The Recorder 6 version 6.14 standalone and network installation DVDs will install SQL Server Express, if required. Prior to v6.14 the installation CDs installed MSDE rather than SQL Server Express.
Recorder 6 version 6.14 is compatible with Microsoft Vista. It includes changes to accommodate the more rigorous security requirements of Vista, and the standalone and network installation DVDs for this version have been modified to make installation with Vista more straight forward.
When you login to a newly installed copy of Recorder for the first time you will be asked to enter your name and a password. You will also have the option to enter a survey to save you having to enter one by the normal means before you can start entering observations. Your name will be added to the Names and Addresses list and a username will be created for you. The other data for the survey will be controlled by an .ini file containing, by default:
Geography:"UK"
Type:"None"
Records allowed from:"01/01/1900"
Description:"Default Survey"
Note that this will also happen if your system only contains the "Default User" username.
If your password is "password" you no longer need to type it in when logging in to Recorder. Clicking [OK] or pressing <Enter> will open Recorder without entering a password. Also, if your username is the only one in the system apart from the "Default User" and your password is "password" you will go straight into Recorder without having to enter your username and password.
The tabbed sections of most windows are now resizeable to make better use of the available space on larger screens. This enables users to see more of the contents of fields and reduces the need to select them and scroll. Most tabbed sections resize as the window is resized or as the central divider is moved.
Changing the determination type on the General tab for a taxon occurrence will add a new determination. In v6.13 this changes the determination type of the preferred determination rather than adding a new determination. When changed in edit mode the Dets. tab will open with the mandatory fields already completed. Note that the Determiner defaults to the name of the person currently logged on, as displayed on the Welcome window, Role defaults to 'Specialist' and Date defaults to today's date. When saved the new determination will be added. Also note that the defaults are different if a new determination is added directly from the Dets. tab for the taxon occurrence.
Species designation or status reporting has been improved significantly. The concept of designation sets has been introduced to make the selection of designations easier. When using the report wizard it is now possible to restrict the observations included in a report to just the species with designations from a specified set or to a list of individually selected designations using Restrict report to one or more Designations on the opening screen of the wizard. Note that the designations themselves will only appear in the report if they are selected as attributes. Regardless of whether the report has been restricted to observations for species with designations, when selecting attributes you can decide what designations you want to appear in the report by selecting options for designation sets. For each designation set you can opt to include the Short Names, Long Names, Kind, Status Abbreviation or Taxon Designated (Yes/No) for the designations. The previous way of reporting on designations has been retained for the benefit of those who use it. This change required 3 new tables in the database: Taxon_Designation_Set, Taxon_Designation_Set_Item and Index_Taxon_Designation. The last one is another index on the taxon dictionary which will need rebuilding after dictionary upgrades. The taxon lists to be used when rebuilding this index are stored against 'TaxDesList' in the Setting table, and the list separator to be used in reports is stored against 'DBListSep' in the same table.
Survey tags has been added to the list of attributes for a survey that can be included in a report done using the report wizard. When included, all tags for a survey will appear in one column as a semi-colon separated string.
A new tab has been added to samples for administrative areas. Previously administrative areas could only be assigned to locations so there was no mechanism for recording what admin area a sample is in if it isn't linked to a location in the location hierarchy. In v6.14 admin areas can be added to samples by editing the sample in the observation hierarchy. Note that they can't be added by the standard data entry screens: Data Entry - Enter a species record or Data Entry - Enter Species for a place. Nor can they be added when importing data using the import wizard. Both Sample Administrative Areas and Sample Location Administrative Areas can be included in reports produced using the report wizard. This change required a new table in the database: Sample_Admin_Area.
When entering a single observation using Data Entry – Enter a species record, specimen data can be added at the same time.
The data in a sample can be loaded into a recording card for editing - see Modifying data in samples at the end of Entering data using a Recording Card. Data from the selected sample and its occurrences will be loaded into the specified recording card where a number of the fields on display can be edited, additional taxon occurrences can be entered and existing taxon occurrences can be deleted.
If you choose Location Type, Spatial Reference and/or File Code using "Extra Location Search Columns" on the General tab in Tools - Options, then the selected types of data will by appear alongside the location names listed in the Matches box when searching for locations in the location hierarchy. This should make it easier to select the correct location when locations have the same or similar names.
When used in the taxon and biotope dictionaries, the Show metadata button displays the keys of the selected item.
A user's access to data in the system can now be restricted to specified surveys - see User Configuration. Note that this applies to reports they produce as well as the surveys they can see but not to exports done using export filters. XML reports and batch updates will only be restricted to specified surveys if they have been written to do so. This change required a new table in the database: User_Survey_Restriction.
Information has been added to the Help to help clarify the distinction between Location and Location Name.
Information has been added to the Help about the XML reports supplied with Recorder.
The Import Wizard has been extensively modified to speed up large imports. The changes to the user interface are:
The column selection page of the wizard now has a [Validate Columns] button. When you have completed specifying the type of data in each column you need to click this button to trigger the validation that is done at this stage. If you make any further changes you need to click it again before you can proceed, i.e. the [Next] button will remain disabled unless all data and changes have been validated. In previous versions of the wizard, the data was automatically revalidated each time changes were made which slowed down large imports. Now the user controls when the validation is done so that it isn't done so many times.
Where appropriate [Commit Matches] buttons have been added to the matching pages so that you can control when matches are stored in the database for future use. If, for example, you are working on a large import that requires a lot of manual matching but you run out of time to complete it, you can click [Commit Matches] to save the matches you have done so far before cancelling the import. This will enable you resume the import more quickly as more matches will be remembered.
Where appropriate [Make New Entries] buttons have been added to the matching pages so that you can create new entries for all unmatched items in the window in one operation.
If you choose Location Type, Spatial Reference and/or File Code using "Extra Location Search Columns" on the General tab in Tools - Options, then the selected types of data will by appear alongside the location names listed in the Matches box when matching locations by typing some matching text in the Recorder Matches box and clicking <Enter>.
In case of problems, users are able to revert to using the version of the wizard that was in v6.13. To do this tick 'Use the v6.13 Import Wizard' on the General tab in Tools - Options.
Particular issues to watch for are that observations are correctly allocated to survey events and samples. This has been tested but not all permutations.
The list of Import Wizard supported columns in the Help has been updated to list the column types that have been added recently:
Sample Comment
Sample Duration
Sample Start Time
Spatial Reference System
Survey Event Comment
Survey Event Weather
Taxon Determination Comment
The menu available when right clicking a polygon on a map has been extended to enable users to:
Delete the polygon.
Associate the polygon with a location in the location hierarchy.
Extract grid squares for the polygon and add them to the location it is associated with, or extract grid squares for all the polygons in a specified polygon layer and add them to the locations they are associated with.
When a new polygon layer is added to a map by right clicking in the map layers box in the the map window or by using Map - Add Polygon Layer from the Main menu, it is added to the top of the of the list of layers in the open map window, and hence also to the top of the list on the Map Layers tab available when Map - Map Options is selected from the main menu. Up and down arrows have been added at the top of the list of layers in the open map window to make it easier to change the order of map layers by moving them up and down.
When importing polygons they can be automatically linked to locations at the same time. You can match polygons to locations manually, one by one, or by matching a polygon attribute to Location Keys, Location Names or Field Codes for locations in the location hierarchy. Note that some mistakes will necessitate abandoning the import and starting again.
When exporting polygons the export files contain the Location Keys, Location Names and Field Codes for the locations that are linked to polygons.
As well as listing the links to polygons, the Geo Info - Boundaries tab on locations can be used to store the file name of a GIS file containing a polygon for the location, and an attribute for the polygon. These details are stored in new fields in the Location_Boundary table: External_Filename and External_Filename_KeyField respectively. Note that if these can't be seen in a linked Access database, the links will need to be refreshed.
