December 2016 - EpiData-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

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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Reorder fields
by EpiData development and support 14 Dec '16

14 Dec '16

You can drag the fields around using the mouse. The order is top-to-bottom and then left-to-right for fields in exactly the same vertical position. > > I created a form from a stata file but the order of variables in the epidata file is different for some reason and the flow of the data entry is wrong - it does not match the order of variables in the stata file OR the physical position (left-right, up-down). > Can you please tell me how I can fix the variable order to fix the flow? > thanks > Sarah

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