1 Topic by ser

  • ser
  • ser
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  • From: Staffordshire Ecological Recor
  • Registered: 24-09-2008
  • Posts: 603

Topic: import sampling method problem

There is a problem that the Import routine will only allow a relatively small string length, not sure exactly what length it is, but this throws out loads of data direct from MapMate ("Field record / observation" which is the basic method in MapMate is too large for Recorder's import routine, so all records need editing - very annoying, especially since some of the method it won't accept are actually valid in the sampling methods section if added manually, but the import still rejects them because it checks field length BEFORE field content!

Craig

Craig Slawson
Staffordshire Ecological Record

ser's Website

2 Reply by nmrs

  • nmrs
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  • From: London
  • Registered: 22-11-2006
  • Posts: 387

Re: import sampling method problem

Craig,

I report this a few years ago when I noticed the same, the field length having been reduced to just 20 characters and no-one knew why!

Les Evans-Hill
Senior Data Officer
Butterfly Conservation, Butterflies for the New Millennium and National Moth Recording Scheme

nmrs's Website

3 Reply by MikeWeideli

  • MikeWeideli
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  • From: Littlefield Consultancy
  • Registered: 05-07-2006
  • Posts: 2,645

Re: import sampling method problem

The field length of Sample_Type (Sample Method)  in Recorder is 20 characters so the Import Wizard restricts the length of the the field to this.  The length the import Wizard can accept can be changed (up to 100 characters) with the following query

Update IW_Column_Type set maximum_length = 40  where IW_Column_Type_Key = 'SYSTEM010000000J'

You can still do matches to existing R6 sample types if you do this and there appear to be no issues unless you use the option  to create a new sample type entry  during the import process. If you do use this option then the sample type created will have it's short name truncated to the first 17 characters followed by three dots ,but  the long name will be the full name.

The query need to be run in Managemnt studio, but from R6 version 6.18 on it can be put in a batch update if required.


I assume the decision to restrict the length was to avoid the situation of users, unaware of the issue, creating multiple sample types with the same short name.

Mike Weideli

MikeWeideli's Website