Mandala 

>Dear Sir or Madam, 

>on behalf of the Global Biodiversity Facility (GBIF), the Botanic  

>Garden and Museum Berlin, Dept. of Biodiversity Informatics is  

>carrying out a survey of collection management and data capture  

>solutions. The scope of this survey is restricted to publicly  

>available systems that are used by natural history collections. 

> 

>Mandala has been identified as one of the important software tools  

>for collection management which should be itemised on this list. So  

>far, we have collected the following information from your world  

>wide web site (http://pherocera.inhs.uiuc.edu/index.htm). 

Web address can be shortened to http://pherocera.inhs.uiuc.edu/ 

> 

>  > Availability and cost 

>Request software from http://pherocera.inhs.uiuc.edu/index.htm 

Mandala software distributed freely upon request; user feedback  

requested and acknowledgement of software use required in  

publications. 

Web address can be shortened to http://pherocera.inhs.uiuc.edu/ 

>  > Limitations to scalability 

>underlying database engine is FileMaker(tm) Pro 

Underlying database engine is FileMaker(tm) Pro, which currently has  

a 2 GB file size limit on any one file. To prevent file bloat, images  

(photos, scientific illustrations, maps, etc.) can and should be  

stored in the images folder and references to these files made in the  

appropriate database (ILLUS.FP5).  Other limits are based on  

underlying software version (currently FileMaker Pro 5.x and 6 are  

supported), hardware (memory), operating system, and platform.  See  

http://filemaker.com/products for details.  Every attempt to keep  

Mandala fully cross platform without third party plugins has been  

made. 

The number of users operating concurrently depends on the mode.  

Although FileMaker Pro allows multiple users (between 5 10) from the  

client (FileMaker Pro) software, it is not recommended that Mandala  

operate in multiuser mode without FileMaker Pro Server, which serves  

files via TCP/IP.  This affords access to Mandala systems by clients  

using FileMaker Pro from internet connections (reliable cable modem  

or faster recommended) anywhere in the world.  Such files should of  

course be password protected. The number of concurrent users hosted  

by FileMaker Pro Server is limited to 250 guests with 125 hosted  

files.  Mandala currently has 28 files.  Mandala files can also be  

served to the Web either using FileMaker Pro (limit 10 users/24 h  

period) or FileMaker Pro Unlimited (unlimited number of users). 

>  > Computing platform limitations or specialization 

>MacOS; Windows 95/98 

Compatible with Mac and Windows OS that are compatible with FileMaker  

Pro version utilized to access system.  Currently requires FileMaker  

Pro 5.x or 6. 

>  > Specialization by taxonomic group 

>Flies 

Although website shows specific use for flies, Mandala is easily  

customized for any taxon governed by the ICZN.  The nomenclature file  

(NAMES.FP5) can also be modified further to comply with other  

international codes.  All other files (=tables) handling specimens,  

literature, illustrations, loan management, etc. could be used for  

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