                              
                               
                                  
                                    
                                     
                               ELECTRONIC QUESTIONNAIRE MANAGER
                                       version Autumn 1994
                                      
                                 
                               
                              
                                 
                                     
                              
                          Author:
                      Shirley C Sharpe
                        4 Drovers Way
                      Peebles EH45 9BN
                          Scotland
                              
                 Internet: 100614.3441@compuserve.com
                              
     **************************************************
                              
             The Authors disclaim all warranties
            as to this software, whether express
          or implied, including without limitation
                  any implied warranties of
          merchantability, fitness for a particular
                purpose, functionality, data
                  integrity or protection.
                              
     **************************************************

1. INTRODUCTION

  This is a shareware program (see later section 'About Shareware')
  -  it  is NOT freeware.  Please try out the program.  If you find
  it  useful,  please  register and you will receive  an  unlimited
  program with full documentation.
  
  The  manual included with the registered software includes  hints
  and  tips  regarding  the  authoring  of  a  questionnaire.   The
  documentation included here provides a basic introduction to  the
  program and how to configure it.

2. OVERVIEW

  This   program  resulted  from  a  need  to  carry  out   on-line
  questionnaires  in a structured way on large PC networks.   These
  surveys  were  required to give quantitative feedback  to  system
  managers about the service they were providing.
  
  Many  of  the  network users were not computer  experts,  so  the
  program  had to be easy to use and had to include reasonable  on-
  line  help.  Although Windows applications predominated on  these
  networks, in order to ensure a reasonable response, users had  to
  be able to run the questionnaire as part of their login process -
  this meant using a DOS program.
  
  The  program  had to be capable of being run on  ANY  PC  on  the
  networks.   This  meant  coping with the lowest  spec.  machines,
  which  again meant the program had to be a DOS one.  The  program
  will  run  with any PC/DOS (it hasn't been tested below DOS  v3.1
  though).  It is suggested that at a colour screen should be used,
  however.
  
  As  well  as allowing you to compose questionnaires with  complex
  logic   and   diverse  question  types,  this  version   of   the
  Questionnaire  Manager also allows you to  ANALYSE  the  results.
  The  results  are stored in a form easily imported in  to  Lotus,
  Excel,  Access etc., but failing these a quick analysis  will  be
  provided by the program in the form of a plain text report

3. HOW TO COMPOSE A QUESTIONNAIRE

  The program suite consists of:
  
  o one executable file - QMAN.exe
  o one ASCII text data file - must be specified as the first
    argument on the command line.
    (An example is include - EXAMPLE.dat)
  o one ASCII text results file - by default RESULTS.dat
  
  The  data and results file locations and names can be changed  as
  desired - type
  
  QMAN.exe /?
  
  to view all available options.
  
  If  the  results  file already exists, further  results  will  be
  appended at the rate of one delimited line per respondent.
  
  QMAN.exe   manages   the  questionnaire  using   the   definition
  statements  in the data file.  Thus the form and content  of  the
  questionnaire are entirely customisable.
  
  If  you  print out EXAMPLE.dat you will see that it contains  all
  the  types of questions described in the next section.   You  can
  copy  this  file or edit a new one to create your own  datafiles.
  All  you  need  is  a plain text file editor, such  as  EDIT,  as
  supplied with DOS 5 and 6.x.  Alternatively Windows Notepad would
  be fine.

3.1 TYPES OF QUESTION

  With  this  version of the Manager, the following basic  question
  types are available:
  
  o Options
  o Bar
  o Yes/no
  o Follow-on
  
  OPTIONS  questions  are  ones where the  respondent  is  shown  a
  question  and  then  presented with a list of options  to  choose
  from.   In  this version an Options question ALWAYS includes  the
  final option 'Other'.  An example might be:
  
       1) What animal would be your favourite pet?
  
            1) Dog
            2) Cat
            3) Snake
            4) Penguin
            5) I hate all pets
            6) Other
  
  If  you  select 6) (Other), the program will automatically prompt
  for  the 'Other' choice, and record this as delimited text in the
  results  file.   Otherwise the results file  simply  records  the
  number of the option chosen.
  
  BAR  questions  can  be  used where the  respondent  must  choose
  between  extremes.   The  respondent is  shown  a  bar  with  the
  extremes  at  each end, and must place a pointer at the  position
  between them that best matches their response.  A score out of 10
  is recorded in the results file.  An example might be:
  
       1) How clever do you think Cats are?
  
                                            
  Not at all +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Genius'
  clever                                    
  
  In  this  example,  the respondent thinks  that  Cats  are  quite
  clever, but not actually genius'.  They would score 7.75/10.
  
  YES/NO questions are a little like Options questions, except that
  the  only  options  are Yes or No.  There is no  'Other'  option.
  Results are stored as 1 for Yes, 2 for No.  An example might be:
  
       1) Are you a cat owner?
  
            1) Yes
            2) No
  
  FOLLOW-ON  questions are special.  They can be any of  the  above
  types,  but are normally ONLY displayed if a specific  option  is
  chosen in an Options question - they conditionally follow-on from
  an  options  question.   There  may  be  a  number  of  follow-on
  questions related to various options in the same question, or all
  following-on  from one option.  If the follow-on  option  is  not
  chosen , follow-on questions are ignored.

3.2 DATA FILE FORMAT

  This  is split in to two sections - the main section and  one  or
  more question sections.
  
  In general the section identifiers must be between [] brackets on
  a  line  of  their own, starting at the first column.  All  other
  datafile lines must start at the first column and will consist of
  a  keyword,  '=' and a value - with no spaces or other characters
  inbetween.   The value is generally plain text (with no  inverted
  commas  etc.).   Some keywords require a question number  as  the
  value,  this  must  be  in two-digit format  as  in  the  section
  identifier.  E.g.  If a question section is numbered  [05],  this
  must be referenced as '05' elsewhere (and NOT '5').
  
  Thus these are OK:
       Type=bar
       TYPE=BAR
       type=BAR
  
  or   Fol=05
  
  but these will not be recognised:
       T ype=bar
       type = bar
         type=bar
      (^^- leading spaces)
  
  or   Fol=5
  
  Basic  syntax checking is carried out and the program will  abort
  with an informative message if the format or syntax is incorrect.
  
  The main section has the following format:
  
  [Main]
  Title=
  SubTitle=
  End=
  Separator=
  
  The  only obligatory part is the Title= line.  End= is a line  to
  display on the closing screen.  Seperator= defines a character to
  be  used  instead of ',' as the field separator  in  the  results
  file.
  
  Question sections are formatted as follows:
  
3.2.1 Options questions
  
  [01]
  Type=Opt
  Prompt=
  Opt=
  Fol=
  Fol=
  Opt=
  Opt=
  Fol=
  Opt=
  Help=
  
  01  is  the Question number, and this should be unique  to  avoid
  confusion  when analysing the results.  Note question numbers  do
  not  need to be sequential, but are always presented in the order
  that they are defined in the datafile.
  
  Prompt= is the question you prompt respondents with, it should be
  plain  text without out inverted commas etc.  There must  be  one
  Prompt= per question.
  
  There may be any number of Opt= lines, although too many will not
  fit  on  a  screen.   Fol= is optional and defines  the  question
  number  (e.g.  01) of a follow-on question, should  the  previous
  option be selected.
  
  Help= allows a context-sensitive, question-specific help line  to
  be added to the default help when the user hits F1.
  
3.2.2 Bar questions
  
  [02]
  Type=Bar
  Prompt=
  Lo=
  Hi=
  Help=
  
  Again  Prompt=  is the text of the question that respondents  are
  prompted with.
  Here  Lo=  is  the  left extreme, and Hi= is the  right  extreme.
  Help= is as above.
  
3.2.3 Yes/no questions
  
  [03]
  Type=Yes
  Prompt=
  Help=
  
  Prompt=, Help= are as previously.  The only possible options  are
  'Yes' or 'No', so you are given no choice in this.
  
3.2.4 Follow-on ONLY questions
  
  These  are  identical to any of the above, except that they  must
  start with the line Ignore, e.g.
  
  [04]
  Ignore
  Type=Yes
  Prompt=
  Help=
  
  etc.
  
  These  questions  may  be  of any Type=, taking  the  appropriate
  prompts  as  defined in the above questions.   Note  a  Follow-on
  question  will  only  be  displayed if  it's  related  option  is
  selected by the respondent.  Otherwise it will be ignored.
  
  You can still designate a question as a follow-on, but remove the
  Ignore   statement   in  the  follow-on   question.    In   these
  circumstances the question will potentially be called twice.
  
  The   normal  flow  of  events  is  best  illustrated  using  the
  EXAMPLE.dat file question 02:
  
  In  this  case Option 1 is chosen, and so follow-on questions  05
  and 06 are executed, followed by the next question, 03:
  
  Question  Option                Follow-on Question
  
  02
   -------> Opt 1
                   ---------------------> 05
                                      :
                                      +-> 06
                                           :
  03 <-------------------------------------+
  
  If Option 2 were chosen, the sequence would have been:
  
  Question  Option                Follow-on Question
  
  02
   -------> Opt 2
               :
  03 <---------+
  
  It  is  possible  to nest follow-on questions to  more  than  one
  level:   this  is  not  recommended,  as  the  logical  flow   of
  questioning will typically prove very difficult to maintain.
  
4. COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
  
  Command line options are as follows:
  
  QMAN.exe  datafile [/A=answerfile] [/N [/U]] [/S] [/? | /H]  [/D]
  [/T]
  
  where
  
  datafile       A plain text file holding the questionnaire
                 definition data, as defined in the previous
                 section.  Default is QMAN.dat
  /A=answerfile  The file used to store the results of the
                 survey.  Default is RESULTS.dat
  /N             NetWare aware - the UserID of the respondent
                 is stored as the first field of the answerfile.
  /U             Only available with /N, this option makes the
                 Questionnaire Manager check to see if the user
                 has already completed the questionnaire before
                 allowing the questionnaire to be run.
  /S             Survey analysis - requires the datafile at
                 least to be specified.  Also requires /A
                 if an answerfile other than RESULTS.dat is
                 used.  Must use /N and/or /T if these were
                 used when compiling the survey results.
  /?, /H         Displays this help.
  /D             Displays a quick summary of datafile options.
  /T             Timestamp the completion of the survey in
                 the results file - first field, or second
                 if /N is used.
  
  EXAMPLES
  
  To  run  the questionnaire with the examples file enclosed  on  a
  NetWare Network, checking for prior completion and storing UserID
  as  the  first  field  in  the  answerfile.   Results  stored  in
  answerfile H:\RESULTS.txt:
  
      QMAN.exe EXAMPLE.DAT /N /U /A=H:\RESULTS.TXT
  
  To   analyse   the  resulting  file  (defaulted   to   answerfile
  RESULTS.dat):
  
      QMAN.exe EXAMPLE.DAT /N /U /S /A=H:\RESULTS.TXT
  
  
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5. ABOUT SHAREWARE

  Shareware  is  a  try-before-you-buy process  in  which  you  are
  allowed to use the program free for a specific period. This  time
  will  vary  from  program to program. The grace period  for  this
  program is 3 weeks.
  
  If  after that time you find the program useful, you are expected
  to  register  with the author (see registration form  below).  If
  however  after  the specified time you do not  find  the  program
  useful you are required to remove it from use. Remember that  the
  shareware  system  will     only  work  if  you  support  it   by
  registering your program with the author. This does a few  things
  like  encourage  the authors of shareware to  continue  to  write
  quality  programs, upgrade existing programs and  supply  support
  for those programs.
  
  If  you choose not to register, we would still like to hear about
  any comments or suggestions you may have regarding the Electronic
  Questionnaire Manager.

6. PROBLEMS & TECHNICAL SUPPORT
  
  If  you  encounter  any problems with the program,  write  to  us
  stating the problem along with the version number of the program.
  We  will  be  glad to do everything we can to get  your  problems
  solved quickly.
  
  Also on the Internet : shirley@hw.edu.uk
  
  The only known problem currently is one that can occur if you use
  numeric  only  NetWare  account IDs  with  numbers  greater  than
  32,767.  If you then use the /N option to record results, but  do
  not  use  /N  when  analysing with /S, it  is  possible  for  the
  Questionnaire Manager to assume the User ID's are in  fact  valid
  option numbers.  The IDs will then overflow the variable used  to
  store  option results.  The fix is to correctly use /N when  both
  recording results and analysing them.

7. PLANNED UPGRADES

  The planned upgrades to the program include:
  
  o  A  progress indicator (bar graph and percentage)  to  reassure
  respondents
    when completing long surveys
  o Better context-sensitive help
  o More question types
  o Follow-on questions in Yes/no type questions
  
