Release Notes for Cost of the Diet Version

Transcription

1 Release Notes for Cost of the Diet Version Contents 1. Installing the Cost of the Diet Software and Starting the Application 1.1. Downloading the Installer executable and running it 1.2. Starting the CotD Application and Registration 1.3. Service Desk Registration 1.4. Problems during the Software Launch 2. New Features and Improved Functionality 2.1. Bug Reporting (Jira Service Desk) 2.2. Error Handling Error Messages Error Log Warning and Confirm Messages 2.3. New Version Download 2.4. Help and Menu System Help Menu System 2.5. Backup and Restore Database Back up Database Restore Database 2.6. Export and Import Database Export Database Import Database 2.7. Database Performance and Maintenance 2.8. Usability and Functional Improvement Adding/Editing Foods Select Foods Screen Creating New Foods Adding a food to the assessment after models have been created Adding a food to a model Adding a new model to the assessment Adding a new diet to a model Generating the Diet Affordability Report Colour-Coding in Price and Portion Screens Adding members to a family Exporting Data to MS Excel Market Survey Summary Calculation of Price per 100g Speed Improvements Descriptions on screens

2 1 Installing the Cost of the Diet Software and Starting the Application 1.1 Downloading the Installer executable and running it Visit and click on Download Report. You will be asked if you want to run or Save the CotDInstaller.exe to your computer. Click Run. If a Windows security message comes up or Windows SmartScreen tries to prevent the application from starting, click the Run or Run Anyway button. In some cases it may be necessary to log in as administrator. The installer will ask you to choose the folder in which Cost of the Diet should run, and provide options to create a shortcut on the desktop, and start CotD once downloaded. Note: If you are upgrading an existing version of the software, choose your existing Cost of the Diet location as the Install folder. Existing files in the folder that need updating will be replaced, but your database with all its assessments will remain intact. Before you can proceed with the download you should read the CotD End User Licence and agree to the terms detailed in it by clicking the checkbox I accept the terms detailed above. This will activate the Download Now button which should be clicked. The software will download, unpack and start automatically (if this option was ticked).

3 1.2 Starting the CotD Application and Registration The software will either start automatically or after double-clicking the CotD shortcut on the desktop (if created) or the CotD application file (CostOfDiet.exe) in the installation folder. Users will be asked for some information in the Organisation Details screen: The organisation name and address allow us to send you an invitation to the CotD Service Desk (also known as Jira Support or Service Desk), a new online bug-tracking tool for the software. Your organisation name and address will also be used for the purposes of tracking errors and informing you of bug fixes and solutions to problems. You may choose not to enter these details and continue into the application by selecting Register Later, but you won t be able to access the online support desk. The Organisation Details screen will be displayed at every start-up until all details have been entered. 1.3 Service Desk Registration After sending us your organisation details by clicking Register now you will receive an from Service Desk <jira@staintonconsultancy.com> inviting you to visit the portal to raise requests and get help. Please be patient, this can take up to several days. Please click the Visit the portal link in the and follow the instructions on the Welcome page to complete your registration with the Service Desk.

4 You are now ready to use the Service Desk which is accessed from the Help menu of the CotD application (see 2.1). 1.4 Problems during the Software Launch Laptops or desktops used by academic institutions, Governments, UN agencies, charities and INGOs may have restrictions on running.exe files, applied by their IT/IS departments. These might prevent the Cost of the Diet software from launching automatically when selected. If this is the case, it is recommended that you right click on the Cost of the Diet application and select the Run as Administrator option. If this doesn t work, please contact your IT/IS department. We have also found that some anti virus software, Lync, Outlook and Skype can block the software from launching. If the software does not launch automatically, click Ctrl+Alt+Delete, launch the Windows Task Manager and end the tasks that are running in the background. The software should then launch. If it doesn t please contact your IT/IS department.

5 2 New Features and Improved Functionality 2.1 Bug Reporting (Jira Service Desk) The software has now online support capabilities the Jira Support Desk (also called Jira or CotD Service Desk). The service desk is accessed via the Help menu, which you find in the new menu bar of the main screens (Help > Jira Support Desk). Clicking the menu option 'Jira Support Desk' opens the online login page of the Jira Service Desk, where you will be asked for your username (= address) and password, which you created during the Service Desk registration process (see 1.3). In the Service Desk users can report bugs or problems encountered using the software and issues with the help and documentation, or make suggestions for enhancements. Please provide as much information as possible to help the support desk resolve your problem. We would encourage all users to log issues using this facility to allow us to track and manage them in the most efficient way possible. 2.2 Error Handling Error Messages The software has an improved error handling capability. If the system encounters a problem that the user should be aware of, a message box will pop up giving details of the problem. Reporting problems is very important for both improving the quality of the software and for diagnosing issues with the data in an assessment. It is important that they are reported.to Support.

6 The standard error message box has two tabs. The Error tab shows the error text; the Details tab displays details of where in the application the fault has arisen. It is important that the details on BOTH TABS are reported if you are reporting issues by or through the Service Desk. If you are connected to the Internet when an error occurs and you leave the Send error to Cost of the Diet Support check-box checked, the error will be exported to Support automatically. You should still report the issue through the Service Desk, and where applicable provide screen shots or supporting documentation too. The more information provided, the quicker the problem will be resolved. If the Internet is not available, but the checkbox is checked, the error will automatically be uploaded when the connection to the Internet is re-established. Note: It is important that you registered your organisation name and address to enable us to identify you as the sender, else we won t be able to contact you about the error Error Log (Help > Error Log) The system accumulates all error messages in an error log which can be viewed through the Help menu. The error log provides useful information that can help us understand the cause of reported issues. It features an Export Log button that allows you to export the error log database either to Support for analysis or, if the Export to Cost of the Diet Support checkbox is unticked, to a location of your choice such as a USB stick. If the Internet is not available, but the checkbox is ticked, the error log will automatically be uploaded when the connection to the Internet is re-established. If you were asked by Support to also upload your complete system database (.db3), you can upload both the database and the error log through the Export to Support screen (see 2.6.1, File > Export database > Export to CotD Support), making sure the Include Error log checkbox stays ticked.

7 The Stack Trace tab displays details of the error that may be requested by support to try and understand the cause of the error Warning and Confirm Messages There are now three types of message dialogues: 1. One Button Message Dialogues One button dialogues are for information. They usually inform the user of what the system is about to do, or warn them of a problem the system has encountered. The only option is to click the OK button.

8 2. Two Button Message Dialogues Two button dialogues pop up when the system requires the user to choose whether to perform an action or not. The descriptions of the action have been improved to give the user a better understanding of the consequences of their choice. 3. Three Button Message Dialogues Three button dialogues are implemented to improve the saving of data before screens are exited. If a user tries to cancel out of a screen by clicking the Close Button or the X at the top of the screen, after the data in the screen has been changed, a three button dialogue box will pop up: Yes will save the data and then exit the screen. No will exit the screen without saving. Cancel will abandon the attempt to exit the screen, leaving the user to continue editing its data. 2.3 New Version Download If a new version of the software is available, the system will notify you on start-up, and offer the option to install the latest version. The pop-up screen also displays a list of bug fixes and enhancements that have been implemented since the previous version.

9 It is always recommended to install the latest version. Simply click Install Now and the new version will be downloaded. Your data will not be affected by the update.

10 2.4 Help and Menu System Help (F1 or Help > Cost of the Diet Help) The software has now an integrated help file which is called up by pressing the F1 key on any screen or by selecting the Cost of the Diet Help option from the Help menu. It opens the Help Viewer, displaying (where possible) the context relevant page in the help file. The Help Viewer s navigation pane on the left contains the table of contents and a comprehensive index to help you find specific topics in the help documentation. The help documentation is based on an updated version of section 5 of the Practitioners Guide, keeping to the same numbering system Menu System A menu system has been added to all main screens. It is partly context sensitive, meaning that some menus or menu options are only available on the screens they apply to. For many tasks the menus provide an alternative to the hyperlinks and buttons on the screens, but there are also several new features that can only be accessed through the menus (File > Export/Import/Back up/restore Database, Help menu). These are described separately in this document. Reports can now be generated directly from the Reports menu on the Assessment summary, Standard Analysis summary and Model summary screens, saving the user from having to access each diet s Cost results screen individually. 2.5 Back up and Restore Database Back up Database There are 3 ways to back up your whole database (.db3 file) that contains all assessments: 1. When quitting the CotD application (by clicking the Quit button on the Assessments screen or the cross) a dialog box will appear prompting you to back up the database and informing you how long ago the last backup was performed.

11 If you click Yes the database will be backed up in a folder named Backup which is a subfolder of the directory where your CotD software resides. Up to four backups are stored before the oldest one is overwritten. 2. File > Back up Database. To back up to the Backup folder without leaving the application use the Back up Database option in the File menu. To restore a previous backup from the Backup folder (see 2.5.2). 3. To back up to a location of your choice, for example an external hard drive, you can use the Export Database option in the File menu (see 2.6.1). It is strongly recommended to back up your database regularly as it contains all your assessments. This will prevent or minimise loss of data should the database file become corrupted or get accidentally deleted. In addition to the internal backup we advise to use the Export Database function at regular intervals to back up your data away from your computer to minimise loss of data in case of hardware problems Restore Database (File > Restore Database) The Restore Database option allows you to restore a previous backup directly from the Backup folder. Like importing, restoring a database will overwrite your current database with all its assessments. The Restore option in the File menu displays a list of the last four backups with the most recent one listed first. When you click on a backup you will be prompted to confirm that you want to restore the selected backup. A warning message will inform you that the application will have to be restarted in order to restore the selected backup. The current database should be backed up when exiting the application. 2.6 Export and Import Database Export Database The database can be exported to a location of your choice (e.g. as a backup or to share it with another user) or it can be exported to the CotD Support Desk. Both options are accessed through the File menu. Export to Disk (File > Export database > Export to Disk) A standard Windows Save as dialogue prompts you to select a location for the export and allows you to change the name of the.db3 file. Export to CotD Support (File > Export database > Export to CotD Support) This option allows you to send your database directly via the Internet to the CotD Support Desk, which may be helpful if you have an issue that requires further investigation.

12 It is recommended to use the Vacuum function before exporting the database as this will reduce its size (Help > Performance see 2.7). A pop-up window ( Export to Support ) will ask you for some information to help identify you and the problem. To look up your Support Desk ticket number or to report the issue in the first place click the 'Open Jira Service Desk' button.

13 2.6.2 Import Database Importing a database will replace your current database with all its assessments. A standard Windows Open dialogue prompts you to select the relevant database in its location and open it. You can select any.db3 files, as the system will automatically rename them to the required CostofDiet.db3 on import. A warning message will inform you that the CotD application will have to be restarted in order to load the imported database. The current database should be backed up when exiting the application. 2.7 Database Performance and Maintenance (Help > Performance) Over time, the software db3 file can become bloated, increasing in file size, particularly when users delete, import or export multiple assessments. A new feature allows you to view database related information (which is mainly used for software support) in the 'Database details' pop-up screen. The pop-up screen also features a 'Vacuum' button which re-organises the database to improve efficiency. It is recommended to use the vacuum option now and again, especially after importing, exporting or deleting assessments and before exporting the database. It results in a smaller database and in some cases a noticeably improved performance. 2.8 Usability and Functional Improvement Adding/Editing Foods Select Foods Screen Several improvements have been made on the Select Foods screen: Checkboxes have been added to allow adding multiple foods in one go. An Edit Food button has been added at the bottom of the screen which becomes active when a user-added food is highlighted.

14 The identification and editing of user-added foods has been improved: If a user-added food is highlighted when scrolling through the list of selected foods in the right panel the following happens: - The food s nutritional information is displayed in blue in the Nutritional Information section of the screen (Help point 9). - The Edit Food button becomes active. - The View hyperlink in the top right corner of the Nutritional Information section changes to Edit (as before) if the food s status is draft or to Edit! If the status is final Creating New Foods If a new food is created the default food table on the Add a food to the local food list screen is 'Other'. This should not be changed even if the food s country of origin is in the Food Table drop-down menu. To show the country origin of the new food write the country name in brackets after the food name e.g. Banana (Ethiopia) Adding a food to the assessment after models have been created After foods have been added to the Selected Foods list on the Select Foods screen and the user proceeds to save the selection, a new pop-up window Add new food to models appears.

15 In the Models Affected tab the user has full control over which models food lists the food should be added to. This is useful if the new food is intended to be added to several models. Although it is possible to add foods to the standard analysis it is not recommended as the standard analysis represents the assessment s base model against which all modelling is done. In the 'Price, Portions and Max Frequency' tab you can specify a price per 100g and change the default portion size and the minimum/maximum frequency constraints for the food. These values can be applied to all seasons by specifying them in the All Seasons tab (one of the bottom tabs). If they vary between the seasons they should be specified for each season separately, and will show as Multiple in the All Seasons tab. All specified values will apply to all diets and all family members in all selected models. If the food is a free food the checkbox in the 'Free' column should be ticked. If the price is left at 0.00 with the intention to price the food at a later stage within each diet, the food will be saved with a maximum weekly frequency of 0 to prevent the software from using it incorrectly as a free food in the diet calculations Adding a food to a model Foods that are added at the model level will automatically be added to the assessment food list, but not to the standard analysis or any other model. Details like the price per 100g, portion size and maximum weekly frequency can be defined in the Price, Portions and Max Frequency tab for all diets as described above in Adding a new model to the assessment The new model has to be based either on the standard analysis or on another previously created model. It is no longer possible to create a new model from scratch. This ensures that all four standard diet types are always present. The reason for this is that the affordability report requires the presence of the EO and NUT diet to give meaningful results.

16 2.8.6 Adding a new diet to a model A new diet can either be copied from an existing FHAB diet, or can be created from scratch as FHAB type. Diets of the EO, NUT or MAC type can only be created if they were previously deleted. If you try to delete the EO or NUT diet a warning message will pop up informing you of the effect it will have on the Affordability report Generating the Diet Affordability Report If you try to run the Diet Affordability report from the Cost Results screen of any FHAB diet you will now get an error message if either the EO or NUT diet are missing from the current model. This may happen in assessments that were created in the past. The missing diets should be added to the model (as type EO or NUT) to enable the Diet Affordability report to be generated.

17 2.8.8 Colour-Coding in Price and Portion Screens The Change food price screen and Change food portion size and frequency screen are accessed through the menus on the Cost results screen of a diet ( > Edit Prices or Edit Portions ). Both screens have been improved: If the computer locale is set to English the foods are displayed with their English name first, followed by the local name. Colour coding has been added to these screens to help identify the foods that are used by the software for the selected diet, season(s) and family member(s) and to highlight possible anomalies. - Black lines indicate foods that are in the assessment, but are not currently used by the software for the selected diet/season(s)/family member(s). - Blue lines indicate foods with a price greater than 0.00 in all seasons that are used by the software for the selected diet/season(s)/family member(s). Breast milk, if present, is always blue as there is no price associated with it. - Red lines indicate foods that are used by the software for the selected diet/season(s)/family member(s), but which have a price of 0.00 in one or more seasons. These may be genuine free foods, or user added foods whose price hasn t been entered yet. In the latter case it may be unintentional to have them included in the calculated diet. - Grey lines indicate foods that are in the assessment, but whose maximum frequency constraints are set to 0 in one or more seasons, therefore preventing the software from using them for the calculated diet. This may be intentional e.g. for user-added foods whose details aren t complete yet or if you are modelling, but should be checked Adding members to a family within a model If you add another family member to a model after any portion sizes and/or maximum/minimum frequency constraints have been changed in the model, it is now possible to copy the portion sizes and/or the min/max constraints from an existing family member. This would for example allow free foods that are included in the diets of the existing family members to also be used for the new family member (as otherwise the default maximum constraints for the free food would automatically be set to zero for the new family member).

18 In the Add/Edit Family or individuals screen select an individual from the drop-down and click Add To Family. This will open the Copy Family Member Portions and Constraints pop-up window: To accept the default values for the person you are adding, click OK. A warning will appear to remind you that the maximum constraints for all unpriced or zero priced foods will be set to 0, making the food unavailable in the new person s diets. This can be changed later in the Change food portion size and frequency screen (accessed from the Edit portions menu option in the Cost results screen of any diet). To copy the portion sizes and/or constraints from one of the existing family members select the appropriate person from the drop-down, and select what you want to copy by ticking the appropriate checkbox(es). If you tick the Copy Portions checkbox to copy the portion sizes of a family member that is not identical to the new family member you are adding, a warning message will pop up: As portion sizes are very specific to a person type, gender, age and activity level, they should only be copied from a different person type if you are sure it s appropriate.

19 If you copy only portion sizes from an existing individual, but leave the Copy Min and Max Constraints checkbox unticked, you will be warned that the max constraints for any free foods will be set to 0 (see above). Clicking the Cancel button in the Copy Family Member Portions and Constraints pop-up window will add the new individual using the default values and excluding zero priced foods Exporting Data to MS Excel Section of the Cost of the Diet Practitioner s Guide explains how to export data generated using the FastReport report generator package to Microsoft Excel (using the Excel 97/2000/XP file option). The Excel 97/2000/XP file option is no longer available, instead you can use the Excel table (XML...) option Market Survey Summary Calculation of Price per 100g The calculation of the price/100g for a food has been corrected and re-specified. The price per 100g shown for a trader in the Market Survey Analysis Summary is calculated using the average weight of the three samples. The seasonal and annual price, however, is calculated using the average of all individual sample prices (the price per 100g for each individual weight sample in the appropriate period, calculated separately). Only the seasonal and annual values are used by the software for its calculations. Example: Food 1, Trader 1 in Market 1 Method to calculate each trader s price per 100g for a food Weight 1 190g average weight Weight 2 210g = 600 Weight 3 200g 600/3 = 200g Price (USD) 4.80 Price/100g 2.40 (Price/avg weight) x 100 = (4.80/200) x 100 = 2.40 Food 1, Trader 1 in Market 1 - Method to calculate seasonal and annual price per 100g for a food Weight 1 190g Price per 100g for this sample: = (4.80/190) x 100 = 2.53 Weight 2 210g Price per 100g for this sample: = (4.80/210) x 100 = 2.40 Weight 3 200g Price per 100g for this sample: = (4.80/200) x 100 = 2.29 Price (USD) 4.80 Price/100g 2.40 (Avg individual sample price) / number of samples = ( ) / 3 = Speed Improvements The generation of results data and summary reports (e.g. Market Survey Summary, diet calculations etc.) and routines like import and export have been sped up significantly - in some instances resulting in a reduction from over 20 minutes to a few seconds.

20 Descriptions on screens Descriptions on several screens have been made clearer, e.g. instead of Name it specifies whether it is the assessment, model or diet name etc. On the Assessment Summary screen the number of models is shown as part of the Analysis header. This was added as, in assessments with several models, it is not obvious that the user may have to scroll down to see models further down in the list. The currency is now shown on the Change wealth groups screen.