Significant changes in Recorder 6 version 6.13
Survey tags - surveys can be organised into folders in the observation hierarchy using tags. This facility becomes available when Organise Surveys by Tag is ticked on the General tab in Tools - Options. Survey Tags can be used to determine the surveys included in reports, and those included in exports.
The way the system handles the Verification of identifications has been the subject of substantial revision. There are new settings for the verified flag on taxon and biotope occurrences:
Not verified
Failed/pending verification
Passed verification
This flag is set according to the determination type of the preferred taxon/biotope determination.
A Restrict Searches to box is now available on the Find Taxon dialogue when searching the taxon dictionary itself. If you want to do a wider search than just the Current Checklist, this setting can be changed, e.g. to Preferred Checklists, as elsewhere in the system. If a match from another list is selected, the other list will open with the selected item highlighted.
If 'Enable partial name search for taxa' is ticked on the General tab in Tools - Options, as well as searching using 5-letter abbreviations, you can search for taxa using parts of the name, separated by a space, e.g. in the VASCULAR PLANTS list "camp rotun" will find Campanula rotundifolia, Harebell.
When matching species in the Import wizard there is an option to search against All preferred lists.
Drag and drop can be used in the matching pages of the Import wizard for matching dictionary items (taxa and biotopes) and items from the main windows (observers, locations and documents).
Files to be imported by the Import wizard can now contain a Location Name column as well as Location and Grid Reference columns. Note that other column types are to be made available in this version but they were not available at the time of updating the Help.
The problems with the generation of keys when using the Import wizard to import data from MapMate have been fixed. The generation of the keys is now in line with the approach used in Recorder 2002 which means that if observations are reimported, e.g. because they have been updated, then the new version will overwrite the existing version provided they are always imported with a column in the import file containing the MapMate Key - see Import Wizard - data format.
To help avoid the problems with invalid items, when editing dates and location data in a survey event, you will be offered the opportunity to also change the same fields in its samples. When editing these fields in a sample you can change the same fields in its survey event and other samples in the same survey event. In the case of dates the change can be cascaded through the determinations.
Another facility to help avoid the problems with invalid items is the ability to revalidate data. System managers can revalidate items in the observation hierarchy and the other main windows, the results of the report wizard and the whole database. Also when exporting data it is revalidated. When revalidating data users have the option to view the results as a filter on the relevant window(s). These filters can be saved and re-loaded later.
When importing data:
the details of any invalid items can be saved to a file.
the imported data can be viewed as a filter on the relevant window(s) which can be saved and re-loaded later.
If measurement columns of the type Abundance of Qualifier (Unit), e.g. Abundance of None (DAFOR), are used on a recording card, the values entered can be restricted to a set of allowed values by specifying the allowed values on the measurement unit in the term lists. If a taxon occurrence data column is used in the Import Wizard its contents will be validated against the allowed values for the unit selected, if present.
If a species is no longer required on a recording card, you can remove it while using the card by right-clicking on it and selecting Remove Row from the pop-up box that appears.
If a delimiter, e.g. #, is entered for Rapid Entry Delimiter on the General tab in Tools - Options, data for all columns on a recording card can be entered as a delimiter separated string in the Add Species box, e.g. Blackbird#2#3 <Enter> will tick Blackbird, place 2 in the column after the name and 3 in the next column.
When entering taxa to a rucksack you can also add a Search Code. This code can be used in a Taxon/Search Text box when finding taxa and in the Add Species box when entering data via a recording card.
If when using the report wizard, you re-order columns in the Filter Result before saving the report, the change is remembered in the saved report.
Multiple locations can be selected for moving to a new position in the location hierarchy using <Shift> + left click of the mouse button or <Ctrl> + left click, as in Windows Explorer. They can then be dragged to the new position or moved to it by right clicking and selecting Promote to Top-Level or Move to. If Move to is used you are asked to select a location to move them to.
In a date field, pressing <F11> puts in the current date. In an editable field which requires an entry from the Names and Addresses window, pressing <F11> puts in the name of the user currently logged on.
If Display grid references as squares on map on the Spatial References tab in Tools - Options from the main menu is ticked, the distribution points on the map will appear as squares covering the area represented by the grid reference, rather than dots.
The option to Include or Exclude overlapping grid squares in report results has been added to the Polygon Selection page of the Report Wizard. Previously, an observation was selected for the report if its spatial reference fell within one of the selected polygons. Grid references like 10km squares, 1km squares or tetrads (2km squares) are represented internally by the spatial reference of the bottom left-hand corner. So, an observation for a 1km square, for example, was considered for the report if its bottom left-hand corner was within the polygon and irrespective of whether any other part of the 1km square was within the polygon. Now you have the option to specify whether you want grid squares that overlap the polygon boundary included or excluded from the report results.
Distribution points, the current polygon layer and all polygon layers can be exported to SHP files. Open the Map window and select Map from the main menu to access these facilities.
Export to Google Earth is a Report Output option on the filter result in the Report Wizard which allows you to save the data in a format suitable for use with Google Earth.
Export to ESRI Shape File is a Report Output option on the filter result in the Report Wizard which allows you to save the data in a format suitable for use with GIS systems like ArcView.
XML reports have been extended:
Rucksacks can be used in XML reports.
Polygons can be used in XML reports.
Note that the facility to use XML reports to update the database has been replaced by a new facility, XML Batch Updates, and it is no longer possible to use an XML report to update the database unless it is moved to the location for batch updates.
XML Batch updates can now be developed and run by users but they can only be run by system managers. Like XML reports they are text files with an extension of .xml and they are developed in a similar manner. By default, they are stored in the Batch Updates folder in the User Files folder in your Recorder system, unless the location has been changed using Tools - Options - File Locations (topic not updated). Select Tools - Batch Updates from the main menu to run them.
NOTE: as with anything that changes a database, batch updates should be thoroughly tested prior to running them on a live system.
Many new XML reports and a selection of batch updates are supplied with version 6.13 of Recorder.
Introductory documentation on writing XML reports and batch updates is available in the Documentation Wiki on the Recorder Software web site www.recordersoftware.org. The links to follow are Recorder 6 - Reporting - XML reports.
If you need assistance with writing XML reports or batch updates over and above that provided by the existing documentation, please contact the supplier of your copy of Recorder, or any of the Recorder suppliers who are listed on the Recorder Software web site. You can also share expertise or seek help from other users via the Recorder Forum, part of the NBN Forum, which can also be accessed from this web site.
