Desmid image database This database represents the public face
of RBGE's desmid database, designed by R.J. Pankhurst as an
implementation of Advanced Revelation, and further developed by
Martin Pullan. The so-called 'Pandora' databases (of which there
are several at RBGE and elsewhere) are very sophisticated in the
relational way they handle data but, because they are DOS-based,
are not very easy or attractive for the uninitiated to use. For
this and several other reasons, it was decided that the best way
to make the data available to a wider audience was to create a
series of flat-field data dumps from the Pandora database; these
could then be interrogated using a web browser. The search-
engines required for this have been created by Martin Pullan,
using the home-grown data-extraction software HTMLexport. From
here on we will refer only to the web-based database, but
remember that it is several steps removed from the Pandora
database that has provided its data. Structure of the database
The database is very