GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE

THE SCHOOL NUTRITIONAL STATUS DATABANK (SNS-DB™)

MICROSOFT EXCEL-BASED E-PRODUCTIVITY TOOL
AND ITS SCHOOL-LEVEL SUMMARY FORMS
(This serves as a reference guide in using master file copies in a folder labeled SNS-DB™ v1.0 - DOR.05172018.)

1. Secure a copy of SNS-DB™ v1.0 - DOR.05172018 (E).ZIP archive file (the (E) suffix of the filename means
that the .ZIP file is for use of Elementary schools; the (S) is for the Secondary) and copy it to a separate
storage location (other than the desktop) in your computer. This is to ensure that you still have your
original files/copies once you encounter problems along the way. It is highly recommended that you
work on a storage location within the computer you are actually using. Due to highly-recursive algorithms
used in formulas within the templates, working from an external storage location (i.e. USB flash drives,
external memory cards, removable drives) may slow down system performance.

2. Put another copy of the .ZIP archive file on your desktop and rename it according to this naming
convention, all letters in uppercase: SNSDB_[name of school, where all spaces are replaced with
underscores]_[month of data gathering]_[current year]. The following .ZIP archive names are
therefore valid (you may have to supply the file extension .ZIP if your PC system requires it):
a. SNSDB_DON_ESPERIDION_PRESBITERO_ES_JUNE_2018
b. SNSDB_TUYOM_ES_AUGUST_2018
c. SNSDB_GIL_MONTILLA_NHS_JULY_2018
d. SNSDB_DR._ANTONIO_A._LIZARES_MHS_JUNE_2018

3. Select your newly-renamed .ZIP archive and do an “extraction” of its contents (ask the help of your School
ICT Coordinator on how to do this properly). The extraction process should produce a folder (named
similarly to your .ZIP archive file) which contains a workbook with summary forms and grade-level master
templates (see step #4 below for reference on these contents). This folder on your desktop will be the
one where you are going to encode your raw data entries.

4. Open the duly-renamed folder and review/confirm/ensure that it contains distinct Microsoft Excel and
PDF files, as follows:
a. individual grade-level master templates (i.e. G7, G8, G9, G10, G11, G12, and ALS for the Secondary;
Kinder, G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, and G6 for the Elementary);
b. a workbook (SUMMARIES (E) for elementary schools and SUMMARIES (S) for Secondary
schools) containing school-level summary forms; and
c. this GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS (in PDF file) that you are reading.

5. Using Microsoft Office Excel 2007 (or higher), open the file corresponding to the grade level you want
to encode/generate a nutritional status report. For example, open G7.xlsx if you want to encode the
data of Grade 7 learners.

NOTE 5.1: All copies of the SNS-DB™ tool released in the field for use may have been
shared online. Embedded security measures in your PC system may cause an issue when you open
an Excel file downloaded from the Internet.

If this happens, take note of the following steps:

For MS Excel 2007,

5.1.a. Click the Options… button on the status message bar above the worksheet.
5.1.b. Click Enable this content.
5.1.c. Click the OK button.

For MS Excel 2010 or higher, click the Enable content button on the status message bar
above the worksheet.

6. In the grade-level file you have opened, create a section template by doing the following steps:
a. Right-click on Template worksheet tab and click Move or Copy…
b. On the small window that will appear, click Summary and click on the checkbox labeled
Create a copy.
c. Click the OK button. Now you have a new worksheet labeled Template (2).
d. Right-click on the tab of this worksheet and click Rename.
 e. Type the section name of the class data you will be encoding (i.e. Rizal, Alpha, Star,
Andromeda, Gold) and then press the Enter key.
f. Keep in mind that each section template has only a maximum data entry for 60 learners per
section. Any additional learners (in excess of 60) therefore are to be encoded in a
separate section template worksheet labeled with a sub-2 (such as Rizal2, Alpha2, Star2,
Andromeda2, Gold2).

NOTE 6.1: For class sections with more than 60 enrolled learners, any sub-2 section’s
summaries are to be averaged with its mother section’s summaries if you want to secure a correct
SECTION-LEVEL summary. For example, the summaries of Section Alpha are the averages of Alpha
and Alpha2 summaries. The GRADE-LEVEL and SCHOOL-LEVEL summaries, however, will not be
affected by this particular circumvention.

g. See to it that all section templates you have created are located IN-BETWEEN the
TEMPLATE and the Summary worksheets. This is to ensure that data in all the section
templates will be properly and correctly included in the auto-generated grade-level
summaries.

NOTE 6.2: Countercheck the number of Class Section worksheets found in-between the
TEMPLATE and the Summary worksheets. If you have 17 sections in a grade level, there should
also be 17 worksheets in-between.

h. You are now ready to encode your data on a per-section basis. Strictly avoid any encoding
on the TEMPLATE worksheet.

7. Encode your raw data on the appropriate columns. Take note there are only specified cells and ranges
where you are supposed to do this. Other areas of the worksheet are locked to preserve the integrity
of formulas and algorithms used in the program’s internal routines and computations. Furthermore, each
data entry cell per learner is colored light-blue: it turns white as soon as a valid data is entered into it.
This is just a way of reminding the encoder whether or not a data was entered on this particular cell.

NOTE 7.1: The data displayed at the bottom of the Class Section worksheet are summaries
of entry details and statuses/categorizations for the whole section. The Summary worksheet (with
red as its tab color), on the other hand, is the summary of the whole grade level.

NOTE 7.2: The date format used in the tool (mm-dd-yyyy) is governed by the PC
system’s regional settings. To ensure that this format is followed (except in dates on headers of forms
and templates), please follow these steps (Windows 10 operating systems only; for other Windows
OS versions, please consult your local ICT Coordinator for guidance):

a. Open your Control Panel by pressing the Windows key + R.

b. In the Run dialog box, type “control panel” (without the quotes) and click OK or
press the Enter key.
c. In the Control Panel window, look for the icon Region and double-click it.
d. Under Format, use English (United States). Be sure your date format is set to
MM/dd/yyyy.
e. Click OK.
f. Close the Control Panel window.
g. Restart your Excel application (or your PC system if it still fails to format the date
properly).

8. If Microsoft Excel fails to execute the tool's auto-computation routines, in spite of having followed
all instructions correctly, try the following steps:
a. For Excel 2010/2013/2016,
a. Click on Formulas on the menu bar.
b. Click Calculation Options.
c. Select Automatic.
b. For Excel 2007,
a. Click the Microsoft Office orb.
b. Click Excel Options.
c. Select Formula tab.
d. Click on the Automatic radio button (under Calculation option).

NOTE 8.1: If possible, encoding for all the sections should be complete, with all the
headings properly supplied with the required details. This is to ensure that when you print the files,
 all contact references and traceability details were included in the printout and no manual writing is
to be done on the hard copies except for the required signatures. All forms and templates in this tool
are optimized for printout on a folio-sized bond paper (8.5 x 13 inches).

9. As soon as all raw data from all grade levels and sections were encoded, follow these steps:
a. Open the school-level SUMMARIES workbook – with the (S) or (E) suffix depending on usage
intent) – to generate/report/submit a school-level consolidation.

NOTE 9.1: School-level summary forms are seven (7) individual worksheets inside the
SUMMARIES (E) or SUMMARIES (S) workbook (see Step 4.b above to check your original copy
of the tool). Refer to Note 5.1 if you encounter issues in opening any summary form of the tool
downloaded from the Internet.

b. Encode the required reference/traceability details on the form heading. Harvested data will now
be automatically generated (totals and/or percentages). If everything went fine in data-encoding
at the grade levels and sections, the concerned school-level summary form is now the summarized
nutritional status report of your school for the period as provided.

NOTE 9.2: The following are the different school-level summary forms and the brief
description of their auto-summarized reports (named here according to their worksheet tab labels):

 UCT4PS – contains totals and percentages of number of enrolled learners who are
children of Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
(4Ps) beneficiaries
 DRWM – contains totals and percentages of number of enrolled learners who were
dewormed
 IMMU – contains totals and percentages of enrolled learners vis-à-vis the school-based
immunization programs of the government which includes tetanus & diphtheria (TD),
measles-containing vaccine (MCV), and human papilloma virus (HPV)
 WIFA – contains totals and percentages of learners vis-à-vis the weekly iron and folic
acid (WIFA) supplementation program of the government for enrolled female learners
 NS.UCT4PS – contains a summary of nutritional status categorizations of enrolled
learners who are children of CCT/4Ps beneficiaries
 NS.CIPS – contains a summary of nutritional status categorizations of enrolled learners
who are children of indigenous peoples (IPs)
 NS.OVERALL – contains a summary of nutritional status categorizations of ALL enrolled
learners

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / CONSIDERATIONS

1. SNS-DB™ supports basic data importation features (i.e. copy-pasting of raw data from other file in
electronic or soft copy format). In so doing, keep in mind the following:
a. Paste the copied data by using the Paste values only technique to preserve the target cells’
formatting.
b. Source data should only come from Microsoft Excel 2007 (or higher) worksheets. Otherwise,
no absolute guarantee is herein provided nor implied on the consistency/reliability of the tool’s
expected operations and outputs.
c. Source cells and target cells are to be preferably of the same data format (in case you’ll forget
to observe item A above).
d. Number of columns and rows of source cells should not exceed the number of columns and rows
of target cells.
e. Where feasible and possible, import data column by column to avoid instances of interchanged
or misplaced values.

2. The whole folder of the SNS-DB™ tool can be copied and renamed; the folder-renaming pattern
(indicated in step #2 of the general instructions above) is only for the purpose of convenience in filing,
archiving, traceability, and uniformity compliance.

3. Grade-level master templates (see step #4-a of the general instructions above) SHOULD NOT BE
RENAMED in any manner as these files are referenced in the auto-consolidation of summaries. Any
alteration done on the original filenames of these templates will result in summary/consolidation errors.
4. The workbook named SUMMARIES (E) or SUMMARIES (S) – which contains school-level summary forms
(see step #4-b of the general instructions above) – CAN BE RENAMED according to a file-naming
convention required by higher offices for purposes of submission/reporting.

For example, if a higher office (i.e. District or Division) would require WIFA reporting for Round 2:
January, do the following steps:
a. Copy the whole folder of previous SNS-DB™ data and rename the folder accordingly
(SNSDB_TABAO_NHS_WIFA_R2JANUARY would be a valid folder name).
b. Open each grade-level templates and remove unnecessary entries from the section worksheets
all non-WIFA related details (this is to ensure that repetitive entries like names, birthdays, gender,
etc. remain intact).
c. Remove all school-level summary forms that are non-WIFA related.
d. Encode all of your new WIFA data for Round 2: January.
e. Generate a summary for this particular round by opening and updating the SUMMARIES
workbook.
f. “Save As” the SUMMARIES workbook according to higher office convention requirements (for
example, SUMMARIES_WIFA_TABAO_NHS_R2JANUARY is valid and acceptable) and submit in
electronic or hard copy as per instruction of requiring entity.

5. SNS-DB™ was created in Microsoft Excel 2016 (64-bit); compatibility was checked (and therefore
ensured) in 2007, 2010, and 2013 versions. No assurance of full compatibility is declared for other non-
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet applications. Full compatibility with LibreOffice, XPS, OpenOffice, or
KingSoft Office spreadsheet applications were not tested by the author; user’s discretion is hereby
advised.

6. Program errors/bugs should be reported ASAP to your respective District ICT Coordinators (for
elementary level users) or to your respective School ICT Coordinators (for secondary level users).

7. A Facebook-based virtual group will be organized to support the development, utilization, and
maintenance of SNS-DB™ within the jurisdiction of the Division of Negros Occidental. Membership will
be exclusive for all designated School Health and Nutrition focal persons and coordinators, School ICT
Coordinators, and directly-involved personnel of the School Health and Nutrition Section of the Schools
Governance and Operations Division (SGOD) of DepED Division of Negros Occidental.

8. Electronic distribution and copying of the SNS-DB™ tool (or any of its component files) is strictly under
the full discretion and approval of the Section Head of the School Health and Nutrition Section of the
Schools Governance and Operations Division (SGOD) of DepED Division of Negros Occidental.

9. The utilization and distribution of SNS-DB™ tool is free of charge but the Fair Use Policy is hereby
impliedly revoked if the tool is used for other intent and/or purposes (beside programs-related
deliverables authorized and mandated to the health and nutrition arm of the Department of Education.

10. Further clarifications on how to use the SNS-DB™ tool can be addressed directly to the School Health
and Nutrition Section of the Schools Governance and Operations Division (SGOD), DepED Division of
Negros Occidental, Cottage Road, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; or via email to
aka_amboy@yahoo.com indicating SNS-DB™ Issues and Concerns as subject line. Queries that are
already covered in this reference/instructions or were already discussed during related hands-on
orientations will not be entertained.

11. Preserve your data. Backup regularly.

SNS-DB™
Original programming algorithm and logic, over-all layout and design, including trademark claims, are by Carmelo E. Gatinao.
SNS-DB™ is an e-productivity tool designed in Microsoft Excel 2016.
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application – a part of the Microsoft Office Suite – owned by Microsoft Corporation.