ToxTrac Files

INSTALLATION AND REQUERIMENTS

Follow the instructions of the install process. ToxTrac and all necessary components will be installed in the selected folder and a shortcut in the Desktop and the start menu will be created. Now ToxTrac is ready.

ToxTrac has been created for Windows 11, with a 64-bit architecture. We recommend a minimum of 16 GB of RAM. Older or inferior systems may not run ToxTrac properly.

ToxTrac requires the Microsoft VC++ 2015-2022 (x64) redistributables to work. Before the installation process, ToxTrac will try to locate the library in your system and install it if needed. This library can be downloaded and installed manually from https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe

ToxTrac requires .avi or .mp4 video files with a constant frame rate. You can convert your videos using VirtualDub2 in http://virtualdub2.com

An updated codec pack is recommended to properly handle video files with ToxTrac. We have used K-Lite Codec Pack, available at https://www.codecguide.com.

It is also recommendable to install any spreadsheet package compatible with .xls (Microsoft Excel files) to view the statistical file generated by ToxTrac.

LICENSE

ToxTrac is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

ToxTrac is completely free. But you are required to reference the citations in this document if you use it in some publication.

CITATIONS

Rodriquez, A., Zhang, H., Klaminder, J., Brodin, T., Andersson, P. L. and Andersson, M. (2018). ToxTrac: a fast and robust software for tracking organisms. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 9(3):460-464. DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.12874

Rodriquez, A., Zhang, H., Klaminder, J., Brodin, T., Andersson, P. L. and Andersson, M. (2017). ToxId: an algorithm to track the identity of multiple animals. Scientific Reports. 7(1):14774. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-15104-2

CONTAT AND SUPPORT

Alvaro Rodriguez, a.tajes@udc.es

TOXTRAC WEBSITE:

http://toxtrac.sourceforge.io

PROJECT LEADER, DESIGNER AND MAIN DEVELOPER:

Alvaro Rodriguez (2015-Currently)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND FUNDING:

Magnus Andersson (Supervision and Testing)

Anna Filipsson (GUI Design)

Jörgen Wiklund (Testing)

Hanqing Zhang (Testing)

Andres Molares (Reasearch)

Developed for Umeå University (Sweden) (2015-2017)

Developed in University of A Coruña (Spain) in collaboration with Umeå University (Sweden) (2020-Currently)

Supported by Kempestiftelserna (2015-2017)

Supported by Vince Palace, IISD - Experimental Lakes Area Inc (Canada) (2019)

Grant PID2021-126289OA-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe (01/09/2022 – 31/08/2026)

TOOLS:

ToxTrac has been developed in Windows 11 in C++ using Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2022 (64 bits) in C++17 with Qt VS Tools 3.3.1. In addition, we have used:

OpenCV 4.11.0, an open-source computer vision library available at http://opencv.org

Qt 6.8.2 open-source, a library for building interfaces available at https://www.qt.io

pugixml open-source, a library for managing .xml files available at https://pugixml.org/

LibXL 4.6.0 a licensed library for writing and reading excel files available at http://www.libxl.com

OpenCV has been built with CMake 4.0.0 https://cmake.org/ with support for Qt.

Inno Setup 6.4.2, a a free installer for Windows programs https://jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php

DISTRIBUTED IN THIS PACKAGE:

Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable Package (x64). The Installer will try automatically to locate and install this component if needed. A Correct previous installation may cause this step to a Fail message that can be safely ignored.

OpenCV Integrated Library opencv_world4110.dll, and opencv_videoio_ffmpeg4110_64.dll

pugixml Library (source code included)

LibXL Library libxl.dll

Qt Libraries Qt6Charts.dll, Qt6Core.dll, Qt6Gui.dll, Qt6OpenGL.dll, Qt6OpenGLWidgets.dll, Qt6Test.dll, Qt6Widgets.dll

TROUBLESHOOTING:

We have identified a potential issue for some users. In some cases, when the program is trying to write on disk generally just after successfully finishing an analysis, the software would crash. Less common is a similar error when attempting to read from a data file when trying to view the tracking results.

This is a rare issue that does not affect most users, and the problem is not Toxtrac itself, but windows security and some other antivirus software. The problem arises from ToxTrac being denied access on some specific folders. The specific sources of the errors as far as we know are:

• Source: Using third-party antivirus (i.e. Avast) antivirus software with a module/function to protect certain folders of the system from being accessed by some programs.

Solution1: You may want to uninstall or configure the antivirus to grant Toxtrac permission to write on the folders).

Solution2: Try to save in a non-protected folder, generally, a folder such as C:\Toxtrac could work.

• Source: Using the built-in windows security software with the option Controlled folder Access is enabled, in the folders where ToxTrac is trying to write.

Solution1: Save the Project in a non-user folder (Documents and Desktop are user folders), you must set the folder before you run the tracking procedure, otherwise the autosave feature will cause the program to update the results and crash when accessing them or when attempting to write the file. (A folder such as C:\Toxtrac should not be restricted by the system).

Solution2: Disable the Controlled folder Access option, in the Ramsomware protection section (or remove the folders u want to use with ToxTrac from the list of protected folders).

• Source: The user does not have permission to use the selected folder, or the selected folder includes non-compatible characters in the path.

Solution: Check the permissions on the desired folder, the privileges of the current user and the path name of the folder.