Figure 1
Win4DEAPVersion 1.1.4 © copyright 2002-2014 Michel Deslierres |
Win4DEAP provides a convivial Windows front end for DEAP written by Tim Coelli. Contrary to what is sometimes written, Win4DEAP is not a replacement of DEAP. The latter which is a DOS program actually performs the numerical calculations required in data envelopment analysis. Win4DEAP will not work without an installed copy of DEAP.EXE. DEAP will work perfectly well without Win4DEAP.
Tim Coelli's DEAP and other similar applications are available at the Centre for Efficiency and Productivity Analysis at the University of Queensland.
Unless you are using a very old system, it is suggested that you move to Win4Deap 2 or MDeap 2.
The application provides a grid not unlike a spreadsheet to enter data and writes the necessary instruction and data files for DEAP. This means that it is possible to have data files in a folder other than DEAP's. Win4DEAP is a 32-bit Windows application. It has been tested on Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.1 (32 and 64 bit) but it probably runs on all versions of Windows starting with Windows 98.
The screen shot (Figure 1) shows the data entry page of Win4DEAP. It contains the data from the first example file provided by Prof. Coelli with his DEA programme DEAP. The results after invoking DEAP.EXE twice are available but cannot be seen. They would be visible by pressing the 'Run 1' or the 'Run 2' tab. A third run is about to be performed. Note how DMU3 and OUT2 are disabled. They will not be included in this run.
Win4DEAP is free software that is provided as is. The author of the program accepts no responsibility for any damages that could be caused by this software and makes no warranty, whether implied or implicit, about its fitness for any purpose. The user assumes all risks associated with the program.
The latest version of Win4DEAP will be available on this site: http://dea.sigmdel.ca. Two packages are available:
| WinDEAP114.EXE | An installation program which takes care of most of the details. Its use is described below. |
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| WinDEAP114.ZIP | All the files to do your own installation.
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Click on the above links to start downloading the files. Please verify the checksums to make sure the download occured without error. It is very important to run these checks, particularly if you downloaded the files from some other site. See PUP below.
1. Make sure Tim Coelli's program DEAP.EXE is installed and running on your computer. It can be found Centre for Efficiency and Productivity Analysis at the University of Queensland. It bears repeating, make sure DEAP.EXE works before trying to install Win4DEAP.
Newer versions of Windows are less tolerant and it will be difficult to run DEAP.EXE from the "Program Files" or "Program Files (x86)" folder. It is best to install DEAP in its own sub-folder in a folder where the user has owner rights such as the Documents folder.
2. Remove any old version of Win4DEAP. If the installation program was used with the older version, there is an uninstall program to remove it.
3. Click on the downloaded installation program WinDEAP114.EXE to start it.
The destination folder (directory) for Win4DEAP can be any folder desired.
Win4DEAP can be installed in the same directory as DEAP.EXE. It will eliminate the need for the next step. Click on the folder containing DEAP.EXE in the Select Destination Directory dialogue. "Win4DEAP" will then be tacked on to the directory (See Fig. 2, where DEAP.EXE's directory is C:\Program Files\DEA\deap). Remove \Win4DEAP. Answer Yes when asked if "you would like to install to that directory anyway".
4. If Win4DEAP was installed in a directory other than DEAP's, it will be necessary to specify the location of DEAP.EXE. This has to be done once. It can be done now or it can be done the first time a DEA analysis is run. To do it now, start Win4DEAP.EXE and click on Preferences in the File menu. Enter the full path to DEAP.EXE. It will be clear if the path is correct are not.
Tim Coelli's four examples are provided in Win4DEAP format (extension .ded). They are in a folder called, appropriately, Examples which is itself located in the folder in which Win4DEAP was installed.
Win4DEAP behaves much like a spreadsheet. It should be relatively easy to use for those familiar with Excel, Quattro etc. As of version 1.1.0 a help file is included with Win4DEAP.
By default, WinHelp format help is not displayed in Windows Vista, 7 or 8. WinHelp can be installed, for free, on such systems. Consult http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917607 for details and links to the software. If you do not wish to install WinHelp, or if it does not work, a version of the help file in the newer chm (compiled html) format is installed along with Win4DEAP. The chm file can be displayed from the Help menu. Unfortunately, Win4DEAP itself does not know about this file and cannot use it to display contextual help topics.
Win4DEAP should be considered beta software. Backup data often and in both the native DED format and standard CSV or TXT formats.
An uninstall program is installed along with Win4DEAP.EXE. See the help file for further details.
I recommend strongly that you download this application from here or from a trusted source (such as a professor making it available on a campus intranet). Some dubious sites are advertising it in a way that masks its source, perhaps even bundling PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) along with Win4DEAP.
There's a site with the title How To Fix Michel Deslierres Win4Deap, which is a bit scary. What is to be fixed, me or my application? It suggests that you download a utility that will repair everything. By the way, the site claims that the repair tool will work with my Android tablet even though my application which will not run on Android. Even funnier are the 5 star rating it gives itself, claiming 361,927 downloads (*) in November only. Not bad, given that Win4Deap might be downloaded 100 times per year tops!
Of course, I am beyond fixing, and no third party can fix anything (**) to do with Win4DEAP, I have never released the code, nor will I ever. It's just too ugly.
If you have an application or document that you think would be useful to users of Win4DEAP, put up separate links to both WinDeap114.exe and your additional material.
(*) The figure is from a check on the 6th of December 2015 of that, let's say "amusing", site.
(**) With the exception of removing the application and its entries in the registry.
Thanks to Tim Coelli for DEAP without which Win4DEAP is of no use.
Thanks to Jordan Russell for the Inno Setup Compiler which was used to create the installation program. The setup compiler can be found on the Web at http://www.innosetup.com.
Thanks to Jean-Marc Huguenin, Université de Lausane, for mentioning Win4DEAP in the chapter entitled "Data Envelopment Analysis" which he contributed to the book Multi-criteria Decision Analysis: Methods and Software, Alessio Ishizaka & Philippe Nemery editors (2013) John Wiley and Sons. See also his paper Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) A pedagogical guide for decision makers in the public sector IDHEAP - Cahier 276/2012, Institut de hautes études en administration publique.
Thanks again to Jean-Marc Huguenin for identifying a bug in previous versions of Win4DEAP which was corrected in version 1.1.3.
Thanks to Alessio Ishizaka, CORL, University of Portsmouth for pointing out that a major bug was created when fixing the smaller bug mentionned above.
Version 1.1.4 (Octobre 10th, 2014)
Version 1.1.3 (Septembre 29th, 2012)