Option A Getting Started Guide
Option B Getting Started Guide
Overview
The Option B Excel eForm is an application designed to assist you in electronically recording Pesticide Reporting Law (PRL) information and reporting it to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Each time you run the program you are asked to enter or verify some basic contact information. You can then view and fill out electronic forms that are similar to the four paper forms used to report pesticide usage and sales. The forms are customized Microsoft Excel workbooks.
Option B runs under Microsoft Windows® and requires Microsoft Excel®.
After you download the Option B installation file, see the PRL Software Installation Guide to help you install the software on your computer.
After you install Option B, you must change the macro security setting in Excel. If you do not change the security setting and enable macros, many of the features in the spreadsheets will not function correctly. Depending on your macro security setting and version of Excel, Excel may ask if you want to enable Macros when you open these forms. ALWAYS enable macros when using this software.
If Macros have not been enabled, the spreadsheets should show a prominent warning in the header area. (Note: the “Macros Disabled” warning may be briefly visible when you open a form and while you are saving a form; this is normal.)
The instructions for enabling macros are also available from the Help menu (Macro Security Setting item) on the Registration form.
If you need further assistance, contact the Pesticide Reporting Service Bureau.
Getting Started
There are a couple of ways1 to open up the main window: Click on the Windows Start button and navigate to Programs -> Pesticide Reporting -> PRL Option B. Windows 8 users will have a "PRL Option B" icon on their Start Screen.
A message box saying something like “Data directory created called 'C:\PRL2011'.” may appear. This is normal. The data directory is the location to which your data files will be written. The Registration form then opens.
Registration Form
Use the Registration form to tell us who to contact when we communicate with you about your report. You also need to provide identification information so that we can associate your report with the correct applicator(s) or organization. Are you in the pesticide application or sales business? Pesticide application businesses should submit Pesticide applicators should submit Pesticide sales businesses should submitEntering Contact and Identity Information
Multiple Applicators or Sales Permits If your organization employs multiple applicators, just choose one of them to enter in this form. If your business has more than one business registration number, enter the one for the main business office. You may — but are not required to — submit the other business registration numbers using a Form 26A. See this FAQ for more information. If your business has more than one commercial permit number, you may enter one number here and provide separate Form 25s or Form 27s for each commercial permit number. The header areas of both forms have a commercial permit number field, which is editable. You may also send us separate reports for each commercial permit number. If you have multiple applicators to include on your report, we recommend using Form 26A to enter their information. The pesticide applications they made should be entered on Form 26. If any of the applicators that you are reporting for made any applications during the report year, you should submit a Form 26. You may enter all your applications in one file even if they were made by multiple applicators; we do not need a separate report for each applicator. If you are reporting for a pesticide sales business and you sell restricted-use pesticides, use Form 25. If you sell pesticides to private applicators, we will need a Form 27. If you have a commercial permit number, you must submit either Form 25, Form 27, or both. Be sure to include applicators who did not make applications on your report and applicators who left your organization during the report year. If your organization is a pesticide sales business, you must file a report even if you did not make any sales during the report year. You can report two different types of sales on Form 25; report either sales to another commercial permit holder who will resell the products or sales to commercial applicators for their end use. In Options A and B, there are a set of radio buttons in the Form 25 header where you can specify the sales type. Options D and O have drop-down lists for specifying the sales type. If you have both types of sales to report, please send us a separate form for each type. However, you do not need to complete a form for the type of sales you did not make (but you still need to report even if you did not make any sales). When you have decided which form(s) to use, click the corresponding radio button in the Select a Form to Open area. Do you want to start a new file or add to an existing one? To start a new file, click on the Blank Form button. For an existing file, click the Existing Form button. This will open up a dialog in which you can choose the file you want. Decide Which Forms to Use
Opening up a Form
More Registration Form Functions
There are several buttons and menu items available on the Registration form that can help you prepare and submit your PRL report.
Report Forms
The PRL report forms are where you will enter the data that you need to report to the NYSDEC. Each form is used to report a particular type of pesticide-related activity.
IMPORTANT
The Excel eForms rely on the use of VBA Macros. ALWAYS enable macros when using this software.
Identity Fields
The identity fields in the header area of each form are filled with the values you entered on the Registration form. Changing the identity fields here does not update the corresponding fields on the Registration form. While the certification number and applicator name are editable, there are better methods for reporting for multiple applicators. The commercial permit number field is editable so that you can report for multiple commercial permittees in one report submission.
Form 26A also includes a business registration number column. If your pesticide business has more than one business registration number, you may but are not required to include all of your business’s registration numbers on the Form 26A.
Reporting No Activity
On each of the forms you can indicate that there was no reportable activity for the report year.
Excel eForms
If you have applications or sales to report, enter each pesticide application or sales record in its own row in the spreadsheet below the header area. The header area is “frozen” — i.e., it will remain visible at the top of the spreadsheet as you scroll down through the data entry rows. Please ensure that you have scrolled up to the rows that contain data if you are editing an existing workbook.
For your convenience, if you hover over the header cell with your mouse, the column headers show a “tool tip” with a data description for that column. In addition, most of the data entry cells show a descriptive prompt when the cell is selected. Additional information about the fields in each form is available from the Data Dictionary.
You can use standard Excel methods for moving around the spreadsheet from one cell to another.
Excel has a few surprising behaviors. If you use arrow keys or Tab to move more than one row past the part of the spreadsheet containing data, the input focus will automatically move back to the top of the worksheet instead of to the next row.
Many of the standard editing features of an Excel spreadsheet are available for your use during data entry. For example, Copy, Cut, Paste, and Clear Contents can be used to edit individual cells. Since the eForms do not have selectable row numbers, we have provided two buttons for copying or deleting an entire row.
Values entered into cells are checked against a simple set of validation rules. See Validation for more information.
Ditto marks or use of the words "ditto", "same", or similar entries are not accepted by the Pesticide Reporting Service Bureau. Instead, you can use the EPA Reg Number List. or copy and paste as a convenient way to enter the same information repeatedly.
eForm Menus and Controls
The eForms have a set of menus and controls designed to assist you in creating your PRL report.
Record Layouts
Overview
Content Tools