9.1 General Concept
The WinIDAMS User Interface is a multiple document interface. It can display and allow to work simultaneously with different types of documents such as Dictionary, Data, Setup, Results and any Text document in separate windows. Moreover, it provides access to execution of IDAMS setups and to components for interactive data analysis, namely: Multidimensional Tables, Graphical Exploration of Data and Time Series Analysis from any document window. The WinIDAMS Main window contains:
- the menu bar to open drop-down menus with WinIDAMS commands or options,
- the toolbar to choose commands quickly,
- the status bar to display information about the active document or highlighted command/option,
- the Application window, docked on the left side, to display the active application name, and folders and documents for this application,
- the document windows to display different WinIDAMS documents.
9.2 Menus Common to All WinIDAMS Windows
The
main menu bar contains always the seven following menus: File, Edit,
View, Execute, Interactive, Window and Help.
File
- New
- Calls the dialogue box to select the type of document to be created, and to provide its name and location.
- Open
- After choosing the type of document, calls the dialogue box to select the document to be opened.
- Close
- Closes the active window.
- Save
- Saves the document displayed in the active window.
- Save As
- Calls the dialogue box to save the document in the active window.
- Print Setup
- Calls the dialogue box for modifying printing and printer options.
- Print Preview
- Displays the active document as it will look when printed.
- Calls the dialogue box for printing the contents of the document displayed in the active pane/window. Note that hidden parts of the document are not printed.
- Exit
- Terminates the WinIDAMS session.
Edit
The availability and sometimes the title of some commands in this menu may be different in different windows.
- Undo
- Cansels the last action.
- Redo
- Does again the last canceled action.
- Cut
- Moves the selection to the Clipboard.
- Copy
- Copies the selection to the Clipboard.
- Paste
- Copies the Clipboard content to the place where the cursor is positioned.
- Find
- Starts the Windows searching mechanism.
- Replace
- Starts the Windows replacing mechanism.
- Find again/next
- Looks for the next appearance of the character string displayed in the Find dialogue box.
View
- Toolbar
- Displays/hides toolbar.
- Status Bar
- Displays/hides status bar.
- Application
- Displays/hides the Application window.
- Show Full Screen
- Displays the active window in full screen. Click the Close Full Screen icon in the left-top corner or press Esc to go back to the previous screen.
Execute
With exception of the Setup window, the
menu has only one command, Select Setup, to select a file with the
setup to be executed.
Interactive
Through this menu, three components for interactive analysis can be accessed, namely:
- Multidimensional Tables
- Graphical Exploration of Data
- Time Series Analysis
Window
The menu contains the list of opened windows
and standard Windows commands for arranging them.
Help
- WinIDAMS Manual
- Provides access to the WinIDAMS Reference Manual.
- About WinIDAMS
- Displays information about the version and copyright of WinIDAMS and a link for accessing the IDAMS Web page at UNESCO Headquarters.
9.3 Customization of the Environment for an Application
Names of Data folder, Work folder and Temporary folder can be defined by the user and saved in an Application file with the application name as filename. The name of the last application used is stored by the system and the settings defined for this application are loaded at the beginning of the following session. These settings can be changed any time during the working session by selecting/creating and activating another application.
Since at least one Application file is necessary for the use of WinIDAMS, a standard application called "Default" is provided and will be activated when you start WinIDAMS for the first time after installation. Defined default settings are the following:
| Data folder | <system_dir>\data |
| Work folder | <system_dir>\work |
| Temporary folder | <system_dir>\temp |
where <system_dir> is the System folder name fixed during the installation. This application (stored in the file Default.app) should neither be deleted nor modified by the user.
Application files (except Default.app) can be created, modified or deleted by the user through the Application menu in the WinIDAMS Main window. It contains the following commands:
- New
- Calls the dialogue box for creating a new application.
- Open
- Calls the dialogue box to select the file containing details of the application to be opened.
- Display
- Calls the dialogue box to select the application file and displays the application settings.
- Close
- Closes the active application and opens the Default application.
- Refresh
- Recreates the current application tree.
Creating a new application. Selection of the menu command Application/New provides a dialogue box for entering the name of a new application as well as names of Data, Work and Temporary folders. Except the application name field which is empty, all the other fields contain default values taken from the Default application. You can type in the pathname directly or select it moving the highlight to the required name in the displayed tree of folders.
Press OK button to save the application. Pressing Cancel cancels the creation of a new application and returns to the WinIDAMS Main window with the settings displayed previously.
Opening an application. The menu command Application/Open calls the dialogue box to select an application file to be opened and provides a list of existing applications in the Application folder. Clicking the required file name activates the settings for this application.
Modifying an application. To modify an application, first open it and then change the values in the same way as for creating a new application.
Displaying the settings for an application. Use the menu command Application/Display to call the dialogue box and click the required file name.
To display settings for the active application, double-click its name in the Application window.
Deleting an application. It can be done by deleting the corresponding file. Use the menu command Application/Open to get a list of Application files, select the file to delete and use the right button to access the Windows Delete command. The file Default.app should not be deleted.
Resetting WinIDAMS defaults. To replace the displayed application by the default application you can either close it using the menu command Application/Close, or select and open the Default.app file.
Closing an active application. Use the menu command Application/Close. The default application becomes active.
IDAMS programs use the paths defined in the application to prefix any filename not beginning with "<drive>:\... " or with "\... "
- The Data folder path is prefixed to all filenames in statements with ddnames DICT..., DATA..., or FTnn referring to matrices.
- The Work folder path is prefixed to filenames in statements with ddnames PRINT or FT06.
- The Temporary folder path is prefixed to names of temporary files.
Data folder: c:\MyStudy\students\data Specification in the setup: dictin=students2004.dic Complete dictionary file name: c:\MyStudy\students\data\students2004.dic
9.4 Creating/Updating/Displaying Dictionary Files
The Dictionary window to create, update or display an IDAMS dictionary is called when:
- you create a new Dictionary file (the menu command File/New/IDAMS Dictionary file or the toolbar button New),
- you open a Dictionary file (with extension .dic) displayed in the Application window (double-click on the required file name in the "Datasets" list),
- you open a Dictionary file (with any extension) which is not in the Application window (the menu command File/Open/Dictionary or the toolbar button Open).
This window provides two panes: one for the variable
definitions (Variables pane) and another for the codes and code labels
of the current variable (Codes pane). A blue line at the top of each
pane indicates which pane is active.
The column headings in the Variables pane have following meaning:
- Number
- Variable number.
- Name
- Variable name.
- Loc, Width
- Starting location and field width of the variable in the Data file.
- Dec
- Number of decimal places; blank implies no decimal places.
- Type
- Type of variable (N = numeric, A = alphabetic).
- Md1
- First missing data code for numeric variables.
- Md2
- Second missing data code for numeric variables.
- Refe
- Reference number.
- StId
- Study ID.
Changing the pane appearance. The appearance of each pane can be changed separately and the changes apply exclusively to the active pane.
The following modification possibilities are available in each pane:
- Increasing the font size - use the toolbar button Zoom In.
- Decreasing the font size - use the toolbar button Zoom Out.
- Resetting default font size - use the toolbar button 100%.
- Increasing/Decreasing the width of a column - place the mouse cursor on the line which separates two columns in the column heading until the cursor becomes a vertical bar with two arrows and move it to the right/left holding the left mouse button.
The Variables pane can further be modified as follows:
- Increasing/Decreasing the height of rows - place the mouse cursor on the line which separates two rows in the row heading until the cursor becomes a horizontal bar with two arrows and move it down/up holding the left mouse button.
Defining the codes and code labels for a variable. Switch to the Codes pane and fill the code and label fields. Fill in the code value, then press Enter or Tab and fill the code label, then Enter or Tab to accept the row and move to the next row. When all codes and labels have been defined, switch back to the Variables pane to continue with another variable definition.
Modifying a field in either Variables pane or in Codes pane. Click the field and enter the new value (entering the first character of the new value clears the field). After a double-click on a field, its current value can be partly modified. The Esc key may be used to recuperate previous value.
Editing operations can be performed on one row or on a block of rows. To mark one row, click any field of this row. A triangle appears in the row heading and the row is coloured in dark blue. To mark a block of rows, place the mouse cursor in the row heading where you want to start marking and click the left mouse button. The row becomes yellow, indicating that it is active. Then move the mouse cursor up or down to the row where you want to end marking and click the left mouse button holding the Shift key. Marked rows become dark blue, and the yellow colour shows the active row.
You can Cut, Copy and Paste marked row(s) using the Edit commands, equivalent toolbar buttons or shortcut keys Ctrl/X, Ctrl/C and Ctrl/V respectively.
Using the right mouse button you can Insert Before, Insert After, Delete or Clear the active row (even when a block of rows is marked).
Detecting errors in a dictionary. Use the menu command Check/Validity. Errors are signaled one by one and can be corrected once they have all been displayed. Moreover, Interface tries to prevent you from saving dictionaries with errors. Also, when you open a dictionary with errors, their presence is signaled before the dictionary is actually opened.
The Data window is used to create, update or display an IDAMS
Data file. Note that the corresponding Dictionary file must already
have been constructed and that only Data files with one record per
case can be created, updated or displayed using the Data window. This
window is called when:
Changing the
pane appearance. The appearance of each pane can be changed separately
and the changes apply exclusively to the active pane. The following
modification possibilities are available in all panes:
Data entry
can be facilitated taking advantage of two options given
in the Options manu:
Copying a variable value to another field.
Click the variable field and copy its content to the Clipboard (Edit/Copy
command, Ctrl/C or Copy button in the toolbar). Then click the required
field and paste the value (Edit/Paste command, Ctrl/V or Paste button
in the toolbar). The menu command Edit/Undo Case may be used to recuperate
the previous value. Editing operations on one row or on
a block of rows can be performed in the same way as in the Dictionary
window. To mark one row, click any field of this row. A triangle appears
in the row heading and the row is coloured in dark blue. To mark a
block of rows, place the mouse cursor in the row heading where you
want to start marking and click the left mouse button on. The row
becomes yellow, indicating that it is active. Then move the mouse
cursor up or down to the row where you want to end marking and click
the left mouse button holding the Shift key. Marked rows become dark
blue, and the yellow colour shows the active row. You can Cut,
Copy and Paste marked row(s) using the Edit commands, equivalent toolbar
buttons or shortcut keys Ctrl/X, Ctrl/C and Ctrl/V respectively.
Using the right mouse button you can Insert Before, Insert After,
Delete or Clear the active row (even when a block of rows is marked).
Two data management commands are provided in the
Management menu to allow for data verification and sorting:
Two types
of graphics are proposed for a variable in the menu Graphics.
Bar Chart provides a bar chart based on either frequencies
or percentages for qualitative variable categories. For quantitative
variables, the user defines the number of bars (NB) on both sides
of the mean (M) and a coefficient (C) for calculating bar (class)
width. The bar width (BW) is equal to the value of standard deviation
(STD) multiplied by the coefficient (BW=C*STD). The bars are constructed
using the values Histogram , meant for quantitative variables, provides a
histogram based either on frequencies or on percentages with the number
of bins specified by the user. Graphics for quantitative variables
contain also univariate statistics for the projected variable such
as: mean, standard deviation, variance, skewness and kurtosis. Variables
with decimal places are multiplied by a scale factor in order to obtain
integer values. In this case, mean value, standard deviation and
variance should be adjusted accordingly.
WinIDAMS provides
a tool for importing data files to IDAMS directly through the WinIDAMS
User Interface. This facility can be accessed in the WinIDAMS Main
window, the Data window and the Multidimensional Tables window. Three
types of free format files can be imported:
Also the separation character is determined
from the first line while the character used as decimal separator
is detected from the second line (first data line) of the file. Thus,
if a variable is expected to have decimal values, it should be shown
in the first data line. During the import process, contents of
imported alphabetic variables can be changed to numeric codes, keeping
the alphabetic values as code labels in the created IDAMS dictionary.
Commas used as decimal separator for numeric variables are changed
to points. The Data Import operation is activated with the
command File/Import, followed by selection of required file in the
standard file Open dialogue box. The separation character and the
character used as decimal separator are displayed together with values
of all fields for the first three cases. Data reading can then be
checked before launching the import. Afterwards, you are provided
with two windows called External data and Variables Definition, both
having form of a spreadsheet. The External data window
only displays the contents of the file to import. No editing operations
are allowed, except copying a selection to the Clipboard. The
Variables Definition window serves for preparing IDAMS variable
descriptions. Its initial content is provided by default and on the
basis of the imported data, but you are free to change and to complete
it as necessary. The columns contain the following information:
Use the menu command Build/IDAMS
Dataset to create IDAMS Dictionary and Data files. They will both
be placed in the Data folder of the current application.
WinIDAMS
also has a tool for exporting IDAMS Data files directly through the
WinIDAMS User Interface. This can be done from the Data window using
the command File/Export. The IDAMS Data file displayed in the active
window can be saved in one of the three types of free format data
files:
If code
labels exist for a variable, numeric code values can be optionally
replaced by their corresponding code label in the output data file.
Moreover, numeric variables can be output with comma used as decimal
separator.
The Setup window to prepare or to display an IDAMS Setup file
is called when:
To prepare a new program setup, you can either
type in all statements or you can use the prototype setup for the
required program and modify it as necessary. Prototype setups are
provided for all programs. They can be accessed by selecting the program
name in the list under the toolbar button Prototype. To copy the prototype
to the Setup pane, click the required program name. For details on
how to prepare setups, see the chapter "The IDAMS Setup File" and
the relevant program write-up. Editing operations can be
performed as with any ASCII file editor, i.e. you can Cut, Copy and
Paste any selection, using the Edit commands, equivalent toolbar buttons
or shortcut keys Ctrl/X, Ctrl/C and Ctrl/V respectively. Two
setup verification commands are provided in the Check menu
to allow for syntax verification of sets of Recode statements and
filter statements:
To execute IDAMS
program(s) (for which instructions have been prepared and saved in
a Setup file), use the menu command Execute/Select Setup in any WinIDAMS
document window. You are asked, through the standard Windows dialogue
box, to select the file from which instructions should be taken for
execution. If you are preparing your instructions in the Setup
window, you can execute programs from the Current Setup using the
menu command Execute/Current Setup. The program(s) will be executed
and the results written to the file specified for PRINT under $FILES
(the default is IDAMS.LST in the current Work folder). At the end
of execution, the Results file will be opened in the Results window.
9.5 Creating/Updating/Displaying Data Files
The window is divided into 3 panes: one displaying
the codes and code labels of the current variable (Codes pane), the
second displaying variable definitions (Variables pane) and the third
providing place for data entry/modification (Data pane). Only the
Data pane can be edited. The other two panes just display the relevant
information. A blue line at the top of each pane indicates which pane
is active. The panes are synchronized, i.e. selection of a variable
field in the Data pane highlights the corresponding variable description,
and selection of a field in the Variables pane shows the corresponding
variable value in the current case. For the selected variable, codes
and code labels (if any) are always displayed.
The Data pane can be modified further as follows:
Entering a new case. Click the first field in an empty row
and start entering data values. Press Enter or Tab to accept a data
value for the variable and move to the next variable, or Shift/Tab
to move to the previous variable. Note that as long as a little pencil
appears in the row heading, the case is not saved. Pressing Enter
on the last variable saves the case and moves the cursor to the beginning
of next row. A new row can be inserted before or after the highlighted
row (click on the right mouse button), or can be added at the end
of file (row with an asterisk in the row heading).
Modifying a variable value. Click the variable field and enter
the new value (entering the first character of the new value clears
the field). A double-click on a variable field can be used to modify
part of the current value. The Esc key may be used to recuperate the
previous value.
Sorting the data on one variable (one column) can also be
done by a double-click on the variable number in the Data pane heading.
One double-click sorts cases in ascending order. To get the sort in
descending order, repeat the double-click.
M-NB*BW, ..., M-2BW, M-BW, M, M+BW, M+2BW, ...,
M+NB*BW. The height of a rectangle = (relative frequency of class)/(class
width). In addition, normal distribution curve having the calculated
mean and standard deviation can be projected for quantitative variables.
9.6 Importing Data Files
Information provided in the first row is considered to be column
labels and is used as variable names during the dictionary construction
process. Thus, the presence of column labels is mandatory in the first
row of input files.
To modify variable definitions, place the cursor inside the window.
Then use the navigation keys or the mouse to move to the required
field and change its contents. 9.7 Exporting IDAMS Data Files
Variable names from the corresponding Dictionary file are output
in the first row of the exported data as column labels. 9.8 Creating/Updating/Displaying Setup Files
The window provides two panes: the top one is for
preparing the Setup file itself (Setup pane) and the bottom one for
displaying error messages when filter and Recode statements are checked
(Messages pane). Only the Setup pane can be edited. Note that IDAMS
commands are displayed in bold and program names in pink if they
are spelled correctly. Text put on a $comment command is displayed
in green.
Note that although most syntax errors in filter and Recode statements
can be detected and corrected here, another syntax verification is
systematically performed by IDAMS during setup execution. Also execution
errors, which cannot be detected here, are reported in the results.
9.9 Executing IDAMS Setups
