I have recently tried using airtable.com for a couple of projects. With it, you can create databases of linked tables, enter data in a spreadsheet-like or form mode with constrained data types (including image/file uploads), and access everything via CSV download or REST API (for which there is an R wrapper). It has a nice mobile app for field data entry if the form is not very complicated. I like it a lot, though it is new, its versioning system is sort of weird, and it is online-only.
On Fri, Aug 26, 2016, 6:19 PM Gabriel A. Devenyi <[email protected]> wrote: > LibreOffice also has a database tool > https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/base/ > > On Fri, Aug 26, 2016, 18:16 Tiffany Timbers <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Emily Jane asked a good question about what are the other options, aside >> from Excel, Libre Office, or text editors as a means for data entry. >> >> Forms, whose output can later be accessed as tabular data (e.g., CSV), >> are a solution I have used and liked. Proprietary database software, such >> as Filemaker Pro exists, and from my experience, is fairly user friendly. >> For open source options, I would use Google forms, or if you want an option >> that doesn’t have to be hosted on the web, you could try out Dean Attali’s >> shinyforms R package (works, but is still under development) [1]. >> >> I especially like forms for data entry, as you can more easily constrain >> how the data gets entered (predefined columns, drop-down menus with limited >> options, etc), compared to the free-for-all that exists with a spreadsheet. >> >> I’d love to hear other’s favourite tools and opinions on this topic. >> >> Cheers, >> Tiffany >> >> [1] https://github.com/daattali/shinyforms >> >> Tiffany Timbers >> [email protected] >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> Message: 4 >> Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2016 15:02:06 -0700 >> From: Emily Jane McTavish <[email protected]> >> To: Software Carpentry Discussion >> <[email protected]> >> Subject: Re: [Discuss] Excel errors.... >> Message-ID: <[email protected]> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed >> >> Great points. >> >> I have a question about alternatives to excel for data input. >> >> Following this paper I have seen a lot of 'never use Excel' tweets, but >> that seems to be ignoring a key step in real world data analysis >> pipelines. If data is not coming straight off a machine, such as in >> ecological surveys, behavioral experiments, meta-analyses of gene names, >> etc., those data need to be put into a tabular, machine readable, format >> (e.g. CSV) somehow. I don't think anyone is recommending using a text >> editor to do that. >> Libre office calc and google sheets have many of the same autoformat >> issues as Excel. (although that may be fixed in new versions of libre >> office?) >> >> I think when people say 'don't use excel', they often mean 'for >> analysis', or 'for statistics'. But this paper demonstrates it is >> problematic for even simple data input. I know what to recommend as >> alternatives in the former cases, but not for the latter. Am I missing >> good alternative options here? >> >> >> Thanks, >> Emily Jane >> >> -- >> Emily Jane McTavish >> Assistant Professor >> School of Natural Sciences >> University of California, Merced >> 5200 N. Lake Rd, Merced CA 95343 >> [email protected], [email protected] >> >> >> >> >> On 08/26/2016 02:42 PM, Steven Haddock wrote: >> >> I was going to post that article too, but I dug into it (read the paper), >> and it is really just conversion of gene names (like SEPT5) in >> supplementary files. That was reported long ago as affecting some >> quantifications, but I would call it analytical errors as we have seen in >> the past. A bit of a tempest in a teapot, perhaps. >> >> Ironic twist, the paper provides a supplementary file listing all the >> gene-name errors they found, posted as an Excel file. >> >> -Steve >> >> On Aug 26, 2016, at 14:26 , Maxime Boissonneault < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hi everyone, >> Some interesting content to use about how to not do science correctly >> with a computer.... >> >> https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/08/26/an-alarming-number-of-scientific-papers-contain-excel-errors/ >> >> >> Maxime Boissonneault >> _______________________________________________ >> Discuss mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.software-carpentry.org/listinfo/discuss >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Discuss mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.software-carpentry.org/listinfo/discuss >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> Subject: Digest Footer >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Discuss mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.software-carpentry.org/listinfo/discuss >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> End of Discuss Digest, Vol 37, Issue 19 >> *************************************** >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Discuss mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.software-carpentry.org/listinfo/discuss > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.software-carpentry.org/listinfo/discuss
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