- EpiData-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Epidata alignment problem
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 03 Aug '06

03 Aug '06

Dear Jamie Thanks for your response to my alignment problem. Unfortunately, neither solution offered is acceptable. Using one field per line is unmanageable when you have hundreds of fields. Using the '@' method, if you can figure out the pixel business, results in entry fields that are aligned, but the associated text is scattered all over the place and may be on different lines. The data entry screens and printed forms are the public face of ED. If ED is indeed legacy EI then the face presented to the world should work properly. Otherwise, either the QES file must be intentionally misaligned or the REC file will not be acceptable. But then the QES file is a mess. It seems to me that the code can be changed to correct this problem as indicated in my original message(see below). If it cannot be corrected, I would appreciate it if someone on the development team would let me know so I can switch to something else and be done with this problem. If it can be corrected, will it be? I understand and appreciate the enormous effort that has been expended by the team. But if there are resources for doing things like import/export, pack, codebook, validate, consistency, compress, archive ......., then how can the entry screens and printed forms remain unusable in a routine, typical manner? Steve ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ DEAR Jens and Michael , I have delayed composing this letter for quite some time because I so much appreciate the efforts and accomplishments of the Epidata(ED) team over the years. I was one of the early users and continue to use ED extensively in our very many projects here at the hospital. My problem is that what I see in the QES file is not translated, as it appears, to the data entry screens in the REC file. In other words, the form is not WYSIWIG; in fact, what you see is NOT what you get. What you sometimes get in data entry screens are fields that are scattered all over and the allignment between the lines is comletely lost. This does not happen in EpiInfo(EI). This problem is not apparent in the sample files because they only have one item on a line. To see the misalignment, the QES file must have multiple lines and fields that use the brackets, such as date and boolean fields. I examined the header portion of the REC file generated by both EI and ED and they are essentially identical. The brackets and their conversion are the problem! Consider the following very simple QES file: A<mm/dd/yyyy>B<Y>C___ D___________ E___ F___ Note: the font may be changed by you email client. To see the point being made, letter D should be right under letter A, E should be right under B and F under C using a fixed-width font, such as 'courier new' with no spaces between the fields. I have six fields(A-F) and have intentionally placed B right after A and C right after B. If this file is converted to a REC file in EI, everything is aligned exactly as it appears above. If it is converted in ED, it is not. What EI does is remove the left bracket in field A and shift the REST OF THE LINE one space to the left. It then removes the right bracket from A and again shifts the REST OF THE LINE one space to the left. It then does exactly the same thing for field B. Everything would now be out of alignment with the next line, except that EI then adds two spaces IMMEDIATELY to the right of EACH field from which the brackets have been removed. In fact, if you look at the data entry screen in EI, you will notice that after shifting to the left as described above, two spaces now appear right after field A and two space appear right after field B, and this maintains the alignment with the lines below. ED does exactly the same shifting as EI, but fails to add two spaces to the right of each of these bracketed fields. Changing the font in ED data entry screens to fixed-width does not help. I develop QES files with hundreds of fields of all types, and bracketed fields hopelessly mess up the alignment in both the screen version and in printed forms. While I can now(since I figured it out) make these adjustments in the QES file to maintain alignment, I cannot recommmend ED to any of my less experienced colleagues because the entry screens and printed reports will look disorganized, resulting in a less aesthetic experience and more data entry errors. I must therefore either personally design every form (which I do not have time for), or have them use something horrible like Excel. EpiData is a splendid product and is indeed legacy EpiInfo because it maintains the elegant features of the latter, while adding many new and really useful ones. The loss of alignment between lines, however, sort of ruins things for me although it probably does not affect most users. If my analysis is correct, I hope the program can be modified relatively easily. If I am wrong, maybe you can’t do anything. Either way, thanks again for all you have done for the rest of us EpiInfo lovers. Sincerely Steve Blum, PhD Associate Professor Albert Einstein College of Medicine Dept of Epidemiology and Population Health Steve Blum Steve, If you want to line up the entry fields and are less concerned about the text around them, put @ before the entry field. It is quite easy, with minimal trial and error, to get the entry fields to line up. In my experience, most questionnaires align the spaces to capture text and with judicious use of spaces to separate field names/text, you can get a questionnaire on screen that is quite easy to use. We teach our field epidemiologists to enter data one field per line, for simplicity and because this produces a nice companion to the codebook (we suggest using "first word" for field names). However, I also liked the fixed font approach of EI when creating questionnaires. Over the years, we realized that data entry fields scattered across the page were not ideal and shifted to the single column (with exceptions where it makes a lot of sense). The help file with ED doesn't say much about @, but does point it out in the explanation of differences from EI. In your example, I tried this: A @<mm/dd/yyyy> B @<Y> C @___ D @___________ E @___ F @___ and, while E is not under B, the entry fields line up very nicely. When you add the field descriptions, it looks better. Some fields may need more than one @, or add spaces before the field name. I prefer to use 'First word' because the questionnaire then documents the field names. Your colleagues should be able to master this easily. A date goes here @<mm/dd/yyyy> B key y/n answer @<Y> C this is a name @___ D the address @___________ E diagnostic code @___ F outcome code @___ Jamie Hockin Public Health Agency of Canada

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EpiData Entry: issue with numeric fields and legal values
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 02 Aug '06

02 Aug '06

Dear all, I have a problem with numeric fields of more than one digit in length, e.g. ##. All legal values (and their value labels) for the variables in my questionnaire are precoded in the CHK file. Currently, if a legal value is defined as "1", the data entry program does not accept "01" and vv: if a legal value is defined as "01" the data entry program does not accept "1". The typists usually type without looking the whole time at the screen so they prefer the legal values to be precoded 01, 02, 03 etc because if they enter "1" they would need to press ENTER before the cursor moves to the next field (which they do not need to do if the length of the field is one digit). Precoding "01" etc initially seemed to work fine, but as soon as the record is saved, when the typist needs to return to the same record, e.g. to make a correction, the value "01" is reflected as "1" on the screen, and when passing through this field again, e.g. to move to a part that is further down in the questionnaire, an error message pops up: "illegal entry", and the typists believe they should change the "1" again into "01". This is at times quite a bit of a nuisance. I think that one possible solution (I have not tried this yet) could be to define for all digits under 10 both "1", "2", "3" as well as "01", "02", etc as legal values (with the same value labels), but I think it is not very elegant. Is there another solution? PS. is there a command that can used in the CHK file to that after every entry the typist needs to press enter before the cursor moves to the next field? Thanks a lot, Henriette Dr Henrica A.F.M. (Henriette) Jansen Epidemiologist, WHO Multi-country Study Violence against Women Department of Gender, Women and Health Tel direct: +41 22 791 3106 Fax direct: +41 22 791 1585 Mobile: +41 78 730 3035 E-mail: jansenh(a)who.int Website: http://www.who.int/gender/violence/multicountry/en/

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RE: EpiData 3.1 - Viewing value label in data entry window?
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 30 Jul '06

30 Jul '06

Thanks, I've worked it out... I needed to add this code to the start of the check file: BEFORE FILE TYPE COMMENT ALLFIELDS BLUE END cheers leanne. -----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: Saturday, 29 July 2006 3:06 AM To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: EpiData-list Digest, Vol 33, Issue 8 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. EpiData 3.1 - Viewing value label in data entry window? (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) 2. Re: EpiData 3.1 - Viewing value label in data entry window? (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2006 11:22:52 +1000 From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: [EpiData-list] EpiData 3.1 - Viewing value label in data entry window? To: <epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> Message-ID: <0FE7A7717D7DB745B5097135D3892EFD01CB09FC(a)accvnt71.accv.org.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Hi there all! I have a question regarding viewing value labels when I'm in the data entry window of EpiData 3.1. In the booklet called "Introduction to EpiData" it said that 'blue explanatory text' based on labels in the check file is added to the right of the field by EpiData after data entry ... this is not happening in my file. Can anyone suggest why this might be? All of my files for the data are located in the same subfolder (ie. the qes, rec and chk files for the dataset are in the one folder). many thanks in advance, Leanne. ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2006 09:46:12 -0400 From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: Re: [EpiData-list] EpiData 3.1 - Viewing value label in data entry window? To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Message-ID: <44CA1524.4010402(a)binghamton.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 What sort of statement pertaining to the problematic variable(s) do you have in your check file? I've also noticed that in my version of EpiData, the blue text appears only after I tab or enter out of a variable, to the next one. Even if a record already has all its variables filled in, the blue text won't appear until I move to a variable and then tab/enter away from it. --Chris -- Christopher W. Ryan, MD SUNY Upstate Medical University Clinical Campus at Binghamton and Wilson Family Practice Residency, Johnson City, NY cryanatbinghamtondotedu GnuPG and PGP public keys available at http://pgp.mit.edu "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea." [Antoine de St. Exupery] epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca wrote: > Hi there all! > I have a question regarding viewing value labels when I'm in the data entry window of EpiData 3.1. In the booklet called "Introduction to EpiData" it said that 'blue explanatory text' based on labels in the check file is added to the right of the field by EpiData after data entry ... this is not happening in my file. Can anyone suggest why this might be? All of my files for the data are located in the same subfolder (ie. the qes, rec and chk files for the dataset are in the one folder). > many thanks in advance, > Leanne. > _______________________________________________ > EpiData-list mailing list > EpiData-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca > http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list > ------------------------------ ________________________________________ EpiData-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list End of EpiData-list Digest, Vol 33, Issue 8 *******************************************

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EpiData 3.1 - Viewing value label in data entry window?
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 28 Jul '06

28 Jul '06

Hi there all! I have a question regarding viewing value labels when I'm in the data entry window of EpiData 3.1. In the booklet called "Introduction to EpiData" it said that 'blue explanatory text' based on labels in the check file is added to the right of the field by EpiData after data entry ... this is not happening in my file. Can anyone suggest why this might be? All of my files for the data are located in the same subfolder (ie. the qes, rec and chk files for the dataset are in the one folder). many thanks in advance, Leanne.

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Please help: Analysis
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 18 Jul '06

18 Jul '06

Hi there I am currently analysing my first survey using Epidata Analysis instead of DOS Epi Info (I hated Windows EpiInfo) and have been using Epidata quite a lot for data entry, so now I am giving Analysis a go! In the DOS EpiInfo I have been able to use the "COMBINE" command to do a freq on a question where more than 1 option can be selected. Eg. Question: In which province do you primarily work? (You may choose more than 1 option) The provinces are then all listed and the respondents just tick In my Epidata REC file I have numbered all the options from 1-10. I repeated the question 4 times in the REC file, so that 4 options could be ticked (my data does not have more than 4 options ticked for this Question - I checked!) I have a dataset with 148 respondents. I know that my denominater will increase with the "combine" command, but I am interested in the percentages only. What command in Analysis will assist me with this analysis problem? Warm regards, Elize Webb School of Health Systems and Public Health University of Pretoria **************************************************************************** ******** This message and attachments are subject to a disclaimer. Please refer to www.it.up.ac.za/documentation/governance/disclaimer/ for full details. / Hierdie boodskap en aanhangsels is aan 'n vrywaringsklousule onderhewig. Volledige besonderhede is by www.it.up.ac.za/documentation/governance/disclaimer/ beskikbaar. **************************************************************************** *******

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EpiData alignment problem
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 17 Jul '06

17 Jul '06

I cannot get past info(a)epidata.com filter no matter what subject I use so I am posting this to the group DEAR Jens and Michael , I have delayed composing this letter for quite some time because I so much appreciate the efforts and accomplishments of the Epidata(ED) team over the years. I was one of the early users and continue to use ED extensively in our very many projects here at the hospital. My problem is that what I see in the QES file is not translated, as it appears, to the data entry screens in the REC file. In other words, the form is not WYSIWIG; in fact, what you see is NOT what you get. What you sometimes get in data entry screens are fields that are scattered all over and the allignment between the lines is comletely lost. This does not happen in EpiInfo(EI). This problem is not apparent in the sample files because they only have one item on a line. To see the misalignment, the QES file must have multiple lines and fields that use the brackets, such as date and boolean fields. I examined the header portion of the REC file generated by both EI and ED and they are essentially identical. The brackets and their conversion are the problem! Consider the following very simple QES file: A<mm/dd/yyyy>B<Y>C___ D___________ E___ F___ Note: the font may be changed by you email client. To see the point being made, letter D should be right under letter A, E should be right under B and F under C using a fixed-width font, such as 'courier new' with no spaces between the fields. I have six fields(A-F) and have intentionally placed B right after A and C right after B. If this file is converted to a REC file in EI, everything is aligned exactly as it appears above. If it is converted in ED, it is not. What EI does is remove the left bracket in field A and shift the REST OF THE LINE one space to the left. It then removes the right bracket from A and again shifts the REST OF THE LINE one space to the left. It then does exactly the same thing for field B. Everything would now be out of alignment with the next line, except that EI then adds two spaces IMMEDIATELY to the right of EACH field from which the brackets have been removed. In fact, if you look at the data entry screen in EI, you will notice that after shifting to the left as described above, two spaces now appear right after field A and two space appear right after field B, and this maintains the alignment with the lines below. ED does exactly the same shifting as EI, but fails to add two spaces to the right of each of these bracketed fields. Changing the font in ED data entry screens to fixed-width does not help. I develop QES files with hundreds of fields of all types, and bracketed fields hopelessly mess up the alignment in both the screen version and in printed forms. While I can now(since I figured it out) make these adjustments in the QES file to maintain alignment, I cannot recommmend ED to any of my less experienced colleagues because the entry screens and printed reports will look disorganized, resulting in a less aesthetic experience and more data entry errors. I must therefore either personally design every form (which I do not have time for), or have them use something horrible like Excel. EpiData is a splendid product and is indeed legacy EpiInfo because it maintains the elegant features of the latter, while adding many new and really useful ones. The loss of alignment between lines, however, sort of ruins things for me although it probably does not affect most users. If my analysis is correct, I hope the program can be modified relatively easily. If I am wrong, maybe you can’t do anything. Either way, thanks again for all you have done for the rest of us EpiInfo lovers. Sincerely Steve Blum, PhD Associate Professor Albert Einstein College of Medicine Dept of Epidemiology and Population Health

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RE: [EpiData-list] Four files
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 15 Jul '06

15 Jul '06

Hi you four different file (subject) or the same subject ? thanks __________________________ Ibrahim Hussaini Afghanistan Independent human rights commission Phone: (020)2500676- 2500197 Mobile: 0093(0)799155445 Fax: 0093(020)2500677 E_mail: ibrahim_hussaini(a)hotmail.com > To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 13:49:22 -0300> From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> Subject: [EpiData-list] Four files> > Hi,> > suppose that I have four files. How can I put all in one file???> > Thanks,> > ---------------------------------------------------------------> Silvano Cesar da Costa> Departamento de Estatística e Matemática Aplicada> Centro de Ciências Exatas> Universidade Estadual de Londrina> Campus Universitário> Cx. Postal 6001> CEP 86051-990> Londrina - PR> Fones: (43) 3371 4848 (direto)> (43) 3371 4346 (Secretaria)> > http://www.uel.br/pessoal/silvano> ---------------------------------------------------------------> > _______________________________________________> EpiData-list mailing list> EpiData-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself: design your homepage the way you want it with Live.com. http://www.live.com/getstarted

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RE: [EpiData-list] Four files
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 14 Jul '06

14 Jul '06

Hi you said you have four different file to put in one file are same file? best regards Ibrahim Hussaini Database Assistant Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission Phone: (020) 2500676 - 2500197 Mobile: 0093 (0) 799155445 Fax: 0093(020)2500677 E-mail: ibrahim_hussaini(a)hotmail.com > To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 13:49:22 -0300> From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> Subject: [EpiData-list] Four files> > Hi,> > suppose that I have four files. How can I put all in one file???> > Thanks,> > ---------------------------------------------------------------> Silvano Cesar da Costa> Departamento de Estatística e Matemática Aplicada> Centro de Ciências Exatas> Universidade Estadual de Londrina> Campus Universitário> Cx. Postal 6001> CEP 86051-990> Londrina - PR> Fones: (43) 3371 4848 (direto)> (43) 3371 4346 (Secretaria)> > http://www.uel.br/pessoal/silvano> ---------------------------------------------------------------> > _______________________________________________> EpiData-list mailing list> EpiData-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself: design your homepage the way you want it with Live.com. http://www.live.com/getstarted

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Four files
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 13 Jul '06

13 Jul '06

Hi, suppose that I have four files. How can I put all in one file??? Thanks, --------------------------------------------------------------- Silvano Cesar da Costa Departamento de Estatística e Matemática Aplicada Centro de Ciências Exatas Universidade Estadual de Londrina Campus Universitário Cx. Postal 6001 CEP 86051-990 Londrina - PR Fones: (43) 3371 4848 (direto) (43) 3371 4346 (Secretaria) http://www.uel.br/pessoal/silvano ---------------------------------------------------------------

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Definition of GCP guidelines and tools
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 08 Jul '06

08 Jul '06

Tim C. Responded: Which set(s) of GCP guidelines is Epidata using as the goal? GCP is an abbreviation of "Good Clinical Practice". The whole issue of GCP guidelines is a difficult one. The preparation in itself involves reading a lot of " heavy legal text". The major issue is that the principles are described in lengthy documents, but there is no strict definition as of what it really implies in terms of specific implementation (apart from the principles). I will add a summary of the main documents later. In the most recent time I have been experimenting with various software tools for the task: - bug tracking - developmental documentation of tasks resolved. - documentation in general - testing and verifying software behaviour - how to accomplish solutions which are operating system independent. ........ To develop all the details of this is going to be a lot of work, which is why collaborative efforts are crucial. One of the issues is persontime and funding and another is testing. As soon as I can reveal more details of the work plan and steps of this process the list will be informed. And interested persons invited to participate. Regards Jens Lauritsen

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