Extended Features

Manage Country Data

To access the Manage Country Data sub-option, click on Extended Features on the Main Menu of IFs. There you will find two sub-sub-options:

• Edit Country Data
• Display Processed Data
• Historic Data File Processing

This feature of IFs allows users to alter the historic data that underlies IFs. It is suggested that only those with extensive experience using IFs attempt to change this data.

Edit Country Data

To access Edit Country Data, click on Extended Features on the Main Menu of IFs, and then select Manage Country Data.

Editing Initial Conditions for Countries: You may find that the data base for a country is less complete and/or accurate than you would like. You can fix most of that with the normal procedures for changing initial conditions and parameters.

IMAGE http://www.du.edu/ifs/help/use/extended/managecountry/editdata.html

The grid gives you the opportunity to go into all issue areas and all countries and change any values you wish of the raw data. To narrow down your selection, simply click on Please remember that, if you do so, you will need to rebuild the base case again (after indicating the issue area(s) in which you have changed data) and then rerun the model. Also please remember that any changes you make to the raw data are "permanent" and do not disappear after you exit IFs: the only ways to reverse them are to do so number-by-number or to reinstall IFs.

Display Processed Data

To access this feature of IFs, select Extended Features from the Main Menu and then Manage Country Data. Click on Display Processed Country Data.

By clicking on Display Processed Country Data, a window similar to the one below will appear:

IMAGE http://www.du.edu/ifs/help/use/extended/managecountry/processeddata.html

This allows you to view all of the data for each country that underlies the use of IFs. By toggling between the options at the top of the screen, Agriculture, Population, Economics, Social/Political and Energy, you are able to quickly find the variables you are looking for. By clicking Exit, your changes will be saved.

If you would like to incorporate data changes into your version of IFs, make any changes necessary and then Rebuild the Model Base and rerun the model.

Historic Data File Processing

To access Historic Data File Processing, click on Extended Features on the Main Menu of IFs, and then select Manage Country Data.

If you have reason to import large amounts of data into IFs, click on the Historic Data File Processing. This will then present you with three options:

• Importing Data from Excel Files
• Remove Years from Data
• Identify and Save Years

Importing Data from Excel Files

This feature of IFs can be found by selecting Extended Features from the Main Menu, Manage Country Data, Historic Data File Processing and then Import XLS Data.

When you choose to import large amounts of data into IFs via Excel, choose Import Data From XLS File. This will add an .xls access file to the historic data set for IFs.

Choosing this option will cause a window to appear that will look similarly to the one below:

Imagehttp://www.du.edu/ifs/help/use/extended/managecountry/historic/importing.html

Initially, it would be advised to change the Series Orientation function located on the right hand side of this menu. Identify how your data set is orientated and match that to one of the options. You will notice that the graph below changes to visually represent the specific data orientation that you choose.

After you have chosen the Series Orientation, click on the File option located at the top of the menu. You will then be prompted to select an Excel file. After you have made your selection, the file will be loaded into the Import Excel Data form. You will then be prompted to select certain Excel Sheets. These can be seen at the bottom of the Excel file after it is opened. They may have different names or simply be distinguished as "Sheet 1", "Sheet 2", etc. To see the Excel file you have selected, click on Viet Excel.

After you have selected your Excel file, you must further specify the orientation of the data so that IFs knows how to read the data after it has been imported. Fill in the Country Names Start at, Years Start at and Series Name Start at forms before proceeding. To finish the process, you must fill in some more specific information that will help IFs categorize your data. If you have questions, you can consult the Data Dictionary located in the lower-middle of the menu. When finished, click Import.

Other options include Scaling, which allows users to change their data set values by a multiplier. Finally, users are asked to specify a name for their Variable list as well as a brief description.

Remove Years from Data

This feature of IFs can be found by selecting Extended Features from the Main Menu, Manage Country Data, Historic Data File Processing and then Remove Data From Years.

This feature allows users to remove data for all years except for 5 year intervals.

Identify and Save Years

This feature of IFs can be found by selecting Extended Features from the Main Menu, Manage Country Data, Historic Data File Processing and then Identify and Save Years.

This feature allows users to identify and save data years if they have made any substantive change to the years in the raw data file. 

Manage Groups/Regions

To access Manage Groups/Countries/Regions, click on Extended Features on the Main Menu of IFs. There you will find three sub-sub-options: Identify Group or Country/Region Members, Change Grouping/Regionalization, and Display Regionally Aggregated Data.

This feature of IFs allows users to delve more deeply into the structure and membership of groups or Glists that are used in IFs. Users also can create their own groups or alter membership within an existing group to suit their purpose.

• Learn about how to see what countries are members of what groups.
• Learn how to change existing groups and create your own group.
• Learn how to display regional or group data sets.