I eagerly wait the following two changes to the import wizard (if and when they come about):

1. CCN139 to store the location name as specified in the import file in the sample's free text Location Name field
2. Brian Miller's wishlist post to include additional fields to import, namely start time and duration into the Sample and weather information into the Event

However, I would like to see the following two changes to the import wizard:

1. It would be very helpful if Sample Spatial Ref can also be imported from an .xls file so that Samples for the same Event can be differentiated from each other not only by Location Name (as in CCN139) but also Spatial Ref (at the moment the import wizard forces the Event and Sample Spatial Refs to be the same).  Samples would then be able to have different Spatial Refs from their Event.

2. It would also be good if the Spatial Ref Types can also be specified for both the Event and the Sample rather than defaulting to "Imported".  Just because the Import Wizard was used, it doesn't mean that the Spatial Refs aren't the "Site Centroid" or aren't from the "Original Recorder".

I'm working on bulk importing all future habitat survey data for Hampshire into Recorder from an external (bespoke) data input application which will provide a cut-down list of species and data items to its users which should be a lot quicker to use than Recorder data entry recording cards.  They will also be able to run this application without being connected to Recorder (e.g. using only MS Excel or Access).  The only problem is that some of the data items that will be recorded can't be imported into Recorder using the Import Wizard - hence these feature requests.  There are other Sample/Event data items that I would also like to be able to import via the wizard (such as Comments and Owners) but these are less critical.

I would like to think that in the future where would be a way to bulk import new/amended Locations (and their associated data items, e.g. features, Gird Squares, Admin Areas, Measurements, etc.) using an Import Wizard, but at the moment we will have to enter these manually unless I can figure out an easy backdoor solution.

I hope this all makes sense.  Cheers,
Andy