Data Entry Automator

About

The data entry automator is a tool that allows you to automate the process of entering experimental lifespan data into spreadsheets in the format necessary to generate meaningful graphs and statistical tests.

Usage

The program can currently be run from either the command line or via a GUI.

Running the Program

Not Recommended

Run the program using the following command:

java -jar data-entry-automator.jar -i <input file> [options]

Options

Argument	Short Form	Usage	Description	Default Value
--input	-i	--input <filepath>	Input file name (required)	NONE
--output-type	-t	--output-type <TYPE>	Output type (PRISM, OTHER, RAW, BOTH)	BOTH
--mode	-m	--mode <MODE>	Mode (GENERATE_OUTPUT_SHEETS, GENERATE_EMPTY_INPUT_SHEET)	GENERATE_OUTPUT_SHEETS
--different	-d	--different	Write to a different file than the specified input file	false
--output	-o	--output <filepath>	Output file name	"Spreadsheet Formatter Output.xlsx"
--verbose	-v	--verbose	Whether or not verbose output should be printed	false
--help	-h	--help	Whether or not helpful usage information should be printed	false

Recommended

Run the program by installing the app using one of releases on the releases page. Once installed, navigate to the installation location (or create a desktop shortcut) and open the application to access the GUI. The program should look something like:

Input

The input to the data entry automator is a .xlsx file with the following columns:

• Strain: The name of the strain
  • • only one of Condition or Strain is required, though both can be used
• Condition: The condition of the strain
  • only one of Condition or Strain is required, though both can be used
• Sample Number: The number of the sample
• Multiple Day XX 3-column groups, where XX is the day number
  • Colonies: The day number
  • Dilution: Whether the sample was diluted by a factor of 10x, 100x, or 1000x
    • 1000x is represented by 1
    • 100x is represented by 0.1
    • 10x is represented by 0.01
  • % of initial value: The number of worms dead on that day
• Baseline (optional): The number of alive at the start of the experiment

Example Input File

An example of a valid input file is shown below:

In the above example, only the Condition, Sample Number, Baseline, and Day XX columns are used.

The Strain column is excluded in the example, but the Condition column is present, so it is okay. The file would be fine with a Condition and Strain column or just a Strain column, but it would not be valid with neither.