Using the standard set of questions (distributed to the SSCA sometime in 2001) from the latest AKC questionnaire as a requirements document, I have developed this online version of the canine health questionnaire. What is developed up to this point is referred to as Phase I. The online processing of Phase I is divided into 6 major sections:
A first time user is required to register their email address, a username and a password. They are assigned a user ID, which is used as a session ID for the remainder of the survey/processing. A new user is required to input their background information
A second time or old user may login and is not required to input their background a second time.
This is a form that requests some general information about the survey user. Most user background questions are in the form of radio buttons and checkboxes. No personal information is asked. The closest question that may identify anyone is the state in which they reside.
This is a form that requests general information about one specific dog. JavaScripts are used to validate all input such as not allowing a cause of death when the user did not indicate a cause of death.
This is a form that requests what specific disease/ailments a dog currently has or had in the past. The user can only associate one disease at a time. The navigation provides two links on the form – one to loop and display the form again and –two to allow the user to return to the main screen. The diseases are divided into 24 categories and there are 1 or more selections in each category. The selection lists are dynamically generated from information a database table. A dynamically generated code and the disease description are displayed in text boxes for the user’s information.
JavaScript is used her to prevent the user from assigning a female disease to a male dog and vice versa. JavaScript also checks to verify that the age of onset – age of the dog when the disease was diagnosed – is not beyond the current date.
A user may update any information about a dog that they input into the survey. The processing will filter out any dogs that are deceased. I do not permit the user to update any information about a deceased dog. The user is allowed to update the basic dog information and associate new diseases/ailments to the dog.
Currently Phase I of the survey only allows the user to display simple reports. The reports consist of a simple bar graph and some text about the disease category. The graph shows the selections of each category and the number of reported cases for each selection. The PHP image generation functions are used to generate the graph in the PNG format.
There are also 9 reports that relate to the user information. These reports relate to the information on the user input form.
Including this file, there are only three HTML files, which contain general background information for the user. All other files are PHP, which dynamically generate the HTML pages and forms that you see in your browser. All input, where necessary, is validated with JavaScripts and saved into a MySQL database. All radio buttons, checkboxes, and selection lists are dynamically generated from database tables.
I have defined two configuration files – one for the JavaScript files and one for the PHP files. The configuration files define breed specific information. Therefore, by changing the configuration data, I can change the breed name that you see in the browser, e.g. Standard Schnauzer vs. Doberman.
This permits the survey to be easily modified for use by another national or local breed club.
There are 2 separate databases connected to the online survey:
Return to the Survey Login Page