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XML Report for Environment Agency data export

Saving the XML Reports to the correct folder

​Two XML reports have been provided to you: 

    HERC_Surveys_Extract_V2.xml

This report helps prepare the Surveys csv described below

    HERC_EA_Data_Extract Multiple Surveys 2025 v8.2.xml

This report extracts the records to be included in your submission and formats them to the specifications of the latest EA schema.

There are many changes to this year's report compared to the XML last used in 2022.

17/09/2025 update: Please note that v8 of this report (distributed on 15/09/2025) should not be used, as it contains optional date and grid reference resolution cut-off settings that are no longer applicable, following feedback from EA.

19/09/2025 update: v8.1 of this report contains an error which prevents it from running. This error has been fixed in v8.2.

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These reports must be saved to the correct location in order to appear on the Recorder 6 Run Reports menu: 

​    ...\User Files\Reports​

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Recorder 6 parses the Reports folder on opening the software, so if you are not seeing your new reports in the Reports > Run window, try closing and reopening Recorder.

 

​​The remaining files can be saved wherever is most convenient to you.

v8_1_Tool Dialogue.png
Running the XML Report

  1. Ensure your dictionary is up to date (version 00000056)

  2. From the Reports menu, choose Run

  3. Expand the items under HERC

  4. Select the latest version of the XML Report.

  5. In the dialogue box, fill out all the specified report parameters. Further detail on these is provided below.

  6. Click OK and wait for the report to process.

  7. Export the results to a tab-delimited text file ready for submission or post-processing if needed.

The input CSVs

​The report requires three input csv files in order to run. These must be prepared in advance. When running the report, ​use the Browse button to navigate to where you have saved each of the three input csv files.

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1. EA Masterlist TLIKs

The Masterlist TLIK csv is provided for you by email. The file name is Autumn2025_TLIKs.csv.

​For 2025, This list was produced using Recorder 6 dictionary version 00000056, which is in line with the UKSI at 06/06/2025. 

​

2. Designations

For 2025, the Designations csv is also provided for you. The file name is Autumn2025_Designations.csv.

​​Unlike in previous years, only national Designations are requested; there is therefore no need to add rows specifying additional local designations.

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3. Surveys

You will need to prepare the Surveys csv as it is custom to your data.

​It must contain a row for each of the Surveys containing data that you'd like to be included in the export.

It must contain the following columns:

collectionCode | datasetName | rightsHolder | license | confidential

Preparing the Surveys csv

  1. In Recorder 6, run the “HERC List Survey Keys for EA Export v2” report (Reports > Run). This will produce a list of all Survey Keys and corresponding Survey Names in your Recorder database, along with instructions on how to complete additional corresponding fields. 

  2. Save the results in Excel format (Report Output > Export to Excel).

  3. In Excel, review the list and delete all surveys that you do not wish to provide data for.

  4. For each retained survey, populate the rightsHolder, license, and confidential fields:

rightsHolder

The full name of the LERC supplying the data

​​​

license

The licence under which the record can be used. Please use one of:

OGL
CC-BY
CC0
CC-BY-NC

EA internal use only (under licence from [full LERC name])

If the survey contains data with a mix of licensing conditions, then choose the most restrictive of the applicable licenses.

If you're unsure, then use "EA internal use only (under licence from [full LERC name]"

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confidential

Must be either:

1    Confidential records in this survey should be excluded from the submission

2    Confidential records in this survey can be included in the submission.

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   5. Save the completed list as a .csv file.

Additional Attributes

Records centre long name

Type the full name of your records centre; e.g. Hertfordshire Environmental Records Centre

​

Records centre short name

Records centre acronym/abbreviation; e.g. HERC

Options

Include comment field

Choose 'yes' if you would like record comments to be included. If you choose 'no', they will be replaced with 'no information'.

Choose 'yes' only if your comments are GDPR-compliant.

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Restrict output using the EA-requested grid square resolution cut-offs

Choose 'yes' if you would like to apply the requested record resolution cut-offs. The cut-offs are as follows: 10 km for bats (and Freshwater Pearl Mussel - added from v8.1 of the report), 100 m for fish, 1 km for all other taxa.

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You may prefer to choose 'no' if, for instance, you have data sharing agreements with data providers that explicitly stipulated that resolution cut-offs should not be applied.

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If you choose 'no', you must accompany your data submission with a document explaining why you do not wish to/cannot apply grid reference resolution cut-offs, and for which species, taxonomic groups and/or surveys the data sharing restriction applies.

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**Note that v8 of the report also included the option to apply date cut-offs to data exports. This has been removed from v.8.1 of the report following feedback from EA. We have been advised that the date cut-offs listed in the Masterlist are for EA internal use only, and are for the purpose of differentiating between historic and current records. EA have requested that LERCs send all relevant records for the required taxa, with no date cut-offs applied.**

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Include extra fields for Eastings, Northings

For some, this option may no longer be required as the preferred format for receipt of data by the NBN Trust is tab-delimited text file or csv, which can be exported directly from the R6 report outputs, but if you do need to post-process your data spatially, these Easting and Northing helper columns may aid in plotting the data.

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Remember that the Easting and Northing helper columns should not be included in the final submission.

Saving the report output

I recommend saving as a tab-delimited text file, with double quote (") text qualifiers. This is efficient on file size and a more stable format than csv or Excel file.

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You can export the R6 report results to text file by choosing Report Output > Export to Other Formats and then proceeding through the export wizard choosing text file (*.txt) > Include column titles > Delimited, delimiter = tab, record separator = CRLF, text qualifier = " > (Accept defaults until Step 10 of 10) > choosing your export location and file name and then Execute.

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We have not been given instructions as to a file naming convention, but I would recommend continuing what we have done in previous years; e.g. speciesHERCAutumn2025.txt

Optional post-processing

Use caution when post-processing data in GIS or Excel - you will have to take extra care to avoid deviations from the EA schema. Common problems could include:

  • truncation of the field names

  • truncation of long comment fields

  • Rows being split mid-field because of an embedded character (comma or tab), either for you when doing your post-processing or later for NBN when they work with your data

  • corruption of date formats

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Attribute post-processing in Access instead of Excel is more likely to be stable, and also allows you to export the data when you're finished as tab-delimited text file with double quote (") delimiters.

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If you need to do spatial post-processing, you could consider bringing only the unique record IDs into the GIS, doing your intersect, and then joining the results back to the rest of the data in Access.

Recorder 6 Tools

HERC occasionally produces tools to help other records centres work with their Recorder 6 database. Documentation for these tools can be found here.

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