QualCoder

QualCoder is a qualitative data analysis application written in python3 (python 3.6 or newer versions) and pyqt5.

QualCoder projects are stored in a Sqlite database. Text files can be typed in manually or loaded from txt, odt, docx, html, htm, epub and pdf files. Images, video and audio can also be imported for coding. Codes can be assigned to text, images and a/v selections and grouped into categories in hierarchical fashion. Various types of reports can be produced including visual coding graphs, coder comparisons and coding frequencies.

This project has been tested under Ubuntu 20.04 and Windows 10. It has been used on Linux Mint 18.04 Lubuntu 18.04, Mac OS. Instructions and other information are available here: https://qualcoder.wordpress.com/ and on the Github Wiki.

INSTALLATION

Linux

Prerequisites

You will need to have a python3.6 or newer version installed. You will also need to have a vlc player installed - for audio and video.

Debian-based Linuxes:

You can install the latest debian package from https://github.com/ccbogel/QualCoder-Debians

You may need to add unstable repos as described at https://www.binarytides.com/enable-testing-repo-debian/

Install these modules from the command line

sudo apt install python3-lxml python3-ply python3-six python3-pdfminer python3-chardet python3-qt5 python3-pillow

On some Linux versions you will need to install pip

sudo apt install python3-pip

You also need to run this command from the terminal for pdf importing:

sudo python3 -m pip install pdfminer.six openpyxl ebooklib

If not using the debian package:

Make the install.sh executable and run the install.sh script from the terminal. Make sure the qualcoder folder is in the same directory as the install.sh script (i.e. as it appears when you download the QualCoder-master folder).

Fedora/CentOS/RHEL Linuxes

Retrieve the current package code from this repository

git clone https://github.com/ccbogel/QualCoder.git

Make install_fedora.sh executable (chmod +x install_fedora.sh) and run the ./install_fedora.sh script from the terminal. Make sure the qualcoder folder is in the same directory as the install.sh script (i.e. as it appears when you download the QualCoder-master folder). The script is for python version 3.9.

This script installs the dependencies using dnf and the ebook libraries with a work-around, specified at ccbogel#72 (comment).

Fedora uses wayland with does not work well with the Qt graphical interface (for now). I suggest you also install xwayland.

Linux Use

./install.sh

The qualcoder folder should be in the same directory as the install.sh script.

This will install QualCoder in the /usr/share directory and create a launcher. Alternatively go to the qualcoder directory and run the qualcoder.py file in a terminal: python3 qualcoder.py

Windows:

Install VLC or from the Windows Store.

Download the QualCoder software from: https://github.com/ccbogel/QualCoder. This is the newest, but not yet officially released, version of code. Alternatively, choose the most recent release. Click the green button "Code", and then "Download ZIP". Then, unpack the file in a selected place (e.g. desktop).

Open the unpacked folder "QualCoder-master", then open the folder "qualcoder" and make a shortcut of the file "qualcoder.py" on the desktop - for easier access. This file is the starting file for running software. Python3 and

The software is written in Python and does not have an exe file for Windows. Download and install the Python programming language. The minimum version is 3.6. Newer is better, e.g. 3.8.7 (https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-387/). Download the file (at the bottom of the web site) "Windows installer (64-bit)" (or 32-bit if you have an older system) and install Python.

IMORTANT: in the first window of the installation mark the option "Add Python to PATH" - it makes the last step easier.

The final step, install extra modules to Python. Type the letters "cmd" in the Windows Start searching engine, and click on the black software "cmd.exe" - this is the command console for Windows. In the console paste, using the right-click context menu (ctrl+v does not work) the following:

python -m pip install pyqt5 lxml Pillow ebooklib ply chardet pdfminer.six openpyxl

Then click enter. Wait, until all modules are installed (the command phrase should be again visible: "C:\Users[Your Windows account name]> or similar).

Now, you should be able to run QualCoder by double-clicking the desktop shortcut.

The python command may open a different version of python (e.g. a python2 version). You might need to replace python with py for the most recent installed version, or a specific version that is installed on your Windows, e.g. py -3.8 See discussion here: Difference between py and python You can run the cmd.exe as described above, and type python or py and Enter. The first line will tell you which version of python that command runs. To exit, press Ctrl Z.

MacOS

1. Install recent versions of Python3 and VLC.

2. Download the latest release "Source code" version in ZIP format, from the releases section of the project here on Github: https://github.com/ccbogel/QualCoder/releasesDownload and extract it into /Applications

3. Open the Terminal app (or any other command shell)

4. Install PIP (if not yet installed, try typing pip3 --version and hit ENTER)

curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py
python3 get-pip.py

-> You should now be able to run pip3 as above.

5. Install Python dependency modules using pip:

(you might already have them, don't do this again if you just update QualCoder to a newer version)

pip install pyqt5 lxml pillow six ebooklib ply chardet pdfminer.six openpyxl

6. Install system dependencies using Homebrew (aka brew)

6.1) Install brew if do not already have it (try typing brew and hit ENTER):

• Follow instructions here about installing Homebrew on your macOS: https://brew.sh/

6.2) Install QPDF package (needed to deal with PDF files) using Homebrew package manager:

brew install qpdf

Assuming you downloaded the 2.5 version. You can now run with:

python3 /applications/QualCoder-2.5/qualcoder/qualcoder.py

You can install QualCoder anywhere you want, so the path above depends on where you extracted the archive.

Another option to run Qualcoder is shown here: https://www.maketecheasier.com/run-python-script-in-mac/. This means you can right-click on the qualcoder.py file and open with --> python launcher. You can make an alias to the file and place it on your desktop.

Another option to install on Mac:

Open the Terminal App and move to the unzipped Qualcoder-Master directory, then run the following commands:

pip install -U py2app or for a system installation of python sudo pip install -U py2app

python3 setup.py py2app

Dependencies

Required:

• Python 3.x version

• PyQt5

• lxml

• Pillow

• six (Mac OS)

• ebooklib

• ply

• chardet

• pdfminer.six

• openpyxl

• qpdf (Linux for programatically applying pdf decryption for pdfs with blank password)

Future plans

• Improve packaging for easier installation: currently investigating use of pyinstaller - without success so far.
• Change from pdfminer.six to pdfminer3
• Possibly look at use with R.
• Reports: Word count report maybe
• Text mining - maybe
  • word cloud, word visualisations - maybe
• General
  • Translations for GUI.

License

QualCoder is distributed under the MIT LICENSE.

Citation APA style

Curtain, C. (2021) QualCoder 2.5 [Computer software]. Retrieved from https://github.com/ccbogel/QualCoder/releases/tag/2.5

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