Computing Union Probabilities of Many Independent Events:
With a Case Study Example on Sampling of the Invasive
Emerald Ash Borer, Agrilus planipennis
David Legg, Department of Renewable Resources, University of Wyoming USA
Jeffrey Fidgen, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Krista Ryall, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
What is UNION.BAS?
UNION.BAS is a computer program that calculates the union of independent probabilities,
from 2 to 1000. The program is written in Microsoft QuickBASIC (ver 4.5) and functions on
PC platforms running Microsoft Windows operating systems (32 and 16 bit only). The core of this program
was originally written in FORTRAN by G. D. Miller (1968. An algorithm for the probability of the union
of a large number of events), which was published in the Communications of the Association for Computing
Machinery 11: pp 630 - 631. Here, UNION.BAS is available as UNION.EXE (i.e., an executable file)
for download in a compressed file, union.zip, which also contains a 'practice' probability data
file. This latter file simulates a detectable emerald ash borer infestation of 10% in a
population of 100 hosts.
Conditions of Distribution and Limitation of Liability
All computer programs distributed by the University of Wyoming are on an
AS IS basis without warranty. The University of Wyoming shall have no
liability or responsibility to cooperator or any other person or entity
with respect to liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused
directly or indirectly by programs distributed by the University of Wyoming,
including but not limited to interruption of service, loss of business,
or anticipatory profits or consequential damages resulting from use or
operation. The University of Wyoming shall not be liable for any damages
caused by delay in delivering or furnishing programs.
Before You Download UNION.ZIP....
You will need to choose the drive and folder in which to place the zip file. You will also
need the software to extract union.exe and sim91.010 from union.zip. We suggest
using WINZIP.
Before You can Run UNION.EXE....
You will need to open a Command Prompt window, as UNION.EXE runs from a command line interface.
How to do this is explained in a paper that we have written (see below).
When you Extract the FILES....
There is just ONE executable file (UNION.EXE)
Also, we have provided ONE practice file that contains independent
event probabilities
The practice data filename is SIM91.010
Click here
to download the compressed file, UNION.ZIP
A Paper that explains how to load and run UNION.BAS (UNION.EXE)....
Click here
to to view a paper on how to load and run UNION.BAS (UNION.EXE)