Charles,

Do you have the TSD?  If so, would you be willing to translate the XML Reports spec from their onto the Wiki?  I think there are a few people around who would like to have this information.

Cheers

John: I do have the TSD and yes, I can probably have a go at translating the spec. It would have to be a spare time thing, though (I forgot to mention that in my original post).

Rob: sound good, please do send it over.

While we're talking on this subject, are there any areas of Recorder others feel could be better documented? What about related, but not strictly Recorder topics, such as SQL tips, SQL Server info, how to install a View or user defined function, etc., etc?

Hi everyone!

This is thread is very apt as following the Recorder meeting we wanted to gather everyone's thoughts on how the Getting Started Guide and the Online Help in Recorder could be improved, as well as looking into providing additional tutorials that users would find beneficial.

If anyone has any additional suggestions regarding the above please let me know. I have already started to compile a list of some of the more basic changes that need to be made including spelling mistakes, fixing the screen movies etc. When I have a more comprehensive list (I'm starting with the Getting Started Guide) I will publish this on the forum for comment.

Many Thanks,

Sarah,
Biodiversity Information Assistant,
JNCC

Hello Sarah

I would suggest that the section on error reporting becomes far more user-friendly. For example, a list of which errors are caused by which processes: Eror Code 6/23 etc..

Following up on Charles' questions, and echoing Catherine, more intuitive help with sql & xml reporting is a fine move in the right direction as well.

Darwyn, am I correct in assuming that your help files are more dynamic and can be changed to reflect new ideas, techniques etc?

Cheers now , Rob.

I would suggest spending some time documenting the theory and practise behind the whole multi-checklist system in Recorder. This is still a massive cause of confusion for new (and even veteran) users of Recorder 2002/6. Things have got better since 6 came out, but it's still confusing.

For instance, I had someone contact me today saying that running a report wizard on 'marbled white' revealed no records, even though they knew they had quite a few. It turns out they were looking on the LEPS checklist for marbled white (Melanargia galathea). The trouble is, they had entered their marbled white data using the Recorder 3.3 checklist, and the only 'marbled white' on there is for Melanargia galathea subsp. serena (the non-sub-species doesn't have a common name). So they had a bunch of records for the subspecies and when they searched for the (non-sub)species marbled white on the LEPS list they got nothing back. Confused yet? I am, and I'm not even sure my explanation is correct. The point is, the multi-checklist system makes for an extremely confusing layer of complexity. So really clear documentation on how the dictionaries work, and how reporting on them works might be of help.

Looking into this issue led me onto another really confusing aspect of Recorder that I don't think documentation can help with, but it might. If you right-click on a taxon in the dictionary browser, then select Quick Reports you get a list of 'quick reports' to run. These are unintuitive and, in many cases, non-working. For instance, in my case if I right-click on Marbled White (Melanargia galathea), I get a list with the following:

1. Occurrences for Places Report
2. Places for Occurrences Report
3. HW
4. Name - Date - Grid - Abundance
5. Patrick Quick Report
6. Species Reports >

Now, the first two, apart from having confusing names, don't appear to work half of the time. They don't work because they don't appear to be using the nameserver. In other words, you have to right-click on the taxon within the checklist the taxon was originally recorded from for these first two to work. I would suggest ditching these instead of keeping them on in their current, highly unintuitive, state. They just make Recorder appear to be broken. Perhaps these reports can be reworked using the new XML Reports features coming in 6.9? John: would that be possible? Alternatively, they need to be fixed to work with the nameserver.

The next three (3 4 and 5), which are in there as a result of saving reports at the end of the report wizard process, produce results, but they are totally unexpected results. Instead of getting a list of marbled whites with their sub-species along with the attributes I had specified in the report wizard, I get a list of hymenopterans! At least I get the attributes I expect.

The only item(s) on this list that do work are the ones behind #6 which are my XML Reports.

None of this can really be solved with good documentation, but by simply fixing or removing the non-working stuff, and perhaps dividing up the menu with some visual dividers do give the user some clues as to what they're being presented with, you've gone some way to lessen the reliance on documentation.

Hope that's helpful!

Charles

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. They have all been added to my list!

I have now placed the initial Recorder 6 development plan on the uploads page see:

'Outline of Recorder 6 Development Plan' http://forums.nbn.org.uk/uploads.php

Updates on our progress to follow.

Thank you Charles for your suggestion regarding FAQ's - I will make sure I mention this to the resellers and use some of the examples you have provided.

Please feel free everyone to add more suggestions if you think of any. I am reviewing the forum on a regular basis to identify problems, issues and any other comments.

Thanks again,

Regards,

Sarah