Using Global Development Finance on CD-ROM: Part 2

Getting Started: Creating Data Queries

• Start up the program.
• The initial menu screen defaults to the query screen, shown below.

The query screen allows you to create a request to retrieve data from Global Development Finance by Countries, Series, and Years, each of which is represented by a button on the screen.

Main Menu: Query Screen, No Selection Made

Countries

When you click on the Countries button from the Query screen, you are offered the choice of an alphabetical List of countries, Classification, Criteria, or Group.

• The alphabetical List is a good choice when you know in advance which countries you are interested in.
• Classification allows you to group countries across three types of classifications: region, income groups, and indebtedness. You can make one selection in each category. For example, you might choose Sub-Saharan Africa for a geographic region, Low Income for an income group, and All Levels for level of indebtedness.
• Criteria lets you specify detailed criteria for which countries you wish to include in your query. You can specify values for a particular time series in a particular year, and retrieve only countries that match those criteria. For example, you could specify that you wanted to look at all countries whose average grace period in 1997 was between 5 and 10 years. You may combine up to two specific parameters in one query. Click the Submit button to view the countries that match the criteria you have entered.
• Group lets you select among 16 pre-determined groupings of countries: for example, "Middle Income" or "South Asia" or "All Developing Countries."

In all cases, single-click on a country or group to highlight it, and use the Select button or double-click to add the country or group to your selections. When you select a country or a group, it will appear in the box on the right of the screen. Use the button to delete highlighted selections, or the OK button to confirm the selections and return to the main query screen.

Country selections will appear in the upper left-hand box on the main query screen.

Country Selection, Alphabetical List

Country Selection: Classification

Country Selection: Criteria

Country Selection: Group

Series

After selecting countries, the next step is to click the Series button on the main query screen to select which time series you wish to display.

When you click on the Series button, you have two choices for how to make series selections: from an alphabetical List, or by Category.

The alphabetical List lets you scroll through an A-to-Z listing of available time series to make selections. From the List screen, you can also use the Find button to do a keyword search of available series titles, or the Definition button to view a definition of the series.

The Category option lets you view time series by category instead of a long alphabetical list. The categories are represented by buttons: Resource Flows, Indicators, Long Term Debt, etc. After choosing the category, you can then select subcategories and/or individual time series within the category.

As you did for country selection, single-click on a series title to highlight it, and use the Select button or double-click to add the series to your selections. When you select a series, it will appear in the box in the lower half of the screen. Use the button to delete highlighted selections, or the OK button to confirm the selections and return to the main query screen.

Series selections will appear in the lower box on the main query screen.

Series Selection: List

Series Selection: Category

Years

After selecting countries and series, the next step is to click the Years button on the main query screen to select which years you wish to display. The Year Selection screen lists the years from 1970 to 2007.

As you did for country and series selection, single-click on a year to highlight it, and use the Select button or double-click to add the series to your selections. When you select a year, it will appear in the box on the right side of the screen. Use the button to delete highlighted selections, or the OK button to confirm the selections and return to the main query screen.

Year selections will appear in the lower box on the main query screen.

Years Selection

Forward to Global Development Finance: Displaying, Exporting, Charting & Mapping

Back to Global Development Finance: Introduction

Back to Table of Contents

Email: disc@mailplus.wisc.edu
Last updated 17 May, 2000.