Demonstration version

Get ready for a demonstration Systems requirements, hardware and software    Installation    Run the seedcalculator

System requirements
To run the SeedCalculator demonstration software you need:

Hardware

• Microsoft® WindowsTM version 95, 98 or NT 3.5, 4.0.

1. Download the demonstration softeware from the link on top of this page.
2. Unzip the downloaded file (seedcalc.zip) in an empy directory.
3. Open My computer and double click Configuration, select Software and click on the button Installation.Select the installation file: setup.exe from the directory where you unzipped the files, and click on Finish.
   The installation wizard of SeedCalculator will be started which will guide you through the installation.

Stop SeedCalculator 
Open SeedCalculator data file 
Compare SeedCalculator data files 
Set SeedCalculator defaults 
A..H Show replicate data (Output window) 
GM  Show mean germination data (Output window)

The other buttons (listed below) will not work in the demonstration software:
Input window 
Save data 
Import ASCII data 
Export SeedCalculator data to ASCII

Fit germination data
Click on the button Open SeedCalculator data file. The following list of example files will be shown:

    BrasNo1.sc These three files are used to demonstrate
    BrasNo2.sc how to fit germination data.
    BrasNo3.sc  
       
    CompCab0.sc These five files are used to demonstrate
    CompCab1.sc the compare possibility of SeedCalculator.
    CompCab2.sc  
    CompCab4.sc  
    CompCab6.sc  

Select BrasNo1.sc and click on OK. The input window of SeedCalculator will be shown. The left topside is used to fill in general information about the seed lot. In the upper right side the germination protocol used is stored (all protocols according the ISTA rules can be filled in). The lower part of the screen is used to fill in the germination data or the final seedling score.

Click on seedlings in the data input box and the spreadsheet containing the seedling score will become visible. Click on info and a suggestion for the scoring categories will be shown. Click on OK to close the information screen and click on germination in the data input box to switch back to the spreadsheet containing the germination data.
Now press the Ready button, the data of the experiment is available for the output window.

The example files contain four replicates so the output window can be opened using the A..D buttons. Open the output window for replicate A (press on the button A). The graph shows the germination data in percentage (y-axis) versus time in days (x-axis). Press the Fit button and SeedCalculator will calculate the best fit through the data points. Calculated parameters are displayed in the lower right side of the window, the upper right side of the window displays general information about the experiment. Press the Final button to view the final seedling score graphically, press OK to go back. Repeat the procedure for replicate B,C and D and then press the GM button to go to the mean germination score of the replicates. The standard errors of the mean data points are displayed in the graph. Click on Points to see their values, including errors. Fit the data points using the button Fit, now the standard error in the parameters is also calculated.
Click on Repl the view all the replicates in one graph, including their most important parameters. Click on OK to go back. Once the data of an experiment is worked out it can be stored and printed (not possible in the demonstration version). The last two pages of this manual will show you an example of a report produced by SeedCalculator. Use Close to go back to the main menu.

Compare SeedCalculator data files
Comparing data files is a powerful feature of SeedCalculator. The set of data files must satisfy the following criteria:

• Data must be of the same crop.
• Time parameters must be calculated in the same mode, based on the total germination or total number of seeds.
• All data (replicates and mean germination) must have been fitted.
• A maximum number of eight files can be compared.

Click on Compare SeedCalculator data files to open a window where the files to be compared can be selected. Select the demonstration files CompCab0.sc up to CompCab6.sc one by one using button Add File and click on Compare. The output window will be opened and the germination curves of the selected files displayed in a graph. From the curve which is highlighted (in red) the parameters and filename are displayed and the corresponding treatment is also highlighted. Use Next to scroll through the files to view the curve and parameters. Click on Final to activate the final seedling score. Use Next to view the final seedling score of every file in numbers.

Click on Table to see an overview in table form of all the parameters of each file.

To see if there are significant differences between the parameters, use t-Test to start Student’s t-Test. A window will be opened to set the calculation criterion:

    Indication for differences    p-value: 0.05 < P < 0.10
    Significant                        p-value: 0.01 < P < 0.05
    Strongly significant           p-value: 0.001 < P < 0.01
    Very strongly significant    p-value: P < 0.001

Mark the file for which the calculation must be performed (CompCab0.sc = control) and press Calculate. A window with a table of all the parameters will appear, the parameters of the marked file in blue and the parameters which satisfy the calculation criteria in red.
Print (not available in the demonstration version) will give a print report of the comparison (see last page of this manual). By clicking on Print after a t-Test has been completed, the results of the t-Test will also be displayed in the print report.
Use Close to leave the output window and return to the main menu.

Set SeedCalculator defaults

Between two modes for calculations of the time parameters can be chosen in SeedCalculator. Open a data file (i.e. BrasNo1.sc), calculate the parameters of the mean germination and close the output window, now change the calculation mode. The parameters will be recalculated. Click on GM to open the output window again and look at the differences. The modes are:

• Calculations based on the total number of seeds per replicate.
• Calculations based on the total germination per replicate.