March 2010 - EpiData-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Linking Epidata to an online database
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

Hi Are there any of you who have experience with linking Epidata to an online database? If so, how did you manage to do so and how did it work? I am to start up a large study where several subinvestigators will have to enter data from there own computer on a daily basis. I think it would be an advantage to the data management, if we did not have to merge all the datafiles manually, but instead enter them into an online database after each entry session. Thank you, for your help!

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Can Epi Data present text in Kiswahili
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

We would like to have both english and kiswahili presented in the data entry screen. Is this possible?? Thanks. Conrad

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Re: EpiData-list Digest, Vol 77, Issue 12
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

Dear Hans, Thank you for asking; indeed the idno is key unique 1 in file.rec1 and key unique 2 in file.rec2 and file.rec 3. I have tested the files using different computers (at least 3) they all work fine (sorry for not stating this in my previous request). However, the error occurs and continues to occur when I use my lap top (Vista) and yet this is my main tool to design the entire database. Clearly, the error may not be associated with EpiData; but something to do with my laptop (with Vista, in particular). Are there any solutions or just ignore it? Kind regards Tieble On 21 March 2010 17:00, <epidata-list-request(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> wrote: > 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: "Cannot apply opGT to missing operands" > (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:26:16 +0100 > From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca > Subject: Re: [EpiData-list] "Cannot apply opGT to missing operands" > To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca > Message-ID: <4BA52F68.6030302(a)tbrieder.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed > > Dear Tieble: > > Just to get it out of the way (apologies if it is too trivial a > question): is your idno KEY UNIQUE in file1.rec and KEY in file2.rec? I > am asking because I simulated it and get no error message. > > Hans > > > On 20:59, epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca wrote: > > Dear colleagues, > > > > Is there a possible solution to avoid the error message > > "Error in IF expression; Cannot apply opGT to missing operands" > > during data entry under the check commands below? > > NB: (values and labels 0=No; 1=Yes) for varsv1 > > > > varsv1 > > COMMENT LEGAL USE label_varsv1 > > MUSTENTER > > TYPE COMMENT > > AFTER ENTRY > > IF varsv1=1 THEN > > GOTO WRITE > > ENDIF > > IF varsv1=0 THEN > > RELATE idno file2.rec > > ENDIF > > END > > END > > I am not sure if this error message is related to a bug or typo. > > Your help would be very appreciated. > > > > Tieble > > London, UK > > > > > > -- > 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 77, Issue 12 > ******************************************** >

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"Cannot apply opGT to missing operands"
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

Dear colleagues, Is there a possible solution to avoid the error message "Error in IF expression; Cannot apply opGT to missing operands" during data entry under the check commands below? NB: (values and labels 0=No; 1=Yes) for varsv1 varsv1 COMMENT LEGAL USE label_varsv1 MUSTENTER TYPE COMMENT AFTER ENTRY IF varsv1=1 THEN GOTO WRITE ENDIF IF varsv1=0 THEN RELATE idno file2.rec ENDIF END END I am not sure if this error message is related to a bug or typo. Your help would be very appreciated. Tieble London, UK

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Text editor for EpiData Analysis programs
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 18 Mar '10

18 Mar '10

Jens and I gave last week a course for operations research fellows in The Union's training program. One colleague pointed us to the excellent free Crimson text editor (http://www.crimsoneditor.com/). Jens wrote then the necessary key and language components that can be inserted into the editor to read and edit EpiData programs color-coded to reduce errors if you wish to edit your analysis programs outside the native EpiData Analysis text editor. I can strongly recommend it. Visit the EpiData website http://www.epidata.dk/download.php page and look at the bottom for utilities. Hans PS: Thank you, Zaw, for pointing us to the editor, and thank you Jens, to make it particularly useful for EpiData Analysis programs.

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Re: EpiData-list Digest, Vol 77, Issue 8
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 18 Mar '10

18 Mar '10

Hi Jamie, Thank you very much; it worked in my hands and I managed to reproduce it successfully. I will try to apply it to the entire multilevel database Tieble London, UK On 17 March 2010 17:00, <epidata-list-request(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> wrote: > 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. Change the colour of data entry form; and entering contact > number for each person (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) > 2. Re: Change the colour of data entry form; and entering > contact number for each person (epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:41:03 +0000 > From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca > Subject: [EpiData-list] Change the colour of data entry form; and > entering contact number for each person > To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca > Message-ID: > <bf1bb7701003161241o6a547b5fxd5d665ca74b6398b(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Dear colleagues, > > I am designing relational database and would like the data entry staff > to be able to enter the identification number (idno) and not to have to > type > in the contact number of each idno (person). The field for the contact > number should be field automatically for each idno. More importantly, it > should start with one for each idno. > > For example for idno 001 contact 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10 > for idno 002 contact 1; 2; 3; > ..................................100 > > Clearly, given that idno is a string; I have tried the following command > which > IDNO > AFTER ENTRY > IF IDNO=IDNO THEN > LET CONTACTNUM=1+RECORDCOUNT > ENDIF > END > The result is not different from automatic contact number. > Any suggestions will be appreciated. > > Thank you for your time and suggestions > > Tieble > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:30:09 -0400 > From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca > Subject: Re: [EpiData-list] Change the colour of data entry form; and > entering contact number for each person > To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca > Message-ID: <BLU0-SMTP90051533776303A978B93FFD2D0(a)phx.gbl> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Here is one solution that requires you to have a field in the main case > .rec file that holds the number of contacts entered so far. It may not be > perfect, but should work for data entry and record review just fine. > > There are 4 files in my example > main.qes - the Main case file > main.chk > contact.qes - the Contact file > contact.chk > > The .chk files pass the highest contact number back and forth using the > global variable xcon and the data entry person cannot change the contact > number. > > The "before record" block in contact.chk increments xcon to give the next > contact number, but this only gets saved back to main.rec when a new record > is saved. If only existing records are revised and saved, the number of > contacts does not change. > > This is a example of related files communicating with each other through a > global variable. > > I hope this helps. >

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Change the colour of data entry form; and entering contact number for each person
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 16 Mar '10

16 Mar '10

Dear colleagues, I am designing relational database and would like the data entry staff to be able to enter the identification number (idno) and not to have to type in the contact number of each idno (person). The field for the contact number should be field automatically for each idno. More importantly, it should start with one for each idno. For example for idno 001 contact 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10 for idno 002 contact 1; 2; 3; ..................................100 Clearly, given that idno is a string; I have tried the following command which IDNO AFTER ENTRY IF IDNO=IDNO THEN LET CONTACTNUM=1+RECORDCOUNT ENDIF END The result is not different from automatic contact number. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you for your time and suggestions Tieble

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Re: Re: FW: Suggestion for automatic checks in new Epidata manager
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 12 Mar '10

12 Mar '10

Hi I would like to share my experience on the following suggestion by Jamie < A great addon or standalone module will be a simple XML editor for recxml files, to be used at our own risk. I don't know if such things exist in other areas, but there must be.> I have only recently started using epidata (Epidata Entry, the stable release) and must say the simple check file format was a great relief. The one thing lacking in the check file editor was lack of tools that can assist while writing the Check file codes (syntax highlighting). What i did was to start using a third party text editor (notepad++) and created a custom scheme that included coloured codes for if-then loops, various commands, comments shading etc. Immediately I was able to collapse the if-then loops, check if my commands were complete etc. I found it quite helpful in writing the CHK code. I can see if there is a way that it can be shared with the group. >From here on, I am afraid a wishlist starts :-) Having a XML editor within Epidata Manager I believe is a great idea. As a personal choice, for an XML editor for Epidata, I would like to have the following features w.r.t. check code: 1. Assistance that creates a termination code as soon as a command is inserted. Will help in creating compete codes 2. Syntax highlighting: Will decrease spelling mistakes and omission of closing sections (use of multiple brackets, END, ENDIF etc ), 3. Variable list: Will decrease spelling mistakes ! 4. Command list and assistance: type initial letters and the possible commands come as a dropdown ! An XML template can also probably be developed that has sections on: 1. Legal values and codes 2. Missing values 3. Before file commands 4. Before Record commands 5. Variable specific Commands: Calculations, If-then loops, Hide, Unhide, Key Unique 6. After Record commands 7. After File Commands But I agree that this would be probably a very low priority task. Wishlist ends ! Regards Vivek

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Suggestion for automatic checks in new Epidata manager
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 11 Mar '10

11 Mar '10

Hi All, Jens was here at Epicentre to discuss some of the future plans for Epidata, and we had a brief overview of Epidata manager. As someone who writes qes/chk files using a text editor, I was disappointed to hear that it would not be possible to do this using Epidata manager (although the possibilty is there to import pre written qes files). In discussion with Jens, we talked about a solution to how a pre-written chk file can also be incorporated with Epidata manager. My suggestion is to have a data dictionary, where you not only specify the variable name, variable label, value labels and the data format, but you also add attributes for missing values, range checks , legal values etc. The dictionary could be a CSV file, that can be easily created using excel. Something along the lines of ..... Ideally however, what I would like is to have more flexibility, where you can assign the same attribute to the variables concerned in one statement, rather than listing one by one as a above, for example For all variables whose value 9 should be treated as missing, the attribute missing can given using for example the for loop as in stata, for gender locat type case { missing=9 } Also for those variables that share the same labels, you should be able to define one label and then assign to the variable concerned. Once the dictionary is imported into Epidata manager, you can then use the graphics device to organise the data entry screen. Food for thought, I hope? All the best Sarala

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Can Epi Data be used on a Macbook
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 04 Mar '10

04 Mar '10

Just wondering if Epi Data can be run on a Apple Mac machine. Any experiences?? Thanks for any input Conrad

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