Getting Started Guide - Option A

There are a couple of ways¹ to open up the main window:

• Double-click the "PRL Option A" shortcut on your computer’s desktop.
• Click on the Windows Start button and navigate to Programs -> Pesticide Reporting -> PRL Option A.  Windows 8 users will have a  "PRL Option A" icon on their Start Screen.

When you start the program, the Control Center opens.

Entering Contact and Identity Information

Use the Control Center to tell us who to contact when we communicate with you about your report.  Please fill out all three fields under Pesticide Reporting Contact Person. 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

• a certification ID,
• the Applicator Name associated with the certification ID,
• optionally, a business registration number, and
• optionally, the Business Name.

Pesticide applicators should submit

• a certification ID, and
• the Applicator Name associated with the certification ID.

Pesticide sales businesses should submit

• a commercial permit number,
• the Business Name,
• optionally, a certification ID, and
• optionally, the Applicator Name associated with the certification ID.
  
  

Decide Which Forms to Use

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.

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.

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).

Opening up a Form

When you have decided which form(s) to use, click the corresponding radio button in the Report Forms 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.

Validating Files

Option A is also designed to validate ASCII text files that were created using other software applications. Only text files can be validated. Files are checked for compliance with the PRL Text File Specifications. The specifications are also available on the Help menu under File Format Guidelines.

For step-by-step instructions on using Option A to validate your files, see text file validation steps.

Entering Data

On all the forms the name and ID(s) appropriate to the form type will be pre-filled in the header area.  In most cases these fields are not editable.  On Form 26A the applicator you entered on the Control Center will be pre-filled on the first row of the form.

If you did not make applications (Form 26) or sell any pesticides (Form 25 or 27), check the box in the header area and save the form.  Form 26A has a column where you can indicate whether the applicator made applications.

To add a new row on any of the forms, just click in the first empty row and start typing.  As you are entering data right-clicking the mouse will display a pop-up menu of options to insert, duplicate and delete rows and options to cut, copy and paste one or more cells.  

See the Data Dictionary for field descriptions and the record layouts of each form. 

The EPA Registration Number List makes it easy to enter the same product repeatedly.

Cells are validated as you move the insertion point to the next cell.  While it is possible to save and submit your files without correcting validation errors, the Pesticide Reporting Service Bureau may reject or return reports because of the invalid data.

By default the file is saved in the report folder .  You can change the file location to wherever you want, but it will be simpler when you are ready to upload the files if you save them in the default location.

Closing a form will return you to the Control Center where you will be able to open another form, exit the application or upload the report to us.