BonyParts Otolith ReadingClick on the following to download the program and documentation:
The magnifications available are 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0. This feature allows you to see the image more clearly. It in no way effects what the program "sees". The band analysis part of BonyParts works at the single pixel (1X) level. Working at higher magnification does not improve the resolution.
The tool for deleting and inserting band marks also has a resolution equal to the 1X image. For those of you who want to keep track of interband distances, it is possible BonyParts won't allow you to put a band exactly where you want it when you are working at high magnification. That is because the program samples pixels perpendicular to the axis of the scan. It can only put bands at locations corresponding to one pixel distances along the scan axis.
I made a change in the band determining algorithm. Before, BonyParts was concerned with getting the correct number of bands and displaying them more-or-less where the band was located. The program now tries to put the mark on the darkest part of the band. It is possible for this to go wrong in placement but I hope to never give the wrong TOTAL number of marks. At worst it should move a mark from a lighter dark band to a nearby darker dark band, marking the latter band twice (the band mark should be twice as wide). The method used to do this can be improved and I am thinking about it...
The tool for moving bands is disabled in this version. I did not have time to implement it before I ran out of time to work on the program.
Please keep your comments and suggestions coming in. As my time permits, I will continue to add features to the program and priority for features is a function of number of requests.
John Brittnacher
Wildlife and Fisheries Biology
University of California
Davis, California 95616
USA
jgbrittnacher@ucdavis.edu