- EpiData-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Updated EpiData Manager and EntryClient v4
by EpiData development and support 30 Jan '17

30 Jan '17

Dear all. A few visual bug were indentified in the last week that have been corrected in todays update: * A panel with a beta warning was incorrectly shown in both programs after closing an open project. * Both programs incorrectly had "[TRUNK]" in the title bar. The new versions are available from the download page: http://epidata.dk/download.php Kind regards, Torsten Bonde Christiansen EpiData

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Export data from Epidata Manager to SPSS
by EpiData development and support 26 Jan '17

26 Jan '17

Hello, I have 3 datasets in Epidata Manager that once exported to SPSS mix records. I am using Epidata Manager 2.0.0.25 and SPSS version 20. Kindly assist soonest. *Regards,* *Shakur Ndolo* *0728037673/ 0728321251* *P. O. Box 29944-00100 GPO, Nairobi*

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How to read epx files created with most recent (v4) project files in Analysis ?
by EpiData development and support 26 Jan '17

26 Jan '17

Every time we add new functionality to Manager and EntryClient the underlying structure of the epx file has to change. An example of this is the latest addition of entry control at user level and logging of what the user does if you have added extended access control to the project. A consequence of this is that the standard analysis software (v2.2.2.b185) must also be updated, we have not YET done so. Therefore if you read a epx project file created with the most recent public version (v4) of Manager and EntryClient it will seem as if you have no data in the file, which is obviously not true. We will update Analysis (v2.2.2.b185) to accomodate reading of the new files. If all goes well this will be ready next week. Until this is done you may follow these steps to read your recently created or updated epx file: a. work in manager and entryclient as you have done already (make sure it is the public release from <Http://www.epidata.dk/download.php>) b. if you wish to look at the data, you may do so from EntryClient or Manager "browse data" (Ctrl+D) c. If you use Stata or other statistics software for analysis, then export to that dataformat, else: d. to do e.g. a frequency table or means of some entered data do this: d1: Get a copy of the prototype new analysis from: <http://www.epidata.dk/testing.php> d2: make a copy of the epx file (say mycopy.epx) - standard file copying on your system. d3: read the copy (say mycopy.epx) into the prototype of analysis (v0.06) d4: The syntax of the new analysis is somewhat different from old analysis. (see in the help menu), e.g. close; read "mycopy.epx" ; // notice that comments are now started with double // // for a frequency table with percentage and one decimal of variable v2, you would type : freq v2 !R !D1 // for means of age you would type: means alder !t !by:=meldetype ; The ; at the end will be added automatically if you write the command in the command prompt, but if you write the commands in the editor, you will have to add them on each line. The reason for copying the file (mycopy.epx) is that you must NEVER use production data in the test versions of the software. Test software is always found on <http://www.epidata.dk/testing.php> When we have fixed reading the new epx files for b185, you may again read the file into standard analysis. best wishes Jens Lauritsen EpiData Association

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Version 4 released: EpiData Manager and EntryClient (individual user access)
by EpiData development and support 17 Jan '17

17 Jan '17

Dear all users. Version 4 of Manager and EntryClient have passed our in-house tests, which are found in "Validation of function in EpiData Manager and EpiData EntryClient" on the documentation page: http://www.epidata.dk/documentation.php. <http://www.epidata.dk/documentation.php> And we have fixed reported bugs. Therefore we have released public version to V4 on the download page. The main new aspects are: Memo text variables (long texts are shown in rectangles on screen) User adaptation of status bar during entry, including referring to other dataforms Defining individual user access at various roles and details. "fields" are now called "variables", "records" called "observations" if you have not worked with defining user access you may read the document here: <http://epidata.dk/php/downloadc.php?file=ExtendedAccess.pdf> This is a major step forward in the overall development plan for EpiData Software. The next steps of development will contain the following elements: 1. No difference btw. upper/lower case naming of variables etc. 2. Adaptation of the logfile format contained when you have logging in a project, such that analysis is easier. 3. Further implementation of aspects of Analysis. Feedback on the use of logging and user access control is highly welcomed with general comments and obviously also if you have specific problems or run into bugs. See the suggested strategy below. The reason for using V4 as the upgraded version from v2 is to avoid confusion with EpiData Classic, which was not developed since v3.1 released in 2008. Please note that from next versions all of EpiData Software will NOT be case sensitive in relation to naming of variables, headers etc. So please start adaptation of your projects to conform to this. E.g. you cannot use "v1" and "V1" or "Age" and "AGE" in the same project best wishes Jens Lauritsen EpiData Association, Denmark ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our suggestion is to use this strategy if you wish to introduce user access control: 1. Create your project as always. 2. Make sure it works to all detail WITHOUT user access control. (test with a number of observations covering the whole range of the composition of the study base) 3. Make a copy of the database (just like if you defined double entry). Add extended user access control to the copy and experiment with the definitions until you are re-assured that this will work. That is the number of user roles (managers, who can change passwords, who can enter which data) etc. Enter e.g. 10 % of the data you already entered in number 2 and verify that it went ok.

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EpiData EntryClient and Manager - next public release expected January 15th
by EpiData development and support 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Manager and EntryClient were uploaded as release candidates on December 16th. Although downloads are about 250-300 we have not received any notice of problems or bugs. In our in-house quality assurance test we only found a Mac implementation issue (known problem - Drag and drop variables and titles is not consistent). The in-house quality assurance tests are found in "Validation of function in EpiData Manager and EpiData EntryClient" on the documentation page: <http://www.epidata.dk/documentation.php> The main new aspects are: Memo text variables (long texts are shown in rectangles on screen) User adaptation of status bar during entry Defining individual user access at various roles and details. if you have not worked with defining user access you may read the document here: <http://epidata.dk/php/downloadc.php?file=ExtendedAccess.pdf> The plan is to release the current pre-release as public version approximately 15th of January - provided no major issue shows up. Before public release we will implement: 1 A new report showing an overview of users, groups, and logfile content for projects with extended access option. In this option project access is defined at user level for each dataform. 2 Adaptation of help texts, screen menu text etc to conform to the new definitions (variables, dataset, etc) Best wishes Jens Lauritsen Initiator and Coordinator EpiData AssociationDenmark

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Analysis
by EpiData development and support 04 Jan '17

04 Jan '17

Hello, First good year with a new version of EpiData Analysis. Thank you for your work. I tested some commands from the first test version: - I guess ": =" instead of "=" is because of the Mac or Linux? In any case, it is complicated to teach (less intuitive). Except for the equivalences (like Stata with the "=" and the "==" ... - Same for "!" instead "/" ? - Please use both upper and lower case for commands and variable names - After the "freq" command, the percentages are written in the vertical form and should be followed by "! c" instead of "! r" - Some personal demands for pedagogical purposes: = The "means"! t "command should show the result of the" t "test in case of two averages, and the result of ANOVA in case of more than two averages. I know that que le "F" est the square of the "t" for comparison of two averages. = Provide a complement to the "regress" command to get the regression line (as in the old Epi-Info "(eg"! Line ") = For the comparison of percentages, in case of insufficient calculated numbers (Ncell <5), do not calculate the chi-square and the "p" of the chi-square, and present the Fisher test for two percentages (the software "R" also presents the Fisher test for more than two percentages). Good luck. Thank you to excuse my bad english.... Bernard BRANGER 11 bis, rue Gabriel LUNEAU 44000 NANTES FRANCE Mobile 33 (0)6 32 70 33 80 Courriel : branger-bono(a)wanadoo.fr

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v4 testing
by EpiData development and support 02 Jan '17

02 Jan '17

I played a bit with v4 apps today (on Elementary linux distro) and most things worked as expected. I used: EpiData Manager: (2017/01/01 - 16:08:45) Program Version: 4.0.0.94 [RC1] r1364 Core version: 4.0.0.0 r1337 FPC Version: 3.0.0 Platform: x86_64-Linux EpiData Analysis: (2017/01/01 - 16:07:11) Program Version: 0.6.0.0 [PROTOTYPE] r? Core version: 2.1.0.0 r1335 FPC Version: 3.0.0 Platform: x86_64-Linux The only problem encountered so far: Manager & EntryClient: the browse columns get larger when repeatedly clicking on the button to show values/labels. This is not the case with Analysis. Analysis: thanks for the short intro file that shows what is available in this version. I was annoyed that I got errors when there was no data because of select, but played with the syntax and did this as a workaround. I'm showing this just because the syntax works quite well. new global i i; for i := 1 to 3 do begin select gender = i count; if $count>0 then freq age; end; Having FOR and BEGIN blocks means we can use some sophisticated command syntax. Jamie

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Epidata Development and Happy New Year
by EpiData development and support 31 Dec '16

31 Dec '16

Dear Jens and Epidata Team,                                                     I was a past user of EPI6 and shifted to Epidata Entry in 2000. Classical Epidata evolved with time and became very solid software capable of performing all the functionalities of EPI6 and much more. With additional functionalities and cross platform compatibilities, Epidata Manager and Epidata EntryClient are evolving at a rapid pace. I am yet to test the new version of Epidata Analysis. It requires tremendous perseverance to initiate, develop and maintain the software with limited resources. You have accomplished this mountainous task all these 16 years. Graphic documentation requires input in the manual. I had posted brief preliminary draft of options (off the list) to generate a particular graph long back.  I will continue to use and contribute to the user manual whatever possible. I congratulate you and entire Epidata team for this marvelous endeavor and wish happy New Year 2017.With regards,Dr Shavinder Singh 

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Status and a new EpiData test: First prototype rewritten Analysis -
by EpiData development and support 27 Dec '16

27 Dec '16

Overview and status at new year 2016/2017 EpiData Software consists of three parts which are in development and maintained: 1. EpiData Manager (Linux, Windows, Mac) - create new projects for data entry - import data (csv, rec, stata) for documentation and entry - manage entered/imported data (pack, adapt structure) - define control of data (range, legal, jumps, conditional rules...) - document data project data (Dublin Core standard) - document quality and consistency - export data for external analysis (csv, stata, spss) - export data for long term archiving (ddi standard) 2. EpiData EntryClient (Linux, Windows, Mac) - Efficient data entry (shortcuts, date completions ....) - Effective control of legal values 3. EpiData Analysis a. Classic version v2.x (Windows) - Tables and graphs from dialogs - Estimation of confidence intervals and life tables - Efficient condensed tables for outbreak analysis - Extended SPC (Statistical Process Control graphs) - Extensive data management (functions and variables) - User written commands - Documentation focused (save commands in pgm files) - file format : rec + chk file b. New rewritten version in development (Linux, Windows, Mac) Will gradually replace 3a above and will have the same function. First prototype v0.6.0.0 is ready for testing now. See below. Read files: epx, stata, rec, csv or from clipboard Save with value labels: epx, stata. Data only: csv 4. Additionally we have EpiData Classic (v3.1) developed from 1999-2005 and a few utility tools. These are no longer maintained We are quite far with the rewriting Manager and EntryClient to a common base and we have just released the first prototype of Analysis. Gradually the rewritten software will have full function to the level that we can accomplish within the funding available based on many personal efforts from the core group and inspiration from users. All software is released in two different places: a. For production use get it from: www.epidata.dk/download.php b. During development get test versions from: www.epidata.dk/testing.php (and do not use these for "real" projects) Currently you can get this for testing: Release Candidate (almost ready for release): Manager and EntryClient Experimental prototype: Analysis From next test versions we expect that variable naming will again be "non-case sensitive" in all EpiData software. Currently it is case sensitive (except for classic analysis and classic epidata v3.1). The new analysis has partially a new syntax, but if you open it and press F1 there is a short explanation on differences and changes to the syntax. From the help menu you may also open the commands.html overview in your standard browser. The main difference in syntax is: use ":=" instead of "=" , select only works on one command at a time, new begin .... end block, commands in a pgm must end with ";", you can have more than one command on a line, separated by ";" . We wish all users a happy new year and hope You will enjoy the use of EpiData Software in 2017. We do also hope that some of you will spend some time testing and commenting. I do hope that all of You recognize that without the skilled implementation and software design by Torsten Christiansen, the support from funding bodies and discussions with the core group of "Friends of EpiData" I could not have continued to secure release of the EpiData Software suite in the framework and scope which binds such an effort. Jens Lauritsen Initiator and coordinator EpiData Association, Denmark

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Pre-release testing of Manager and EntryClient (v4)
by EpiData development and support 16 Dec '16

16 Dec '16

A new step in development of EpiData Software has been reached now. Therefore we have placed for generel testing pre-release version four copies of EpiData EntryClient EpiData Manager on the testing page of EpiData: <http://www.epidata.dk/testing.php> Since the versions are for testing only, please DO NOT use for any production data. The files have passed our internal testing routines, but are not ready for general use yet, Following the external tests all of you contribute and subsequent changes we expect to release the version 4 for production in mid January. The new aspects are: a. Addition of a memo variable type (more than one line in texts) b. A new statusbar - which can be configured by the user, including adding names of variables from all forms c. A unified naming structure, which will be used in all coming software d. Addition of definition of user roles in projects. That is one can allow some users to define structure or change texts and others can only do entry. If you download the zipped files from you will find instructions on the new user role definitions in a pdf file. We have decided to call this updated version number 4 to avoid confusion with EpiData Classic which then will be the only v3.1 . Some of the documentation refers to v2.2, but disregard such comments. Best wishes Jens Lauritsen EpiData Association, Odense, Denmark

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