Operating the Clinic Menu for Data Entry and Analysis
Run the menu by clicking its icon on the desktop. You should see the menu screen with an image (initially a clinic door with records) a button for entering data, and a number of pull-down menus at the top. The name of the Clinic may be in the middle of the screen. If it is not, use the CONFIGURATION menu to supply a name.
If a database has been chosen for entry, it will be indicated at the upper left. You can tell from the path of the database file whether it is on a network and perhaps shared with others or on your own hard disk and probably not shared. If the database filename ends in .ELH it is encrypted. If it ends in .MDB, it is not encrypted and can be accessed by others without a password.
It is important to exit from the menu after you are through working. The menu will attempt to encrypt the database and you should enter the encryption password twice and wait for the encryption. If the file is in the network and others are logged in, encryption will not be possible except for the last person to exit for the day. It is important for that person to allow encryption, unless the network is otherwise protected.
Encryption is a process carried out by the Epi Info program, EpiLock, that compresses and changes the data in a file so that others without the password cannot read it. Even if the computer is stolen or the file is copied, it will be impossible to read the data without the correct password. Since it will also be impossible for your own computer to read the data without the correct password, it is important that you use the right one, and also that you spell it correctly. When the database is present only in encrypted form, the program will prompt you to enter the password to recover it for data entry or analysis.
Data Entry
To enter data, first choose a database from the Configuration menu under Choose Database. If the database is encrypted (ends in .ELH), you will be given a chance to unencrypt it with the EpiLock program when you click on the Enter Data button.
Analysis
To analyze data, first use Copy Data for Analysis in the Reports menu. The main file must not be encrypted. It will be copied to the Analysis directory as "Analysis.mdb". For the safety of the principal database, analysis is only performed on a copy of the data. It is important therefore to use Copy Data for Analysis AFTER entering data that should be included in the analysis and after decrypting it if necessary.
There are a number of types of analysis that can be done on the REPORTS and QUALITY menus. They will be based on the Patient and Visit tables in the currently selected database. The reports are in HTML format and can be viewed in a browser at the time they are made, or retrieved from the Analysis directory and saved elsewhere.
Exiting from the Menu
When you exit with the EXIT button, the menu will do the following:
1. Check for an unencrypted MDB in the DATA directory and encrypt it, adding .ELH to the name on the main screen the next time the menu is run.
2. Check for an unencrypted Analysis.mdb in the Analysis directory, and compress and encrypt it with a password that you supply. You may choose to delete the original files after they are safely encrypted. (Deleted files are easy for curious hackers to recover unless they are encrypted)
3. Show you any unencrypted MDB files so that you can encrypt them with the ENCRYPT DATA choice in the MANAGE DATA MENU.
We recommend that you use the same password for all three types of encryption. You MUST HAVE IT to recover the files later. (For the demo system, use “password” without quotes)
Because this mechanism is cumbersome during development, it is possible to click the red X at the upper right corner of the menu and receive only a warning that you are exiting in a non-secure manner. It would be easy to change this by putting CALL EXIT in the SHUTDOWN block of the menu so that the full procedure is performed.
Encrypting of Decrypting Files With EpiLock
Most of the time, you will encrypt or decrypt data files semiautomatically, using the Epi Info program called EpiLock. At the appropriate time, EpiLock will pop up and you only need to enter the password--twice for encryption and one for decryption.
There are times, however, when you discover that choosing to encrypt or decrypt with EpiLock would be most useful if you had more choice. For example, you try the Enter Data button and the Enter program claims there is no database. It may be that the database is encrypted (ends in MDB.ELH) and therefore inaccessible. In this case you can decrypt it with the menu entry under MANAGE DATA called DECRYPT DATA. If, after working with data, the semiautomatic encryption mechanism is not enough to cover your needs (more than one file, for example), you may want to locate the .MDB files with MyComputer and then run ENCRYPT DATA, navigate to the file, and encrypt it. For encrypting, you generally want to have EpiLock erase the original file, if the purpose is to protect the data from theft. If you merely want to make an encrypted copy to send elsewhere, you could leave this checkbox unchecked.