If the Export Type when you do an export can only be set to ‘NBN Access Database (zipped)’ or ‘NBN Data’ then you can only do exports in these formats, i.e. in formats suitable for importing to another copy of Recorder 6 or other computer systems designed to import data in these formats. If you install the NBN Exchange add-in from http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-4597 then another export type will be added to the list enabling you to export data in the format required by the NBN. You may find you can use this format but it may not contain all the fields you require and there is no option to include extra fields. If the DMAP add-in is installed then there will be an option to export data in DMAP format. To provide data to users who don't have Recorder 6 you need to use the report wizard or an xml report and select one of the options available on the Report Output button on the Filter Result.

I discussed the 'Obs Key' field coming out as a Memo field with John van Breda and we found that this field isn’t defined correctly in the REPORT_FIELD table. If you run the following query in Management Studio (Express) it will then come out as a 16 ch. text field when you export data to an Access database.

Update REPORT_FIELD set FIELD_TYPE = 'varchar'
where FIELD_ITEM_NAME = 'Obs Key'

Its FIELD_TYPE is Text which is the SQL Server equivalent of Memo in Access. We considered providing a query to change all field types to varchar where FIELD_TYPE = 'Text' and FIELD_SIZE is not Null but this changed 126 rows in the database I tested it on, which would not be a good idea unless FIELD_SIZE is checked to ensure it is correct for each one. Most of them are statuses but other fields are affected by this problem, e.g. Sample Type and Determination Type.

If you do changes like this to your database please keep a record of them so that you can check whether they are affected by upgrades. I will add this problem to MANTIS, our bug/change tracking system.