How is EDF 1.2a (COELT EDF) different from EDF 1.2i (GeoTracker EDF)?

EDF 1.2i is a newer version of EDF 1.2a.  The formats are essentially the same with the following exceptions: 

1. More Delivery Options
2. Four Field Name Changes
3. File Name Changes
4. Optional Fields Added

Delivery Options:  The newer EDF1.2i provides greater flexibility in how the format is delivered.  It allows the delivery of a flat file which is a collapsed version of the Sample, Test, Result, and QC files.  The format of the files may be delimited rather than fixed length.  Delivery option are listed below:

Field Name Changes:  Four field names were changed in EDF1.2i.  Some of these names were changed so that EDF nomenclature would be more understandable to GeoTracker users. (Note that the names of the fields do not reside in the data files transferred so the data is not affected in any way.) Additionally, an obsolete field, EXTLABLOT, was activated as LCHMETH.  LCHMETH is an optional valid value field used to define leaching procedure when leaching is performed. The changes are listed in the table below:

File Name Changes:  File name changes were made to more easily identify the version. The file names of each version are are listed in the table below:

Optional Fields Added:  The optional fields in EDF 1.2i are linking fields to the EDF chain-of-custody standard (EDF_COC).  These fields are optional, as is the use of the EDF_COC. 

Summary:    The new version EDF 1.2i is essentially the same format as the older EDF 1.2a.  You can generally request these formats interchangeably.   For the majority of users requesting EDF,  I would recommend focusing on the form of the data rather than the version. For example, do you want tab delimited files which easily loads to an excel spreadsheet, or do you need fix length files to load to a software tool such as COELT.  

Have questions about what version you should use?  Ask the EDF Advisor