Download Recorder 6 User Guide

Recorder 6 User Guide
JNCC supplies Recorder 6 through approved experts, who offer various support and
training services. They are listed on the Recorder Software website
www.recordersoftware.org along with much other useful information.
Note that alternative versions of the Recorder installation CDs can be produced for
particular groups of users. These can load a copy of the database that contains some of
the data required by the group, e.g. locations, names and addresses and standard
terms. In these cases, the data displayed in your copy of the system may differ
significantly from the screen shots in this document.
Note that this document was originally written as a hand-out for training done in the
Falklands Islands when version 6.9.3.102 was the current version of Recorder 6. This
edition is the first attempt at modifying it for the UK and the latest version of the
system but resources haven’t permitted a full update.
2 SQL Server and Installation
Recorder 6 is a Microsoft SQL Server version of its predecessors Recorder 2000 and
Recorder 2002. It was released in September 2005. Recorder 2000 was released in
September 2000 as a replacement for the DOS based Recorder 3 system. The latest
version of Recorder 6, in particular, contains many additional facilities and
improvements on its forerunners. Information on the new features and updates is
available on the opening page of the built in help – see Help – Help.
The main difference between Recorder 2002 and Recorder 6 is that data in Recorder
2002 is held in a Microsoft Access 97 database whereas in Recorder 6 it is held in a
SQL Server database. To run Recorder 6 under SQL Server users will need to have a
version of Microsoft SQL Server but users who do not want to purchase a SQL Server
licence will be able to run the system using MSDE (Microsoft SQL Server 2000
Desktop Engine) or SQL Server Express, free run-time versions of SQL Server 2000
and 2005 respectively. MSDE is supplied on the Recorder 6 install disk up to and
including version 6.13, thereafter they will contain SQL Server Express. The main
advantages of Recorder 6 are that it provides more robust data storage, better security
and the ability to store a potentially unlimited numbers of observations, whereas
Recorder 2002 is limited to about one million observations.
Two different installation CDs are available for Recorder 6: one to do a standalone
installation on a single computer, the other to install the system on a network.
Installation guides for both standalone and network installations are in the
Documentation folder on all the CDs. These contain useful information about SQL
Server and MSDE, the hardware requirements for the system, an example network
installation and much else.
During the installation an 8-character Site ID will be required. If you are installing
Recorder 6 alongside Recorder 2002 the installation will use the Site ID from
Recorder 2002, although you will be able to change it. Otherwise, you will be asked
to enter a Site ID and its corresponding 4-character Verification key which are to be
found on JNCC’s Recorder 6 licence agreement supplied with the installation CD.
Where it occurs, make sure you use the number 0 (zero) and not the letter O.
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