EQWin Data Manager is quite simply a comprehensive, cost-effective and easy-to-use database application. It is used by environmental professionals to manage data derived from environmental sampling and monitoring program, primarily for the purposes of complex regulatory reporting. It carries on the solid reputation gained through many proven years of our highly successful EQWin Standard data management software product.

EQWin Data Manager is designed to meet or exceed all of your requirements for the collection, storage, analysis, reporting of environmental data required to monitor your efforts at environmental compliance and focus on sustainable development.

Here's a quick product overview:

• Technologically the most advanced software product for environmental data management.
  
• The only software that integrates with Microsoft Excel for all analysis and reporting.
  
• Integrated EQWin System Manager for the administration of all databases
  
• Innovative user interface language feature designed to be translatable into any language.
  
• Functionally rich, yet simple and easy to use.
  
• Flexibly designed for many data types, with customizable interface terminology to suite.
  
• Handles data derived from surface water, ground water, biological, aquatic, soil, air quality and many other frequently monitored environmental systems.
  
• Suitable for any organization or industry that captures data from monitoring programs
  
• Used extensively in mining and solid waste management (landfill) sectors
  
• Used widely by environmental consultants for contaminated site investigation.
  
• Well-suited to the oil and gas, petrochemical, energy, and many other industries.
  
• Fully supports ISO 14000 and other formal environmental management systems.
  
• Delivers significant and measurable productivity gains in managing environmental data.
  
• Continuous software upgrades, excellent customer service and support.

Here's the detail:

Design Concepts

EQWin Data Manager has been designed to incorporate the latest underlying technology to address the way environmental professionals require to manage their data across local and wide-area networks (including communication via the Internet).

One such technology is the use of COM (component object modeling) for the seamless integration with other VB compliant third-party applications. This Dynamic Connectivity enables EQWin Data Manager to integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Excel as its default import, analysis and reporting tool. As a result, our software is intuitive and easy to use and allows users to operate in a familiar spreadsheet environment.

This integration with Excel is unique to EQWin, as all competing software systems require that the data is exported to a third party analysis application, like Excel. This essentially creates a duplicate dataset for analysis outside of the database and therefore any subsequent updates and modifications to the database need to be tracked manually and re-exported to that application; a process which leads to reduced data control and limits the auditability of the results and subsequent processes. EQWin simply uses a "Refresh" button to capture any new data added by other users on the network.

Designed from an operational perspective, EQWin Data Manager tackles the time-consuming tasks head-on and addresses the many typical environmental data management problems in a flexible, yet easily understood way.

EQWin Data Manager has been specifically built to manage the tremendous volume of data generated from many diverse environmental monitoring programs, where many data types are sampled on a discreet basis (in hourly intervals or longer). We are currently working on a continuous data model, for those instances where data is collected more frequently.

EQWin Data Manager is used to manage field, instrument and analytical laboratory data directly, as well as giving the user the ability to use calculated parameters, (i.e. monitor data that is calculated from individually measured parameters - concentration loadings, flow rates, etc.), and calculated standards (i.e. standards that are not fixed, but are based on other parameters)

It's been specifically designed for "industrial strength" robustness, accuracy and usability and to save you time and money in monitoring the effect of your operations on the environment. The major functions, processes and tables are all accessible from the central Control Center.

Extensive use has been made of wizards to add to the already excellent usability of the software, and to facilitate many of the data management processes

Its flexible data import system, thorough QA/QC capabilities, rigorous data validation, and excellent query, analysis and reporting capabilities, makes it the easiest system to use for any level of user. It also features large data volume capability, efficient data access, and complete data and referential integrity.

EQWin Data Manager is integrated with EQWin System Manager, a utility application for the administration of all databases. In Client/Server environments, this administration tool will be installed on the server

Database Types
Multiple databases may be created to manage data from multiple monitoring programs and sites.
Our database independence design allows customers to essentially use any standard SQL database management system product (currently designs include MS Access and SQL Server).

Major Database Tables
EQWin's main configurable database tables include:

• stations
• parameters
• regulatory standards
• sample details
• analytical methods
• laboratories
• sampling protocols
• calculations
• units
• codes list

To capture additional data, customers can augment these tables with as many user-defined fields (UDF's) as they may require for their specific data management program.

Data Storage Limitation
There are no practical limits for data storage. However, the retrieval of data may be constrained by the type of database, the speed and memory of the user's computer. Absolute file sizes can run to billions of records.

Database Set-up, Data Input and Data Quality Validation
For setting up the database, bulk data (i.e. a list of parameters and stations) can be imported very quickly into the EQWin Data Manager database directly from tables set up in Excel, by using a Table Import Wizard.

Our software will accept data in any file format that can be opened by Microsoft Excel. The data may need some manipulation to conform to one of the three data import layouts acceptable by EQWin Data Manager's import system.

After mapping the fields in Excel to those available in the database, the input data is then validated against pre-defined and user-defined validation criteria to ensure data quality and integrity. All errors, warnings and user-defined validation anomalies are instantly highlighted on-screen for user-correction. The message font options are set by the user.

The edit and validation process is designed to be an easy and simple process. Transparent to our customer, it actually involves a series of very complex data validation, screening and checking procedures that would take a tremendous amount of time and effort to replicate using simple spreadsheets or paper-based systems.

Built-in data quality checks include:

• all basic item coding checks e.g. stations, parameters, units, etc.
• valid numeric values, dates, etc.
• QA/QC checks, data duplication, exceedances, etc.

User-defined validation checks may include data ranges and comparison of analyte values within samples e.g., total vs. dissolved.

Once checked and approved by the user, an exceedance report and variance report may be viewed in Excel before electing to upload all input data to the database for storage.

Data Queries, Reports and Graphs
EQWin Data Manager facilitates rapid and systematic access to the stored data for further interpretation and analysis using Microsoft Excel as the default tool for this.
It offers comprehensive reports for both management and regulators that compare the organization's environmental impact against regulatory standards.

EQWin is unique in that it accomplishes complex data querying via three methods:

• Query by Form
• Query by Formula
• SQL Query

The Query by Form method is driven from within EQWin Data Manager, and has the capability to present the query results directly in Microsoft Excel (in any one of the popular generic report layouts supplied with EQWin Data Manager), as well as time-series graphs for trend analysis.

EQWin Data Manager's proprietary Query by Formula system is unique in the industry. These are proprietary developed complex cell-querying formulae that are directly inserted into Microsoft Excel cells during the design of custom reports. These formulas have the capability of extracting specific data from the database and are entered either manually or via the function-generating wizard. If using names cells as variables, by simply changing these (i.e. the date range, parameters, stations, etc.), the report is automatically regenerated with any new data that's been entered into the database and the formulae are recalculated instantly. All this done directly in Excel!

Experienced users of SQL will find that data can also be retrieved and sent to Excel by using standard SQL "select" statements.

The resulting Microsoft Excel reports may be further customized and the formatting captured (such as with company logos, headers, footers, borders, colors, notes, etc.) and saved with the original query definitions and used as templates for any future repetitive reporting requirements that uses the same layout and Excel formatting.

Detailed data sets are easily exported to be used by other third-party applications via saved Microsoft Excel files, or text files.