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Science Fair Graphs & Numbers Help Screens @1,OVERVIEW - Read This First! @2,Creating & entering data using Pre-Defined Database Structure @4,Creating & entering data using Customized Database Structure @5,Editing Data Already in a Database @6,Entering data from a DBASE III or VI FILE @7,Set up default disk path or disk drive @8,Using the viewer @9,Creating a new field & using functions @15,Creating a Bar Chart @16,Creating a Pie Chart @17,Creating a scatter chart/regression line @18,Creating a time series plot ##1 (~12~)OVERVIEW(~-1~) Step-by-step overview for creating a graph: 1. Create a New Database 2. Enter Data 3. Choose Graph Type Step-by-step overview for calculating statistics: 1. Create a New Database 2. Enter Data 3. Choose Statistical Calculations This overview contains specific step-by-step information on creating graphs and calculating statistics. EVERY procedure needs for you to first enter your data -- so the recommended steps for learning the program are: 1. Learn how to enter data 2. Learn how to create graphs 3. Learn how to calculate statistics ##2 ##DATA (~12~)HOW TO ENTER DATA - Step-by-Step(~-1~) OVERVIEW - USING PRE-DEFINED DATABASE STRUCTURES: 1. Choose the database type that matches your data 2. Enter data into the database Before you create a graph, you need to enter the data into a database. SF G&N is designed to create a database that matches your data. When you choose the NEW DATABASE option from the file menu you will... 1. ENTER A NAME for your database -- choose a legal DOS filename of up to 8 characters. Do not use blanks or special characters not allowed in filenames. Legal filenames are ones like : MYDATA, PROJECT, SCIENCE, DATA0994, JUNE94, etc. 2. CHOOSE WHAT TYPE OF DATABASE to use from the list provided. The list includes entries such as: BAR CHART: Label and Value PIE CHART: Label and Value BAR CHART, 2 Groups: Label, Two values BAR CHART Up to 5 Groups: Label, Five values and so on... ##3 For example, if you want to create a BAR CHART with two groups (for example, data on males and females that will be use to plot side-by-side or stacked bars, you would choose the third description in this list BAR CHART: Label and Value PIE CHART: Label and Value --------> BAR CHART, 2 Groups: Label, Two values BAR CHART Up to 5 Groups: Label, Five values and so on... Once you have chosen what database type to use, you will be asked if you want to enter data now. Normally, answer YES, then begin entering the data. HINT - IF AN EXAMPLE of the graph you want to create is in the manual, go through that example before creating your own graph. ##4 Sometimes, when a standard database structure does not fit your data, you must create your own database structure. Here is how... OVERVIEW - CREATING A CUSTOMIZED DATABASE 1. Create a database structure -- that is, what fields will your database contain? 2. Enter data into the database. SPECIFIC STEPS: 1. Create the structure of your database by selecting the "NEW DATABASE" option in the DATA menu, and enter a filename. 2. Enter a description for each field to be used in your database. Fields that will hold numbers must be of the type NUMERIC. Fields that hold labels are usually of the type TEXT/CHARACTER. 3. End the creation be pressing CTRL-End NOTE: Fields that hold information such as Social Security numbers, (i.e., 455-98-1234) should NOT be called NUMERIC, they should be of TYPE TEXT/CHARACTER, since they cannot be used in a numeric calculation such as calculating a mean. ##5 (~12~)EDITING DATA ALREADY IN A DATABASE(~-1~) 1. Open the database to be edited. 2. Choose the EDIT option on the DATA menu. 3. Edit the data in the data editor. 4. End data editing by choosing Exit (F7). NOTE: To CREATE NEW FIELDS, choose the FIELD (F9) option in the data editor. To enter data in a new field, put your cursor in that field, then choose the FIELD (F9) REPLACE option. ##6 (~12~)ENTERING DATA FROM A DBASE III or VI FILE(~-1~) SFG reads data directly from dBASE III and IV files. In each module, you may specify which dBASE file to use. The module will display all ".DBF" files in the default path by listing them in a pick box. To choose the database to use, press the up or down arrow keys to highlight the name of a database, then press Enter. You may also call files from other directories by pressing the F2 key when the database list appears. Specify another path for the program to search, enter \DB3. A new pick list appears listing .DBF files in the specified path. ##7 ##SETUP (~12~)SET UP DEFAULT DISK PATH OR DISK DRIVE(~-1~) In the Main SFG module, select the Setup Option on the HELPS menu to set up the default disk drive or path. When asked to enter the default directory, just press Enter without entering any specification if the data is stored in the same drive as the program (the default directory). Otherwise, you can specify another subdirectory, such as "MYDIR". To do this, enter \MYDIR\ or C:\MYDIR\ To use the B: drive as the default directory, enter the specification B:\ (A MUST FOR 2-DISK SYSTEM USE!) ##8 (~12~)USING THE VIEWER(~-1~) The viewer allows you to examine output from an analysis that could be too big to appear on one screen. When the viewer appears, you can move around the displayed results by pressing the arrow keys, PgUp, PgDn, Home and End. If you are using a mouse, you can use the scroll bars on the right side and bottom to position the output on the screen. The function key commands available in the viewer are described below. To activate one of these commands, press the function key or click the option on the button bar at the bottom of the screen: F1 - Display this help screen. F3 - Send setup code to printer (for condensed print, etc.) F5 - Goto a line in the output (Press F5, then enter a line number.) F7 - Exit the viewer. F8 - Define size of margin for output. F9 - Define a title to be used on output. F10 - Output the contents of the viewed file to a printer or file. When you choose this option, the default output is the port you specified in the program setup (i.e., LPT1: meaning line printer port 1). You can press Enter to accept this default, or type a file name to save the contents to a file. ##9 ##REPLACE ##SUBSET Using Functions & Expressions in the REPLACE and SUBSET Options --------------------------------------------------------------- "REPLACE WITH" FIELD (in Replace option): Use either a math expression or a database expression. CONDITION FIELD (in Replace and Subset) : Use only a database expression. A database expression allows many mathematical and character expressions, as described below. The math expression is provided for performing calculations using scientific mathematical functions. In the REPLACE WITH field, the default expression type is the database type. In order for an expression to be evaluated as a strictly math expression, you must place an equal sign "=" at the beginning of the expression. For example, if you want to perform the calculation WEIGHT/HEIGHT, you can enter the expression as-is in the REPLACE WITH field. (continues...) ##10 (REPLACE & SUBSET continued) However, if you want to calculate the log of WEIGHT/HEIGHT, you must enter the expression as =LOG(WEIGHT/HEIGHT) since the LOG function is not supported as a database expression function. The equal sign signals to the program to use the math calculator. The information below outlines the capabilities of both expression types. Mathematical operators: Add + Subtract - Divide / Multiply * Exponentiation ^ (Math calculator only) For Character fields, the database calculator supports the operation: Add + (appends one string to another) (continues) ##11 (REPLACE & SUBSET continued) Following are a few examples of correct expressions: AGE/HEIGHT =SCORE^2 (= signals math calculator) LTRIM(FIRST)+' '+LAST Note: Literal strings included in expressions must be surrounded by single quotes. For example, 'Hello' is a literal string. Character field names are used without quotes. For example, NAME is a field name. A correct string expression using these two strings would be: 'Hello '+NAME TIP:Only if you use a numeric operation or function not supported by the database calculator will you need to place an equal (=) sign at the first of the expression. For a list of the functions supported, refer to Chapter 2 in the manual. (continues...) ##12 REPLACE & SUBSET continued) Following are some example uses of functions in REPLACE or SUBSET: ASC - Converts the first character of a string to its ASCII code. For example, the function ASC('A') would return the value 65, since 65 is the code for an uppercase A. AT - Returns the starting position of one character string within another character string. For example, the expression AT('Bill', 'Wild Bill') = 5 since the string 'Bill' begins five characters deep in the string 'Wild Bill'. CALENDAR and JULIAN - The JULIAN function converts a date into a number, where 1 is January 1, 1583. CALENDAR converts a julian number into a Date. You can convert dates into numbers, then find the number of days between dates by subtraction. CAPS - Converts the first letter of each word into a capital. For example, CAPS('this is a test') would become 'This Is A Test'. (continues...) ##13 (REPLACE & SUBSET continued) CHR - Converts a number into its ASCII value. For example, CHR(65) is equal to the character string 'A'. DELETED - Returns a T if the current record is marked for delete, else it returns a F. Can be used to conditionally replace a value depending on if the record is deleted or not. IIF - Selects between two expressions. The syntax is IIF(logicalexpression, expression1, expression2). The logical expression is either T or F. If the logical expression is T, then returned value of this function is expression1, else the returned value is expression2. INT - Rounds down to nearest integer. INT(3.2) is equal to 3. LEFT and RIGHT - Returns the left or right portion of a string. For example, LEFT('Wild Bill',3) would return the string 'Wil' and RIGHT('Wild Bill',3) would return the string 'ill'. (continues...) ##14 (REPLACE & SUBSET continued) LOWER and UPPER - Returns lower or upper case string. For example, LOWER('Wild Bill') would return 'WILD BILL'. LTRIM, RTRIM and TRIM - Trims blanks from right, left or both ends of a string. For example, LTRIM('Wild Bill ') would return 'Wild Bill'. If the field FIRST contained the string 'Mark ' (6 blanks on the end) and the field LAST contained 'Walker ' (7 blanks on the end), the expression FIRST+LAST would be 'Mark Walker '. To obtain the string 'Mark Walker' you would use RTRIM(FIRST)+' '+RTRIM(LAST). SUBSTR - Extracts a string from the middle of a string. For example, SUBSTR('Wild Bill',3,4) would be 'd Bi', which begins with the 3rd character in the initial string, and is 4 characters long. If the 4 were left off, the result would be 'd Bill' -- which is the remainder of the string starting with the 3rd character. VAL - Returns the value of a string. For example VAL('24') is the number 24. ##15 (~12~)CREATING A BAR CHART(~-1~) Create the database and enter the data (see Creating a Database). Your database should look something like this: - It should contain a Label field & a Value field (the value field contains the numbers to use for the plot.) For example: the MAGNET is the LABEL field and NAILS is the VALUE field. ----these are the fields----- RECORD MAGNET NAILS ------ ------ 1 SMALL 38 ─┐ 2 MEDIUM 46 │──- this is the data to plot 3 LARGE 59 ─┘ │ └─────────────────── these are the labels for the plot NOTE: This will create a BAR CHART with 3 bars labeled SMALL, MEDIUM & LARGE. You could also use this same data to create a pie chart NOTE: You can have more than one value field, & create a side-by-side bar chart or a stacked bar chart. This data can also be used for a line chart or an area chart. ##16 (~12~)CREATING A PIE CHART(~-1~) Create the database and enter the data (see Creating a Database). Your database should look something like this: - It should contain a Label field - It should contain a Value field (contains the numbers to use for the plot) For example: the COLOR is the LABEL field and COUNT is the VALUE field. This data refers to hair color for 50 people in your class. ----these are the fields----- RECORD COLOR COUNT ------ ------ 1 BLONDE 9 ─┐ 2 BROWN 14 │──- this is the data to plot 3 BLACK 22 ─┘ 4 RED 5 │ └─────────────────── these are the labels for the plot This will create a PIE CHART with 4 slices. You could also use the same database to create a bar chart. ##17 (~12~)CREATING A SCATTER CHART/REGRESSION LINE(~-1~) Create the database and enter the data (see Creating a Database). Your database should look something like this: - It should contain a GROUP field (if you have more than one group) - It should contain two or more value fields (contains the numbers to use for the plot) For example: the SEX is the GROUP field and Height and Weight fields are the VALUE fields. ----these are the fields----- RECORD SEX HEIGHT WEIGHT ------ ------ ------ 1 M 70 202 ─┐ 2 M 65 145 │──- this is the data to plot 3 M 72 188 ─┘ : F 60 103 22 F 62 122 23 F 59 112 └─────────────────── this is the group field This will create a SCATTERPLOT and REGRESSION LINE PLOT. ##18 (~12~)CREATE A TIME SERIES/LINE PLOT(~-1~) Create the database and enter the data (see Creating a Database). Your database should look something like this: Data should contain one or more value fields and an optional label field. For example: Sales1 is a VALUE field for team1 and Sales2 for team2. Data is in time order. In this example, sales for a month are: ----these are the fields----- RECORD DAY SALES1 SALES2 ---- ------ ------ 1 1 4 3 ─┐ 2 2 5 4 │──- this is the data to plot 3 3 6 4 ─┘ : 4 5 31 23 6 5 ─────────────────────── └─────────────────── these are the group fields This will create a TIME SERIES PLOT with two lines. ---END OF HELP---