Recorder 6 Addins

 

Recorder Addins are Microsoft COM objects (written in Visual Basic, Delphi, C++ etc.) that provide additional functionality alongside the main Recorder application. Addins are implemented as .ocx or sometimes .dll, but may also be supplied with a small number of other files (such as .bmp or .mdb files for example). All files supplied with an addin MUST be saved in the same directory as the .ocx or .dll file to successfully install.

The most up to date addins for Recorder 6 are available to download from this page. To check the version number of any addin currently installed open Recorder 6 and go to Tools - Install Add-In Module. The version number of each addin is displayed in the 'Description' field for each addin selected. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Recorder 6 and already have a copy of an addin installed, you should uninstall the old version first (see instructions below) before installing the new one. To download each addin click on the links below.

To uninstall existing addins:

  • Open Recorder 6 and go to Tools - Install - Add-in Module...
  • Select the addin you would like to remove and then click the [Remove] button
  • Click [Yes] to confirm or [No] to cancel
  • If you are replacing the addin with a new version you will need to delete the .ocx and all other files related to that particular addin in the Recorder 6/Addins folder

 

To install an addin:

  • Download the relevant zip file to your desktop or addins folder and unzip
  • Open Recorder 6 and go to Tools - Install - Add-in Module...
  • Click on the [Install] button and browse to the relevant .ocx or .dll file and click [Open]
  • A message should then be displayed to say 'The following addin has been successfully installed...'

 

Addins

Download File Version Description
Bulk Load Addin v6.0.0.8 Can be used to import multiple map tiles in .GSF format into Recorder's mapping system. After installation, a new option "Bulk load maps" appears in the Maps menu. When you select this option, a dialog appears. This has:
  • a drop down box from which you can select the base map you want the tiles added to.
  • an edit box where you enter the name of the directory from which the .GSF files will be imported. This has a browse button which will open a Windows directory selection window allowing you to choose a directory.
  • a list box. Once you have selected a directory, a list of the .GSF files it contains will be displayed. You can select multiple files by Shift- or Ctrl-clicking on the filenames in the list.
  • edit boxes where you specify the cut-in and cut-out scales to be applied to ALL the selected map tiles.
Once you have selected the map tiles to import, click the [OK] button and the selected tiles will be copied to your Recorder 6\Map files directory (if they are not already present) and registered in Recorder 6's mapping system. The next time you open the specified base map, the tiles should be available.
CIS Export Addin v6.0.0.2 Used to export in a format that can be loaded into CIS. After installation, a new option "CIS Export" appears in the "Export type" list in the Export dialog box. Selecting this option exports a ".dat" file which can be loaded by CIS version 6.
Go To Grid Control Addin v2.0.0.16 Used to pan the map so that it is centred on a given grid reference. When the addin is installed, a new edit box and button appear in the bottom margin of the Map Window. Type a grid reference in the edit box and press [Return], or click the button, and the map will be redrawn so that it is centred at the grid reference specified. The scale at which it is drawn is not affected. You will be prompted to select the base map you want to use.
Go To Key Addin v6.0.1.8 Displays a given record in Recorder 6 by typing its 16-character identifier. After installation, a new option "GoTo Key" appears in the Tools menu. When you select this option, a dialog will open with an edit box into which a 16-character key can be typed or pasted and a drop-down box indicating which window it applies to. Options include:
  • Survey
  • Survey event
  • Sample
  • Taxon occurrence
  • Biotope occurrence
  • Location
  • Organisation
  • Individual
  • Document
  • Taxon (taxon_list_item_key)
  • Biotope (biotope_list_item_key)
  • Admin area
Click the [OK] button to open the specified window and load the row with the specified key. If the key you specified cannot be found in the table you selected, an error message will be displayed.
Last Key Update Addin v6.0.0.5 Updates the LAST_KEY table in the database. After installation, a new option "Update Last Key" appears in the Tools menu.

Recorder stores a counter in the LAST_KEY table which it uses to generate NBN-Keys. A new key is generated by concatenating the SiteID of this copy of Recorder with the value held in LAST_KEY for the table in question and the value is incremented when the new row is saved.
If this ever gets out of sync (for example if information was imported directly into a table in the database without using Recorder) then the next time you try to make a new entry you may get an error because a row with the key generated already exists in the target table.

This addin fixes such problems. It checks each table in the database and finds the maximum running value that has actually been used and updates the LAST_KEY table entry if necessary.
Phenology Addin v6.0.1.8 Displays a Phenology histogram for a taxon. After installation, a new option "Phenology" appears in the Reports menu.
When you select this option, a window will open showing a blank chart. You generate a histogram by dragging the name of a taxon onto the chart from the Taxon dictionary browser or from a taxon occurrence (from the observation window). A histogram will be generated showing the number of records of that taxa falling in each week of (any) year. Note that, if you drag the name of a taxon group (e.g. a family), then the number of records of all the genera, species, sub-species etc contained within that group will be included. Various options to control the display are available by right-clicking on the chart:
  • You can select the length of the period for which records are counted: the options are week, fortnight or month
  • You can select the colour of the bars
  • You can set constraints, for example, you may want to include only records of adult females or exclude records of juvenile stages
  • You can save the histogram in a variety of image formats or save the underlying data to an Excel spreadsheet for further analysis
Show Unchecked Addin v6.0.0.13 Displays records in the observation hierarchy that are flagged as unchecked, invalid or are zero-abundance records. Once installed is available via the Data Entry menu, go to Data Entry - Display Unchecked records. You are then given the option to display one or a combination of records that are unchecked, invalid or have zero abundance.
Recorder 3 Import Addin v6.0.0.52 Imports the .csv files created by the Bulk Move in R3v3.4.6 into Recorder 6. Once installed is accessed from Tools – Import data. There are plans to update the guidance provided with this addin.
NBN Exchange Addin v6.17.0.10 The NBN Exchange Addin for Recorder 6 exports records in the NBN Exchange Format allowing submission of datasets to the NBN Gateway. The export creates two files - a tab-delimited text file containing the records in the NBN Exchange Format and an XML file containing some metadata information.

These are combined into a single .zip file for submission to NBN. For more information please refer to 'Using the NBN Exchange addin.doc' supplied with this download. This latest version was updated on 18 December 2012 .

If you wish to submit data to the gateway team an additional metadata information form is required. Please contact the NBN Technical Liaison Officers (Tel: 01733 866858; ) for further information and guidance.
Delete Survey Addin v6.0.0.25 Allows a survey to be deleted, complete with any survey events, samples and observations it contains. Once installed select a survey in the observation hierarchy and go to Tools - Delete Survey. Surveys can only be deleted by users who are system managers.

Warning: Deleting a survey using this facility is final and cannot be 'undone'. We advise users to always backup the database before proceeding.


Additionally, you can now download the OS map tiles installer (NBN Browser Software) from the mapping section of this website. This is a piece of software that uses the linked Access database nbndata.mdb to load OS 1:50,000 map tiles for use in Recorder 6.

Troubleshooting


If the addin is implemented as a .dll file, you will be unable to remove it and then install it again within the same session (if you attempt this the following error message will be displayed: "Error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process"). You must close the application and restart before the addin can be re-installed. This is a limitation imposed by Windows as .dll files are not removed from memory until the programme that loaded them terminates. You will recieve a similar error message if you do not delete the old .ocx after uninstalling and attempting to re-install an addin. 

 

 

Latest versions:

Recorder: 6.18.1

Dictionary: 0000001O,1P,1Q