General information

• A Python program called CheckProofsPara.py will check the 300/700 proof file format and the associated 301/701 parameter file for format correctness against the IDEA EBV User Manual Appendix II and prepare a zip file, if no errors are found in the files. The zipped file created with the name IB-ORGCODE-IG-yyymmddThhmmss.zip (for conventional MACE) or IB-ORGCODE-GG-yyymmddThhmmss.zip (for GMACE) contains the input proof and parameter files, renamed to proof.dat and param.dat, respectively. The zip file represents your checked data file to upload to the Interbull Centre IDEA database (https://idea.interbull.org/). For technical reason the program rejects files containing more than a million of data.

• Every proof file must be accompanied by a parameter file and each record in the proof file must have associated information for a single brd-pop-trt combination in the parameterfile. One zip file may contain records for as many or few brd-pop-trt combinations as desired. All traits in a trait group can be put in the same file, as they have in the past, but this is not essential. There is also a choice to upload evaluations for all breeds, populations and traits in a single file if that is more convenient. A proof file may contain only conventional (300) or only GEBV (700) records, not both. CheckProofsPara.py will fail if both record types are found in one file. The program checks its internal version with the version stored on the Interbull server and the program must be re downloaded if there is a mismatch in versions.

Before Running the Programs

• a. Ensure there is a working network connection

• b. Install Python (version 2.6 to 2.7) if necessary

• b. Create a working directory/folder

• d. Download the CheckProofPara.py program from https://idea.interbull.org/software and copy it to your new directory

• e. Copy your proof and parameter file to the working directory

The Program

• Execute: python26 CheckProofsPara.py -m <ORGCODE> –f <prooffile> –g <paramfile> [-o <outpath>]

  • where:

  • <ORGCODE>=the assigned member organization code (upper case) as shown on the upper right hand side of the IDEA page. Your organization code is reported within brackets beside the "Logged in as" information

  • <prooffile>= /path/to/filename of the format 300/700 national EBV/GEBV file

  • <paramfile>= /path/to/filename of the format 301/701 evaluation parameter file

  • <outpath>= is an optional path for creation of the zipfile for uploading

  • Example on how to run the program:

  • For MACE write: python26 CheckProofsPara.py -m CDN -f file300.GUE.CAN.prod -g file301.GUE.CAN.prod

  • For GMACE write: python26 CheckProofsPara.py -m CDN -f file700.GUE.CAN.prod -g file701.GUE.CAN.prod

• Output screen: Eventual errors are displayed on the screen (which can redirect to alog file if desired).

  • If no errors are detected, the data files will be written into a zip file called IB-ORGCODE-IG-yyyymmddThhmmss.zip for mace and IB-ORGCODE-GG-yyyymmddThhmmss.zip for gmace
  • (an example of output in case of no errors below).

    • Running CheckProofsPara.py version 2013-06-04 v0.6, provided by the Interbull Centre

    . Organization code
    CDN Parameter file :: file301.GUE.CAN.prod Proof file :: file300.GUE.CAN.prod
    • 0 errors in 3 lines from paramfile
    • 0 errors in 309 lines from prooffile
    • Record counts by breed_population_trait combination
    • GUE CAN fat 103 GUE CAN mil 103 GUE CAN pro 103
    • Everything OK. Zip file is ready for upload. IB-CDN-IG-20131021T152303.zip
  • If errors are found in the file In case of errors, no zip file will be created. Correct the data and re-run the program until the data successfully pass all required checks.
  • (an example of output in case of errors below.

    • Running CheckProofsPara.py version 2013-06-04 v0.6, provided by the Interbull Centre

    . Organization code
    CDN Parameter file :: file701.HOL.CAN.work Proof file :: file700.HOL.CAN.work

    • 2 errors in 2 lines from paramfile Parameter line 1. Base definition error: <BB12345>. See file format (eg. H00BB95) Parameter line 2. Base definition error: <BB12345>. See file format (eg. H00BB95)

    • Error(s) in parameter file. Skipping proof file.

After Running the Program:

In case of errors, no zip file will be created. Please correct your data and re-run the program until the data successfully pass all required checks.The first 10 errors of each kind will be printed on the screen.

Note

Please do not modify the program to circumvent any checks. Doing so would be pointless because the same checking routine is used again inside IDEA to double-check the data file uploaded in the zip file.

If you need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at interbull@slu.se .