USGS
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

Band Manager Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQ's

Problem Solving FAQ's

Scheduling FAQ's

Importing FAQ's

Help for Network Security Issues

Band Manager needs to be installed to a directory that the user has administrative priveledges to change.

What does the "Electronic Schedule" button do?

The electronic schedule button creates a file of banding data and puts it in your Export Directory. It does not automatically send data to the BBL!; See What should I send to the Bird Banding Lab to report the bands I have used for information on how to report banding data.

Trouble-shooting Importing from Excel and other files

Please double check for the following common errors in import files before contacting the Band Manager Help Desk.

  • All cells within each record need to have data, no cells should have dittos (") or be empty (blank).
  • If there is a dash in the band number (0123-45678) remove it (012345678)
  • Leading zeros are always needed, check the band number, month, day, age (if numeric), lat-long, every data field that starts with 0 should display the zero. This means you will need to define columns as text in Excel.
  • Lat-longs do not have any alphabetical characters, don't use "N" for North Latitude, that's what the DIR or Direction Code is for. Be sure you have this code in your file, and if you are working in North Latitude/West Longitude make sure the code is 0 (this is true for most of North America, with the exception of the outermost Aleutian Islands).
  • Double check that you have a DISP or Disposition Code in the file (see Band Manager's Help for a list of these codes).
  • Remove the header row, save as a comma delimited file (.cvs), and then import into Band Manager.
  • If the program says the band size is wrong and you've already attempted to import the file once, go to the Inventory and check to see what the band size is shown as for that span, and correct it if needed.

    • How do I run multiple copies of Band Manager on a single computer?

    If Band Manager is not currently installed on the computer, there are several ways to install multiple
    copies of Band Manager. The easiest way would be to:

    1. Install Band Manager in the normal fashion (will be installed into C:\Bandmgr).
    2. Download the most recent Band Manager update and install it.
    3. Using Windows explorer, create a new folder, for instance, Bandmgr2 (remember name cannot be longer than 8 characters with no spaces or unusual characters).
    4. Using Windows explorer, copy all files and subdirectories from C:\Bandmgr to C:\Bandmgr2 or whatever you named your new folder created in step 3.
    5. Once all files and subdirectories are copied to the new folder, you can execute Band Manager (bandmgr.exe) from the new folder.
    6. This process can be repeated any number of times.

    If Band Manager is already installed on a computer, you can install a second copy by:

    1. Using Windows explorer, rename the C:\Bandmgr directory to some other name, for instance, C:\Bandmgr2 (remember name cannot be longer than 8 characters with no spaces or unusual characters).
    2. Install Band Manager in the normal fashion (will be installed into C:\Bandmgr).
    3. Download the most recent Band Manager update and install it.
    4. To install more copies of Band Manager, proceed from step 3 above in directions for Band Manager not previously installed on the computer.

    Will Band Manager work on Windows XP?

    Yes, Band Manager will install on a machine with Windows XP, however, it will not create an icon on the desktop. After installing Band Manager from the CD and getting the latest update from the BBL web site http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/resources/bandmgr/bmupd.htm, you can create an icon on your desktop by

    1. Right clicking on any open area on your desktop.
    2. Trace down to New.
    3. Trace over to Shortcut.
    4. Left click on Shortcut.
    5. In the white space that will appear, type C:\Bandmgr, then left click next.
    6. On the next screen, in the white space type Bandmgr, if it is not already there.
    7. Left click on Finish.

    See also "Insufficient Memory", below!

    What should I send to the Bird Banding Lab to report the bands I have used

    Until further notice you should send paper schedules and a floppy diskette containing the .txt file created using Band Manager.  Mail to:  Bird Banding Laboratory, USGS, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 12100 Beech Forest Rd, Laurel MD 20708-4037.  See How do I prepare Band Schedules for instructions on producing both products.

    Why are The Locations different on Different Paper Schedules

    The first band number on the page is in location A. That piece of paper bears no relation to any other schedule. The second location used is B on each schedule. This is correct. The first and second locations used vary from schedule to schedule. This is also fine. Banders should not try to force one location to always be "A" and another to always be "B". This is unnecessary.

    How Do I move Band Manager from one computer to another

    1. Do a backup of all data files AND the program files onto floppy or other moveable disk. Make a list of data files is a good idea.
    2. Install Band Manager on the new computer using the CD.
    3. Install the update (If you have not downloaded the update from the web since February 20,2002, download it before you do the restore) on the new computer VERY IMPORTANT.
    4. Start the program, and when you get prompted for automated setup (remember this is a brand new version so the program wants to help you set up all your files etc) select Manual Setup.
    5. Go to Utilities and Backup and do a RESTORE on all data files and the System files from the floppies from the old computer. Consult list to ensure you restore ALL data files.

    Using On-line help

    If you use the mouse to click (left click for Windows 95 users) the yellow "?" on the top left of the screen, you will get the "Help" page for whatever is on the screen. If you use the keyboard to type in "?" or the F1 key, you will get the help on the field where the cursor is, and not the help topic for the form.

    Long File Names

    Remember, for many pre-Windows 95 and 98 programs, file names can only be eight characters long with an extension of a maximum of 3 characters. The Foxpro version we are using for Band Manager requires file names to be a maximum of eight characters long without any spaces, dashes, etc and the extension can be a maximum of 3 characters. If your file names are longer than this, Band Manager won't recognize them until you shorten the name! See the "Unrecognized phrase/keyword error" on the Band Manager error page.

    Accessing Band Manager User's Manual

    To access the Band Manager User's Manual, put the Band Manager CD in the CD drive, select the "run" option, and enter d: (or the letter designating your CD-ROM drive) to view the contents of the CD. If you have auto-run enabled on your computer, just click on "Exit Setup" when you see it. Click on the "docs" folder to select a version of the Band Manager Manual (available in Word Perfect 5.1 and 6.0, Word, and Adobe Acrobat--see the readme file on the CD [click "run" then enter d: and click on "readme.txt"]).

    Installing Band Manager--Windows for Workgroups and Windows 3.11

    On the CD there is a directory named DISK1. In that directory there is a file SETUP.EXE. If you execute that file by navigating to it from File Manager or using the Run command, that should bypass the non-existent directory problem.

    Windows 3.11 compatibility problems

    We have discovered that some program code that works fine in Windows 95 does not work in Windows 3.11, therefore Windows 3.11 users should make sure that they download the proper program update, ie. the one for Windows 3.11 and Windows for Workgroups

    Windows 2000 or Windows XP "Insufficient Memory" Message

    Some computers that have Windows 2000 or Windows XP installed and have over 512 MB of memory are getting the "Insufficient Memory" message when trying to run Band Manager. This is caused by an incompatibility between the language used to write Band Manager and Windows 2000. The work around that you can limit the amount of memory used by the operating system. You can create a boot (in the Boot.ini file) that uses a special configuration for Visual FoxPro. To limit the amount of memory that Windows 2000 uses, use the MaxMem switch. Using a trial and error method, determine the maximum amount of memory you can use before you receive the "Insufficient Memory" error when launching Visual FoxPro. For more information about multi-boot and the MaxMem switch, please see the Windows NT documentation.

    A less complicated way to remedy this problem is to upgrade to version 3, which can be done with no loss of data. Go to this website:
    http://www.bsc-eoc.org/download/bandmgr/bmdownload.html and read the instructions carefully. Then, in step 2, choose the second option to get the upgrade. For the full benefit of version 3, you should first install the upgrade, then return to this site and download the "latest bug fixes" (choice 3 in step 2).

    Installing Band Manager on a Local Area Network

    Install the program using the CD on all work stations that will be using the program. After the install, on all but one of these computers, delete the BANDMGR directory entirely. On that one computer that still has the BANDMGR directory, move (copy) the directory to the network drive. It can be in a sub directory, but if it is, that directory must have a name that follows dos rules (no more than 8 characters, no spaces etc). On each of the work stations, change the icon shortcut to reflect the start up directory on the server and the target file. Right click on the icon, select "properties" then "shortcut". So, for example, we put Band Manager in a directory on the f: drive in a directory called DATA. So, the "start in" path for the program (when modifying the icon) will be f:\data\bandmgr and the file to run will be f:\data\bandmgr\bandmgr.exe The data will be stored in the f:\data\bandmgr\userfile directory and that directory will be created automatically. Despite the fact that it is on the network only ONE user will be able to access the data at one time.

    Importing Data from Excel and other spreadsheet programs

    Users should make sure that the data they export from Excel or other spreadsheet programs is delimited by a comma or a space, not the tab character. Band Manager cannot import fields that are separated by the tab character. In Excel, this can be accomplished by exporting the data to a "csv" (comma separated values) file. Also, if the band number has a leading zero, that zero must be present for import.

    How do I remove Band Manager from my computer

    Insert the original Band Manager installation CD and when is starts up and checks to see what is installed on your computer, it will give you the option of removing Band Manager.  Just click on the appropriate square.

     

    How do I reindex if I cannot open the program? 

    PLEASE BEFORE YOU DO THIS DO A BACKUP AND MAKE A TEMPORARY COPY OF YOUR DIRECTORY !!!!

    If you get a message about a corrupt index is worst when the index doesn't exist, because it mean that the file is damaged or does not correspond to the table. The best way is to fix this is ERASE all index files (AFTER DOING A BACKUP AND COPYING YOUR DIRECTORY ELSEWHERE!!!)in your system. Erase all files with extension CDX (.cdx) from the Band Manager directory (PLEASE ONLY .CDX FILES !!!). Then try to start the program.

    As there aren't index you'll get the same message 5 or 6 times but it's because the program is trying to create the indexes again. Keep trying to open the program until you get to the main menu. STOP! The problem isn't fixed yet! From the main menu go to the Rebuild index option (Utilities - Rebuild index - Program Files), this will create indexes.  

    Reindex the Data Files next (Utilities - Rebuild Index - Data Files).

     

    Back to the Band Manager Home Page