DevInfo Data Admin 7-User Guide-Template-r3

7/25/2019 DevInfo Data Admin 7-User Guide-Template-r3

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DevInfo 7 Data Admin

Creating and Editing

Templates

User Guide

DevInfo Support GroupLast updated: 22 April 2013 (r3)

Abstract

This guide provides a step-by-step tutorial in how to create and edit templates using

the DevInfo 7 Data Admin Template module.


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Document Version Summary

VersionNo Date Reason for Change Sections Updated

3 22 Apr 13 Updated document to reflectchanges in functionality anduser interface related to therelease of version 7.1.0.0

All


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Acknowledgment

This database software has been developed by the UN system. The product has

been adapted from UNICEF ChildInfo technology. UNICEF owns and maintains the

source code for DevInfo.


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Contents

Chapter 1: Getting started ............................................................... 6

Introduction ............................................................................................................. 6

Template module commands ................................................................................. 8

Updating the Global DevInfo Registry .................................................................... 9

Chapter 2: Creating a new template: defining indicators, units

and subgroups ................................................................................10

Using the toolbars ................................................................................................. 11

Overview: Step 1 - Indicators ............................................................................... 12

Importing indicators, units and subgroups ............................................................ 13

Viewing and managing indicator-unit-subgroup combinations ............................. 20

Entering indicators manually ................................................................................ 22

Entering and associating units ............................................................................. 23

Subgroups in DevInfo ........................................................................................... 25

Entering subgroups manually ............................................................................... 26

Setting minimum and maximum range values against IUS combinations ........... 32

Finalizing IUS associations................................................................................... 33

Chapter 3: Creating a new template: linking indicators to

classifications .................................................................................35

Overview: Step 2Indicator classifications ......................................................... 35

Importing indicator classifications ......................................................................... 37

Entering indicator classifications manually ........................................................... 38

Linking indicators to indicator classifications ........................................................ 39

Setting the display order of sectors and IUS combinations .................................. 41

Chapter 4: Creating a new template: adding areas ......................42

Overview: Step 3areas ..................................................................................... 42

Importing areas ..................................................................................................... 44

Entering areas manually ....................................................................................... 46


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Editing area level captions.................................................................................... 47

Finalizing your template ........................................................................................ 48

Chapter 5: Editing and merging templates ...................................49

Editing an existing offline template ....................................................................... 49

Editing the template of an existing database........................................................ 50

Merging two or more templates ............................................................................ 52

Setting default options .......................................................................................... 54

Editing GIDs ......................................................................................................... 56

Chapter 6: Using registries to standardize templates ..................58

Updating your local copy of the Global DevInfo Registry ..................................... 58

Using SDMX registries ......................................................................................... 59

Making your template registry-compliant .............................................................. 61


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Getting started

Introduction

The first step to building a DevInfo database is creating a template. The template

provides the structural model for building a DevInfo database, by specifying the

elements against which data can be entered into the database.

Each record in a DevInfo database must contain, at a minimum, the following eight

elements:

Indicator

Unit

Subgroup (such as sex, location, age group, and/or combinations of these)

Area

Area ID (which uniquely identifies the area and associates it to a map file)

Time period

Source

Data value

Indicators are associated with units and subgroups to form indicator-unit-subgroup

(IUS) combinations. Along with the areas and area IDs, these are entered via the

Templatemodule. Time periods, sources and data values are entered during the

data entry process. Fig. 1.1 below provides a graphic summary of this process.

Fig. 1.1

1


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There are two ways to create templates in DevInfo. The first method, recommended

for individuals new to DevInfo, involves performing each of the following tasks using

the Template module of the DevInfo Data Admin application:

Defining indicators

Defining units of measurement

Defining subgroups, such as sex, location, age group and others

Linking indicators, units and subgroups to form IUS combinations

Categorizing IUS combinations under various classifications

Defining geographic areas

An alternative method for creating templates, recommended for more experienced

DevInfo database administrators, involves importing indicator-unit-subgroup

combinations and indicator classifications directly from a pre-formatted Excel

spreadsheet. This method uses the DX Import IUS AND IC utility available under

the Data Exchange module of the DevInfo Data Admin application. Please consult

the DX Imp ort IUS AND IC User Guid efor more details.

A template can contain global, regional, national and/or local (user-defined)

elements. Global elements, which are displayed in a different color, are imported

from the Global DevInfo Registry and cannot be modified by the user. Regional and

national elements can be imported from SDMX registries1 or from existing

templates/databases. Local (user-defined) elements can be created and modifiedby the database administrator.

1Database administrators are encouraged to set up a database-specific SDMX registry at

the time of publishing their DevInfo 7 databases, in order to facilitate the orderly flow of theirdata to external data consumers.


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Template module commands

The Template module contains the following commands (Fig. 1.2):

Fig. 1.2

New Allows you to create a new template

Open Opens an existing template for editing, including a

template from an existing database file

Save As Saves the working file under a different file name or

in a different location

Update registry Updates your local copy of the Global DevInfo

Registry and any specified SDMX registry

Edit GIDs Allows you to edit the global identifiers assigned to

DevInfo database elements

Merge template Allows you to merge two or more templates

Compliance to registry Checks the consistency of your template elements

against the Global DevInfo Registry

Set default options Allows you to set the default subgroup for

indicators, which will appear at the top of user

search results in DevInfo 7


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Each of these options will be explained in the subsequent chapters of this User

Guide.

Updating the Global DevInfo Registry

After installing DevInfo Data Admin 7, you will need to update the Global DevInfo

Registry on your system. (Note that you must be connected to the Internet to update

your registry.) The Global DevInfo Registry contains a repository of all the

indicators, units, subgroups, indicator classifications, geographic areas and maps

included in the latest official Millennium Development Goals (MDG) database, which

is maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division. This database is the default

database hosted atwww.devinfo.org.

From the expanded Template module, click Update registry, and then click Click

here to update (Fig. 1.3).

Fig. 1.3

Note that it may take a few minutes to update your local copy of the Global DevInfo

Registry, depending on the speed of your Internet connection. Click Finish when

done to exit and save all changes.
http://www.devinfo.org/http://www.devinfo.org/http://www.devinfo.org/http://www.devinfo.org/


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Creating a new template: defining

indicators, units and subgroups

Creating a new DevInfo template involves doing each of the following tasks:

Defining indicators

Defining units of measurement

Defining subgroups, such as sex, location, age group and others

Linking indicators, units and subgroups to form IUS combinations

Categorizing IUS combinations under various classifications

Defining geographic areas

From the expanded Templatemodule, click Newto begin. The application opens a

template wizard, guiding you through three steps (as shown in the Step box) to

create a template (Fig. 2.1):

Step 1Indicators

Step 2Indicator Classifications

Step 3Areas

Fig. 2.1

2


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Using the toolbars

The following tools on the various toolbars are available in most of the windows,

which can help you create and edit your template.

New Allows you to create/enter a new element

Edit Allows you to edit the selected element

Delete Deletes the selected element(s)

Save Saves the template with all data currently entered

Information Displays metadata, if available, for the selected indicator.

Note that metadata may not always be available for

imported indicators.

Import Allows you to import elements from other DevInfo

databases/templates, the DevInfo Global Registry or SDMX

registries

Export Allows you to export the list of elements to any of various

common file formats

Print Exports the list of elements to a PDF file for convenient

printing


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Overview: Step 1 - Indicators

Step 1 allows you to enter the desired indicators, units and subgroups in your

template and then associate them to form indicator-unit-subgroup combinations.You can do this in two ways:

Import the elements from the Global DevInfo Registry, SDMX registries,

or other DevInfo databases/templates

Enter the elements manually

It is always recommended that you import elements whenever possible instead of

entering them manually, both to save time as well as to ensure harmonization

across global, regional, national and local databases.

Furthermore, it is recommended that you first seek to import elements from the

Global DevInfo Registry, followed by SDMX registries, and then followed by other

DevInfo databases/templates, to foster greater data harmonization and international

data comparability.

Note that the Step 1 Indicators window is divided largely into three panes: the

Indicatorpane, the Unitpane, and the Subgrouppane (Fig. 2.2).

Fig. 2.2


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As a rule, you should first specify the indicator, then its associated unit, and then its

associated subgroup(s), as explained in further detail below.

Importing indicators, units and subgroups

From the Indicator pane, click Import from the toolbar to open the Import

window (Fig. 2.3).

Fig. 2.3

By default, the Global DevInfo Registry option button is selected, allowing you to

import indicators from the Global DevInfo Registry. This registry contains a list of

global database elements included in the latest Millennium Development Goals

database. Note that global elements are displayed in a different color (blue) from

non-global elements.


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NOTE:Most of the national and regional DevInfo databases uploaded under the

Catalog feature of the DevInfo 7 web application at www.devinfo.org have had

their database configured into an SDMX registry. To import elements (e.g.

indicators, units, subgroups, areas, etc.) from any of the databases available

under the Catalog, just enter its primary URL (e.g.www.devinfo.org/afghaninfo)in

the SDMX registry field. The application will automatically check whether an

SDMX registry is available for the specified URL and if so, connect with the

registry to retrieve the requested records.

To import elements from an SDMX registry, select the SDMX registry option

button, enter the web address of the desired registry, and click Connect (Fig. 2.4).

Fig. 2.4

Please allow several minutes for the application to retrieve the elements and create

a local copy of the selected SDMX registry on your machine (Fig. 2.5).
http://www.devinfo.org/http://www.devinfo.org/http://www.devinfo.org/afghaninfohttp://www.devinfo.org/afghaninfohttp://www.devinfo.org/afghaninfohttp://www.devinfo.org/afghaninfohttp://www.devinfo.org/


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Fig. 2.5

Note that you do not need to connect to that particular SDMX registry again, unless

you wish to update it at a later time.

To import indicators from other files, select the File option button and then click

to browse for the desired file. Note that you can select from the following file

types (Fig. 2.6):

Fig. 2.6


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DevInfo Template (.tpl) Allows you to import indicators and other

associated elements from a DevInfo template. If

you select a DevInfo 6.0/6.1 template, the

application will first convert it to DevInfo 7 format

before displaying the available results. Note thatthis process may take some time, depending on

the size of the underlying template.

Microsoft Access (.mdb) Allows you to import indicators and other

associated elements from a DevInfo database. If

you select a DevInfo 6.0/6.1 database, the

application will first convert it to DevInfo 7 format

before displaying the available results. Note that

this process may take some time, depending on

the size of the underlying database.

Microsoft Excel (.xls/.xlsx) Allows you to import indicators from another

DevInfo template/database listed on an

Indicator.xls/.xlsx file previously generated via the

Tools/Export module.

XML (.xml) Allows you to import indicators from an indicator

code list generated as an SDMX 2.1 artefact

To import elements from a DevInfo Data Entry Spreadsheet, click to browse

for the desired file. A new window opens, prompting you to click to browse for

a DevInfo Data Entry Spreadsheet previously exported from the DevInfo 7 Data

Admin application (Fig. 2.7).

Fig. 2.7


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When importing indicators, it is strongly recommended that you also import units,

subgroups and indicator classifications (sectors) when possible. Again, this will both

save you time as well as foster greater data harmonization across global, regional,

national and local databases.

To import units and subgroups already associated with indicators in the underlying

registry/database/template, select the Retrieve unit and subgroup check box (Fig.

2.8).

Fig. 2.8

If you select the Retrieve unit and subgroup checkbox, you will not need to

manually import/enter and associate units and subgroups to your imported

indicators (unless you wish to associate units and subgroups not available in the

displayed list).


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To import sectors and other indicator classifications already associated with the

indicators, select the Sector check box (Fig. 2.9).

Fig. 2.9

Use the column dividers to adjust the width of the various columns in the Import

window for better viewing.


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You can also type keywords in the search box to search for indicators by keyword.

For example, if you wish to add the indicator Infant mortality rate to your template,

enter infant in the search box and press Enter to view your search results (Fig.

2.10).

Fig. 2.10

Select the check boxes next to the indicators (or ideally, indicator-unit-subgroup

combinations) which you wish to include in your template. To continue selecting

additional indicators, click Apply. When you are done selecting indicators, click OK.

Note that as long as the Retrieve unit and subgroup and Sector check boxes are

selected, then the displayed units, subgroups, sectors and sub-sectors will

automatically be imported along with the indicators into your template.


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Viewing and managing indicator-unit-subgroup

combinations

Click the row header next to each indicator in the Indicator pane to view its

associated unit(s) and subgroup(s) in their respective panes below (Fig. 2.11).

Fig. 2.11

Note that one of the subgroups is marked as Default in the Subgroup pane, which

will appear at the top of the search results in the DevInfo 7 web application when

that particular indicator is selected. To assign another subgroup as the default, click

the desired new default subgroup under the Default column (Fig. 2.12).

Fig. 2.12


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Click the arrow next to IUS list at the bottom of the window to expand the IUS list,

displaying the entire list of associated indicator-unit-subgroup combinations for the

selected indicator (Fig. 2.13).

Fig. 2.13

Click any column header (e.g. Subgroup) to sort the elements within the column

ascending/descending order.

To delete any IUS combination, select its row header and press Delete.

To delete any indicator/unit/subgroup as well as all IUS combinations associated

with that element, select the desired element(s) and click Delete.

To edit any indicator/unit/subgroup, either type directly in the cell to edit the desired

text, or select the desired cell and click Edit.

Click the filter icon in any row header to filter the elements under the column for

more convenient viewing.


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Entering indicators manually

If you are unable to import your desired indicators, you will need to enter them

manually. Click the empty cell in the grid within the Indicator pane and type in thedesired indicator. The application will display a list of suggested indicators matching

your entry, sourced from the Global DevInfo Registry and any available offline

SDMX registries. When done, press Enter or Tab (Fig. 2.14).

Fig. 2.14

The cursor automatically advances to the next row, allowing you to continue

entering in as many indicators as desired.

You can also click New from the toolbar in the Indicator pane to enter a

new indicator.

A faster method is to copy the desired list of indicators from a Word/Excel document

onto the Clipboard, and then click Paste from clipboard from the toolbar in

the Indicator pane. The entire list of indicators will be added all at once.

Once you have finished importing/entering all your indicators, you are now ready to

enter and associate those units which you were unable to import along with the

indicators.


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Entering and associating units

Units that were imported into your template at the time of importing indicators (by

selecting the Retrieve unit and subgroup check box) do not need to be re-entered. However, you will need to enter and associate those units which you were

unable to import.

To enter and associate units against an indicator, first select the desired indicator by

clicking its row header. Then click the empty cell in the grid in the Unit pane to

reveal the drop-down menu arrow, which you can then click to open the drop-down

menu displaying all available units (Fig. 2.15).

Fig. 2.15

If the desired unit is available in the list, select it.

If the desired unit is not available, you can first try importing it from the Global

DevInfo Registry, an SDMX registry, or another DevInfo template/database by

clicking Import from the toolbar in the Unit pane and following the steps

previously explained.


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If you are unable to import the desired unit, then enter it directly in the empty cell in

the Unit pane (Fig. 2.16).

Fig. 2.16

A faster method is to copy the desired list of new units from a Word/Excel document

onto the Clipboard, and then click Paste from clipboard from the toolbar in

the Unit pane. The entire list of units will be added all at once and associated with

the selected indicator.

Edit and delete units as desired, in the same way as for indicators. Note that if you

merely wish to delete the association of a particular unit to an indicator without

deleting the unit itself, select the desired unit and click Delete association.

Once you have finished importing/entering/associating all your units, you are now

ready to enter and associate those subgroups which you were unable to import

along with the indicators.


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Subgroups in DevInfo

A subgroup is a subset within a sample or population identified by some common

dimension such as sex, age or location. DevInfo subgroups allow data to bedisaggregated in any number of ways, for any indicator. DevInfo allows for N-

dimension subgroups.

In DevInfo, subgroup dimensionsrefer to broad subgroup categories such as sex,

location, age, ethnicity or wealth quintile. Under each subgroup dimension come

various subgroup dimension values. For example, for the subgroup dimension

Sex, the subgroup dimension values would include Male and Female. Finally,

subgroups consist of a combination of one or more subgroup dimension values,

such as Male 5-9 yr Urban. The table below gives several examples (Fig. 2.17).

Subgroup

dimensions

Subgroup dimension

values

Subgroups

(Note that the list below

is not exhaustive)

Sex Male, Female Male

Female

UrbanRural

Male Urban

Female Urban

Male Rural

Female Rural

Male Urban 0-4 yr

Female Urban 0-4 yr

Male Rural 0-4 yr

Female Rural 0-4 yr

Total

Age 0-4 yr, 5-9 yr, 10-14 yr

Location Urban, Rural, Total

Fig. 2.17

Note that in DevInfo, the subgroup Total , which refers to the non-disaggregated

total of all subgroups, has been assigned by default under the Location dimension.


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Entering subgroups manually

Subgroups that were imported into your template at the time of importing indicators

(by selecting the Retrieve unit and subgroup check box) do not need to be re-entered. However, you will need to enter and associate those subgroups which you

were unable to import.

To enter and associate subgroups against an indicator-unit combination, first select

the desired indicator by clicking its row header. Next, select the desired unit from

the drop-down menu of available units in the Unit pane and click Enter. Then click

the empty cell in the grid in the Subgroup pane to reveal the drop-down menu

arrow, which you can then click to open the drop-down menu displaying all available

subgroups (Fig. 2.18).

Fig. 2.18

If the desired subgroup is available in the list, select it.

If the desired subgroup is not available, you can first try importing it from the Global

DevInfo Registry, an SDMX registry, or another DevInfo template/database by

clicking Import from the toolbar in the Subgroup pane.


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If you are unable to import the desired subgroup, then click New from the

toolbar in the Subgroup pane to open the Modify subgroups window (Fig. 2.19).

Fig. 2.19

The Available pane displays the subgroup dimension tree. By default, the

application pre-populates the tree with four subgroup dimensions: Location, Sex,

Ageand Other.

Suppose you wish to associate the following new subgroups to the selected

indicator-unit combination:

Female

Male

Urban

Rural

Female urban

Female rural

Male urban

Male rural

Ethnic group A


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Ethnic group B

Ethnic group C

First click Importto try to import the desired subgroup dimension values fromthe Global DevInfo Registry, an SDMX Registry, or an existing DevInfo

template/database (Fig. 2.20).

Fig. 2.20

Scroll through the list, select the available matching subgroup dimension values,

and click OK. Note that the newly-added subgroup dimension values will appear in

the Subgroup dimensiontree (Fig.2.21).


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Fig. 2.21

To create a new subgroup dimension (e.g., Ethnicity), highlight Subgroup

dimension at the top of the tree in the Available pane and click New from

the toolbar. A new subgroup dimension branch appears, allowing you to type in the

name of the new dimension (Fig. 2.22). (If you wish to exit out from creating a new

entry, press the Esc key.)

Fig. 2.22


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To add new subgroup dimension values (e.g., Ethnic group A), highlight the tree

branch in the Available pane under which the new value belongs (e.g. Ethnicity)

and click New from the toolbar. A new subgroup dimension value branch

appears, allowing you to type in the name of the new dimension value (Fig. 2.23).

Fig. 2.23

Note that you can modify the display order of the various subgroup dimension

values in the DevInfo User application by either highlighting the desired value and

using the Move Up and Move Down arrows to move it to the desired

position, or by dragging and dropping it to the desired position.

Once all the subgroup dimension values are displayed in the Available pane, you

can now form subgroups by selecting them in the desired combinations and using

the selection arrow in the pane header to transfer them to the Selected (right)pane.

Based on the previous example, you would follow these steps to select all the

desired subgroups:

Select Female and Male and transfer them to the Selected pane.

Clear previous selections, select Rural and Urban, and then transfer

them to the Selected pane.


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Clear previous selections, select Ethnic Group A, Ethnic Group B,

and Ethnic Group C, and then transfer them to the Selected pane.

Clear previous selections, select Female and Male along with Rural

and Urban, and then transfer them to the Selected pane. Note that

the application automatically cross-tabs subgroup dimension valuesacross selected subgroup dimensions, creating Rural Male, Rural

Female, Urban Male and Urban Female(Fig. 2.24).

Fig. 2.24

Alternatively, you can select subgroups by clicking the By list tab to view and select

subgroups in list format.

Once all the desired subgroups appear in the Selected pane, click OK. The

Subgroup pane now displays the subgroups associated with the selected indicator-unit combination (Fig. 2.25).


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Fig. 2.25

DevInfo automatically assigns one of the subgroups as the default (usually Total if

it appears in the list), which appears at the top of the search results in the DevInfo 7

Web application. To assign a different subgroup as the default, click its

corresponding cell under the Default column.

Edit and delete subgroups as desired, in the same way as for indicators and units.

Note that if you merely wish to delete the association of a particular subgroup to an

indicator-unit combination without deleting the subgroup itself, select the desired

subgroup and click Delete association.

Setting minimum and maximum range values

against IUS combinations

To enter minimum and maximum data range values for any IUS combination, first

select the desired indicator and then right-click anywhere within the Subgroup pane

to display the right-click menu (Fig. 2.26).

Fig. 2.26


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Click Show/Hide Min/Max to display the Min_Value and Max_Value columns in

the Subgroup pane. You can then enter desired minimum/maximum values for

data entered against this IUS combination during the data entry process (Fig. 2.27).

Fig. 2.27

Finalizing IUS associations

Repeat the process above as many times as needed to enter and associate units

and subgroups with all the indicators in your template. Be sure that each indicator is

correctly associated with its unit(s) and subgroup(s).

It is highly recommended that before proceeding to the next step, you select eachindicator in the Indicator pane one by one and ensure that the units and subgroups

associated to that particular indicator are correct and complete, as displayed within

the Step 1Indicators window.

Note that the IUS combinations created for each indicator can be conveniently

viewed in table format in the lower pane (Fig. 2.28).


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Creating a new template: linking

indicators to classifications

Once you have finished defining your indicators and their associated units and

subgroups, you are now ready to link your indicator-unit-subgroup (IUS)

combinations to different sectors and sub-sectors.

Overview: Step 2Indicator classifications

Step 2 of creating a new template involves linking IUS combinations to their

respective sectors and sub-sectors, as well as setting the display order of theseelements in the User application.

Linking IUS combinations to sectors and sub-sectors is important, as it allows users

to quickly find your indicators in the DevInfo 7 User application (Fig. 3.1).

Fig. 3.1

3


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In the Step 2 Indicator classifications page, the left pane displays the sector

tree, the Available pane displays the list of available IUS combinations, and the

Selected pane displays the list of IUS combinations that fall under the highlighted

sector/sub-sector in the sector tree. Note that the sector tree will be initially

populated only if you imported sectors in Step 1 by selecting the Sector check box(Fig. 3.2).

Fig. 3.2

Sectors and sub-sectors already imported into your template do not need to be re-

entered or re-linked to the previously imported IUS combinations. (Of course, you

can link additional IUS combinations to the previously imported sectors and sub-

sectors as desired.) However, you will need to enter those sectors and sub-sectors

which you were unable to import.

As with all database elements, it is always recommended that you import sectors/

sub-sectors whenever possible instead of entering them manually, both to save time


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as well as to ensure harmonization across global, regional, national and local

databases.

Importing indicator classifications

Click Import from the toolbar to open the Import window (Fig. 3.3).

Fig. 3.3

Follow the same procedure explained previously to first select the source file

(Global DevInfo Registry, SDMX registry, or existing DevInfo template/database)

and then select the desired sectors and sub-sectors. Use the column dividers to

adjust the width of the various columns in the window for better viewing.

Click OK when done. The application will automatically link the selected sectors and

sub-sectors to all matching indicators found in the source file. Note, however, that if

you wish for these sectors and sub-sectors to be linked to other indicators in your


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template (such as custom indicators), you will need to manually link them as

explained below.

You can also import other indicator classifications (goals, frameworks, themes, etc.)

by selecting the desired classification below the toolbar on the Step 2 Indicator

classifications page and clicking Import (Fig. 3.4).

Fig. 3.4

Entering indicator classifications manually

To create a new sector, highlight Sector at the top of the tree in the Sector pane

and click New from the toolbar. A new sector branch appears, allowing you

to type in the name of the new sector (Fig. 3.5). (If you wish to exit out from creating

a new entry, press the Esc key.)

Fig. 3.5


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Fig. 3.7

You can use any of the following techniques to make the window contents more

readable:

Use the column dividers to adjust the viewing area for each pane.

Click View horizontally from the toolbar to toggle the orientation

of the Available and Selected panes, for more convenient viewing

Click Show units and subgroups from below the toolbar to

hide units and subgroups. With only indicators displayed in the

Available pane, you can associate just the indicators (along with all

associated units and subgroups) to their respective indicator

classifications.

Repeat this process as many times as needed to ensure that all the indicators in the

Available pane are linked to at least one sector/sub-sector, as well as additional

classifications (goals, themes, etc.) as desired. Note that an indicator can be linked

to more than one sector/sub-sector if desired (e.g., you can choose to link

Education expenditures under both Economy and Education).


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Creating a new template: adding

areas

Once you have finished linking your indicators to their indicator classifications, you

are now ready for the final step in creating a new template: adding areas.

Overview: Step 3areas

Step 3 of creating a new template involves adding geographic areas and their

associated digital map files to your template.

In DevInfo, each geographic area is associated with the following four attributes:

Area Name The standard area name as referenced by the user

Area ID A unique area identification code containing alphanumeric

characters of varied length, used to link area names with their

digital map files. The Area ID of the area name must match the

Area ID of its associated digital map file.

Level All areas are assigned an area level number based on their position

within the area tree. For example, Level 1 could refer to the

continent level, Level 2 could refer to the country level, Level 3

could refer to the state/province level, etc.

Map file The digital map file in shapefile format associated with the area

In the Step 3 Areas page, the left pane displays the area tree, the centerpaneallows you to add or update area names and Area IDs, and the right pane displays

the areas added to your template (Fig. 4.1).

4


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Importing areas

Click Import from the toolbar to open the Import window (Fig. 4.2).

Fig. 4.2

Follow the same procedure explained previously to first select the source file

(Global DevInfo Registry, SDMX registry, or existing DevInfo template/database)

and then select the desired areas.


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Note that you can also opt to import areas and maps from the DevInfo Digital map

server2, which contains digital maps of nearly all UN member states down to at

least the second sub-national level. You must be connected to the Internet to

access the Digital map server.

Be sure to select the Map check box along with the Area check box to import digital

maps along with the area names.

Use the Level box to view and select areas at different area levels (Fig. 4.3).

Fig. 4.3

Note that the actual classification of area levels is determined by each individual

database administrator. For example, one database administrator may designate

Level 1 = Continent, Level 2 = Country, Level 3 = State/Province, etc., while another

2It should be noted that the boundaries and the names shown and the designations used onthese maps do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.


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database administrator may designate Level 1 = Country, Level 2 = State/Province,

Level 3 = District/County, etc.

Also, note that when you select an area, all sub-areas under it will be automatically

selected, down to the area level specified in the Level box. For example, in Fig. 4.3,

selecting Afghanistan (Level 2) will automatically cause all displayed sub-areas

(Level 3) to be selected as well, since Level 3 is selected in the Level box.

Click Apply to import the selected areas and continue importing other areas.

Use the Search box to enter keywords if you wish to search for and import a specific

area.

Click OK when done. The application will automatically add the selected areas and

their associated map files to your template. You can confirm that all the desired

areas have been added by highlighting any parent area in the left pane and viewing

its sub-areas in the right pane (Fig. 4.4).

Fig. 4.4

Entering areas manually


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To define a new area, select the desired branch from the area tree in the left pane

under which you wish to create the new area and click New. In the center

pane, type in the desired area name and Area ID and click Add(Fig. 4.5).

Fig. 4.5

Note that you can add any number of geographic area levels to the area tree.

To edit any non-global area (i.e., not displayed in blue font), select the desired area

from the left pane and click Edit. In the center pane, make the desired edits

and click Update.

Note that map files for manually-entered areas must be associated to the area

names using the Mapping module. Please consult the DevInfo 7 Data Admin

Mapping Module User Guide for further details.

Editing area level captions

By default, DevInfo refers to the various area levels as Level 1, Level 2, etc. If

you wish to modify the default area level captions, click Area Level from the

toolbar to open the Area Level window (Fig. 4.6).


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Editing and merging templates

DevInfo provides database administrators with various options for editing and

merging templates. Using the available commands under the expanded Template

module, you can:

Edit an existing offline template

Edit the template of an existing database

Merge two or more templates

Set default options, including default subgroups

Edit global identification numbers (GIDs) associated with data elements

This chapter provides an overview of how to perform these various functions.

Editing an existing offline template

To edit an existing offline template, click Open from the expanded Template

module (Fig. 5.1).

Fig. 5.1

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The left pane displays the offline templates available in the default location. Click

to browse for templates in a different location. Select the desired template by

transferring it from the Available pane to the Selected pane. When done, click

Next.

You can now proceed to add or edit indicators, units, subgroups, indicator

classifications, and/or areas in the template, following the steps previously

explained in Chapters 2, 3 and 4.

Editing the template of an existing database

DevInfo allows you to open and edit the template of any existing database. This can

be useful when you wish to:

Add or edit indicators, units, subgroups, indicator classifications, and/or

areas within an existing database (offline or online)

Generate a blank template for an existing database (offline or online)

To open and edit the template of an offline database, first click Open from the

expanded Template module and then select the Database option button below the

toolbar (Fig. 5.2).

Fig. 5.2


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The left pane displays the offline databases available in the default location. Click

to browse for databases in a different location. Select the desired database by

transferring it from the Available pane to the Selected pane. When done, click

Nextto edit the template following the steps previously explained in Chapters 2, 3and 4. Note that this will not generate a new template (.tpl) file but will simply save

changes to the database (.mdb) file.

To open and edit the template of an online DevInfo 7 database, first click the Online

tab and then click New to open the New connection window (Fig. 5.3).

Fig. 5.3

Next, enter the connection details for the desired online database (available from

the database administrator) and click Test to test the connection. After successfully

connecting, click Save to save the connection. Select the connection name from the

drop-down list below the Online tab, enter your login credentials in the lower left

corner of the window, and click Next to edit the template following the steps

previously explained in Chapters 2, 3 and 4.


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Merging two or more templates

DevInfo allows you to merge two or more offline templates. This is very useful when

you wish to:

Merge two or more templates to create a master template

Merge two or more databases by first merging their templates and then

importing data from the databases into the newly merged template

To merge templates, first click Merge template from the expanded Template

module. The DA App Merge Template wizard opens in a new window (Fig. 5.4).

Fig. 5.4

In Step 1, select the source template(s) which you wish to merge against a target

template (to be specified in Step 2). You can select multiple templates if you wish.

The templates available from the default location are displayed in the Available

pane. Click to browse for files in another location. Transfer the desired source

template(s) from the Available to the Selected pane, and then click Next to

proceed to Step 2.


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In Step 2, select the target file with which you wish to merge the source template(s).

Note that if you select a database file, only the underlying template behind that

database will be merged. When done, click Next.

Steps 3 to 9 involve matching the different elements from the source file(s) with

those of the target file. In each step, you can view the unmatched elements and

decide whether to import or map them (Fig. 5.5).

Fig. 5.5

For example, in Step 3, the application displays under the Unmatched section allthe indicators in the source file(s) which do not appear in the target file. You can

either click Import or Import All to import these indicators into the target file.

Alternatively, you can click Map to map a selected unmatched indicator to an

equivalent highlighted indicator under the Available section, which replaces the

source indicator with the target indicator. For example, if the source indicator is

Infant death rate and the target indicator is Infant mortality rate, clicking Map

instructs the application to treat both indicators as the same by replacing all

references to Infant death rate with the target indicator, Infant mortality rate.


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If you wish to undo a mapping, select the incorrectly matched indicators and click

Remove.

Follow the same procedure to import or map unmatched units, subgroup

dimensions, subgroup dimension values, subgroups, indicator classifications and

areas in Steps 4 through 9.

In Step 10, click Finish to complete merging the elements of the source file(s) with

those of the target file. The application generates a log file displaying details of the

process, for viewing in the default Internet browser.

Setting default options

DevInfo allows you to set various default options for templates and databases,

including default subgroups. Note that the default subgroup specified appears at the

top of the search results in the DevInfo 7 User application. Click Set Default

Options from the expanded Template module to begin.

In Step 1, select the desired file type below the toolbaroffline or online, template

or databaseand then select/specify the desired file.

In Step 2, select the default subgroup for each IUS combination by highlighting the

various sectors and sub-sectors in the left pane and then clicking the drop-down

arrow in the Subgroup column for each IUS row and selecting the desired default

subgroup (Fig. 5.6).


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Fig. 5.6

Repeat this process for each of the subgroups in the various IUS combinations as

desired.

In Step 3, you can select the High is Good check box next to those indicators for

which a higher data value represents a better outcome (Fig. 5.7).


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Fig. 5.7

Note that making the correct High is Good selections will not affect the user

experience in the DevInfo 7 User application. This feature has relevance only for

certain external applications which use data from DevInfo databases (e.g., setting

traffic light color indices in di Monitoring).

When done, click Finish to save changes and exit.

Editing GIDs

DevInfo allows you to edit the global identification numbers (GIDs) associated with

DevInfo elements in a template or database.

Every database element in DevInfo is assigned an auto-generated unique

identification number (GID), which appears as a complex string (e.g., 8B1C7469-

D8EF-43AF-BD31-1824B6B1F7CB). These GIDs are used in various database

administration processes.

Some database administrators may wish to edit these GIDs and replace them with

other strings which are more readable or meaningful, in order to facilitate certain

data management or data mining tasks (for example, comparing indicators across

multiple language databases). To edit the GIDs and replace them with different

strings, first click Edit GIDs from the expanded Template module.


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In Step 1, select the desired file type below the toolbaroffline or online, template

or databaseand then select/specify the desired file.

In Step 2, highlight any category (such as Indicator or Sector) in the left pane to

view and edit the GIDs for category elements in the right pane (Fig. 5.8).

Fig. 5.8

GID strings can have a maximum limit of 60 characters. Note that valid characters

for inclusion within GID strings include alphanumeric characters (upper case and

lower case) and the following symbols: @, _, - and $. Note also that GID strings for

metadata and subgroup dimension elements may not start with a number.

When you are finished editing GIDs, click Finish to save and exit.


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Using registries to standardize

templates

The UN DevInfo Initiative encourages database administrators to use standardized

database elements indicators, units, subgroups, indicator classifications and

areaswhenever possible, in order to foster greater data harmonization and data

comparability across global, regional, national and local databases.

In DevInfo, standardized database elements are housed in registries. There are

two different types of DevInfo registries available to database administrators:

Global DevInfo Registry Contains a repository of all database elements

included in the latest official Millennium

Development Goals database maintained by the

United Nations Statistics Division

SDMX registries Contains an SDMX-compatible repository of all

database elements maintained by a regional or

national statistical body

This chapter covers how you can use these registries to standardize your

templates.

Updating your local copy of the Global DevInfo

Registry

After installing DevInfo Data Admin 7, you need to update the local copy of the

Global DevInfo Registry on your system. Subsequent to initial installation, it is alsorecommended that you update your local copy annually to reflect any new changes.

Note that you must be connected to the Internet to update the registry.

From the expanded Template module, click Update registry, and then click Click

here to update (Fig. 6.1).

6


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NOTE:Most of the national and regional DevInfo databases uploaded under the

Catalog feature of the DevInfo 7 web application at www.devinfo.org have had

their database configured into an SDMX registry. To import elements (e.g.

indicators, units, subgroups, areas, etc.) from any of the databases available

under the Catalog, just enter its primary URL (e.g.www.devinfo.org/afghaninfo)in

the SDMX registry field. The application will automatically check whether an

SDMX registry is available for the specified URL and if so, connect with the

registry to retrieve the requested records.

Fig. 6.1

Note that it may take a few minutes to update your local copy of the Global DevInfo

Registry, depending on the speed of your Internet connection. Click Finish when

done to exit and save all changes.

Using SDMX registries

SDMX registries are maintained by global, regional or national statistical bodies and

consist of online repositories of SDMX-compatible database elements.

To import elements from an SDMX registry, click Import from the toolbar

while creating or editing a template and select the SDMX registry option button.Enter the web address of the desired registry and click Connect (Fig. 6.2).

Fig. 6.2
http://www.devinfo.org/http://www.devinfo.org/http://www.devinfo.org/afghaninfohttp://www.devinfo.org/afghaninfohttp://www.devinfo.org/afghaninfohttp://www.devinfo.org/afghaninfohttp://www.devinfo.org/


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Please allow several minutes for the application to retrieve the elements and create

a local copy of the selected SDMX registry on your machine (Fig. 6.3).

Fig. 6.3

If you wish to update the SDMX registry, you can either click Connect at a later

time, or you can also click Update registry from the expanded Template module

and click Clickhere to updateunder the SDMX Registries section (Fig. 6.4).

Fig. 6.4


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Making your template registry-compliant

The Compliance to registry command in the expanded Template module allows

you to make your template compliant with the Global DevInfo Registry that is, toensure that your template contains all the elements found in the Global DevInfo

Registry. This feature is useful when you wish to create a template/database

containing all the global database elements.

This command instructs the application to compare the GIDs of the elements in your

file against those of the Global DevInfo Registry. If the GIDs match but the strings

(names) are different, the application will replace the mismatched strings with the

Global DevInfo Registry strings. If the strings match but the GIDs are different, the

application will replace the mismatched GIDs with the Global DevInfo RegistryGIDs. In the process, your template/database will be aligned with the Global

DevInfo Registry.

To begin, click Compliance to registry from the expanded Template module (Fig.

6.5).

Fig. 6.5


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In Step 1, select the target file which you wish to make compliant with the Global

DevInfo Registry. Click to browse for files in another location. Transfer the

desired target file from the Available to the Selected pane, and then click Next to

proceed to Step 2.

Steps 2 through 8 involve checking, importing, and/or matching the different

elements of the Global DevInfo Registry against those of the target file. In each

step, you can view the unmatched elements and then decide to either import them

or map them against the elements available in the target file (Fig. 6.6).

Fig. 6.6

For example, in Step 2, the application displays under the Unmatched section all

the indicators in the Global DevInfo Registry which do not appear in the target file.You can either click Import or Import All to import these indicators into the target

file, or you can click Map to map a selected unmatched indicator to an equivalent

highlighted indicator under the Available section.

Follow the same procedure to import or map unmatched units, subgroup

dimensions, subgroup dimension values, subgroups, indicator classifications and

areas in Steps 3 through 8.


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In Step 9, click Finish to complete the process of making your template compliant

with the Global DevInfo Registry. The application generates a log file displaying

details of the process, for viewing in the default Internet browser.

DevInfo Data Admin 7-User Guide-Template-r3

Documents