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EZSurvey 2005 for the Internet

Major features and specifications are listed below.

1.      Introduction

2.      Special Features

3.      Form Design

4.      Powerful Database Management

5.      Statistics and Analysis

6.      Web Capabilities

7.      Email Capabilities

8.      Other Distribution Capabilities

9.      Security Protection

10.  System Requirements

11.  EZSurvey2005 Professional

12.  Support for Distinct Applications

 

Introduction

      

EZSurvey is designed to provide ease and power for surveys and questionnaire forms, while maintaining affordability.

EZSurvey quickly creates flexible and attractive electronic data collection forms as HTML Web questionnaires or text and HTML e-mail. It is a tool for either novices or experts, for use with either simple or complex forms. EZSurvey provides easy design with many powerful functions available to end users. The main form design screen efficiently controls all the elements of question creation, validation and skip-by-response. All possible question types are supported including multiple choice, text entry, list boxes, and unlimited comment write-ins. It automatically generates the accessory Web-server programs needed to collect the responses. It will also connect directly to most e-mail servers for text questionnaire send out. Automated e-mail response collection is included. Results can be immediately displayed and exported as charts and tables, and may be viewed in real time on the web or posted to the web in PDF format. EZSurvey for the Handheld creates survey forms for use on handhelds. Support for the physically or visually impaired is included with the 508(c) design option.

 

 

Special Features

·         Survey participants can save their responses and return later to finish.

·         You can skip to a different question or to different pages depending on the question or response to a question that is selected.

·         The new Raosoft EZSurvey Personal Server lets you preview a multi-page validated form without a web server. You can check validation and skip patterns immediately without publishing.

·         After a response you can have a follow-up question appear in a dialog box, asking the user to write in their response. Use the follow-up question to have respondents specify when they select “Other”.

·         You can place Help buttons on the form that open up help windows when clicked.

·         Use the new Raosoft AutoStyle templates to apply a standard “look and feel” to your forms for quick design and known appearance.

·         For fast speed design, Import Questions allows you to import questions from a "Form", "Document", or "Database" in one quick transfer.

·         Connect with an HTML editor with one click, or enter your own HTML tags in a plain-text question (or other type question) to insert images, horizontal rules, and other items to liven up your form. You may use any type of image.

·         You can have horizontal responses and table layouts of questions! The table editor will automatically format the table cells and rows for you.

·         You may edit the database in an easy worksheet layout. You can right click on a cell and select a different response or double click and edit the text of the response.

·         The Professional version has ODBC connectivity with both the web server and desktop program.

·         You can mask the text of write-in fields to ensure only numbers for SSN’s, only letters for names, etc.

·         You can save data after each page, so that if the user is not able to finish the data is still saved. The participant can reenter if you allow that option.

·         E-mail has mailmerge for bulk e-mailing, and can use standard address books.

·         Restrict By Date activates a survey between a specified start date and a specified end date. The survey will only allow access to data entry during that designated time period.

·         Unicode support means that surveys to any country are possible now, and you are not limited to the western alphabet countries.

·         You may create forms for Palm, Pocket PC, Windows CE, and Tablet handhelds. You can preview the handheld form instantly.

·         The new EZSurvey Personal Server can provide Kiosk mode so that only the entry form is available to the participant during entry.

·         The open standards of EZSurvey let you modify it to fit your needs!

Form Design

  • Design questions in yes/no, multiple choice, open-end comment, weighted score, date, time, numeric format; use the Raosoft developed Rank Order question type and draw from question libraries.
  • Choose the “piping” option to display previously answered responses in a later question.
  • Choose randomization of responses to remove response order bias, and randomize question order to remove question order bias.
  • Jump (branch) to a different question or page depending on answers to a selected response.

 

  • Write a custom Warn on Response message, or use the default, to show an error warning for an invalid response.
  • Use the new AutoStyle templates for easily adding a standard “look and feel” to your form. CSS and DHTML will work with the templates.
  • Use default question templates or create your own libraries to speed up the design process. Libraries can be saved easily for future use for borrowing questions or whole projects.
  • Cut and paste questions for easy import from any standard word processor.
  • Use Recode Responses to quickly recode all of the responses to any question in the database.

·         Use Export Response List to export quickly the response list to a text file.

·         Rename fieldnames to change all fieldnames in the form to default numbering (Q1, Q2, etc.) to match the order of the questions.

  • View the Active Preview window to display the form page as you type, providing word processing ease. JavaScript errors will be identified as you type (if you are using JavaScript).
  • Use the HTML editor or insert graphics using HTML tags to give visual interest.
  • Remove HTML provides for all HTML code to be removed at once for reporting purposes, so that report displays do not show HTML.
  • Drag and drop questions and responses to where you want them.
  • Format tables immediately with the Table wizard option.
  • Select the Spell Checker dictionary for editing reviews.
  • Use the On-line Help in HTML, with a searchable index.
  • Translate EZSurvey forms to the Raosoft SurveyWin program format and vice-versa.
  • Provide HTML links or use EZSurvey’s Tool button to link to outside documents for user reference.
  • Use Count Questions to return a breakout of the number of questions in the form.
  • With Display Overview you can open an HTML page with a list of question response codes, labels and most important options. This provides a fast form overview.
  • Unicode support means that surveys to any country are possible now, and are not limited to the western alphabet countries.

·         The Generic Login plug-in gives you the option to have a login page and a single password to the survey. Multiple persons can enter the survey if they have the password, but no others. This capacity is in addition to the robust individual access restriction login present in EZSurvey.

·           Select book marking so respondents can leave in the middle of the questionnaire and re-enter later to finish.

·           Use the full featured 508(c) support for 508(c) compliant forms.

Powerful Database Management

  • The database format is DBF and can be imported / exported as ASCII for compatibility with all standard database programs.
  • Bring in data from an ASCII database, e.g. a spreadsheet, to both reuse legacy data and create draft forms.
  • Import and export large data files very quickly.
  • Add records manually using an easy dialog box format.
  • View the database in a worksheet view.
  • Edit cells and delete records in the worksheet.
  • Use an ASCII database on the server machine and then import back into the DBF database. You may store the ASCII database in a folder not accessible to the web server, and set a password for administration.
  • Web data can be saved in an XML file to be used by other programs.
  • Correct your data with an unlimited Undo option.
  • You will securely copy files to your web server with built in FTP with SCP to automate the publishing of forms.
  • Choose Remove Duplicate IPs to only allow the last occurrence of a host IP to be left in the database. Useful for those who want to filter later based on IP.
  • See EZSurvey Pro features list below for SQL support.

Statistics and Analysis

·         Provide instant HTML web reports for online, real-time results viewing. Printer-ready Adobe Acrobat documents are included.

·         Format web reports with the wizard provided or use your own HTML. Web reports support graphs, write in text and complex calculated values.

·         The Sum-File feature creates a .sum file that can be used for statistics when publishing to a web site. The summary statistics report and the admin CGI use the sum file. This plugin looks at the existing database and calculates all of the necessary values for the .sum file.

·         Quickly create a 2D or 3D Summary displaying pie, horizontal, and vertical bar charts, or view tables, and then export to word-processing reports, PowerPoint.

·         Display graphs and tables simultaneously on the same screen.

·         See your comments with the Word Count options.

·         View the sum, average, standard deviation and other functions for each appropriate field in Analysis.

·         Display your results for interactive reports in a greater variety of formats in real time.

·         The Weighted Score Plug-in (Pro only) allows weights to be assigned to demographic questions in order to calculate means for reports, an easy way to handle a complex requirement.

·         Choose the advanced query to select data subsets.

·         Export data to SPSS. You can export with the SPSS Label file for immediate use with SPSS statistics software from within EZSurvey or you may export using Raosoft SurveyTools.

·         Explore the vast array of reporting features and options available in Raosoft’s EZReport program. Customize your reports.

·         Use Raosoft EZReport to analyze online data that can be retrieved for custom, or default, reporting off-site.

Web Capabilities

·         Compatible with all of the standard web servers, including: Windows IIS, Windows PWS, Apache (Windows, UNIX/LINUX and Netware-based), CERN httpd, Lotus Domino (NT), Microsoft (Windows), NCSA, Netscape (NT and UNIX/LINUX), WebSite (Windows). Also, the Raosoft EZSurvey Personal Server provided free with Pro, lets you use your own PC or notebook as a web server.

·         Executable CGI types include .CGI, .EXE and ISAPI. Scripted CGI types include PERL.

·         The compiled CGI is safe, secure, and its efficient small size allows a speed that takes 25 more hits/second than standard Perl and is three times faster.

·         You can administer the web site and download the ASCII database from remote sites through EZSurvey. EZSurvey Pro includes other database access options.

·         Create single or multi-page forms.

·         Choose appearance options such as background, font, title, and more.

·         Use special JavaScript functions or server-side scripting for validating data and form flow.

Email Capabilities

·           Compatible with the following email clients: Internet mail (POP3/SMTP), Exchange, MS Mail, Outlook, GroupWise, cc:Mail +, Notes 4.6+, BeyondMail, and Eudora.

·           You may send out unlimited emails.

·           The EZSurvey Enterprise Stand Alone Mail Server is included free with EZSurvey, and is a full-featured email delivery program for notifications and/or email survey distribution. It is open source to allow easy modification if wanted.

·           Use EZSurvey’s Bulk Mail option to send out text messages at any time before questionnaire distribution or for interim use during collection.

·           The e-mail Mailmerge option lets you pull from an address book or data file, to create individu­alized messages.

·           Track who has responded to the web survey and easily send out emails to those individuals or those not responding. Prevent “ballot-stuffing” by limiting each person to one response. Pass-word protect for only identified users.

·           Respondent email addresses are embedded to correctly track people who use email forwarding.

·           Send the HTML (or text) survey form as an attachment to your email message, and have data returned via email.

·           You may choose to have the server e-mail the data to an administrator for browsers not support­ing mailto utilities.

Other Distribution Capabilities

·           Form creation for Palm, Pocket PC, Windows CE, and Tablet handhelds is now available. EZ­Survey lets you preview the handheld form instantly.

·           Extended Pocket PC support allows either single or multiple surveys to be published on a single device.

·           The EZSurvey Personal Server permits kiosk mode so that only the entry form is available to the participant doing entry.

·           Short Message Service (SMS) will send and receive surveys to mobile phones.

Security Protection

·           SQL commands are hard-coded into an XML file on the web server to make them invulnerable to nonsense-data attacks.

·           Web data is converted into UTF-8 prior to security filtering.

·           All SQL commands are generated in UTF-8 to close certain possible security holes.

·           Web data is converted into UTF-8 prior to security filtering.

·           Two 32-bit login passwords and a 32-bit unique session ID are automatically generated to prevent hackers from guessing access codes.

·           The form processor detects buffer overrun attacks and improper file names, and sends an email notification to the web site owner.

·           EZSurvey generates .htaccess files with proper web server security settings.

·           Data validation is performed by client-side JavaScript, then repeated on the server.

·           The server’s scripting processor uses an open-source, restricted-memory language that prevents modification of files, registry settings, or unauthorized database rows.

·           Forms over plain-text email have a user-identification code.

System Requirements

·           The desktop application installs on Win2000, NT and XP; setup file is 6 MB, after installation with forms/data 20+ MB hard disk space.

·           The web server requires 1-10 MB of disk space depending on the collection size of your project.

·           Windows servers require executable permission for compiled and scripted CGIs. CGI types include .CGI, .EXE, ISAPI, or PERL 4+. UNIX servers require command line access and gcc (for compiled scripts) or PERL 4+. Other server types require PERL 4+. The Pro version requires a DSN entry to use ODBC connectivity.

·           You will need access to a web server for posting a web form. See the Web Capabilities section for additional details.

·           You will need a compatible email client or connection for emailing. See Email Capabilities section for additional details.

·           EZSurvey is written in C++ with its own database engine in DBF format. Import/export in ASCII as well for compatibility with all standard databases.

·           Standard browsers for web surveys: IE 4+, Netscape 4+, and many others.

You can add more power with EZSurvey 2005 for the Internet, Professional version!

To the features listed for EZSurvey 2005 for the Internet, add:

·           EZSurvey 2005 for the Internet Professional includes the Import Questions for fast speed design. Questions can be imported from a "Form", "Document", or "Database" in one transfer.

·           EZSurvey 2005 Professional includes a “custom validation window” for adding extensive calculations and conditional statements that are used to control data validation and branching.

·           EZSurvey 2005 Professional allows the user to script custom plug-ins that actually adds features to the EZSurvey program. Make new question types, automate complex formatting and scripting, and perform many other uses.

·           EZSurvey 2005 Professional uses ASCII, DBF, or ODBC databases, and can connect to the ODBC databases directly from the web server and desktop program.

·           Online updating of SQL databases via ODBC is available. This feature allows ID Tracking with the SQL database.

·           The new Export to SQL plug-in lets you export all of the data in the database to SQL statements that can be imported into any SQL database.

·           The Export to XML lets you export all of the data in the database to XML format.

·           The web CGI can make a full connection to the ODBC database. Respondents can create new records, and update existing records.

·           Supported databases are: MS SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS Access, IBM DB/2, Sybase, and Watcom.

·           EZSurvey2005 Professional can open multiple projects at once.

·           Use the Sample Size Calculator in the Professional version to calculate the number of surveys needed to be collected and the number needed to be distributed in order to obtain a statistically valid sample.

·           The Weighted Score plug-in allows weights to be assigned to demographic questions in order to calculate means for reports, an easy way to handle a complex requirement.

 

·           The intranet web server provided with EZSurvey Pro, the Raosoft EZSurvey Web Server, will let you use your PC as a web server, so you may collect responses within your company without having to rely on the IT Department’s server. You may convert your laptop into its own web server for use off-site!


Note: Click on Demos to download an EZSurvey sample. There is not a separate demo for EZSurvey Pro because the design creation is the same; the difference is the addition of ODBC support and special features and functionality as detailed above for EZSurvey Pro.

Support for Distinct Applications

·         The EZSurvey Personal Web Server can collect data in the field or when you are home. It is an alternative to publishing the survey on a major web server.

·         Publishing options include Web, Email, Handheld, Kiosk, Text, and Paper.

·         Distribution methods can be by web, email, laptop, kiosk, mobiles, SMS, portable hard drives, diskettes, touchscreen and paper.

·         One database can be used by more than one survey. For example, if you had a regular survey and another survey formatted for section 508c compliance, both could save data to a common database.

·         The online handheld PDA can save the name of a binary file. This is useful if you are doing voice recording or taking pictures.

·         Follow up email messages can be sent based on previous survey responses.  You can send reminders or even invitations to a new survey for those participating in an earlier survey.

·         Instant Polls can be made and put on the front page of your web site.  The instant poll can be a single question or multiple questions.

·         EZSurvey can administer tests and after the data has been collected those tests can be scored for reporting purposes.

·         Images can be included in surveys.  Any image that is web accessible can be used in a survey, for questions, responses, banners, general display, and other.

·         Data can be exported to SQL. You can take data, once it has been collected, and save it to an SQL database. The Export to SQL plug-in lets you export data in the database to SQL statements for importation to any SQL database.

·         Questions from text can be imported quickly and in bulk now to speed form creation. Questions can be imported from spreadsheet text format or word document text format.