SABAP2 - Frequently Asked Questions

Software issues

We anticipate that there will be many questions from atlasers or potential atlasers concerning the Data Management System (DMS), Christine GIS and other software related issues.

This FAQ page will attempt to answer the day-to-day questions that will most likey arise.

Should you not be completely satisfied with any of the answers below or have a specific question please contact Michael Brooks, the SABAP2 IT Manager (Tel. 021 650 4998) with your query or question and he will get back to you as soon as possible.

FAQs - Data Management System

When I try to submit my data (Tools --> Submit data) I get an error message that says "The parameter 'address' cannot be an empty string. Parameter name: address". What does this mean?

When I try to submit my data (Tools --> Submit data) I get an error message that says "Unable to send to all recipients". What does this mean?

When I try to submit my data (Tools --> Submit data) I get an error message "Failure sending mail". What does this mean and how can I submit my data?

After submitting my data, I get an email which says that my submission was found to be empty? What must I do?

When trying to save a new field sheet I get an error message that says: "Cannot save this card - there is already a card for this pentad on this date". What must I do?

When capturing my list on the same day as I carried out my survey, and then trying to save the field sheet, I get an error message that says: "The End Date you have entered is a future date. The Start Date you have entered is a future date". What must I do?

I recently got a new computer and would like to transfer my field sheets from the DMS on my old computer to my new computer. How do I do this?

When I try and add an additional observer, I get an error saying that it is unable to do this. What do I do?

FAQs - Christine GIS

When I load a map into the view and zoom in to view a pentad, the pentad grid lines do not properly align with the boundaries or 5 minute intervals on the map. Can this be corrected?

Q. When I try to submit my data (Tools --> Submit data) I get an error message that says "The parameter 'address' cannot be an empty string. Parameter name: address". What does this mean?

A. This message indicates that you have not filled in your email address in your settings options. You will need to go to Tools --> Settings and make sure that you have filled in your and email address (and observer no.). These are the required fields needed in order for you to submit your data using the DMS.

Q. When I try to submit my data (Tools --> Submit data) I get an error message that says "Unable to send to all recipients". What does this mean?

A. This message indicates that your ISP does not allow smtp forwarding. To fix this problem, please download and run this file. This will add a new file to your computer which should correct the problem.

If you still cannot submit you may need to change the settings in this file. To do this follow these steps:

- Open Windows Explorer (right click on Start and click on Explore)

- Go to your C/: (Local) drive. Then click on the ADU folder and then click on the SABAP2 folder.

- Find the email.settings.txt file and double-click to open it. The default entry here should be smtp.adu.org.za

- You will need to change this to your ISP outgoing server name (e.g. smtp.dsl.telkomsa.net, smtp.iburst.co.za, etc.). The smtp server name should have been provided when you setup your email/internet account with your ISP. You can either contact your ISP to get the name of your outgoing server or you should be able to access this via your email settings (open your email, go to Tools --> Settings/Account settings and there should be an option for "Outgoing server"). Use this setting for your email.settings.txt file, save the file and then re-start your DMS and try re-submitting your data.

- If you still run into problems please contact Michael Brooks

Q. When I try to submit my data (Tools --> Submit data) I get an error message "Failure sending mail". What does this mean and how can I submit my data?

A. This usually indicates that firewall settings are preventing the email from being sent and are usaully set by your service provider or within a corporate network environment. If these settings cannot be changed you will need to either submit your data manually.

Submitting manually

- In the DMS, first go to Tools --> Submit data. Once you get the error message, click on OK.

- Open your mail client (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc.)

- In the To: field type: data@adu.org.za

- In the Subject line type: SABAP2: Auto-data submission

- Attach the following four files from the directory C:/adu/sabap2/backups/

xml_records.adu xml_headers.adu xml_addinfo.adu xml_Incid.adu

- Click Send

Q. After submitting my data, I get an email which says that my submission was found to be empty? What must I do?

A. This indicates that the cards you had entered were not saved. Please remember to save each card after you have captured your records before submitting. You will need to go and check if the cards have been saved and then do a 'Re-submit all data'. Cards that have not been saved will need to be re-entered.

Note:
(1) if you close the window, without clicking the 'Come-back' or 'Save' buttons, the card will not have been saved automatically.
(2) if, after capturing your records for a card you go directly to Tools --> Submit data, the card will not be be sent as it needs to be saved first BEFORE being submitted.

Q. When trying to save a a new field sheet I get an error message that says: "Cannot save this card - there is already a card for this pentad on this date". What must I do?

If you are certain that you are not duplicating an earlier field sheet, then you will need to check that one of your pentad names or any of the fields in the 'Settings' options does not contain an apostrophe. If it does, remove the apostrophe and this should correct the problem. The software used to run the DMS has problems interpreting apostrophe's in allocated fields and so when it finds an apostrophe error it simply defaults to the first available error message that has been setup on the system.

Q. When capturing my list on the same day as I carried out my survey, and then trying to save the field sheet, I get an error message that says: "The End Date you have entered is a future date. The Start Date you have entered is a future date". What must I do?

Although the DMS has been written to allow you to capture and save your lists on the same day that you carried out your survey, not all computers allow this. This means that some people can enter and save their cards on the same day while others cannot. It has been difficult to trace the problem to specific operating systems or hardware components and we do apologise for this but these 'machine specific' problems are often beyound our control.

To solve this, we kindly ask you to just enter your list the next day.

Q. I recently bought a new computer and would like to transfer my field sheets from the DMS on my old computer to my new computer. How do I do this?

Before explaining the process, it is assumed that you have downloaded and/or installed the DMS on to your new computer. If you have not then you will need to do this first before proceeding. Once the DMS is installed, you will need to copy the SABAP2 folder in C:\ADU from your old computer to your new computer - this folder contains the data files for your field sheets.

However, before doing this open the DMS on your old computer and first backup your existing data. Go to Tools ---> Backup Data. Then close the DMS and open Windows Explorer (right click on the 'start button' and then click on 'Explore') and copy the entire SABAP2 folder to a flash drive or an external hard drive. Once this has been done, plug in your flash drive or external hard drive into your new computer and then copy this (SABAP2) folder to the C:\ADU folder. You should get a message saying that this folder already exists (which it should because it gets created during the DMS installation process), and do you want to replace the files? Click on Replace all files. Once this is done, open your DMS and go to Browse --> Field record sheets. You should then be able to view your field sheets.

If you experience any problems try running through the process again and if you still are unable to access your field sheets, or have any general queries, then please contact Doug Harebottle (Tel. 021 650 2330).

Q. When I load a map into the view and zoom in to view a pentad, the pentad grid lines do not properly align with the boundaries or the 5 minute intervals on the map. How can this be corrected?

The reason for the non-alignment of the pentad grid layer and the map boundaries/five-minute intervals, is that the maps have been stretched/skewed during scanning and/or geo-referenced incorrectly. Geo-referencing is the way that coordinates (degrees and minutes) get assigned to the digital version. Surveys and Mapping, from whom we get the digital maps, digitise and geo-reference the paper 1:50 000 maps automatically and unfortunately these errors do crop up from time to time, especially as the entire paper map (incl. white borders and legend) gets scanned in and not just the map area itself.

Unfortunately there is little we can do to correct this as we rely on Surveys and Mapping to supply the maps and we have assumed that they have been scanned and geo-referenced correctly. Until we can arrange for updated/corrected digital maps to be produced, the only workable solution we can offer is that when you print your maps simply re-draw the correct boundary line in with a ruler and a marker pen. Remember, if the lines are only marginally out (by a few seconds)) it shouldn't be too much of a problem. In the bigger picture, a 100-200m deviation is not going to make that big a difference with regards to the data collected. We just ask to use your common sense when it comes to defining your pentad boundaries in this way.

Q. When I try and add an additional observer, I get an error saying that it is unable to do this. What do I do?

The reason why the system cannot add an additional observer is because the observer number clashes with a species number that is identical to the observer number, an outcome which happens quite infrequently. Unfortunately, due to the way in which the system is set up, you cannot rectify the error and you will need to contact Michael Brooks Tel. 021 650 4998 and ask him to add the additional observer to the card.