- EpiData-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

problem with installing EpiData Analysis
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 21 Sep '06

21 Sep '06

I recently tried to install EpiData Analysis on my laptop but upon running the setupepidatastat.exe file I get the following msg: Runtime Error (at 5:598): Internal Error: Failed to expand shell folder constant "userdocs". I have tried repeated downloading from the epidata website but with the same result. The same file installed the program without problems on my desktop computer. Operating system is Windows XP Professional (both desktop and laptop). Thanks for any suggestions. 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-list Digest, Vol 35, Issue 1
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 16 Sep '06

16 Sep '06

Hello, I have three questions : - When will the command "combine" be operating in Epidata Analysis ? - The second variable (qualitative in statistics) for the command "means" ("sexe" in the command "means age sexe") must be, in theory, string and created, in Epidata Entry, by "variable _". When it will be possible instead necessity of numeric variable ? - The command "update" and the screen with data tables cannot modify data : on the screen, the data are changed and not in the file... Why ? Thank you Bernard Branger, Nantes, France

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replicate datafile structure, without the data
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 06 Sep '06

06 Sep '06

I will be conducting a survey study very similar to one I've done before. I want to use the same datafile structure: the questions, datatypes, and checks will be nearly identical. Is there an easy way to produce a new set of .rec, .qes, and .chk files, replicas of the old ones, but with no records? Then I can make some small modifications before entering the new data. I'd hate to half to do it all again from scratch. Thanks. --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]

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copy of the manual
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 31 Aug '06

31 Aug '06

Hallo everyone, I am sending this note to anyone out there who can attach for me the copy of epidata data management complete manual. I am unable to download from the website. It is unfortunate for me since i did not have any backup in my computer. Kindly attach the copy for my reference. Be blessed in our continous understanding of epidata. Caleb Ouma Director, Dataworld Research Ltd. Kenya --------------------------------- Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.

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Appending
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 28 Aug '06

28 Aug '06

Dear Richard: You can do it in EpiData Entry the Epi Info way, that is two at a time. Alternatively, use the elegant EpiData Analysis solution: erase "abcde.rec" read "a.rec" append "b.rec" append "c.rec" append "d.rec" append "e.rec" save "abcde.rec" Regards, Hans Rieder I have several people entering data to a common structure at different sites. They email me the .rec files which I then combine into one file periodically. It seems as though I need to combine the files 2 at a time. Is it possible to combine them in one step? Are commands available such that a command file could do the task? Another option is to merge the files in SAS after converting the file 2 at a time, but that, too, would take several steps. Richard Herrell NIMH -- 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

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RE: [EpiData-list] best text editor for complicated check files
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 24 Aug '06

24 Aug '06

In my experience you can write a longer check file with any editor also the internal editor, but the part above and beyond 64kb gets stripped of as soon as start using it in association with the QES file e.g. when you create a rec file or start entering data. 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/ -----Original Message----- From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca [mailto:epidata-list@lists.umanitoba.ca] Sent: 20 August 2006 16:58 To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: RE: [EpiData-list] best text editor for complicated check files The manual says that there is a 64kb limit to the size of a check file. Is this true if one uses an external editor or just the EpiData internal editor? --------------------------------- Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com

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best text editor for complicated check files
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 21 Aug '06

21 Aug '06

I am looking for a recommendation for a text editor that support Epidata check file language. Suggestions? Karen Wang Earth Institute at Columbia University 61 Route 9W P.O. Box 1000 Palisades, NY 10964

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view deleted records in view data
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 20 Aug '06

20 Aug '06

Dear all, Thank you very much for the various valuable suggestions that I recently received to solve the issues around having both 01 and 1 accepted as legal value for a numerical field. I adopted a combination of strategies and think it is working fine now. Now I have an issue around deleted records. Because my QES and CHK files are so large I always have to work with related files for single (non-hierarchical) questionnaires. (As reported on this forum before, it is usually the 64k limit of the CHK file that forces me to split up my entry screens, rather than the 999 lines limitation for the QES). Because of this when a record needs to be deleted it will have to be done in both parts. Any error in this will result in orphaned bits of records so I insist the data entry supervisors watch out for this. Is there a fast way that the data entry supervisor can find the deleted files in a record? When I use "document" "view data" I do not see which records are deleted. I think I am probably overlooking something. Is there a way to make the deleted records quickly visible (without having to go through all of them one by one in the entry mode)? Thanks a lot for any suggestions. Best regards, 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 World Health Organization 20, avenue Appia CH-1211 Geneva 27 Tel: +41 22 791 2111 Fax: +41 22 791 3111 Visit WHO at: www.who.int

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RE: [EpiData-list] best text editor for complicated check files
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 20 Aug '06

20 Aug '06

I usually use EpiData itself, just by opening the CHK file under FILE, OPEN, and select the relevant file from all the files in the epidata working directory (make sure you select the correct file extension). For me the EpiData text editor works perfectly fine. I write all my check files from scratch and they are often very long and complicated. I do not use the check module and it has never occurred that comment lines were stripped away. Hope this is useful. Happy writing and best regards, 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/ -----Original Message----- From: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca [mailto:epidata-list@lists.umanitoba.ca] Sent: 18 August 2006 21:36 To: epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: Re: [EpiData-list] best text editor for complicated check files I use Notepad for editing check files, although not necessarily creating them from scratch since it's easy to do from the check module. If there are repetitive checks in the file, I find it easier to use Notepad using cut-and-paste for complicated checks. One thing to note: if you like to have a lot of internal documentation in check files and you subsequently alter checks from the check module, comment lines in the .chk file get stripped away. epidata-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca wrote: I am looking for a recommendation for a text editor that support Epidata check file language. Suggestions? Karen Wang Earth Institute at Columbia University 61 Route 9W P.O. Box 1000 Palisades, NY 10964 _______________________________________________ EpiData-list mailing list EpiData-list(a)lists.umanitoba.ca http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.

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Efficient strategy for complicated check files (external editor)
by epidata-list＠lists.umanitoba.ca 19 Aug '06

19 Aug '06

1. Re: best text editor for complicated check files The problem of "stripping comments" is that essentially only actual commands are read into the programme. When writing (or exporting) a rec file then only lines with commands are known to the programme. Therefore the order of using Epidata Entry and external editor is important. An efficient strategy would be: a. Create the qes and rec file b. Open the rec file for definition of checks in EpiData Entry. Here it is easy to get copy and paste for all of the field names. E.g. 1. I define that one field must be mustenter (regardless of I wish to have this). 2. When that field is active I press Ctrl+C (which copies the mustenter status to a buffer like clipboard) 3. Then I can quickly get a block for all fields into the check file by: 3a Moving to next field with "arrow down" with my right hand 3b pressing Ctrl+V with my left hand 4. Once point 3 is done for all fields I see if any fields have the same "comment legal / value label" if so I repeat point 1-3, but instead of the "mustenter" I define the labels in the first field and similarly copy to all the other fields of same label. 5. Then I close Epidata Entry and open the chk file in an external editor I prefer PFE, which has also a macro facility and is listed as a utility on the download page. But any external editor of the users preferance will work. 5a. I then change the special blocks in the editor, save the file and keep the editor open. 5b. During this I add a lot of comments to the chk file. 6. In EpiData Entry I open the rec file and after correcting possible errors the system is ready. So in short, use a strategy which minimises key strokes and manual editing, but also note that there are limitations with the built in possibilities. The worst errors to catch are those due to improper blocks. E.g. a comment legal without "end" or similar. Therefore it can be good practice to only solve the first error mentioned by EpIData Entry (point 6 above) and then try again, since the remaining errors might be a consequence of the first one. An idea for extension of the programme would be to have in "tools menu" a point : "Create raw chk file for experienced users". Regards Jens Lauritsen EpiData Association

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