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Anonymous Usage Statistics Tracking

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rafael edited this page Dec 14, 2019 · 6 revisions

Usage statistics tracking (introduced in 3.17.0) is an optional feature that can be toggled at any time in the Reporting pane of the preferences menu.

Upon first start, a popup asks the user if they wish to share anonymous usage statistics.

Why?

For research purposes, to adjust the smart widget suggestions system, and to generally better understand how people use Orange, an optional and transparent anonymous statistics tracking module was implemented.

All or part of the collected statistics may be released as part of an open data mining workflow dataset in the future.

The system is also used to adjust the smart widget suggestions system.

How?

Per canvas session, a JSON with the following information is generated:

  • date
  • Orange version
  • operating system
  • anaconda (boolean)
  • randomly generated unique user ID
  • a sequence of Actions, each entailing:
    • action type
    • a sequence of Events (widget add/remove, link add/remove)
    • (metadata)

The following Action types are defined, with metadata they carry in brackets: Unclassified
ToolboxClick
ToolboxDrag
QuickMenu (query)
ExtendFromSink (query, extended widget)
ExtendFromSource (query, extended widget)
InsertDrag (originally linked widgets)
InsertMenu (query, originally linked widgets)
Undo
Redo
Duplicate
Load

The following Event types are defined:
NodeAdd
NodeRemove
LinkAdd
LinkRemove

Each widget is assigned an ID in the NodeAdd event, which is later referred to by Events and Actions. Additionally, a link event defines which widget signals are linked.

Additionally, the UUID is included in the useragent string, relevant when Orange checks the latest version and pulls the notification feed.

Version 3.17.0 – 3.23.1

Data Collection Format

Per canvas session, a JSON with the following information is generated:

  • date
  • Orange version
  • operating system
  • widget addition events, each entailing:
    • widget name
    • type of addition:
      • quick menu
      • toolbox click
      • toolbox drag
      • drag from other widget
    • (if dragged from other widget, other widget name)
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