Course I Intro

This course is the first in a series of courses on using DairyCOMP to manage and evaluate a dairy farm. No previous DairyCOMP305 experience is required.

This Introductory course also serves to introduce students to the University of Minnesota online platform, WebCT Vista. Everyone is encouraged to start their online DairyCOMP training by taking this course first. Our experience has been that even the most advanced DairyCOMP users have found value in the material presented here. Please do not hesitate to contact the course coordinator (Dr. Paul Rapnicki) if you have questions about the course content.

Training Course 1 introduces the student to some of the basic functions in DairyCOMP, describes what kinds of data are used by the program and how those data are managed, and provides a brief introduction into accessing the data for management and evaluative purposes.

The registration fee for Training Course 1 is $185 per student. This includes the DC305 WebCT Demo Program CD-ROM, the course workbook, and WebCT Vista access. Students that successfully complete Course 1 are eligible to receive eight CE credits from the University of Minnesota or eight CEUs from ARPAS.

Course Instructors

• Paul Rapnicki, DVM MBA
• Steven Stewart, DVM

This is an 8 week on-line training course with 6 units. Each unit requires 5 to 8 hours for students to complete. Students are graded based on on-line quiz performance. 70% is required to pass.

Course tuition is $185.

Syllabus

Unit 1: Introduction to DairyCOMP305

a. Introduction
b. The DC305 Background
c. Data-based Action
d. Navigation in DC305
e. Using DC305 Help

Unit 2: Information Storage in DairyCOMP305

a. DC305 File Structure
b. Introduction to CowCards
c. Information Storage in DC305- Items/Events
d. Basic Data Entry and Editing

Unit 3: Introduction to ALTER and standard EVENTS
a. Introduction to ALTER
b. User Defined Events in DC305
c. Additional Ways of Entering Data

Unit 4: DC305 Command Line
a. Introduction to Command Line Syntax
b. More Command Line Syntax

Unit 5: Command Line Usage
a. Using the FOR Statement
b. Using BY clause
c. Using Switches
d. Saving Commands

Unit 6: Item Definitions and Common Command Line Verbs
a. Command verbs
b. Item Definitions