Data Carpentry Workshop Setup Instructions

Requirements: Data Carpentry's teaching is hands-on, so participants are encouraged to bring in and use their own laptops to insure the proper setup of tools for an efficient workflow once you leave the workshop. (We will provide instructions on setting up the required software several days in advance) There are no pre-requisites, and we will assume no prior knowledge about the tools.

Contact: Please email stephanie.labou@wsu.edu for questions and information not covered here.

Setup

To participate in a Data Carpentry workshop, you will need working copies of the software described below. Please make sure to install everything and try opening it to make sure it works before the start of your workshop. If you run into any problems, please feel free to email the instructor or arrive early to your workshop on the first day. Participants should bring and use their own laptops to insure the proper setup of tools for an efficient workflow once you leave the workshop.

We maintain a list of common issues that occur during installation as a reference for instructors that may be useful on the Configuration Problems and Solutions wiki page.

A spreadsheet program

For this workshop you will need a spreadsheet program. Many people already have Microsoft Excel installed, and if you do, you're set! If you need a spreadsheet program, there are a few other options, like OpenOffice and LibreOffice. Install instructions for LibreOffice, which is free and open source, are here.

Windows

  1. Download the LibreOffice installer.
  2. Double click to install
  3. Double click on icon to open.

Mac OS X

  1. Download the LibreOffice installer.
  2. Double click to install
  3. Double click on icon to open.

Linux

  1. Download the LibreOffice installer.
  2. Double click to install
  3. Double click on icon to open.

OpenRefine

OpenRefine (previously Google Refine) is a tool for data cleaning that runs through a web browser, and any browser - Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Explorer - should work fine. You will need to download OpenRefine and install it, and when you open it, it will run through the browser, but you don't need an internet connection, and the data will all be stored on your computer.

Windows

  1. Download OpenRefine Windows kit installer.
  2. To use it, unzip, and double-click on openrefine.exe (if you're having issues with openrefine.exe try refine.bat instead)
  3. OpenRefine will then open in your web browser.
  4. If it doesn't open automatically, open a web broswer after you've started the program and go to the URL http://localhost:3333 and you should see OpenRefine.

Mac OS X

  1. Download OpenRefine Mac kit installer.
  2. Open the downloaded .dmg file
  3. Drag the icon in to the Applications folder
  4. Double click on the icon and Google Refine will then open in your web browser.
  5. If it doesn't open automatically, open a web broswer after you've started the program and go to the URL http://localhost:3333 and you should see OpenRefine.

Linux

  1. Download OpenRefine Linux kit installer.
  2. To use it, extract, and type ./refine
  3. OpenRefine will then open in your web browser.
  4. If it doesn't open automatically, open a web broswer after you've started the program and go to the URL http://localhost:3333 and you should see OpenRefine.

SQLite

For this workshop we are going to use Firefox SQLite Plugin. It works through the web browser Firefox.

Windows

  1. If you don't already have firefox installed, install Firefox.
  2. Start Firefox.
  3. Go to the SQLite plugin homepage.
  4. Click the "Add Now" button.
  5. Click "Install Now" on the diaglog that appears after the download completes.
  6. Restart Firefox when prompted.
  7. Select "SQLite Manager" from the "Tools" menu and it will open within Firefox.

Mac OS X

  1. If you don't already have firefox installed, install Firefox.
  2. Start Firefox.
  3. Go to the plugin homepage.
  4. Click the "Add Now" button.
  5. Click "Install Now" on the diaglog that appears after the download completes.
  6. Restart Firefox when prompted.
  7. Select "SQLite Manager" from the "Tools" menu and it will open within Firefox.

Linux

  1. If you don't already have firefox installed, install Firefox.
  2. Start Firefox.
  3. Go to the plugin homepage.
  4. Click the "Add Now" button.
  5. Click "Install Now" on the diaglog that appears after the download completes.
  6. Restart Firefox when prompted.
  7. Select "SQLite Manager" from the "Tools" menu and it will open within Firefox.

Python

Python is a popular language for research computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. Installing all of its research packages individually can be a bit difficult, so we recommend Anaconda, an all-in-one installer.

Regardless of how you choose to install it, please make sure you install Python version 3.x (e.g., 3.4 is fine).

Windows

Video Tutorial
  1. Open http://continuum.io/downloads with your web browser.
  2. Download the Python 3 installer for Windows.
  3. Install Python 3 using all of the defaults for installation except make sure to check Make Anaconda the default Python.

Mac OS X

Video Tutorial
  1. Open http://continuum.io/downloads with your web browser.
  2. Download the Python 3 installer for OS X.
  3. Install Python 3 using all of the defaults for installation.

Linux

  1. Open http://continuum.io/downloads with your web browser.
  2. Download the Python 3 installer for Linux.
    (Installation requires using the shell. If you aren't comfortable doing the installation yourself stop here and request help at the workshop.)
  3. Open a terminal window.
  4. Type 
    bash Anaconda3-
    and then press tab. The name of the file you just downloaded should appear. If it does not, navigate to the folder where you downloaded the file, for example with: 
    cd Downloads
    Then, try again.
  5. Press enter. You will follow the text-only prompts. To move through the text, press the space key. Type yes and press enter to approve the license. Press enter to approve the default location for the files. Type yes and press enter to prepend Anaconda to your PATH (this makes the Anaconda distribution the default Python).
  6. Close the terminal window.
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