SPECIFICATION FOR RINGING-DATA EXCHANGE FILE FORMAT
Specification 3.40
The BTO Ringing Unit encourages the submission of ringing data (relating to newly-ringed birds, retraps and recoveries, including controls) in the form of computer data files via email to or on floppy disks. To enable smooth operation of this system, and minimise the risk of incorrect data being incorporated into the BTO’s computerised archives, there are two essential requirements:
ALL data files and disks MUST conform to the format expected by the system; and
ALL data to be submitted MUST have passed a preliminary verification,
performed by a program supplied by the BTO, before despatch to BTO HQ.
This document sets out the technical specification for the content and format of computer data files (and disks) containing ringing data for verification and subsequent submission to the BTO Ringing Unit. This format applies to ALL such files and not just to those produced using the IPMR (and B-RING) programs.
This document is primarily intended for users who wish to prepare appropriate submission files using their own systems and programs; most of the information it contains will be embodied in the relevant parts of the IPMR program, so users of this program do not need to study it unless they wish to do so. Ringers writing their own software should follow this specification carefully. Please note that all data will still have to be verified (in IPMR) before submission to BTO HQ.
Queries about the procedure for sending emails or submitting disks and the data on them should be directed to BTO HQ (Tel: 01842 750050, Email: ); for programming and other technical queries:
IPMRMark Cubitt (Email: ).
B-RING David Coker ( Tel: 0118-901-6339, Email: ).
Submission of Ringing Data Files
A ringing data submission file should be prepared and submitted to the Ringing Unit:
a)when 3 months have elapsed since the last file was submitted AND there are at least 200 newly-ringed birds to be reported;
OR
b)when 6 months have elapsed since ringing of a bird which has not yet been reported to the Ringing Unit;
OR
c)when the number of newly-ringed birds not yet reported reaches 1,000 (irrespective of the time elapsed since the last file was submitted);
OR
d)by the end of February at the very latest in each year if any bird ringed in the previous year has not yet been reported to the Ringing Unit;
OR
e)if there is a specific need to submit a submission file at a particular time (eg to report a newly-controlled bird).
A ringing data submission file should include details of all birds ringed but not yet reported to the Ringing Unit at the time the file is prepared; so a file submitted under d) above may include details of birds ringed in January or February of the current year in addition to those ringed in the previous year.
Each file should be emailed to or on put a clearly labelled disk, which should be mailed to BTO HQ using a disk mailer obtainable from the Ringing Unit.
The email must contain the following information:
- Name(s) and Permit number(s) of ringer(s), partnership(s) and/or group(s) whose data are in the file(s)
- Name(s) of data file(s) which are attached (see below)
- One or more attached submission files
- Explanatory remarks eg if file(s) contains corrections to data already submitted
Disk Format
The following disk format is also acceptable:
PC:3½” high (1.44MB) density disks
Disk Label
The disk must have affixed a label containing the following information:
Name(s) and permit number(s) of ringer(s), partnership(s) and/or group(s) whose data are on the disk
Name(s) of data file(s), which are on the disk (see below)
Pre-printed labels with space for this information are available from the Ringing Unit.
Disk Volume Label (ie 'volume label' or 'name' stored magnetically on the disk itself).
This label has no significance to the Ringing Unit system; accordingly it may have any value or be left blank.
Email or Disk Contents
An email will have attached, or disk will carry, one or more data files each conforming to the data file naming scheme and format specified below. An email or single disk may carry files for more than one ringer/partnership/group. However ALL records (whether for newly-ringed birds, retraps or recoveries, including controls) in an individual file must include the same permit number (ie the permit number to which the newly-used rings were issued or transferred); for controlled birds reported in a submission file the Ringing Unit will send the original ringing details to the address on record for the permit number specified in that file, or member of the public (MOP) finder if the details are included in the finder field (94).
Data for birds ringed outside UK and Ireland using BTO scheme rings can (from 2005) be submitted electronically using a separate foreign version of IPMR, available directly from Mark Cubitt.
No files other than verified ringing data files should be present on the disk.
Data File Names
A ringing data file name must have the general form
NNNNN.YYS
where:
NNNNN (permit number) is the single number to which the new rings reported in the file were issued or transferred. The permit number should be expressed as two to five digits, with no leading zeroes; the permit type (eg A) and any endorsement (eg M or P) should not be included. This number is followed by a full stop.
YY (year of preparation) is the calendar year in which the data file was prepared for submission to the Ringing Unit. A data file may contain data for handlings in years prior to the year of preparation (eg the first file prepared in each year may contain data for remaining unreported rings used at the end of the previous year). The year should be expressed as two digits (decades and units), with a leading zero if necessary (eg 96 for 1996, 02 for 2002).
S (sequence indicator) is one plus the total number of files already prepared and submitted to the Ringing Unit in relation to the permit number NNNNN during the current calendar year. This sequence number should start at 1, and increment by 1 for each successive file submitted; if more than nine files are submitted in one calendar year, the sequence indicator should step through the letters of the alphabet, starting with A (=10).
Thus the fifth file in 2001 containing data on rings issued to permit number 3242 would be named 3242.015, the twelfth file would be named 3242.01C, and the eighth file in 2002 would be named 3242.028.
ZIP file submissions
One (and only one) data file can be included within a zip file. The name of the included file must conform to the specification above. The ZIP file name must be of the format NNNNN_YYS.zip where these are defined as above. Files produced in v2.2 of IPMR (2005 onwards) will be automatically zipped as part of the submission creation process.
Data File Format
A ringing data file must consist of one or more records (lines), each record giving the details for a single bird in accordance with the data record format specified below, followed by a total count record as specified below. The contents of a file must be in plain text form, ie as a sequence of ASCII codes representing the sequence of alphanumeric characters forming the data items and their separators. Data should not be stored in any further-encoded form (such as the encoding of numeric values). Decimal points should be included explicitly where relevant.
A ringing data file may contain records for rings of one or more sizes, and records may be in any order.
Header Record Format
The first record should be a comment line containing a structured set of values. Each value is separated by a comma and must not contain a comma. The format is:
SOFTWARE VALIDATION CREATION DATE/TIME, APPVERSION, SPECIFICATION, OS
eg
*IPMR,I,15/04/2004 15:02,2.1.75,3.30,3.95
Field / Meaning / Valid valuesSOFTWARE / Software that created file / *IPMR, *B-RING or *MACRING
VALIDATION / Type of validation: Internal or External / I or E
CREATION DATE/TIME / Date and time that submission file created / dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm
APPVERSION / Version of Application that produced file / Application determined eg 2.1.75 or 2.20
SPECIFICATION / Submission specification version / 3.30 or 3.40
OS / Operating system running software / DOS or Windows version eg 3.95
Optionally a second comment line can be present which allows the submitter to specify an email address. The EMAILADDRESS must contain no spaces and one @ character. The format is:
*mailto:EMAILADDRESS
eg
*mailto:
Further comment lines (which must start with an asterisk), for example containing warnings about not altering the content of the file may be added as required.
Data Record Format
A data record consists of a series of fields. The content and required sequence of these fields are specified in Appendix A.
Successive fields are separated by a comma character (ASCII code 44). Any field, which may include a comma character (including PLACE NAME – field 20 and EXTRA TEXT - field 63) must be enclosed in double quote marks (ASCII code 34); double quote marks are not permitted within any field. Any field for which there is no value is left empty but the comma characters separating it from adjacent fields must still be present (ie two commas immediately following one another signify a null field); thus each record must have a full complement of comma separators (one fewer than the total number of fields). There must not be any leading or trailing spaces in any field. Where code fields contain alphabetic characters these must be in upper case.
Every record (line) in a data file must be self-contained, with all relevant values indicated explicitly. No ditto marks should be used, even if the value of a field is repeated in successive records.
The end of a record is marked by a new line character sequence, the exact form of which varies from system to system; for MS-DOS files it is a CRLF pair (ASCII 13,10); for Macintosh files it is a CR alone (ASCII 13).
Total Count Record Format
After the last record in a file the total count of data records in the file should be indicated on a separate line, as a sequence of ASCII codes representing the digits making up the count, followed by an end of record marker. This count is exclusive of comment lines and the total record count itself; thus a file containing fifty data records, for a complete string of rings, would end with a total record count containing the value 50 (and not 51).
Note: The data file format specified above is different from that of the BTO Micro-Computer Coding Scheme for Bird Ringing Data (used by B-RING for data files): in particular the identity and sequence of data fields are fixed, so there is no header.
Data Verification
In order to minimise the risk of incorrect or suspect data entering the BTO's computer archives, all ringing data files to be supplied to the Ringing Unit must pass a preliminary verification before despatch to the BTO HQ. This verification can be carried out using IPMR, which can be downloaded from the BTO website ( The program is also available (on CD only) free of charge from the Ringing Unit.
IPMR Captures> Validate externally produced submission files menu option reads data files conforming to the format defined above and performs various checks (eg validity of species, habitat and region codes, appropriate ring size - as indicated by the ring number - for the species, consistency between codes used in different fields, and consistency of any biometrics with expected ranges for the species). Any discrepancy is reported to the user, alternatively original data files can be amended, a new file for the Ringing Unit prepared and the verification program re-run. If no discrepancy is found a verification code derived from the contents of the data file is appended to the file to indicate to the BTO computer system that the verification has been completed successfully.
The data fields specified in Appendix A include some that are mandatory and some that are optional (eg for biometrics, though ringers are strongly encouraged to submit these). Sometimes a computer program for preparing ringing data according to this format may not have all the mandatory data available to it (eg a user's data files may not contain details of the original ring carried by a re-ringed bird). In this case a preliminary data file must be edited manually (eg to insert the original ring number) prior to verification.
Other Notes
1Handlings (new birds, retraps or recoveries, including controls) should be reported to the Ringing Unit once only in a ringing submission file; such a file should not normally contain details of rings reported in a previous submission file. However, repetition of a record is permissible to correct any inaccuracy in the record as originally submitted.
Note: for any duplicate records that are received by the Ringing Unit the latest version is generally assumed to be correct (unless it is obvious that it was sent in error).
Likewise, details of a controlled bird, which are reported in a submission file should not be reported on a paper recovery form as well. (If it is desired to report a controlled bird without delay, a submission file may be submitted with a file containing a single record relating to that bird.). If the original ringing details have not been received from the Ringing Unit for the control, DO NOT resubmit the control in a subsequent data file, contact the Ringing Unit to check the reason for the delay.
Note that, if the ringing details for a bird are specifically requested by the Ringing Unit (ie on a 'Blue Card'), the requested information should be supplied immediately by sending in a data submission file.
2Ringers ringing species on Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act at sites they wish to be confidential should submit the open details. Confidential details should be sent in on paper schedules – see Ringers’ Manual for details.
3It is suggested that programs for preparing ringing data submission files should produce a report summarising the contents of a file by species and record type, species and place, and species and date. This report is not required by the Ringing Unit but may assist the user to make a manual cross-check of the records contained in the file.
4A comma-delimited file as required by this specification is available as an output option in a variety of commercial application programs, such as spreadsheet and database programs.
5When a submission file is received at BTO HQ it is scanned for viruses. Email submissions receive an immediate, automated reply. Attached email files and disk files are checked for record counts and validation codes and then the data files are copied over to the BTO's main computer where additional checks are performed (eg for new rings, were the rings issued or transferred to the relevant permit number). Once the data have been transferred, a reply email is sent or the disk is returned confirming data have been loaded. If any problems have been encountered it may not be possible to transfer part or all of a file, in this case a note of the problem is returned with the email or disk and the ringer is asked to resubmit the data
6Examples of the format specified above are given in Appendix B2
List of Appendices
A / Content & Sequence of Fields comprising a Ringing Data Record / EF / Habitat CodesEURING region codes
B / 1: Example ringing data records;
2: Example ringing data file / G / Species with precocial young or others where brood size may not be known
C / Ringing Scheme codes / H / Colour Mark Coding
D / Species codes for birds occurring in Britain and Ireland / I / Race Codes
APPENDIX A-1
Summary of Fields comprising a Ringing Data Record
1 / Record type / 37 / Time of weighing / 73 / Userc12 / Permit number / 38 / Wing measurer’s initials / 74 / Userc2
3 / Ringing scheme / 39 / Wing length / 75 / Userc3
4 / Ring number / 40 / State of wing point / 76 / Userc4
5 / Species / 41 / Length of primary feather / 77 / Userc5
6 / Age / 42 / Moult code / 78 / Userv1
7 / Sex / 43 / Primary moult score / 79 / Userv2
8 / Pulli ringed / 44 / Primary moult / 80 / Userv3
9 / Pulli alive / 45 / Old greater coverts / 81 / Userv4
10 / Condition of bird / 46 / Alula / 82 / Userv5
11 / Ring information / 47 / Bill length method / 83 / Left leg below tarsus colour mark
12 / Sexing method / 48 / Bill length / 84 / Right leg below tarsus colour mark
13 / Activity code 1 / 49 / Total head length/THL (head+bill length) / 85 / Left leg above tarsus colour mark
14 / Activity code 2 / 50 / Bill depth method / 86 / Right leg above tarsus colour mark
15 / Date of capture / 51 / Bill depth / 87 / Neck collar colour mark
16 / Time of capture / 52 / Tarsus method / 88 / Left wing colour mark
17 / Habitat code 1 / 53 / Tarsus length / 89 / Right wing colour mark
18 / Habitat code 2 / 54 / Tail length / 90 / Nasal colour mark
19 / Registered site code / 55 / Claw length / 91 / Sample
20 / Place name / 56 / Plumage / 92 / Time nearest high tide
21 / Region code / 57 / Brood patch / 93 / Fat score method
22 / Grid reference / 58 / Fat score / 94 / Finder
23 / Grid reference accuracy / 59 / Pectoral muscle score / 95 / IPMR Observation Bird Identifier
24 / Latitude - degrees / 60 / Capture method / 96 / Project code 1
25 / Latitude - minutes / 61 / Pullus Stage code / 97 / Project Registration 1
26 / Latitude - hemisphere / 62 / Race / 98 / Project code 2
27 / Longitude - degrees / 63 / Submission extra text / 99 / Project Registration 2
28 / Longitude - minutes / 64 / Validation codes / 100 / Project code 3
29 / Longitude - hemisphere / 65 / Capture type / 101 / Project Registration 3
30 / Co-ordinate accuracy / 66 / Place code / 102 / Body Moult code
31 / Finding condition / 67 / Subsite / 103 / Tail Fork length
32 / Other ringing scheme / 68 / Processor’s Initials / 104 / Extractor’s Initials
33 / Other ring number / 69 / Date accuracy / 105 / Ringer’s Initials
34 / Biometrics flag / 70 / Finding circumstances / 106 / Checker’s Initials
35 / Weight / 71 / Own data / 107 / Nest Recorder code
36 / Date of weighing / 72 / Own data 2 / 108 / Nest Record Number
109 / Euring code / 130 / BTO Record_ID
110 / Sibley-monroe Species Code / 131 / Edit_flag
111 / CES subsite type / 132 / Moved by
112 / Secondaries moult scores / 133 / Finding Circumstances Presumed
113 / Tail Moult scores / 134 / BTO Extra Text
114 / Primary covert moult scores / 135 / Ring Number Verified
115 / Greater covert moult scores / 136 / Identification Verified
116 / Carpal covert moult scores / 137 / BTO Finder
117 / Alula moult scores / 138 / Reporter
118 / Left wing primary moult scores / 139 / Submission Flag
119 / Left wing Secondaries moult scores / 140 / Captures Key
120 / LeftTail Moult scores / 141 / Submission Finding Circumstance Code
121 / Left wing Primary covert moult scores
122 / Left wing Greater covert moult scores
123 / Left wing Carpal covert moult score
124 / Left wing Alula moult scores
125 / Lesser & Medium covert moult
126 / Underwing covert moult
127 / Head moult
128 / Upperparts moult
129 / Underparts moult
APPENDIX A-2