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Overview

The Option C Text File Validator is an application designed to assist you in electronically reporting Pesticide Reporting Law (PRL) information to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). You can use this validation program to check whether ASCII text files that you (or a third-party program) have created conform to the the NYSDEC guidelines. The required file format is described in the Guidelines document.

Each time you run the program you are asked to enter or verify some basic contact information. You can then validate your report files and submit them to the NYSDEC if they pass.  Reports which do not pass validation may be returned or rejected by the Pesticide Reporting Service Bureau.

Option C runs under Microsoft Windows^®.

After you download the Option C installation file, see the PRL Software Installation Guide to help you install the software on your computer.

If you need further assistance, contact the Pesticide Reporting Service Bureau.

Starting the Software

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

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

Other 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.

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 preferred 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, the column headers show a “tool tip” describing the contents of that column if you hover over the header cell with your mouse. 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.

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.

The columns on each form and their field descriptions are

eForm Menus and Controls

The eForms have a set of menus and controls designed to assist you in creating your PRL report.

1 - It is also possible to run the program by clicking on the executable file, PRL_eForms.exe.  The program is installed by default to C:\Program Files\NYSPRL, but you may have changed this setting to another folder during installation.