by Roderic Page
r.page@bio.gla.ac.uk
http://taxonomy.zoology.gla.ac.uk/rod/rod.html

COMPONENT Lite is a stripped-down Macintosh version of the program COMPONENT 2.0 (which runs on Windows PCs) (Page, 1993). It implements a range of tree comparison and consensus methods.

Please be patient with the program as it is still in a very early stage of development! If you download the program please send me an email message so that I can keep you posted about new releases.

Requirements

Download COMPONENT Lite for PowerMacintosh

Documentation

COMPONENT Lite Exercises

Quick Guide

TREE FILES

COMPONENT files have the following icon:

You can also open standard NEXUS tree files created by PAUP and TREEVIEW, and also PHYLIP-style tree files.

TREE WINDOWS

• COMPONENT displays trees in a Tree window:

• Depending on information in the tree file, the tree may be drawn either rooted or unrooted (as above). You can root or unroot the trees using the Rooting command:

• You can open more than one Tree window at a time. The COMPONENT commands that open tree windows are Open, and Execute from the File menu.

• The commands in the Trees menu manipulate the trees in the currently active tree window. These commands may display output in the Log window.

EDITING TREES

COMPONENT Lite features a simple tree editor very similar to the one in MacClade.

• You can use the tools on the tool bar to rearrange the tree (move branches, collapse nodes, etc.). You can undo your last change using the Undo command. To close the tree editor click on the Close box - if you have altered the tree you will be asked whether you want to save the changes that you have made.

• Another handy feature of the editor is that you can copy the tree to the Clipboard in nested parentheses format, which can then be pasted into an Edit window.

CREATING A NEW FILE, OR EDITING AN EXISTING FILE

Input files can be created and edited in an Edit window. The file being edited can be saved, renamed, printed, and processed using commands on the File menu. COMPONENT Edit windows support the Undo, Cut, Copy, and Paste commands found in all Macintosh text editors.

If you choose Execute from the File menu the file you are editing will be processed and, if successful, the trees will be displayed in a tree window. If COMPONENT encounters an error while processing a file it will highlight the location of the error in the edit window.

OBTAINING COMPONENT

COMPONENT 2.0 for Windows is available from the Natural History Museum, London. More information can be obtained from the COMPONENT Web site. COMPONENT Lite is not yet available for general release.