Short Introduction to EpiData Manager

v2.01
J.Lauritsen&T. Christiansen
TheEpiData Project and Data Manager inshortEpiData Manager isused
todefinenewdatastructures,modifyexistingdatastructures(withoutlossofdata)and
documentationorexportofdata.
TheManagerisnowthemaintool
forprojectManagersreplacingthe
EpiData Entry software
developedfrom19992008.
Theapplicationwillbeshippedwith
asamplefilewhichcontaina
numberoffield,sectionandrecords
withsampledata.
Thesamplefilecontainsawide
varietyoftextsinnativelanguages
toshowthatnowwestorealldatain
anextendedandmodernisedformat.
Functionalitywillcontinuetoexpand
whenwedevelopandimplement
newfeaturesinthesoftware.
Informationondevelopmentwillbe
givenintheEpiDataList,whichyoucanfindonthefrontpageofhttp://www.epidata.dk.
Key features of EpiData Manager ?
SincereleaseoffirstEpiDatasoftwarein1999manyaspectshavechanged.
ThemainreasonsfordevelopmentofthenewstrategynowrepresentedwiththeEpiData
ManagerandEpiDataEntryClientare:
Newusersareincreasingly
graphicallyorientedandfocusedonmouseusage.
notunderstandingthewellknownqeschkrecprinciple
Thereisaneedformultiplatformdevelopment(Linux,Mac,Windows,PDA..)
UseofUnicode(UTF8)tosupportnonLatincharactersuniformly.
WewishtoimplementGCP(GoodClinicalPractice)requiredformanymedicaldata
projects.Thisdemandsencryptionandloggingofeditingataverydetailedlevel.It
alsodemandscontrolofuseraccesstodata.
ThereshouldbeacommonengineforallEpiDatasoftware,suchthathandlingof
dataandmetadata(labelsetc.)isbasedonthesameinternalroutines.
Whendoingdataentryitshouldnotbeimmediatelyeasyforthedataentry
personneltochangerulesorstructure.ThereforeadedicatedEpiData
EntryClient hasbeendevelopedservingonlydataentry.

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How will a project manager see the new strategy ?

Theworkprocesswillbemoreclearlydividedintowhatthemanagerdoesandwhatthe
dataentrypersonsdo.
TheEpiData Manager isatoolfortheprojectmanagerperson:
Definesdatastructures,addsmetadata(labelsanddefinitions),documentsdata
andexportsforanalysis.
Updatesdatawithnewfields,changedformatsforfields(e.g.moredecimals)andis
usedforcontrolofdata.
ThereisachoiceofusingcomputerswitheitherLinux,MacorWindowsdepending
onthechoiceoftheperson.Filescreatedareindependentofoperatingsystem.
Basicwaysofusingthenewsoftwareareexplainedonthenextpage.Pleasecommenton
functionalityandpossiblediscrepancieswithyourexpectationsontheEpiDataList.
(http://lists.umanitoba.ca/pipermail/epidatalist/)
Help in EpiData Manager
The help structure is visible from the help menu. Help files
are partially installed locally contained in pdf files. Other
aspects will require internet access. In the preference
settings found under "Edit" menu, you may indicate precise
plaments.

Users are encouraged to assist in developing manuals and instructions, which

can be placed on your own web system with links from EpiData.dk, or in the
wiki.
How to create and modify data structures?
Whenyoustarttheprogram,anemptyformisshownwithaworktoolbarinthetop.

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Fromversion2.0
severaldataforms
canbepartofthe
sameprojectina
relationalstructure.Thereforeanewbuttonisaddedwith"Dataform".Someaspectswill
thenbepartofthedataformsettingsandothersforthewholeproject.Inarelational
structureonetomanydataformsarecontainedwithinaproject.E.g.oneforperson
information,oneforvisitsandoneforfamilylevelorhousehold.
ClickDefineProjectandchooseeither
"NewProject":Tocreateaprojectfromscratch.
OpenProjecttoopenapreviouslycreatedproject,e.g.
thesamplefile.
"Recentfiles":Toopenagainaprojectthatyouworked
on.
Focusonstudyinformation.
Formalrequirementstodocumentprojectsanddatastructuresareincreasinginmany
countries.Thereforefromversion2.0youwillsee"StudyInformation"aspartofthe
opening.

Inthe"UntitledProject"youcaneditthetitleoftheprojectandontherightyouseethe
variouspartsofthestudyinformation,whichareneededtoknowwhatisthisprojectabout.
Thedetailsofthis(Coverage,Descriptionetc)followsstandardstudydescriptionsandis
partoftheintentiontofurtherdocumentstudies.Thefullsetofstudyinformationisknown
astheDublinCorecollection.

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Ifyouclickonthe"Dataform1"ontheleftyouwillseeaworkingtoolbar,asshownhere:

Thetoolbarisnowdividedintotwoparts:
1Ontheleftyoumanagethenumberofdataformsintheproject.
2Ontherightsideofthedivideryouhaveasingledataform.
Holdthemouseoveragivenicontoseethefunctionofthatone.Thetoolbarcontains
buttonsplacedintologicalgroupsofsimilarfunctionality.

Afieldiswheretheuserentersdata.Whenallobservationshavebeenrecordedthedata
canbereadbyanalysissoftware,suchasEpiDataAnalysis(currentlyonlyWindows).
Fieldsonthedataformarethenusedasvariablesintheanalysis.Thesectionswillbethe
levelforcontrolofuseraccess,e.g.someentrypersonscouldhavereadonlyaccessto
maindata,andeditrightstoasectionwithsupplementarydata.
How to create data forms in practice ?
Experimentwiththefollowingstrategieswhendefiningnewdatastructures:

3. Movetheentryboxaroundorchange.
4. Extendthedataforminlengthbyclickingontheiconwithtwodownarrows
(number4fromtheright)
5. Alignfieldsonthepagebyselectingthemwithdrawingasquarearoundthemwith
themouseandusethealigntool(rightmosticon).
6. Movesomefieldsbyclickingandholdingthemousedownandmoveittosome
otherplace.
Quickadditionoffields
Press1,2,3,4,5,whichwilladdfieldsandheadingsatthebottomofthecurrentdata
formandgiveyoutheopportunitytoaddquestion,lengthandnameforeach.
Rightclickonthe"dmy"buttontochangedefaultdatetype.
EvenquickeristousetheShift+1....5keystoaddfieldswithoutopeningthefieldeditbox.
Pastetextandcreatedatafieldsandheaders
Openothersoftware(textprocessor)etc.andcreatesometextlines.Marktheselinesin
theothersoftwareasablockandcopytotheclipboard.
e.g.simpletext:
Sex
age
orsomedates:
dateofbirth
dateofvisit

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ThenswitchtotheEpiDataManagerandpastethetextasfieldsorheadinglines.For
pastingthesametypeoffieldseveraltimesyoumightwishtochangethedefaultpaste
typeinsettings.
ThefieldsarenamedVx....Vx+nwherethe"V"istheprefixspecifiedinsettingsandthex
isthenumberoffieldsonthedataform.
Thisstyleiswhatisknownas"FirstWord"inEpiDataEntry.
Defaultsettings.

Keyboardshortcuts.
PleaseseethelatestchangestokeyboardshortcutsontheEpiDatawikipage:
http://www.epidata.org/dokuwiki/doku.php/documentation:program_keys
orinthehelpmenu.

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Relationaldatastructures
Youbuildthesewiththeleftpartoftheabove.
Formoreinformationtryoutthesamplefile"Clinical_example"providedwiththesoftware
underexamples.

Itisimportanttofollowthesuggestedmodeofcreatingsuchstructuresasisindicated
whenyoucreateanewproject:

Considerwhenyouneed1:1relateandwhenyouneed1:many
Foragivenfieldyoumaydefinethe"flowcriteria"underthatfieldasshownhere:

AlwaysrememberthatinManageraswellasinEntryClientyoudefinedefaultbehaviour
relatedtoagivenprojectin"ProjectDetails"experimentwiththevarioussettings.
Moreinformationwillbegivenonthelistandfutureversionsofthisdocument.

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