and Images to the Character States
The Lucid Builder is able to attach explanatory images and text to each character state. This is extremely useful as it allows the user to define precisely what is meant by a character state. Like the taxon images, character state images can be in jpeg, bitmap or gif formats dependent upon the design of the user. It is important to set character state images in a square format. This is because by default, the Builder will form a thumbnail image from the main character state image and the thumbnail image is square in shape. If the master character state image is 'long rectangular', the resulting thumbnail image will be highly distorted. In this tutorial, the character state images have all been set to 400 x 400 pixels and jpeg format has been used.
An additional aspect is that the thumbnail image for each state can be set independently once the main state image has been entered. This is done by selecting the required thumbnail image and inserting it into the appropriate point using the standard windows file selection method. A separate thumbnail can be very useful if it is felt that the main state image does not compress well and that the state is better displayed by a line diagram. This method has been used here for the three state images in order to demonstrate the procedure.
1. With the Builder running and the Banksia key loaded, select the character panel and open the first character of Growth habit to show its three states of:
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| tree.jpg | shrub.jpg | prostrate.jpg |
2. Select the state tree and then use the right mouse button to open its State Properties panel. Make sure the Image tab is selected. There will be two blank squares indicating where the main state image and the thumbnail image will be displayed. Only the single Add state image button on the panel is active, as indicated by its colour.
3. Select the Add state image button to open the standard windows file selection panel and browse until you find the file tree.jpg and then select it. It will now appear in the main state image window and also appear by default in reduced form in the thumbnail window. You can use the magnifying glass button (Preview state image) to see the image in full size and also to add macro functions if needed.
4. Now select the Thumbnail button (Import thumbnail picture) to open the file selection panel and browse the files to find the file treethm1.jpg; select it and the image will appear in the thumbnail window. This completes adding the images to the state and you can now move to the next state by selecting the right arrow at the top left of the State Properties panel. The process is now repeated for the states shrub and prostrate. The files you will need are shrub.jpg, shrbthm1.jpg, prostrate.jpg and prosthm1.jpg, respectively.
| Custom Character State Thumbnails | ||
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| treethm1.jpg | shrbthm1.jpg | prosthm1.jpg |
Be aware that when the Builder imports a different thumbnail image into the character state, it alters its name. You will now find that treethm1.jpg has been altered to the file tree.thm, while the other two files are now shrub.thm and prostrate.thm respectively. Another very important aspect is to make sure the size of the image is constrained to 99 x 99 pixels, otherwise the image will lose clarity as it is imported.
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Character state properties with a customised thumbnail. |
5. All character state images for the first state are now imported and you should save the file and compile the key to see the results.
6. The key is now ready to receive text for each state. This can be as complex or as simple as desired but must be in html format. As before, you can prepare the html file separately on a suitable html editor, but when they are completed you must save the files in the html directory so that the Builder is able to locate them. (It is probably best to build the html files within the Builder’s html directory so that if any hypertext links are to be used, they are already valid.)
7. Open the character Growth habit, select the state tree and use the right mouse button to open the State Properties panel. Now select the Notes tab. A single icon (Attach HTML to state) is active and it should be selected. This will open a file selection window and if the state text has been previously written and saved, it can be attached directly. Since this will be a new piece of information, select the New button.
8. An HTML editor will now open and you can insert suitable text. An exemplar text might be: 'Plants forming definite woody trunks and up to 25 metres in height'. Now select File from the menu bar and save the text file in the html directory of the Banksia key. A suggested title is ch1st1 because this allows the user to know immediately which character and state the file refers to. Once the file is saved, close the html editor and the Builder returns you to the previous selection window where the newly created file is now present.
9. Select the file and then the Select button and the text will now appear in the Notes text panel. Notice that a series of icons have now been activated; you can delete the entire file, edit it, or view it in the default browser.
10. If you are satisfied with the text, you can now move to the remaining two states and add suitable text: 'Plants not forming large woody trunks and usually less than 2 metres in height'; 'Plants with a main stem either directly on the ground under litter or just beneath the soil surface - leaves and flowers appearing directly on the surface of the ground'.
11. Now save the file and compile it. The images and text will all be attached to the three states of the first character.