Table of Contents
This sub module is required for the management of the data elements and indicators used by the application. When the ‘Data Elements and Indicators’ options is chosen from the main Maintance menu, the following screen appears:
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There are three main functions of this module: addition and attribution of data elements and indicators, and the defintion of a data dictionary .
Data elements form the basis of DHIS2. Data elements define what is actually recorded in system, e.g. number of immunizations or number of cases of malaria. The actual creation and defition of the data elements themselves are far beyond the scope of this manual to describe, but it is assumed that an administrator will be provided with a list of standardized data elements for inclusion into the DHIS2 system.
Each of the options for maintainence of data elements will be described in the following section.
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Data element
Create, modify, view and delete data elements.
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Data element group
Create, modify, view and delete data element groups.
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Data element group editor
Easily add or remove data elements to and from data element groups.
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Data element group set editor
Create, modify, view and delete data elements group sets.
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Data element categories
Create, modify, view and delete data element categories.
To access the data element maintainence mage, choose Maintainence->Data elements->Data element.
The ‘Filter by name’ will allow you to filter a range of data elements if you know either the full name of the data element, or just a part of it. Type the name into the search field andany matching data elements are displayed below. You can also choose ‘Filter by group/view all’ to narrow down a data element search within a particular data element group. In default mode, this field will display all the data elements in the application. The ‘Get PDF’ button can be clicked to generate a .pdf file of all the data elements. The 'Sort' button can be used to sort the data elements into alphabetical order.
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To add a new data element, click the 'Add new' button. There are various options available from this page that allow the user to modify data elements already present in the database. Each of the options are described below in the "Editing data elements".
Click the "Edit"
button to modify the properties of a data element that has been previouly defined.
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Name: Define the precise name of the data element in this field. Each data element must have a unique name.
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Short name: Typically, an abbreviation of the full data element name. This attribute is often used in reports to display the name of the data element, where there is limited space available.
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Alternative name: Allows the defintion of an alternative name of the data element.
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Code: In many countries, data elements are assigned a code. This code can be entered in thsi field.
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Description: Allows a full textual description of the data element to be entered. The user should be as precise as possible, and include full information on how the data element is measured and what its meaning is.
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Active: Defines whether a given data element is active or not. Data elements marked as inactive, will not be displayed in the data entry screens.
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Domain type: Defines whether a data element is an aggregate or patient type of data element.
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Value type: Defines the type of data this data element will be used to record. Currently there are four options: number, text, yes/no (boolean), and date.
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Aggregation operator: Defines the default aggregation operation that will be used on this data element.
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URL: A URL having an in-depth description of the data element can be entered in the ‘URL’ field. This could be for instance, a link to a metadata repository or registry that contains detailed technical information about the definition and measurement of the data element.
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Combination of categories: Defines which category combination the data element should have.
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Data element group sets: Click the check box to activate this option hen choose which data element group sets this data element should belong to. Available data element group sets are displaye din the upper window. Click the desired data element group set, then the button to add the data element to the group set. To remove a data element from a group set, click the data element group set in the lower list, and then click.
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Calculated: This option is available only when a data element is created.
Select the data elements that will be used to define the calculated data element, and then click "Add selected" to add them calculated data element composition list. Fill in the correct factor for the data element calculation component (defaults to 1). Component elements of the calculated data element can be removed from the definition by pressing the "Remove" button.
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Aggregation levels: The Aggregation Levels option allows the data element to be aggregated at one or more levels. When the user clicks on the Aggregation levels option, a drop down menu appears which displays available aggregation levels. The desired aggregation level is then selected by clicking the ‘Add Selected’ button. By default, the aggregation will start at the lowest assgined organisation unit.
After making the required changes, click ‘Save’ to institute them. The ‘Cancel’ button aborts all changes made.
DHIS2 provides functionality to translate existing data elements into other languages. Simply press the translate button 
to get stared. The following dialog will appear.
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The reference language is displayed in the upper right portion of the dialog. Choose a locale to translate the data element into by selecting an option from the locale drop-down menu. Specify the name, short-name and description in the target language. Press "Save" to save your changes.
The "Details" section of this dialog will allow you add a new locale if it is not already present in the database. There are two options:
The combination of these two codes together, forms a "locale" code, which is composed of the combination of the location and language. A very comprehensive discsussion of the technical standard (RFC 3066) is available here. This page provides a very comprehensive list of recognized locale codes.
Simply press the delete button 
to delete a data element. Note that this operation is only possible if there is no data attached to the data element itself. The user will be prompted to ensure that the data element should be deleted.
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to access this view. Data element groups provide a mechanism for classifying related data elements into a common theme. For instance, two data elements "Measles immunization" and "BCG Immunization" might be grouped together into a data element group "Childhood immunization". To access the data element group maintainence page, click Maintainence->Data elements and indicators->Data Element Group . The following screen will be displayed.
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Similar to the "Data element" maintainence page, data elements groups can be searched with by entering a search string in the "Filter by name" field.
To add a new data element group, click the button.
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Fill in the "Name" field and then select all data elements that should belong to the group from the left panel. Click the "Move selected" 
button to add the selected data elements to the data element group. Click the "Remove selected" button to remove all data elements from the group that have been selected in the right panel. Finally, click the "Add" button to save changes, or the "Cancel" button to discard any changes.
The data element group editor provides advanced functionality to the administrator to allow multiple data elements to be added or removed from a group. It is also possible to create new data element groups, rename existing groups, and delete groups entirely. To access the data element group editor, press from the main DHIS2 menu. The following screen will appear.
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Data element groups area listed alphabetically in the leftmost panel. By clicking on a data element group, the current members of that group (data elements) are listed in the center panel. Available data elements that can be added to the data element group appear are listed alphabetically in the rightmost panel. To remove an existing data element from the group, click the name of the data element in the center panel, and then press the "Move right" button. To add data elements to the group, select them from the leftmost panel, and click the "Move left" 
button. Press the button to save your changes.
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