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Tutorial: How to use the Zeus StudyMart PDF Print E-mail
Written by Manfred Carlo Cardenas   
Monday, 25 January 2010

Tutorial: How to use the Zeus StudyMart


Overview 

This document is a brief tutorial on how to make simple queriesusing the Zeus StudyMart application.
The application is best viewed using Mozilla Firefox (1.5 or better).

The StudyMart application essentially has two parts, the Search Filters screen and the Results screen. Each has its own set of capabilities. Basically, you need to fill up some Search Filters with some values and display observation units matching your filters on the Results screen. In this tutorial, we will be going through the capabilities available on each screen.

Click here to begin loading the application.

Quick links:

Search Filters Screen

Query Results Screen

Adding Study Variables

Specifying values of type Value Enumeration

Specifying values of type Numeric Range

Uploading an XML for the Search Filters grid

Hiding column headers in the Query Results Screen

Adding Column Headers

Creating a Histogram

Creating an XY Graph



The Search Filters Screen


The first screen of StudyMart shows us a grid (also known as table) with a loaded list of Study Variables. Let us call it the Study Variables Grid. Each row in this grid is a Study Variable. It has six (6) columns, Actions, Study Variable, Property, Method, Scale and Value(s). The Study Variable, Property, Method and Scale columns each contain information about the Study Variable. Study Variable contains the name of the Study Variable, Property contains the Property/Trait Name, Method contains the Method Name and Scale contains the Scale of the Study Variable. The Value(s) column remains hidden initially, as we add values to a particular Study Variable, this column will contain those values.

search filters screen

The Actions column contains icons which does some special things to a particular Study Variable. See the table below.

Actions and their Descriptions
Action Description 
  Deletes one row in the grid. It will remove one study variable including whatever values we have specified on it.

Updates one row in the grid. This action will open a small window window the browser that will allow us to specify values for a particular study variable. Values can either be chosen from a list of possible values (value enumeration) or bounded by a numeric range. Multiple values can be used. More detailed explanations can be found for value enumeration and numeric range by clicking their respective links.
  Clears any values specified for a particular row in the grid. This action will clear any and all values specified to a particular study variable.
 Loads a histogram for a particular row in the grid. This will get all the possible values of a particular study variable and produce a histogram or frequency distribution of its values. That information can then be used to further refine our search query.

Some other functionalities are available in this screen. If you notice there are several buttons and a combo box surrounding the grid. These buttons enable you to load the top study variables, save the current list of study variables in your grid into an xml file for uploading later, uploading an xml file containing a list of study variables, adding more study variables into the grid, and finally, loading a pre-defined list of study variables.

Search Filters Screen Buttons and their Descriptions
ButtonDescription
 This will load a small window in our browser where another grid is displayed. This grid contains a list of study variables which we can add to our current list. A more detailed explanation of this window can be found here
 This will load a list of study variables which are commonly used. This list can be changed depending on what the user considers to be most commonly used.
 This button will save all the study variables currently in the grid into an xml file into our local machine which can be uploaded into StudyMart later on.
 This button allows us to upload an xml file containing a list of study variables. Once uploaded, the list can be viewed by all users of the software via the drop-down box located at the top left of the grid. A more detailed explanation of this window can be found here.
 As you may notice it is not a button but a drop-down box, nevertheless it is found near where the buttons are. This gives a choice to load one of the predefined list of study variables available. We can add our own list to be viewable in this drop-down box later using the save functionality.
This button allows us to get an XY (Scatterplot) graph. When clicked a small window will be displayed in our browser which will ask for particular study variables with which we would like to make a graph of.A more detailed explanation about this window can be found here .
 Finally, this button allows us to make a query to the database. It requires us to have values specified into at least one study variable before we can make a query.
 how to buttonWhen clicked it will take us to this page.

Once we are satisfied with our Study Variables and their values we can go ahead and click the   button so we can proceed to the next screen, the Query Results Screen.


The Query Results Screen


This is the second screen of StudyMart. It also shows us a grid but with different contents. Let us call it the Results Grid. Each row in this grid is an observation unit and the column headers are Study Variables and contains corresponding values per observation unit (row).

StudyMart Second Screen

This grid also has several functionalities which are similar to the Study Variables Grid. We can add more column headers, hide or show column headers already displayed, save the current column headers in a list into an xml file, upload an xml file containing a list of column headers, pick from a list of predefined column headers, and finally save the query results into a csv file.

Results Screen Buttons and their Descriptions
ButtonDescription 
 This button allows us to add more study variables as column headers of the grid. When clicked it will display a small window in our browser containing a list of possible study variables we can add. A more detailed explanation about this window will be added later in this document or in a separate document.
 This button allows us to hide or show (the hidden) column headers of the grid. When clicked it will display a small window in our browser showing a list of column headers we can either hide or show. A more detailed explanation about this window will be added later in this document or in a separate document.
 This button allows us to upload an xml file containing a list of study variables which will be used as column headers for the grid. When clicked it will ask us to specify which xml file from our local machine that we want to upload. Once uploaded, this list can be viewed by all users of the software via the drop-down box on the top left of the grid.
 This button allows us to save the results of our query into a CSV file which can be viewed in MS Excel or a text editor. Processing of this request may take long if the results are large.
 This button allows us to save the currently loaded column headers of the grid into an xml file in our local machine. A more detailed explanation about this window will be added later in this document or in a separate document. 
 This group of buttons allows us to navigate through our results page by page.
 This button allows us to get a Histogram graph given the data currently in the grid. When clicked a small window will be displayed in our browser which will ask for a particular study variable with which we would like to make a graph of.A more detailed explanation about this window will be added later in this document or in a separate document.
 This button allows us to get an XY (Scatterplot) graph given the data currently in the grid. When clicked a small window will be displayed in our browser which will ask for particular study variables with which we would like to make a graph of. A more detailed explanation about this window can be found here .
 As you may notice it is not a button but a drop-down box, nevertheless it is found near where the buttons are. This gives a choice to load one of the predefined list of column headers available. We can add our own list to be viewable in this drop-down box later using the save functionality.
 This button allows us to go back to the Search Filters Screen where we can perform another query to the database by modifying our filters.

And that's it for this quick tutorial. :)

Below are some of the other functionalities of StudyMart that are discussed in detail.

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The Study Variables Window


Adding study variables in our grid, we will be presented with the window below.



As we can see, there is a search box on top which we can type in some text. See the screenshot below.

As we can see from the vertical scrollbar on the right, the information inside the grid has been trimmed to
anything that contains the "germplasm" text.

We can add study variable(s) to our search filters grid by ticking the checkbox of the study variable we want to
add and then clicking the  button. See the screenshot below.



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The Numeric Range Window


When specifying values that are numeric, we are presented with the numeric range window. See below.


Here we have a text box to accept our input. We can type in ranges separated by a dash (-) or just a single number.
Clicking the  button will add the ranges we have specified into a particular study variable in the search filters grid.

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The Value Enumeration Window


When specifying values we are presented with the window below. Here we can select values from the left-hand side by clicking the + button. Selected values goes to the right-hand side of the window. In some cases, there might
be many values for a particular study variable, hence the left-hand side grid has a paging toolbar. Clicking the  button will add selected values into the search filters grid.


Value Enumeration Window Buttons and their Descriptions
Button
Description
 This resets any values we have previously selected.
 This closes the value enumeration window.
 This accepts all the values we have selected and close the value enumeration window.
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The Upload XML Window

When uploading an xml file containing a list of preferred study variables we are presented with several windows as seen below. Clicking the Browse button will open a file browsing window wherein we will select the xml file we wish to upload. Once a file is loaded, the search filters grid will reload its contents as well.

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Hiding Column Headers


When we want to hide columns we are presented with a window containing the list of column headers we can hide (see image below).


By simply checking items in this window, that checked column headers gets hidden. If we uncheck an item, it gets show back into the grid (see image below showing checked items).

Notice that there are three (3) items left unchecked and they are the only ones left show in the grid.
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The Column Headers Window


Adding more column headers into our grid, we are presented with the window below.

It is very similar to the Study Variables Window. Clicking the   button will add
all checked / ticked Study Variable as column headers for our grid.
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The Histogram Window


Clicking the  button in the Query Results Screen we will be presented with the window below.


Here we have a list of study variables. We can pick a study variable here and produce a histogram / frequency distribution of that study variable using the data from our grid. After we pick a study variable, clicking the  button will produce graph below.

However, if you click the  icon in the Search Filters Screen, you will directly be shown the histogram below.
Histograms done via the Search Filters Screen may be different from when it is done from the Query Results Screen.
This is because data in the Query Results Screen is already filtered, whereas in the Search Filters Screen, data is not yet filtered by a search criteria. This behavior applies the XY Graphs as well.

histogram sample
Here we can see a frequency distribution of the study variable Drought Resistance.


Here is another histogram for study variable GRAIN YIELD, method paddy rice, scale kg / ha.

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The XY Graph Window


Clicking the  button will present us with the window below.

Here we can pick study variables (which are numeric) for our X-Y graph. The study variables available here are all numeric.

Clicking the  button will produce the X-Y graph of our selected study variables.

XY Graphs done via the Search Filters Screen may be different from when it is done from the Query Results Screen.
This is because data in the Query Results Screen is already filtered, whereas in the Search Filters Screen, data is not yet filtered by a search criteria.  This behavior applies to Histograms as well.


Here is the resulting X-Y graph based from our selected study variables above.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 November 2010 )