EUGene
Expected Utility Generation and
Data Management Program
by D. Scott
Bennett and Allan C. Stam, III
Welcome to the EUGene
home page!
Latest version: 3.201
News:
- May 16, 2008
- Border count available as user data set. We
have made available as a user data set the monadic version of the COW
direct contiguity data set which gives the total number of contiguous
states bordering each state in the COW system. This can be downloaded
from within EUGene using the “User Data” menu within EUGene.
October 29, 2007
- Version 3.201 Released. We have
discovered a small bug in the build of version 3.2 that makes it impossible
to access user data sets. This has been corrected. You may download
a full new installation package from the download page, or (if v3.2
has been installed) you may download just a new executable file (eugene32.exe)
to replace your current eugene32.exe (probably in the directory "C:\Program
Files\EUGene").
- October 2, 2007
- Version 3.2 Released. Version
3.2 makes 3 additions to the program, and makes one set of corrections
to dyadic MID codings. 1) Two new units of analysis
for output data sets based on non-directed disputes are now available. Users
may now select as output units one case per non-directed dispute dyad
onset, or one case per non-directed dispute dyad year. 2) Stata
command (.do) files generated with EUGene now set variable labels. 3) The
latest version (v3.1) of the COW MID data has been included, and is
the basis for dyadic MID calculations. 4) Some errors in the
creation of certain dyadic MIDs and associated variables (particularly
hostility levels) have been corrected. A more detailed list of program
changes is available here.
- December 21, 2005
- Version 3.1 Released. Version
3.1 makes a few additions to the program. 1) Countries’ ISO codes
are now available as an output variable, as well as COW country codes.
2) Risk data computed with unweighted S scores as the similarity measure
are now available for 1816-2000. Expected Utility for the 1816-2000 period is now available using this data.
3) The hypothetical best and worst alliance patterns generated as part of computing risk attitude
scores (which judge where a state’s actual alliances fall relative
to the alliances it could form that would maximize or minimize
its
security) may now be output for analysis. 4) A prototype “Dataset Browser” is
now available which allows
users to look through input data files without/before generating data sets.
5) The variable "peace days" is now available along with "peace
years." 6) 2 minor internal bugs have been corrected. A more detailed
list of program changes is available here.
- October 11, 2004
- Updated DyadMID component data file. A
few date errors have been found in Zeev Maoz's dyadic MID data set.
We have changed these dates and are releasing an updated data file, dyadmid602.csv,
along with a file documenting
the changes. To use the new version, you may either A)
download and reinstall the entire EUGene program and accompanying
data files from
the dowload page, or B) separately
download the following 2 files, copying them into the appropriate
directory on your PC: 1) dyadmid602.csv [copy
into the "inputdat" subdirectory
under the main directory where EUGene is installed on your PC,
which by default
is "c:\program
files\eugene\inputdat"]; 2) eugene.ini [replace
the old version in the main EUGene directory, which by default is "c:\program
files\eugene"].
- Errant trade data file replaced. We
discovered that EUGene's main download included an incorrect (truncated)
version of the
Barbieri
trade data set. Versions of this data set downloaded directly from
the EUGene server via EUGene's "user data set" functions were
correct.
The inclusion of the wrong version in the main program download/installation
file has been corrected.
- July 14, 2004
- Updated Polity IV access file. Polity
IV data can be added to EUGene as a user data file by downloading a
set of files directly from the Polity IV project web
site. An error
has been found
in one of the component files of the posted version. If you use this
data set, the file p4v2002e.edf must be replaced with file p4v2002.2e.edf.
You may install the correct version by downloading this new
version, placing it in the "user data sets" subdirectory under the
main directory where EUGene is installed (usually this will be "c:\program
files\eugene\user data sets"), and
deleting the old file p4v2002e.edf. Be sure to delete the old version,
or two data sets will show up within the user variables selection area!
The updated file is due to be incorporated into the downloads from
the Polity IV website.
- July 2, 2004
- Server change for user data sets. The
IP address of server from which user data sets may be uploaded and downloaded
has changed due to a recent move. If you wish to upload or download such
files, the file eugene.ini must
be updated. You may update the file by downloading this new
version and replacing the old version. The file should go in the main
program directory, by default "c:\program files\eugene". The updated
eugene.ini file is also now incorporated into the full and partial downloads
for performing a new installation of the program.
- April 2, 2004
- Version 3.04 released. Version
3.04 makes 3 changes. 1) v3.04 corrects a bug discovered in version
3.0 involving the Maoz dyadic dispute data where requesting dyadic
conflict was generating several
duplicate dyad
years. A fix to the software and a new version of the Maoz data with corrected
typos solves this problem. 2) v3.04 is distributed with the COW capabilities
data v3.01 (which corrected an important typo in Russian capabilities
for
2000).
3) v3.04 is distributed with an additional documentation file titled "EUGene
dataset tracking.xls" (in the "docs" subdirectory) which traces what
versions of component data
files have been used
in
each
version
of
EUGene. A more detailed list of program changes is available here.
- December 18, 2003
- Version 3.03 released. Version
3.03 corrects 4 minor errors/bugs discovered since the release of version
3.0 (3 of which we reported on this website in November). 1) Direct
contiguity values for states were being given incorrectly for 2001 and
2002 because
the direct contiguity data actually only went up to 2000, although EUGene
allows output after that. The component input data file for contiguity
has been updated to cover through 2002. 2) The
"highest action" variable within the Maoz dyadic MID data
set has been rescaled so that
the values on the variable now match the MID 3.0 coding scheme across the
full range of the data. 3) Four invalid dyads involving
Germany and Yemen that were generated in v3.0 and 3.02 are no longer created.
These 4 dyads were
created
because the country code numbers for Germany and Yemen were changed in
the COW
state
membership
data when the formerly separate E/W Germany and N/S Yemen unified, and
EUGene generated dyads with all pairs of states with different country
code numbers. 4) Selecting
the "Revision Type" variable within the Maoz dyadic conflict
data within non-directed dyads now generates the matching number of variable
names and actual data values. The
full list of program changes is available here.
- Important note: Users should note that because the COW state membership
data lists Germany and Yemen with 2 different country codes in 1990,
there will be two sets of dyads for each state in 1990. For instance,
there will be a 260-2 dyad (W. Germany-US) and a 255-2 dyad (Germany-US)
in 1990. Depending on the research design, analysts may wish to drop
one of these sets of dyads for Germany and Yemen in 1990.
- October 22, 2003
- Important update to V3.02 released.
Version 3.02 corrects a bug in version 3.0 that affected the coding of
the MID onset variable in nondirected dyad-year output data sets. Due
to a programming error, a significant number of MIDs were not correctly
being coded as new MID onsets in v3.0. Output correctly reported the MID
numbers of the MIDs in these years, but the MID onset variable sometimes
had the value "0" instead of the correct "1." We strongly
urge researchers generating nondirected dyad-year data to replace
v3.0 with 3.02. We also made two cosmetic corrections to the display of
settings in the program. A new corrected executable file may be downloaded
here (you may simply replace the older version
of eugene32.exe in the "C:\Program Files\EUGene" subdirectory);
or a complete new setup file is also available from the download
page (this setup file includes all prior component file updates). The
full list of program changes is available here.
- October 15, 2003
- Another component file update.
A data format inconsistency has been discovered which leads to EUGene
not correctly reading all alliance data if the user selects a subset
of
the data (if the user requests "All Years" for output, then
there is no problem). [The problem resulted from the new COW alliance
data
file being sorted differently than the older alliance data.] A new
correctly sorted alliance data file may be downloaded here
(replace the older version in the "C:\Program Files\EUGene\inputdat"
subdirectory); a complete new setup file is also available from the download
page which includes this correction.
- October 14, 2003
- Component file update. A typo
has been discovered in one of the input MID data files included with version
3.0. This typo caused EUGene to crash on some systems when COW MID data
was selected for output, and has now been corrected. A new setup file
is now available from the download page which
includes this correction. Alternatively, if you do not want to reinstall
the program entirely, you may simply 1) download a new version of the
file eugene.ini and replace the old file (in
the directory "C:\program files\eugene"), and 2) move this new
MID file (MIDA_3.021.csv) into your "C:\program
files\eugene\inputdat" subdirectory.
- October 13, 2003
- Version 3.0 released! This
is a major release of the program. Some of the many changes included
are:
1) A redesigned and updated program interface; 2) New
integrated conflict data sets, including ICB dyadic crisis data and
MID v3.0 dyadic dispute
data; 3) Seamless integration between new COW v3.0 MID
data and pre-1992 COW or Maoz dyadic MID data; 4) Fully
up-to-date component data sets, including COW alliance data, state membership
data, MID data, contiguity
data (colonial and direct), and S and Tau-b data; 5) Many
new variables, including MID names, counts of MIDs per year, and system
characteristics
(CON and MOVE); 6) Users may now request conflict variables
from multiple sources (e.g. Maoz dyadic MIDs, COW MID set, ICB data)
rather than just one; 7) Users now have the option
to output information on either the first MID, or the most serious MID,
of a dyad-year where multiple MIDs occur; 8) Many
more user data sets are now available on our server for download to
use within EUGene. Many other additions, enhancements, and changes have
been made as well.
We strongly urge users to review the full set of
changes by clicking here.
- Two cautions are in order to users concerning the new
version:
- The location of some critical data set specification settings
have moved (in particular, settings about how to
treat ongoing disputes, and other dispute initiation settings have
moved under the “Conflict data” tab under “Variables”).
- Several key variable names on conflict variables
have changed in this version in order to accommodate
the multiple conflict data sets now included in EUGene. For instance,
the dyadic variable marking the dyadic occurrence/initiation of a
MID was formerly named “initiate” in directed dyad output,
and “mid” in nondirected dyadic output. Now, dyadic conflict
variables are named “cwinit” (COW data set based conflict
initiation), “mzinit” (Maoz dyadmid data set based conflict
initiation), “cwmid” (COW data set based nondirected conflict
occurrence), and “mzmid” (Maoz dyadmid data set based
nondirected conflict occurrence). Changes are listed here;
the full list of variable names is contained in the full EUGene documentation
file.
- October 13, 2003
- Polity IV data may now be downloaded for
EUGene! Polity
IV data may now be accessed within EUGene by downloading
the "Polity IVe" version of the data from the Polity
project at the University of Maryland. Installing the Polity IV data
into EUGene involves downloading a set of 3 files and placing them
into
the "User
Data Sets"
subdirectory under the main directory where EUGene is installed (typically,
this directory is "C:\Program Files\EUGene\User Data
Sets").
These files may be downloaded from the Polity IV project
website at http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/polity/index.htm.
Note: users must register at the Polity site in order to download this
data.
- January 6, 2003
- Version 2.40 released! This
release adds several features to the program, is distributed with the
latest COW alliance data, and corrects a problem with distance data. 1)
Distribution of Version 2.40 now includes the new Correlates of War alliance
data set (v3.0) as its default alliance data set. 2) Version 2.40 adds
new variables concerning system structure (number of states in the system
at any time, number of major powers, CON, and MOVE). 3) Two new options
for generating subsets of dyadic data (all dyads within a set distance,
and all dyads within a region or set of regions) are now available. 4)
All command files generated by EUGene now include full citation information
for the component data sets on which EUGene draws; users are asked to
include these citations in their bibliographies. 5) Command files generated
by the program now include all key details of the specification used to
generate the accompanying data set to allow precise replication. 6) 6
errors were corrected in the latitude/longitude data set; these errors
affected dyadic distance calculations. 7) v2.25 corrected a problem with
the coding of Germany's alliances. However, in some distributions/installations
of v2.30, the fix was broken by an incorrect parameter in the file eugene.ini.
With the distribution of the new COW alliance data set, this has again
been corrected so that the up-to-date alliance data files are used correctly.
Click here for complete details of what has
changed in this version.
- June 13, 2002
- Version 2.30 released! This
minor release corrects 2 problems. 1) There was a problem with ftp access
to add-on user data sets in V2.25. We have updated the ftp code inside
the program, and access to add-on user data sets should now be possible
again. 2) We have corrected a problem in which if users ran a dyadic data
set creation, then ran a monadic data set creation in succession, errors
would occur if dyadic variables had been selected that are not available
in monadic data sets. If you do not need to download user data sets, and
have had no problems in terms of generating dyadic and then monadic data
sets, then there is no need to update your copy of EUGene. Click here
for complete details of what has changed in this version.
- November 8, 2001
- Version 2.25 released! This
release does several things. 1) V2.25 adds three new sets of variables,
namely alliance portolio cell counts, expected utility and IIG equilibrium
variables computed with S(weighted) as well as S(unweighted), and COW
country abbreviations. 2) V2.25 clarifies the definition of the joiner
variables in the data set and adds joiner variables that identify both
whether a joining occured in ANY MID in the given year, or in the SPECIFIC
MID identified in output as the main MID occurring in the given year.
3) V2.25 corrects minor display bugs involving contiguity after 1993,
alliances using the "sequenced COW data version, and an annoying popup
message when entering years in the "user data" section of the program.
4) V2.25 corrects substantive bugs where Germany after 1990 was showing
up as having no alliances, and where joining was being coded incorrectly
in subsequent years of a dispute when the Maoz MID data were being used.
Click here for complete details of what has
changed in this version.
- Uninstallation/Reinstallation note:
A couple of users have reported that they are unable to uninstall EUGene.
The problem may even prevent the installation of a new version of EUGene.
From what we can tell, this problem results from a problem (bug) in a
particular version of the Microsoft Windows Installer. Because of problems
with that Installer, Microsoft has released a utility that will allow
you to remove all information on a previous software installation. Running
the "Windows Installer CleanUp Utility" and removing settings about EUGene
will allow you to reinstall a new version of EUGene. According to Microsoft,
this utility "allows you to safely remove Windows Installer settings from
your computer in the event of a problem." It may be obtained at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q238/4/13.ASP.
In case the URL changes, go to Microsoft.com and search for "msicuu".
If you find that you are unable to install a new version of EUGene, you
may use this utility to wipe out information about the prior installation.
We recommend that you the install EUGene to a new directory, and then
delete all files in the old EUGene directory.
- May 1, 2001
- Version 2.10 released! This
release adds the ability to save and load a set of EUGene specifications
in terms of population of cases selected, output files and format, variables
selected, sampling proportions, and MID and case exclusions. Version 2.10
also corrects a bug in the creation of the MID onset variable for nondirected
dyads using the Maoz MID data. Click here for
details of what has changed in this version.
- February 15, 2001
- Version 2.013 released! This
release includes s and tau-b data to 1992, risk and expected utility scores
computed using s as well as tau-b (also to 1992), and includes Maoz's
version 1.1 update of his dyadic MID data set. The creation of stata command
files has been modified to create variables with explicit data types (float,
int, byte) on the variables to save memory. Version 2.013 also corrects
a small bug in the previous computation of some expected utility scores
(affecting .24% of cases). Some minor cosmetic changes have also been
made. Click here for details of what has changed
in this version.
- Server Installation. Directions
for installation to a server have been updated on the Download
and Installation page.
- Email List. We plan to create an
automated email mailing list to notify interested users when new versions
of EUGene are released. This list will only be used for notification
of new releases, and the email addresses on the list will not be distributed.
In the interim, until the automated mailing list is set, if you would
like your name added to the EUGene-NewVersion mailing list, please send
an email saying so to Scott Bennett (sbennett@psu.edu).
- Jan 3, 2001
- Version 2.0 released!
- Version 2.0 introduces a major new feature to EUGene, the ability
for users to add their own variables and data to the program, and
to upload and download datasets to the EUGene data server. Datasets
that have been uploaded will be available for other users to download,
so that variables from these uploaded datasets will appear for selection
within EUGene. Click here for more details.
- Version 2.0 corrects a discrepancy that was introduced in v1.94
and 1.95 concerning treatement of "all joiners" in directed dyad or
dyadic-dispute data sets. In versions 1.94 and 1.95 (only), if users
selected "include all joiners" in specifying MID exclusions, one subset
of joiner-dyads was accidentally excluded, namely dyads where
the initiatior was involved on day 1 of the MID but the target became
involved later. This was only an issue for users including and seeking
to analyzing the behavior of joiner states. Click here
to see more details of this problem.
- Version 2.0 also corrects a problem with combining the Maoz dyadic
mid data with a nondirected MID output selection. Some output disputes
were incorrect in this combination. Click here
to see more details of this problem.
- Installation on servers. The Download
and Installation page now includes directions for installing EUGene
on a central server to be run from networked PCs or workstations (for
instance, in a computer lab setting).
- August 7, 2000
- Version 1.95 Beta now available!
Version 1.95 corrects a small problem with the alliance variable from
1.94, which was reporting values of "-1" for missing values (from 1993
forward) rather than "-9." Click here to see what has changed in this version.
[Note: links to v1.95 removed 1/2001.]
- July 27, 2000
- New Website! EUGene
now has its own domain, eugenesoftware.org!
- Version 1.94 Beta now available!
This version adds non-directed dyads, Zeev Maoz's dyadic MID data,
and many additional variables. Click here
to see what has changed in this version. This release is technically
a beta version of the forthcoming version 2.0, but is being released since
it adds many of the most requested features that have been suggested to
us. [Note: links to v1.94 removed 1/2001.]
- EUGene publication of record.
A publication forthcoming in International Interactions will
now serve as EUGene's publication of record. We ask users to cite
this paper when using EUGene. See our citation
page.
- Note: All links to old program versions (versions other than 1.19
and 1.9) have been removed.
- May 12, 1999
- Version 1.19 is now available for download from the download
page. You may either update an existing EUGene installation, or
download the new version from scratch. Click here
to see what has changed in this version. (v1.19 corrects the "dyadic
duration" variable so that it resets to 0 when a state drops out of the
system by COW rules, and adds a button to clarify that program settings
for contiguity are reflected in the politically relevant variable as well
as definition of politically relevant population.)
- February 11, 1999
- Version 1.18 is now available for download from the download
page. You may either update an existing EUGene installation, or
download the new version from scratch. Click here
to see what has changed in this version. (v1.18 corrects for a problem
with writing the "joiner" variables to a file for years after 1992, and
corrects a problem in the Stata command file that was created when the
user selected the "separate variables by commas" option.)
[note: links to v1.18 update removed 5/13/99]
- January 20, 1999
- Version 1.17 is now available for download from the download
page. You may either update an existing EUGene installation, or
download the new version from scratch. Click here
to see what has changed in this version. (v1.17 corrects for non-matching
country codes between the Polity III data and the COW data, and an error
in reading country names from input data.) [note: links to
v1.17 update removed 2/11/99]
- November 17, 1998
- Version 1.15 is now available for download from the download
page. You may either update an existing EUGene installation, or
download the new version from scratch. Click here
to see what has changed in this version. (v1.15 corrects an error
in creating the "peace years" variable.) [note: links to v1.13 update
removed 1/20/99]
- October 4, 1998
- Version 1.14 is now available for download from the download
page. You may either update an existing EUGene installation, or
download the new version from scratch. Click here
to see what has changed in this version. (v1.14 corrects 3 minor
errors in data set creation that were introduced in v1.13, and makes a
modification in the exclusion of cases based on the MID criteria.)
- August 30, 1998
- Version 1.13 is now available for download from the download page.
You may either update an existing EUGene installation, or download the
new version from scratch. Click here to
see what has changed in this version. [note: links to v1.13 update
removed 10/4/98]
- July 13, 1998
- In response to some download problems (and the discovery of an incompatibility/limitation
in how Internet Explorer accesses files for ftp), we have changed the
way EUGene's downloadable files are accessed. Transfers should be
more successful now.
- July 8, 1998
- v 1.12 released (first public version)
- complete expected utility and risk data available
- June 15, 1998
- Risk score generation completed (6 months of 2x 200 MHz Pentium computer
time)
visits since June 9, 2000
2286 visits July 6, 1998 - June 8,
2000
EUGene Copyright
EUGene Copyright © 1997-2007,
D.
Scott Bennett and Allan C. Stam. All Rights Reserved