Data Source Files

A description of the files used as a data source for the ComPrev application.

A Data Source is composed of two different files - the dictionary file (a file with a .INI extension), and the data file (a file with a .TXT extension).

The dictionary file will look something like this:

The data file will look something like this:

Dictionary File

The dictionary file is in a format similar to that which is exported from SEER*Stat. The dictionary file defines what variables will be used in ComPrev. It also defines the values for each variable with what label to show for each value. These are the labels and values showed in the Selection Tab of the Session Setup Window, and in the Cohort Tree on the Main Window.

Format:

Field	Description
[ByVars]	There is only a single Variables section. It contains a list of all of the variables in the dictionary.
Var1 = <Variable Name>	The first variable is set to this name. There must be a corresponding section [] lower in the dictionary defining the values for this variable.
Var2 = <Variable Name>
...	There can be as many variables as you like (but the practical limit is 10).

[<Variable Name>]	For each variable, there must be a section defining its values and their labels.
<Label> = <Value>	Each value that can be found in the data file must have a label.
...	There can be as many labels and values as you like.

Notes:

The Dictionary File fields can be commented out by using a semi-colon at the beginning of the line. Commented out means that they will not be read by the ComPrev application (they will be ignored).
To change a variable name, you need to change it in two different places. First you need to change it in the [ByVars] section, then you need to change it in the [<Variable Name>] section. For example, let's say you wanted to change the name of the variable "Race" to "Population". In the Data.Ini file, you would first change the entry "Var2=Race" to "Var2=Population" in the [ByVars] section. Next, you would go down the file to the section named "[Race]", and change this entry to be "[Population]".

Data File

The data file is a text file where each line is a record, and each of the values is delimited by a comma. This data file will be read into ComPrev based on the variables defined in the Dictionary File. The very first record of this file should be a header list, indicating the names of the fields being used. The remaining records contain values for all of the required fields. Each record represents a range of years over which the specific parameters are valid for a given cohort.

Format:

Field	Required	Description
<Variable 1 Value>	Yes	A value from the dictionary file for the first variable.
<Variable 2 Value>	Yes	A value from the dictionary file for the second variable.
...	Yes	There needs to be a value for each of the variables defined in the dictionary.
Model	Yes	The incidence model used for these values. This entry can be "p" for Polynomial Model or "e" for Exponential Model.
Validation	No	Whether this entry is validated or not. This entry can be "0" for not validated, or "1" for validated.
StartAge	No	The starting age of this record.
EndAge	No	The ending age of this record.
StartYear	No	The starting year of this record.
EndYear	No	The ending year of this record.
CTTrend	No
TrendBest	No
PropNotCured	Yes	Parameter for the Survival Mixture Cure model formula.
Scale	Yes	Parameter for the Survival Mixture Cure model formula.
Shape	Yes	Parameter for the Survival Mixture Cure model formula.
PeriodCoef	Yes	Parameter for the Survival Mixture Cure model formula.
AgeCoef	Yes	Parameter for the Survival Mixture Cure model formula.
RaceCoef	Yes	Parameter for the Survival Mixture Cure model formula.
AgeRef	Yes	Parameter for the Survival Mixture Cure model formula.
PeriodRef	Yes	Parameter for the Survival Mixture Cure model formula.
Inc1	Yes	Parameter for the Incidence Polynomial model formula.
Inc2	Yes	Parameter for the Incidence Polynomial model formula.
Inc3	Yes	Parameter for the Incidence Polynomial model formula.
Inc4	Yes	Parameter for the Incidence Polynomial model formula.
Inc5	Yes	Parameter for the Incidence Polynomial model formula.
Inc6	Yes	Parameter for the Incidence Polynomial model formula.
Inc7	Yes	Parameter for the Incidence Polynomial model formula.
ShiftConst	Yes	This is the reference age for the logistic function.
ScaleConst	Yes	An arbitrary scale factor used to avoid very large numbers and numerical instability which arise when taking powers.
SurvCov1_1 - SurvCov1_6	No	Survival coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
SurvCov2_2 - SurvCov2_6	No	Survival coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
SurvCov3_3 - SurvCov3_6	No	Survival coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
SurvCov4_4 - SurvCov4_6	No	Survival coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
SurvCov5_5 - SurvCov5_6	No	Survival coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
SurvCov6_6	No	Survival coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
IncCov1_1 - IncCov1_7	No	Incidence coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
IncCov2_2 - IncCov2_7	No	Incidence coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
IncCov3_3 - IncCov3_7	No	Incidence coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
IncCov4_4 - IncCov4_7	No	Incidence coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
IncCov5_5 - IncCov5_7	No	Incidence coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
IncCov6_6 - IncCov6_7	No	Incidence coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.
IncCov7_7	No	Incidence coverage matrix used for calculating Analytical Variance.