EzyMate Help File
Ezymate is a Microsoft excel macro that estimates mating frequency of social insect queens from
the genotypes of their workers. Exymate was programmed by Peter Mearns, James Eun, Michael
Godwin in an undergraduate student project supervised by Ben Oldroyd.
1.
How to install EzyMate.
There are two methods of installing EzyMate. Which method is relevant to you depends on
whether you already have an excel personal macro file stored on your computer.
In Windows this file is usually located in the following directory:
WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART\personal.xls
On a Mac it is stored in:
Applications\Microsoft Office\Office\Startup\Excel\Personal Macro Worksheet
Note: By incorporating the EzyMate macro into your personal macro file, you only have to
install EzyMate once. Thereafter every time MS Excel is loaded, the macro will
automatically be loaded with it. This will not affect the loading speed of MS Excel.
To determine whether a personal macro file already exists on your computer, carry out the
following preliminary steps.
Windows:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Select START, FIND, Files or Folders.
In the “Named” box type: personal.xls
Under “Look in”, select your windows directory.
Press “Find Now” button.
Mac:
Use the ‘Find” function to search your discs for ‘Personal Macro Worksheet’
If the search FAILS to find a personal macro file, then follow the steps under OPTION 1.
If the search locates a personal macro file, then follow the steps under OPTION 2.
OPTION 1:
Since the search did not locate a personal.xls file, simply copy the personal.xls file from the
Sydney University Social Insect lab web site to your WINDOWS\Application
Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART directory or Macintosh startup folder as appropriate.
THERE IS NO NEED TO DOWNLOAD THE NINE MODULES.
OPTION 2:
Since the search located a personal macro file, the EzyMate macro files must be added to the
pre-existing personal macro file. Using option 1 in this instance will overwrite the
existing personal macro file.
Windows
a. Open MS Excel.
b. Press Alt + F11. This opens the VB Editor.
c. Locate the “modules” folder under personal.xls on the left hand side of the screen
(project explorer). If the project explorer window is not open, press ctrl + R.
d. Insert the nine (9) EzyMate macros. Right-click on the modules folder under the
personal.xls project.
e. Select “import file” from the pop-up menu.
f. Locate the appropriate directory on your hard drive and select a single EzyMate
macro file.
g. Repeat the above three steps until all eight of the macro files are imported into the
personal.xls project.
h. Finally, select file (from the menu at the top of the screen), followed by “save
personal.xls”
i. Close the VB Editor window and MS Excel.
Mac
a. Open MS Excel.
b. Select Tools\Macro\Visual Basic Editor. This opens the VB Editor.
c. Locate the “modules” folder under Personal Macro Worksheet on the left hand side
of the screen .
d. Individually insert the nine (9) EzyMate macros (i.e. create 9 new macros). For each
macro Insert/Module, Insert/File, select the file to be inserted.
e. Save the personal macros from the File menu.
2. System requirements.
The only requirement for EzyMate is a machine that is able to run MS Office 2000 or greater.
3. How to execute EzyMate.
Once EzyMate has been installed, you can execute EzyMate by pressing the hotkey
(ctrl + shift + E).
Nb: Please ensure that the active sheet contains the data set to be analysed.
The input format for EzyMate is quite simple (Figure 1).
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Row 1 of the spreadsheet should contain the column names.
Column 1 (ie: column A) should contain the colony names.
The first cell in the column proceeding the data set to be analysed must be empty.
A null allele or unknown gel result is represented by a dot (.) in the data set.
Each colony is listed one after another (with no spaces between).
Figure 1: Input data format.
(i)
Column A contains the colony names.
(ii)
Row 1 contains the column headings, where b124, a88 and a14 are the loci
sampled.
(iii) Cell “J1” is empty.
(iv)
A dot (.) represents an unknown result.
4. General troubleshooting.
Q: Why does EzyMate ‘lock up’?
A: EzyMate may ‘lock up’ for a few reasons. Firstly, the break this ‘lock’ press ctrl + Break.
EzyMate may lock if the data set to be analysed is not in the correct format. For example, the
data set may contain an empty cell or the number of columns in the data set my not be an
even number (ie: two alleles per locus). Another possible reason is that the spreadsheet
containing the data set is not the active sheet.
Q: What number do I enter in the first input box?
A: This input box is simply asking for the starting column of the data set. Since the data set is
composed of loci, where each locus contains two alleles, then the starting column is the first
allele of the data set.
Referring to Figure 1 (above), the data set contains 3 loci (b124, a88 and a14). The first allele
in the data set is therefore in column D (which is the 4th column of the spreadsheet).
Q: What happens if I enter the incorrect column into the first input box?
A: There are several different outcomes in such an event. Firstly, it is important to note that
the original data set will not be altered by the execution of EzyMate. Therefore, you can also
re-run any data set.
In ALL of the cases listed below, assume the correct number to be entered is 4
(corresponding to column D).
Case 1: Accidentally entered the number 5. This number represents column E of the
spreadsheet, which contains the second allele of the first loci (Figure 1). Thus the data set
will contain an odd number of alleles. EzyMate recognises an odd number of alleles as an
error and holts its execution.
Case 2: Accidentally entered the number 6. Again, this number represents column F of the
spreadsheet, which contains the first allele of the second locus (a88) of Figure 1. In this case,
EzyMate still locates an even number of alleles – even though the data set analysed is a
portion of the original data set. Thus, EzyMate will still execute and perform its analysis, but
only using the portion of the data set.
Case 3: Accidentally entered the number 2. In this case, EzyMate will execute and probably
‘lock up’. This is because the data set no longer follows the expected patterns – ie: column B
(Figure 1) contains a different number for every bee. Therefore the queen’s genotype cannot
be established.
Q: What is the difference between auto-condensed and non-condensed EzyMate output?
A: The auto-condensing option allows the drones containing an incomplete genotype over the
loci sampled to be combined with those drones that contain a complete genotype. When the
non-condensing option is selected, question marks (?) will appear in the output. This type of
output displays all the drone genotypic combinations required to produced the observed
offspring. As a result the viewer can manually allocate the partial drone genotype at his/her
own discretion (see Figure 2 and 3).
Figure 2: Non-condensed output.
Figure 3: Auto-condensing output.
Q: When I run EzyMate I receive an error message like the one below. What is the problem?
A: This message appears when a worksheet in the current workbook has the same name as a
new worksheet being generated. This particular message will occur if, for example, EzyMate
is executed once, and then you execute the EzyMate again on the same data set. EzyMate will
try to create new worksheets to display the output data and as a result the message is
displayed.
If you wish to re-execute EzyMate please ensure that:
a) The data set is the active sheet.
b) Any output worksheets (in the same workbook) from previous executions of
EzyMate are removed from the current workbook.
5. Note: EzyMate is designed to greatly simplify the task of analysing bee genotypic data.
Whilst all care is taken to ensure that the output(s) of such programs are accurate, EzyMate
cannot be programmed to cater for unforseen anomalies. Thus, EzyMate is not intended to
replace logical thought, but rather improve the analytical process.