These programs were developed at CIMMYT for conducting field socioeconomic surveys by means of expand PDAs and expand PCs. The process of collecting data in the PDA or PC consists of designing the survey on the PC, taking the questions from the questionnaire, and programming them. This generates the template containing the questions in a file with extension .ssf. This file allows the socioeconomic survey form (SSF) for the PDA, as well as the SSF for the PC, to interpret the template and design the backbone of the questionnaire on the screen, capturing the survey data by means of a set of validation rules in the program.
Socioeconomic survey form for Pocket
The Socioeconomic Survey Form (SSF) for Pocket is a program designed for Pocket PCs. It runs with portable devices such as Pockets and Ultra-Mobile Personal Computers (UMPCs) with Windows Mobile as it operating system. To date, we have tested the SSF with Windows Mobile 2003 SE, and Windows Mobile 5.0, but not with later versions.
You can build entry forms based on templates for entering new information and display or edit entered data. The number of questions you can enter is limited only by the capacity of the Pocket PC. In the forms, you record the information in XML files.
With the SSF for Pocket you can:
- Enter new information and edit the existing data
- Safely display the recorded data on a questionnaire
- Navigate easily through questionnaires.
- Perform data entry with validation rules.
Socioeconomic Survey Form for PC
The Socioeconomic survey form for PC is a program designed for PCs. The application runs on desktop computers, laptops, and netbooks, and in general with any computer that has Microsoft Windows as its operatig system. To date, we have tested it with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista.
It allows users to design templates for the Pocket and also for PC. The templates are files with XML syntax that the Socioeconomic Survey Form program reads and constructs so as to generate forms for entering data through controls such as text fields, boxes, radio buttons, and lists. The data introduced can be exported to different file formats such as CSV, SPSS or MS Excel. The templates have an *.ssf extension and the data captured is saved in the *.xml extension files with the same file name as the template files.
With the SSF for PC you can easily design forms for entry capture. Simply select the type of control you want to see in the capture form, place it where you want it on the screen and assign it some properties such as the text to display, capture value by default and validation rules.
In general, SSF for PC has the following characteristics:
- It is free (requires no payment for use).
- You create capture forms merely by dragging and dropping the field controls.
- Easy handling of the design and data entry thanks to its user-friendly interface in a Windows environment.
- Requires no prior programming or database expertise for designing the capture forms.
- Allows for the creation of relational tables, simplifying the creation of large arrays or matrices.
- WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) view: The design of the form corresponds to the data entry form in your Pocket and PC.
- The same form entry and the data introduced can be read into the Pocket and the PC.
- There is no limit to the number of controls set up in the capture form, or the size of the records, or the number of records in the database. The limits are set by the resources of the computer itself.
- The data introduced can be exported to different file formats such as CSV, SPSS1 or MS Excel.
- Different types of data entry are supported (alpha, numeric, dates, boolean)
Full version of the manual, please click
on the link below:
Socioeconomic
Survey Form Manual.pdf (2.4 MB)
There are two setup files:
- Socioeconomic Survey Form for Pocket, and
- Socioeconomic Survey Form for PC
There are other files that need to be installed in the PC and in the Pocket for the program Socioeconomic Survey Form is executed correctly.
The Microsoft® Windows® Installer
This file needs to be installed so that the PC recognizes the files type MSI, and thus be able to run them. For computers which system is Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, Windows Installer is included.
Socioeconomic Survey Form for PC - Installation
Run the Socioeconomic Survey Form for PC.msi and follow the prompts. Once installed, this program needs at least version 2 of Microsoft .Net Framework. If the personal computer does not have this software installed, run any of the following files:
Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86)
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
Socioeconomic Survey Form for Pocket - Installation
If you want to run the PDA version of the program, run the setup file from your PC file Socioeconomic Survey Form for Pocket.msi and follow the prompts. Once installed, check if the Pocket has at least version 2 of Microsoft .Net Compact Framework. If the PDA does not have this software, then run any of the following files:
The Microsoft® .NET Compact Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Redistributable
The Microsoft® .NET Compact Framework 3.5 Redistributable
You will need a PC with a Microsoft Windows operating system (tested with Windows 2000 and XP). The PC should have a processor with minimum speed of 1 GHz.
The Pocket PC must have one of the following operating systems: Pocket PC 2003/SE or Windows Mobile 5.0. A 400 MHz processor at least (624MHz highly recommended).
For more information, please read the manual included in the link above.
Visit this website to download the latest version.
September, 2009