DBANK is an interactive program that copies time-series data from a formatted databank into a file readable by many econometric and statistical packages. DBANK is internally documented via its HELP command.

Things to know about Direction of Trade series codes before you start:

Printed volumes of the Direction of Trade Statistics can be found in the the Social Science Library. Call number: HF 91 +D57 (LC), located in the Reference Section. The list of country codes is included therein.

The codes listed in the SERIES window refer to exports (series that begin with "x") and imports (series that begin with "m"). The next three digits are the primary country code, the second three digits are the partner country code.

Start the DBANK program:

• Double-click on the Dbank Icon in the Applications folder.
• Double-click on DOTS.MDB to open the database.

Exit the DBANK program:

• Click at File/Exit.

Selecting Country Series

• Double-click on the country series (primary country) you wish to retrieve (example: France)
• Single click on the frequency required:  annual, monthly, or quarterly
• If you don't know the code for the partner country, use Group/Query and enter a title word (example: Brazil). A separate box with information about the France-Brazil series will be displayed. Tag the series by selecting Series/Tag in the query results box. The entries will appear in the tagged series window in DBANK.
• If you already know the partner country code, tag the series with a double-click.
• 
  Hint: If you click a series code just once, the title is displayed at the bottom

Exporting Tagged Series

 The list of tagged series can be exported using different formats, such as SAS, GAUSS, LOTUS, etc. Usually Dbank creates two files an ASCII file with the data (extension *.asc) and a program file which lets you import the data into your program (like a SAS *.sas file or GAUSS *.cmd file)

• Select Tagged/Export or Click the 1-2-3 Button.
• Enter name of Output File.
• Select the Format you want.
• Edit the Boundaries.
• Select Frequency.
• Click at Do It.
• If you want to export more series but to a different file, select File/Close to close the output file.

Other Features

 Dbank for Windows lets you do statistics and plots on your tagged series. Take a look in the Tagged Menu.
There are buttons for common tasks, move the mouse pointer on one of the button and a description is displayed.

Saving Tagged Series Entries

A useful Tagged Menu item is the option to save tagged series entries (not the data) as an ASCII file.  Once a list of series has been tagged, the entries themselves may be saved for later use and and also modified using an editor such as PFE.  Such ASCII files with saved or modified tagged entries may also be inserted easily into the tagged series window.

•  Tagged Save Entries As [F7]

• "Tagged Save Entries As" saves the contents of the tagged list of entries to an ASCII file.  This command is used with the "Tagged Insert..." command to fill the tagged list box more efficiently.

  Example:  the tagged entries file will look as follows in an editor such as PFE (available in the Utilities folder):
   

  • h:\dbankdat\dots[uniteds.annual]x111469
    h:\dbankdat\dots[uniteds.annual]x111473
    h:\dbankdat\dots[uniteds.annual]x111474
    h:\dbankdat\dots[uniteds.annual]x111505
    h:\dbankdat\dots[uniteds.annual]x111512
    h:\dbankdat\dots[uniteds.annual]x111513
    h:\dbankdat\dots[uniteds.annual]x111514
    h:\dbankdat\dots[uniteds.annual]x111516
     
  The entries are for annual U.S. exports to various countries.  These lines may be edited to change the data required such as to include additional partner countries from country codes provided in the printed volumes, rather than tagging them individually from the series box in DBANK. For this example, a simple FIND/REPLACE (x to m) will change the data required from exports to imports, and copying and pasting existing lines and then changing only the last three digits for additional target countries will extend the list of data to be retrieved.
   
• Tagged Insert [F6]
• 
  "Tagged Insert"  allows you to insert a list of (modified) series entries, such as from the example above, into the tagged list box.

lm: June 28, 1999