February 2008 - EpiData-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Re: DEFINE var not seen in file structure
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 28 Feb '08

28 Feb '08

Thank you Jens. This is most helpful. Sorry for not replying sooner, had problems with getting connected to the net. I will revise the QES and CHK file accordingly and come back if there are further issues. Again, Many thanks Kindest Regards SK -----Original Message----- From: epidata-list-request(a)lists.umanitoba.ca To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Sent: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 8:04 pm Subject: EpiData-list Digest, Vol 52, Issue 12 Send EpiData-list mailing list submissions to epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to epidata-list-request(a)lists.umanitoba.ca You can reach the person managing the list at epidata-list-owner(a)lists.umanitoba.ca When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of EpiData-list digest..." EpiData-list mailing list ___________________________________ Today's Topics: 1. DEFINE var not seen in file structure. Answer: Define in entry and in analysis have different consequences (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:04:40 +0100 From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: [EpiData-list] DEFINE var not seen in file structure. Answer: Define in entry and in analysis have different consequences To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Message-ID: <47C14138.2070103(a)epidata.dk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed There are two types of variables: 1. Variables which can be saved in files. In Entry these are defined in the qes file, e.g. var1 Label for this variable #### After creating the data file (rec file) and entering data, the data are stored in a rec file In Analysis variables can be created in two ways: a. Define var1 ###### var1 = integer((today-dob)/365.25) label var1 "Age at date of calculation" b gen i var1 = integer((today-dob)/365.25) label var1 "Age at date of calculation" c In both instances (a+b) the values are only kept further on if you issue a saving command: savedata 2. Temporary variables - which are only kept in memory In entry these are defined as SK did: > BEFORE FILE > DEFINE var1 ##### > DEFINE var2 ##### > END In analysis these are defined : (notice "global") define var1 ##### global Temporary variables cannot be saved to a rec file unless the content is transferred to a variable saved in a data file. Sometimes we call variables in data files for "fields" in contrast to what is only in memory. SK could argue that define should do the same in analysis and entry to avoid the confusion. In other words now SK can get the results of the calculation saved for analysis by: Add to the qes file aged Age in days ##### agem Age in months #### chk file. remove the "define" in before file but keep the calculation "let" in the "after entry" block and add this aged noenter end agem noenter end regards Jens Lauritsen EpiData Association ------------------------------ ________________________________________ EpiData-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list End of EpiData-list Digest, Vol 52, Issue 12 ********************************************

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RE: EpiData-list Digest, Vol 52, Issue 13
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 27 Feb '08

27 Feb '08

Merci beacoup - I realised that obvious solution just after I posted the question!! Sorry! Dr Josh Davis NH&MRC Scholar Menzies School of Health Research Staff Specialist in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine Royal Darwin Hospital -----Original Message----- From: epidata-list-bounces(a)lists.umanitoba.ca [mailto:epidata-list-bounces@lists.umanitoba.ca] On Behalf Of epidata-list-request(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Sent: Thursday, 28 February 2008 3:43 AM To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: EpiData-list Digest, Vol 52, Issue 13 Send EpiData-list mailing list submissions to epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to epidata-list-request(a)lists.umanitoba.ca You can reach the person managing the list at epidata-list-owner(a)lists.umanitoba.ca When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of EpiData-list digest..." EpiData-list mailing list ___________________________________ Today's Topics: 1. Incompatible Key Variables (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) 2. Problem with label values (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) 3. Re: Incompatible Key Variables (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) 4. Re: Problem with label values (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: 27 Feb 2008 06:38:27 -0000 From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: [EpiData-list] Incompatible Key Variables To: epidata-list-request(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Cc: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Message-ID: <20080227063827.17613.qmail(a)webmail47.rediffmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Dear Epidata users, I am trying to relate a child file (gm.rec which is growth monitoring data) with the parent file (Under5b.rec, an under 5 children file) The card variable of Under5b.rec is <IDNUM> type while it is numeric in the GM.rec file. After giving the MERGE CARD /FILE=UNDER5B.REC command, I get the following message; Incompatible key variables. Current file: Card of type Float Merge file: Card of type Integer Is there any solution for this problem. Actually IDNUM (automatic counter) is also a numeric variable. EPI6 relates these without any problem. Can any one help please. I am attaching a child.zip file (Under5b.rec and gm.rec in the form of child.zip) for the demonstration of the problem. Waiting for you response. With regards Dr. Shavinder SinghÂ

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Problem with label values
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 27 Feb '08

27 Feb '08

I have several list fields in my datasheet which have more than 9 possible values, and I want to make a label list reflecting this. However. Epidata seems to only allow up to 9. I can;t find documentation on this, but trial and error tells me. Are there any possible solutions? (to clarify, I have: LABEL label_resid 1 abc 2 ddd 3 kk 4 ggg (and then up to 12, and 99 for unknown) 99 unknown END Dr Josh Davis NH&MRC PhD Scholar Menzies School of Health Research and Charles Darwin University Darwin, NT Staff Specialist in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine Royal Darwin Hospital ________________________________

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Incompatible Key Variables
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 27 Feb '08

27 Feb '08

Dear Epidata users, I am trying to relate a child file (gm.rec which is growth monitoring data) with the parent file (Under5b.rec, an under 5 children file) The card variable of Under5b.rec is <IDNUM> type while it is numeric in the GM.rec file. After giving the MERGE CARD /FILE=UNDER5B.REC command, I get the following message; Incompatible key variables. Current file: Card of type Float Merge file: Card of type Integer Is there any solution for this problem. Actually IDNUM (automatic counter) is also a numeric variable. EPI6 relates these without any problem. Can any one help please. I am attaching a child.zip file (Under5b.rec and gm.rec in the form of child.zip) for the demonstration of the problem. Waiting for you response. With regards Dr. Shavinder Singh

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DEFINE var not seen in file structure. Answer: Define in entry and in analysis have different consequences
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 24 Feb '08

24 Feb '08

There are two types of variables: 1. Variables which can be saved in files. In Entry these are defined in the qes file, e.g. var1 Label for this variable #### After creating the data file (rec file) and entering data, the data are stored in a rec file In Analysis variables can be created in two ways: a. Define var1 ###### var1 = integer((today-dob)/365.25) label var1 "Age at date of calculation" b gen i var1 = integer((today-dob)/365.25) label var1 "Age at date of calculation" c In both instances (a+b) the values are only kept further on if you issue a saving command: savedata 2. Temporary variables - which are only kept in memory In entry these are defined as SK did: > BEFORE FILE > DEFINE var1 ##### > DEFINE var2 ##### > END In analysis these are defined : (notice "global") define var1 ##### global Temporary variables cannot be saved to a rec file unless the content is transferred to a variable saved in a data file. Sometimes we call variables in data files for "fields" in contrast to what is only in memory. SK could argue that define should do the same in analysis and entry to avoid the confusion. In other words now SK can get the results of the calculation saved for analysis by: Add to the qes file aged Age in days ##### agem Age in months #### chk file. remove the "define" in before file but keep the calculation "let" in the "after entry" block and add this aged noenter end agem noenter end regards Jens Lauritsen EpiData Association

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Epidata Entry: DEFINE var not seen in file structure or analysis
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 21 Feb '08

21 Feb '08

Dear Epidata Users Hope you can help me understand why this problem is arising. I have created a CHK file with the commends: BEFORE FILE ??? DEFINE var1 ??? DEFINE var2 END ....more code---- var1 and var2 are child age in days and months respectively, computed from date of admission-date of birth; ...code--- dateadm ??? AFTER ENTRY ??? ?? LET aged=dateadm-dob ??? ?? LET agem=(dateadm-dob)/30 ??? END END Now when I try to "File Structure" to see the variables created in the database, I do not see these 2 new variables. Even in Epidata Analysis, after reading the file, these variables do not appear in the variable lsit. Have I missed something? Thanks SK ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com

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EpiData Help in Windows Vista
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 20 Feb '08

20 Feb '08

EpiData Entry users with a Windows Vista machine may experience a problem in reading the EpiData Entry Help file. A plug can be obtained from the MS site that will fox the problem. An EpiData introduction course participant kindly provided me with the link where to get it and I wanted to share it for the record in the EpiData list: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=6eb… Hans

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problem with the Jan 2008 version
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

I have a problem downloading the current version. Any time I download it I am not able to luanch it.A message will appear that it is currupted. It is the same for the analysis one too. Thank Joe. Akolgo Asampana Joseph Nayag and Sons L .C.S P.O Box 415 Bolga Phone +233-244476218 Ghana ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

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Re: Fording 3 digit ID numbers
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 17 Feb '08

17 Feb '08

This proposed solution has the problem that ID is then a string variable, which will be confusing when you transfer it to STATA, SPSS etc. Another solution would be to not worry about the leading zeros until you have transferred it into STATA, at which point you could use the STATA format command to force it to display as 3 digits. Regards Dr Josh Davis NH&MRC Scholar Menzies School of Health Research Staff Specialist in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine Royal Darwin Hospital -----Original Message----- From: epidata-list-bounces(a)lists.umanitoba.ca [mailto:epidata-list-bounces@lists.umanitoba.ca] On Behalf Of epidata-list-request(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Sent: Sunday, 17 February 2008 3:33 AM To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: EpiData-list Digest, Vol 52, Issue 7 Send EpiData-list mailing list submissions to epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to epidata-list-request(a)lists.umanitoba.ca You can reach the person managing the list at epidata-list-owner(a)lists.umanitoba.ca When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of EpiData-list digest..." EpiData-list mailing list ___________________________________ Today's Topics: 1. Re: forcing 3-digit id numbers (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:42:00 +0100 From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: Re: [EpiData-list] forcing 3-digit id numbers To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Message-ID: <47B62348.2070106(a)tbrieder.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Vicky: I reproduced your problem, and while perhaps awkward, this seems to be a possible solution: Make an IDN as a numeric field and your ID as a text field: QES: idn ### id ___ sex # In the CHK file you write: idn RANGE 1 150 MUSTENTER AFTER ENTRY id=idn IF idn<10 THEN id="00"+id ENDIF IF (idn>9) and (idn<100) THEN id="0"+id ENDIF END END id KEY UNIQUE 1 NOENTER END and you have your ID as unique identifier in the format you want it to be. Regards, Hans epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca wrote: > <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed">I am > using a unique ID for individuals in a study. The ID must be between > 001 and 150 and it is a 3-character string field to ensure 054 is > entered, for instance, rather than 54. > Certain numbers can be entered with fewer than 3 digits without > generating an error message. Without trying every possible > combination, it seems that these numbers are 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and > 15. The thing that these seven numbers have in common is that they > could all be extended to 3 digits by filling in only zeroes, and still > meet the criteria for the field (100, 100 again, 110, 120, 130, 140, > 150). 160 is too big for the range, so 16 generates an error message. > 200 is too big, so 2 is not allowed. This is just a guess to explain > why these seven numbers slip through the filter. > If I'm right, is there anything I can do about it? If I'm wrong, > what's the explanation? > Thanks for your help, > Vicky Simms > > King's College London > > > </div> -- Hans L Rieder, MD, MPH Jetzikofenstr. 12 3038 Kirchlindach Switzerland Tel: +41 31 829 4577 Mob: +41 79 321 9122 Web: http://www.tbrieder.org ------------------------------ ________________________________________ EpiData-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list End of EpiData-list Digest, Vol 52, Issue 7 *******************************************

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forcing 3-digit id numbers
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 17 Feb '08

17 Feb '08

I am using a unique ID for individuals in a study. The ID must be between 001 and 150 and it is a 3-character string field to ensure 054 is entered, for instance, rather than 54. Certain numbers can be entered with fewer than 3 digits without generating an error message. Without trying every possible combination, it seems that these numbers are 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. The thing that these seven numbers have in common is that they could all be extended to 3 digits by filling in only zeroes, and still meet the criteria for the field (100, 100 again, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150). 160 is too big for the range, so 16 generates an error message. 200 is too big, so 2 is not allowed. This is just a guess to explain why these seven numbers slip through the filter. If I'm right, is there anything I can do about it? If I'm wrong, what's the explanation? Thanks for your help, Vicky Simms King's College London

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