Epi Info™ User Guide

Check Code: Customizing the Data Entry Process

Introduction

The Check Code tool allows users to customize the data entry process. It is useful to check for errors during the data entry process, to do automatic calculations in fields, and to skip over parts of the questionnaire if certain conditions are met. Check Code makes it possible to instruct the Enter tool to perform such operations automatically. By using Check Code, you can protect data against many common types of errors by setting rules for data entry. Check Code is created using the Check Code Editor.

Examples of operations that can be performed in Check Code include:

• Displaying messages that appear to be part of the questionnaire
• Calculating fields from mathematical operations
• Checking one or more fields for relationships (e.g., making sure birth date is earlier than current date)
• Checking fields for inconsistencies (e.g., male pregnancies)
• Displaying error messages due to improper entries in a field
• Complex statistics or other operations that are written in other languages
• Automatic indexing of fields for faster searching
• Automatic searches during data entry

An operation can be performed automatically each time data is entered in a field or conditionally when a certain value is entered. Check code is optional and is designed to allow the user to provide customized data entry processes.