Survey Programming Fundamentals

d
SurveyProgramming
Fundamentals
SurveyProgrammingFundamentals
Copyright2007byVergeConsulting,Inc.
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Version:
SPF12(Dimensions4.5)
TableofContents
TableofContents
Chapter1 IntroductiontoSurveyProgramming.....................................................................................1
TheBigPicture........................................................................................................................................1
WhatisSurveyDesignAbout?............................................................................................................2
TheSurveyProcess.................................................................................................................................2
DimensionsScriptingOverview..............................................................................................................2
InterviewObjectModel..........................................................................................................................2
ObjectOrientedProgramming...............................................................................................................3
WhatisObjectOrientedProgramming?............................................................................................3
DimensionsDevelopmentLibraryOverview..........................................................................................3
NavigatingtheDDL.............................................................................................................................4
Examples.............................................................................................................................................4
DDLLinks.............................................................................................................................................5
WhatismrStudio?..................................................................................................................................6
WhatsNext?...........................................................................................................................................7
Chapter2 ConstructingQuestions...........................................................................................................9
MetadataItemsFormat..........................................................................................................................9
InformationItems.................................................................................................................................10
NumericQuestions...............................................................................................................................11
MinimumandMaximumParameterOptions...................................................................................12
TextQuestions......................................................................................................................................12
Categorical............................................................................................................................................14
ParameterOptionsRestrictingtheNumberofResponsestobeChosen......................................14
Date.......................................................................................................................................................17
Boolean.................................................................................................................................................19
Chapter3 CreatinganmrStudioInterviewScript..................................................................................21
OpeningmrStudio.................................................................................................................................21
OverviewofToolbars/Shortcuts...........................................................................................................23
FormattingToolbars.........................................................................................................................23
ViewToolbar.....................................................................................................................................24
InterviewOptionsToolbar................................................................................................................25
TableofContents
TipsforCreatingMetadata...................................................................................................................25
ViewingandTestingtheSurveyinmrStudio........................................................................................26
Exercise.................................................................................................................................................28
Chapter4 SpecialResponsesandOptions............................................................................................31
SingleResponseChoicesinMultipleSelectionQuestions...................................................................31
SpecialResponseswithCategoricalQuestions.....................................................................................34
CategoricalResponseswithNonCategoricalQuestions......................................................................36
CollectingOtherTextResponsesinCategoricalQuestions..................................................................38
Subheading...........................................................................................................................................39
Exercise.................................................................................................................................................42
Chapter5 BasicRoutingLogic................................................................................................................45
AskingQuestions...................................................................................................................................47
ReadOnlyItems....................................................................................................................................49
ConditionalStatements........................................................................................................................50
IfThenElse..................................................................................................................................50
SelectCase............................................................................................................................................52
Goto......................................................................................................................................................55
LogicalExpressions...............................................................................................................................56
NumericQuestions...........................................................................................................................56
BooleanQuestions............................................................................................................................57
TextQuestions..................................................................................................................................57
CategoricalQuestions.......................................................................................................................58
LogicalOperators..............................................................................................................................60
TipsforRoutingSectionSyntax............................................................................................................62
AddingErrorHandling...........................................................................................................................63
Exercise.................................................................................................................................................64
Chapter6 SharedLists...........................................................................................................................67
CreatingSubheadingswithSharedLists...............................................................................................69
Chapter7 SortingCategoricalResponseLists.......................................................................................73
SortinginMetadata..............................................................................................................................74
RoutingSectionSorting........................................................................................................................75
NotSortingSpecificResponses.............................................................................................................75
II
TableofContents
KeepingSpecificCategoriesGroupedTogether...................................................................................77
Exercise.................................................................................................................................................78
Chapter8 RestrictingResponses...........................................................................................................79
FilterCategories....................................................................................................................................79
LimitingNumericQuestionRangesBasedonLogic..............................................................................86
Exercise.................................................................................................................................................88
Chapter9 MultipleQuestionsonOnePage..........................................................................................91
Page.......................................................................................................................................................92
Block......................................................................................................................................................94
ControllingHowPageandBlockQuestionsareDisplayed...................................................................98
FilteringaPage/Block.......................................................................................................................98
SortingaPage/Block.........................................................................................................................99
Exercise...............................................................................................................................................100
Chapter10
RepetitiveQuestionsLoops&Grids.............................................................................101
CategoricalLoops/Grids......................................................................................................................102
ForEachloops.................................................................................................................................106
CategoricalLoopswithaNumericQuestion..................................................................................108
NumericLoops....................................................................................................................................111
Exercise...............................................................................................................................................114
Chapter11
DebuggingToolswithinmrStudio...................................................................................115
AutoAnswerQuestionnaire...............................................................................................................115
ProducingTestData............................................................................................................................117
AddingAdditionalDataSources.....................................................................................................119
SettingBreakpoints.............................................................................................................................120
TroubleshootingSpecificSectionsofCode.........................................................................................121
WorkingwithMacros..........................................................................................................................123
Updating/DeletingExistingMacros................................................................................................123
AddingAdditionalMacros..............................................................................................................123
Chapter12
ConditionedLoopsandGrids..........................................................................................125
PreviousResponsesWithintheLoop.................................................................................................125
Loops/GridsFilteredonPreviousResponsesOutsidetheLoop/Grid................................................127
Loops/GridsFilteredonResponsestoaDifferentLoop/GridsQuestions.........................................129
III
TableofContents
Loops/GridsFilteredonaSublistofCategories..................................................................................131
Exercise...............................................................................................................................................134
Chapter13
ControllingtheLookofYourSurvey...............................................................................137
OverviewoftheFormattingofaSurvey.............................................................................................137
Templates...........................................................................................................................................137
ApplyingaTemplatewithinYourScript.........................................................................................139
Folders............................................................................................................................................140
TipsforScriptwritersRegardingTemplates....................................................................................141
Styles...................................................................................................................................................141
DefaultStyles......................................................................................................................................141
Default............................................................................................................................................142
Categories.......................................................................................................................................143
Grid.................................................................................................................................................144
Labels..............................................................................................................................................146
Navigation.......................................................................................................................................146
Questions........................................................................................................................................147
QuestionStyles...................................................................................................................................148
CategoricalQuestions.....................................................................................................................148
TextQuestions................................................................................................................................149
MetadataStyles..................................................................................................................................150
CustomControls.................................................................................................................................151
XHTMLinLabels..................................................................................................................................151
WhatisXHTML?..............................................................................................................................151
FinalThoughtsonFormatting.............................................................................................................152
Exercise...............................................................................................................................................153
Chapter14
TextSubstitutionsandTextHeadings.............................................................................155
DisplayingResponsestoPreviousQuestions.....................................................................................155
InsertTextintotheMetadatathatwillbecontrolledintheroutingsection.....................................158
TextHeadings......................................................................................................................................162
Chapter15
EnhancingSurveyFlow...................................................................................................165
MustAnswer.......................................................................................................................................166
DefaultAnswers..................................................................................................................................166
IV
TableofContents
Hiddendefaultresponses...............................................................................................................169
InitialResponse...................................................................................................................................170
Exercise...............................................................................................................................................172
Chapter16
CustomizingtheStandardErrorMessages.....................................................................173
Globalchangestoerrormessages......................................................................................................175
Errormessageschangesforaspecificmetadatafile..........................................................................175
Errormessageschangesforaspecificquestion.................................................................................176
Customizingtheerrormessage..........................................................................................................177
Chapter17
Functions&Subroutines.................................................................................................179
DefinitionofFunctionsandSubroutines............................................................................................179
Subroutine......................................................................................................................................180
SubroutineExample............................................................................................................................180
Function..........................................................................................................................................184
Exercise...............................................................................................................................................188
Chapter18
Validation........................................................................................................................189
ValidatingTextQuestionPatterns......................................................................................................189
CheckingCustomLogic.......................................................................................................................192
Addingcustomerrors.........................................................................................................................193
Addingcustompropertiestometadata.........................................................................................198
Chapter19
CompoundQuestions.....................................................................................................201
DefiningCompoundQuestions...........................................................................................................201
Validatingacompoundquestion........................................................................................................204
Compoundvs.Loop............................................................................................................................206
Chapter20
WorkingwithSample......................................................................................................207
TestingsampleinformationwithinmrStudio.....................................................................................209
AlternativetoSampleManagementtopassinformationintothesurvey.........................................213
Chapter21
WorkingwithQuotas......................................................................................................215
DefiningSurveyQuotas......................................................................................................................215
CheckingQuotas.................................................................................................................................218
QuotasInmrStudio.........................................................................................................................221
ActivationwithQuotas.......................................................................................................................222
Viewing&ChangingQuotas...............................................................................................................222
TableofContents
Chapter22
CreatingMultiLingualProjects.......................................................................................227
OverviewofTranslatingStudiesinDimensions..................................................................................227
Settingthelanguagewithinthescript................................................................................................228
Askaquestiontocollectandsetthelanguage..................................................................................228
Setlanguagefromasamplefieldvariable..........................................................................................229
Tipsforcreatingmultilingualprojects...............................................................................................230
Chapter23
AdditionalinformationforAnalysis................................................................................231
AlternateTextforAnalysis..................................................................................................................231
AddingAnalysisContextwithmrStudio.........................................................................................231
Factors.................................................................................................................................................232
CreatingQuestionItemsforAnalysis..................................................................................................233
ElementTypes..................................................................................................................................234
AxisExpressions..............................................................................................................................236
Tipscreatinganalysiselements..........................................................................................................239
Summary.............................................................................................................................................239
VI
SurveyPrrogrammingFundamentalls
Chapte
er1
Chapter1Introd
ductiontoSurrveyProgram
mming
Inttroductio
ontoSurv
veyProgra
amming
ThiscourrseisdesignedtoprovideafirmfoundaationinunderstandingtheeDimensionsScripting
languagee,specificallythetaskofprrogrammingssurveys.
Thischap
T
pterwillcontain::
Anovervieewoftheinterviewprocess
Adefinitio
onofDimensionsscripting
Anintrodu
uctiontodocum
mentationand
d
mrStudio
TheBig
gPicture
Theoverallprocessoffrunningasu
urveycanbeggroupedintothreemaincategories.
Design:Creattingthesurveeyinstrumenttandthequeestionsassociatedwithit
D
C
Collect:Colle
ecttheinform
mationrequireedofthesurvveyinstrumen
nt
R
Report:Analy
yzetheresulttsandreportthefindingso
oftheresearch
Foreachstagethereaaredifferentttoolswecanuse.ForDimeensionsthisccouldlooklikee
C
Collect
t
mrStudio
BuildA
Activity
mrPap
per
Author
mrTranslate
mrInterview
mrD
Dialer
mrSScan
Design
SSPSS
R
Reporter
m
mrTables
m
mrStudio
C
Clementine
Report
Chapter1IntroductiontoSurveyProgramming
WhatisSurveyDesignAbout?
Herearesomeofthetasksinvolvedinsurveydesign:
Creatingaqualitysurveyinstrument
Programmingsurveycontentandlogic
Surveytesting(Qualitycontrol)
Transferringtheprojecttodatacollectionservers(Activation)
Surveytranslation
Sampleintegration
Definingquotas
TheSurveyProcess
Thehistoricprocessforthesurveyprocesshasattimesbeentedious.Therearealotofrepetitive
tasksthattaketimeandmoney.Dimensionsischangingthatparadigm.Dimensionsscriptingallows
userstoincorporatemoreautomationandreusablecodeintheprocess.Dimensionsscriptingisone
unifiedlanguageforsurveydesign,collectionandreporting,sothereislessrepetitionandamore
streamlinedprocess.
DimensionsScriptingOverview
WhenworkinginmrStudiowewillbeusingDimensionsScripting.Therearetwolanguagesin
Dimensionsscripting.
Language
mrScriptBasic
Description
AprogramminglanguagethatisbasedonMicrosoftVBScript.
mrScriptMetadata
ProprietaryDimensionssyntaxusedtodefinesurveyquestions/
metadata.
Whenprogrammingsurveyswewillmakeuseofbothlanguages.mrScriptMetadatawillbeusedto
createthequestionforoursurvey.mrScriptBasicwillcontrolwhenandifweaskthosequestions.
InterviewObjectModel
TheInterviewObjectModel,typicallyreferredtoasIOM,isthefoundationofsurveyprogrammingin
Dimensions.IOMdefines,forDimensions,whatthecomponentsofasurveyareandwhatactionswe
cantakewitheachcomponent.
ObjectOrientedProgramming
WhenprogrammingasurveyinDimensionsyouwillbeusingobjectorientedprogramming(OOP).
WhatisObjectOrientedProgramming?
Abasicdefinitionwouldreadsomethinglike:Atypeofprogramminginwhichprogrammersdefinenot
justthedatatypeofadatastructure,butalsothetypesofoperations(functions)thatcanbeapplied
tothedatastructure.Inthiswaythedatastructurebecomesanobjectthatincludesbothdataand
functionality.
IfyouhavenotbeenexposedtoOOPinthepast,theconceptsandterminologycanseemconfusingat
times.However,don'tgetcaughtupintheterminology.Ifyouunderstandtheconceptofcreatinga
questionnaire,thenyoucanlearnthecontentofthismanual.
ThinkaboutOOPintermsofasurvey.Specifically,let'slookatasurveyquestionasanobject.A
questionhasquestiontext,potentialresponses,aswellasmanyotherpossibleitems.Theseareinfact
thedatastructure,whatcanmakeuppartofaquestion.Atthesametimeaquestionwillrequire
functionality,suchasaskingthequestionorfilteringtheresponses.Thesepotentialactionswould
makeuptheoperationsthatcanbeappliedtothedatastructure.Ifthismakessensetoyou,thenyou
areonyourwaytograspingtheconceptsofOOP.(Ifitdoesnt,thisconceptwillmakemoresenseas
youcontinueyourlearning.)
DimensionsDevelopmentLibraryOverview
CommonlyreferredtoastheDDL,theDimensionsDevelopmentLibraryisacollectionofresources.It
consistsofextensivetechnicaldocumentationaswellasawidevarietyofexamplecode.
YoucanaccesstheDDLthroughtheHelpContentsmenuchoiceinmrStudio,orthrough:
StartProgramsSPSSDimensionsDimensionsDevelopmentLibraryDocumentation4.5
NavigatingtheDDL
TherearemanydifferentwaystonavigatearoundtheDDL.
Tab
Contents
Index
Search
Favorites
Description
AlltheDDLtopicsarrangedinatableofcontents.Youcanusethisviewlikelooking
throughabook.Itisalsohelpfulforidentifyingtopicsrelatedtoapageyouare
currentlyreading.
TheindexisanalphabeticallistofkeywordcontainedintheDDL.Usethisview
whenyouknowthekeywordandwanttoquicklyfindtopicsrelatedtoit.
AfulltextsearchoftheDDL.Youcansearchonasingleword,combinationof
wordsandphrases.
Createalistoftopicsyouhavefoundvaluable.
AlltheDimensionsproductdocumentationiscontainedintheDDL,sofindingspecifictopics
isaskillinitselfandwilltaketimetodevelop.
Forthiscourse,agoodplacetostartisintheContentstab:
mrStudioInterviewScriptingGettingStarted
Examples
WhenyouinstalledtheDDLyoualsoinstalledmanyexamplesfiles.Thedefaultpathforthese
examplesis:
C:\ProgramFiles\SPSSDimensions\DDL\
Specificallyforsurveyprogrammingyoushouldbeawareof:
C:\ProgramFiles\SPSSDimensions\DDL\Scripts\Interview
Theseexampleprojectswillproveveryvaluabletogiveyounewideasforprogramming.
DDLLinks
ThroughoutthesematerialsyouwillseelinkspointingyoutotheDDLforadditionalinformationona
topic.Thesearejumplinksandwilllooklike:
FormoreinformationontheInterviewobjectmodel,seetheDDLdiagram:
IOMLib.chm::/interview_Object_Model.html
Tousealink,rightclickonthetitlebarintheDDL:
SelecttheJumptoURLmenuitem.
Enter(orcopyandpaste)thelinkintotheJumptothisURL:textbox.ThenclickOK.
Thiswilltakeyoutothepagerequested.Youcanalsodothereverse,andcopythecurrentURLshown
aboveandsharewithothers.
WhatismrStudio?
mrStudioisadesktopprogramthatassistsprogrammerswithcreatingscripts.Itscorecomponentisan
integrateddevelopmentenvironment(IDE)thatallowsyoutocreate,edit,runanddebugDimensions
scripts.
Forsurveyprogrammers,oneofthebigstrengthsistheabilitytorunsurveysdirectlyinsidemrStudio,
withouttheneedforaserver.Youcancreate,testanddebugasurveydirectlyonyourmachine.
SinceyouwillbeusingmrStudiothroughoutthiscourse,letsstartwithabriefoverviewofthe
toolbars:
Toolbar
Description
File:Usedtocreate,open,saveandprintfiles.
Edit:Cut,copy,paste,undoandredo,find.
View:Controlswhichtabsareshowingin
mrStudio.
Debug:Usedtostart,stop,pauseandmove
throughascript.
Formatting:Indentations,commenting,
macrosandoptions.
Workspace:Createandmanageworkspaces.
InterviewOptions:routingcontextoptions,
activation,quotas,andmetadatatools.
YouwillgettoseemanyfeaturesofmrStudioasyoumovethroughthistraining.
WhatsNext?
SonowyouhavebeenintroducedtoDimensionsScripting,objectorientedprogramming,the
DimensionsDevelopmentLibrary,andmrStudio.ThismanualwillfocusonusingmrStudiotocreate
surveysfordatacollectionwithmrInterview.Wewillstartwithbasicquestionsandquicklymoveinto
advancedconceptstohelpyoucreatemorecomplexsurveys.
Chapte
er2
Chaapter2ConsttructingQuesstions
Constructin
ngQuestio
ons
Thecoreofasurveyissthequestion
ns.Inthischapter,wewillbuildourkn
nowledgeofccreatingquestions
withinmrStudio.
Inthischapterw
wewill:
Createbaasicquestionss
Createam
metadatafileeinmrStudio
ViewandtestasurveyywithinmrStudio
Metada
ataItemsF
Format
Metadataaitemsfollow
wadistinctpaatternyouwiillseeasweccompletethisschapter:
N
Name"Text"
typeparame
eters;
Item
Name
"Text"
Type
Parameters
Semicolo
on
Desscription
Uniiqueidentifierfortheitem
mwithinyourquestionnairre.Theymuststartwitha
lettterorundersccore(_)andcontainonlyyalphanumericcharacterssorthe
sym
mbols@,$,#,,or_
Texxtassociatedw
withtheitem
m(consideredthelabelinttheobjectmo
odel).
Identifiestheiteemforitsfuncctionality(cattegoricalquestions,texto
onlyitems,
etc.)
The
eseareoption
nalandvaryb
byitemtype.Anexamplewouldbetheeresponses
toaaquestion.
Bettweeneachiteminthemeetadatasectio
onthereisassemicolon.
ermanyofth
hedifferenttyypesofquesttions.
Thenextsectionscove
Chapter2
2Constructin
ngQuestions
SurveeyProgramm
mingFundameentals
Inform
mationItem
ms
Tocreateeanopeningpagewithanintroduction
norhaveapaagewithgraphicsoropeningtextwitho
out
questions,youneedtocreateanin
nformationitem.Thesynttaxisasfollow
ws:
N
Name"Text"
info;
Item
Name
Desscription
Uniiqueidentifierfortheitem
mwithinyourquestionnairre.Theymuststartwitha
sym
mbols@,$,#,,or_
Texxtassociatedw
withtheitem
m(consideredthelabelinttheobjectmo
odel).
Keyywordtocreaateatextonlyyitem.Thisisthedefaulttypeifitisno
otspecified.
Bettweeneachiteminthemeetadatasectio
onthereisassemicolon.
"Text"
info
Semicolo
on
Example
Intro""Pleaseparticcipateinourrresearchabou
uttravel.You
uranswersw
willhelpustobetter
undersstandthetravvelneedsofcconsumers."
info;
Theintro
oductionwilld
displayinmrIInterviewlikeethis:
10
Chapter2ConstructingQuestions
NumericQuestions
Tocollectnumericdatafromyourrespondents,useoneofthefollowingitemtypes:
Name"Text"long[min..max];
Name"Text"double[min..max];
Item
Name
Description
Uniqueidentifierfortheitemwithinyourquestionnaire.Theymuststartwitha
letterorunderscore(_)andcontainonlyalphanumericcharactersorthe
symbols@,$,#,or_.
Textassociatedwiththeitem(consideredthelabelintheobjectmodel).
Wholenumbersonly(nodecimals).Therangeisfrom2,147,483,648to
2,147,483,647.
Decimalnumbers.64bitfloatingpointnumberwithatleast15digitsof
precision,intherange1.79769313486232E308to4.94065645841247E324for
negativevalues;4.94065645841247E324to1.79769313486232E308for
positive.
Optionalparameters.Controlstheminimumandmaximumvaluesthe
respondentcanenter.Automaticallyissuesanerrormessageiftheamount
enteredisbelowtheminimumorabovethemaximum.
"Text"
long
double
[Min..Max]
Thefollowingexamplewilldisplayboxesfortherespondenttofillinwithanumericresponse.
DaysTravelYr"Onaveragehowmanydaysperyeardoyoutravelforbusinessorleisure?"
Example
long[0..365];
AmtSpentAccom"Whatpricedidyoupayforyourlastovernightaccommodations?"
double[0..3999.99];
11
Thebrowserwilldisplayaboxandtherespondentcanfillinamountsoftheirchoice,asshownbelow:
MinimumandMaximumParameterOptions
Whenspecifyingtheminimumandmaximumsfornumericquestions,[min..max],youhavemany
optionstocollectthenumericdatanecessary.
Item
[1..]
[..]
[1..100,^50]
[1,3,5]
[1..10,50..100]
Description
Minimumamountwithoutspecifyingamaximum
Nominimumsormaximums(willallownegativenumbers)
Numberafter^symbolareexcludedfromtherange.
Commasdenotesinglevaluesorbreakingranges.
TextQuestions
Whenyouwanttocreateaquestionthatcollectsanytypeoftextinformation,useatexttype.
Name"Text"text[min..max];
Item
Name
"Text"
text
[Min..Max]
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
Keywordtoenteranycharactersinthequestion.Allowsupto4000characters.
Optionalparameters.Controlstheminimumandmaximumcharactersallowed
forthequestion.
Hereisasimpleexampleofanopenendedquestion.
12
BestVacation"Pleasetellusaboutyourbestvacationexperience."
Example
text[1..];
Willdisplaylikethepicturebelow:
Ifyoustatethemaximumat40orless,youwillseealineinsteadofabox.Youalso
havefullcontroloftheboxsizewithstyles,coveredintheControllingtheLookofYour
Surveysection.
13
Categorical
Tocreateaquestionwhichoffersalistofoptionstochoosefromisconsideredacategoricaltype
question.
Name"Text"categorical[min..max]
{ID1"AltText1",
IDn"AltTextn"};
Item
Name
"Text"
categorical
[Min..Max]
{}
ID1,IDn
AltText1,
AltTextn
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
Keywordtocreateaquestionwithcategoriesforresponsechoices.
Optionalparameters.Controlstheminimumandmaximumamountof
categoriesthatcanbechosenbyarespondent.Defaultisopentoanyamount
ofchoices.Automaticallyissuesanerrormessageifthenumberofresponses
chosenisbelowtheminimumorabovethemaximum.
Indicatesthestartofthecategoriesyouwishtherespondenttochoosefromfor
thequestion
Uniqueidentifyingnamefortheresponse.Thisneedstobeuniqueper
question,notmetadatafile.Rulesfortheresponsenamesarethesameasthe
nameofthequestion.
Optionaltexttoshowtherespondentinsteadofthenameofthequestion.This
willapplywhenthenameofthequestionisnotthesameasthetextyouwishto
showtherespondent.
ParameterOptionsRestrictingtheNumberofResponsestobeChosen
Asstatedabove,theminimumandmaximumoptionsprovidethenumberofresponsesthatcanbe
answeredforaspecificquestion.Therearesomevariationsinsyntaxtoconsider.
Item
[1]
[1..]
[1..3]
[..]
14
Description
Whenonlyonenumberisspecifiedintheminimum/maximumparameter,itis
assumedthatthisnumberisboththeMinimumANDmaximumamount.
Exampleshownallowsforasingleresponsetobechosenforthequestion.Is
thesameastyping[1..1]
Allowsformultiplecategoriestobechosen(multipleresponsequestion).Not
statingamaximumamountallowseaseofupdatingthequestionwithadditional
responsesasneeded.
Statestheminimumamountofcategoriestobechosenis1andthemaximumis
3.UsefulforquestionswhichaskforresponsesAnsweruptoXcategories.
Nominimumsormaximums(thisisthedefault)
Beawarethatnotstatingaminimumnumberofanswerswillallowtherespondenttomoveforwardin
thesurveywithoutprovidingaresponse.Allowingnoanswerinthiswayprovidesnomethodto
determineiftherespondentwaspresentedthisquestion.Thedatafortherespondentwillsimply
containablank.
Laterinthecoursewewilllearnhowtoallowfortherespondenttonotansweraquestion,yet
havethedatastoreavalueshowingthattherespondentwasexposedtothequestion.
Example
TravelItem"Fromthelistbelow,whichoneitemwouldyoumostwanttobringwithyou
onaleisuretrip?"
categorical[1..1]
{
Camera,
Map,
ComfortableFootwear"ComfortableFootwear",
FriendTravelCompanion"Friend/TravelCompanion"
};
Createsasinglecategoricalquestionwithradiobuttons:
15
CountryVisited"Whichofthefollowingcountrieshaveyouvisited?"
Example
categorical[1..]
{
Antarctica,
Africa,
Asia,
Australia,
Europe,
NorthAmerica"NorthAmerica",
SouthAmerica"SouthAmerica"
};
Noteintheexamplesabove,alternatelabelsarenotrequiredwhenthetextyouwantto
displayisalsoalegallabelname.
Thecheckboxesindicatethatmorethanoneresponsecanbegivenasstatedinthesyntaxas[1..].
16
Date
Whenrequestingadatefromtherespondent,itiseasiertocollectadatetypeversusmultiplelong
typefields.
Name"Text"date["min".."max"];
Item
Name
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
"Text"
date
Keywordtoenteradateandtimefield.Canenterdatesandtimesoroneorthe
other.Takesmanydifferentdateformats(Seebelow).
["Min".."Max"] Optionalparameters.Controlstheminimumandmaximumdaterangeallowed
forthequestion.Notetheadditionofthedoublequotesaroundthemin/max.
Keypointsregardingdates:
Theformatforthedateisveryflexible.Some(notall)oftheformatstakenare:
o DDMonthNameYYY(7April2007)
o DDShortMonthNameYYY(7Apr2007)
o YYYY/MM/DD(2007/04/07)
o MM/DD/YY(04/07/07)
Ifyouleaveoffcertainportionsofthedate/timefield,itwillmakeassumptions.Anexample
wouldbeifyouwerecollectingonlymonthandyearandenterApril2007,mrInterviewwill
recordthedateasApril1,2007.Ifatimeisnotchosen,itassumesthecurrenttime.
Whenyouruntheinterviewyoumayentertimesin12houror24hourformat;forexample,
2:30pmor14:30.IfyoudonotspecifyAMorPM,itwillassumea24hourclock.
Metadatalanguagecontrolstheformatofthedatetaken.Anexamplewouldbetryingto
enteraUKEnglishdateofdd/mm/yywhenthemetatdatalanguagesdonotcontainEnglish
UK,onlyEnglishUS.Inthiscase,thedatewouldbetransformedtotheEnglishUSversionof
mm/dd/yy.
Ifyouwantmorecontroloverthedatefield,createacustomcontrol,suchastheexample
calendar.htmintheDDL:DDL.chm::/interviewscripting_templates_custom_writing.htm.
17
Example
LastTripDate"Whatwasthedateyouleftforyourlasttrip?"
date;
TimeforTravel"Whattimeofdaydoyouprefertotravelinthemorning?"
date["1:00am".."11:59am"];
TheresultoftheLastTripdatequestionwouldlooklikethis:
18
Boolean
Booleantypequestionsrecordatrueorfalsevalue.Inwebsurveys,thistypeisaneasywaytoprovide
asinglecheckboxresponse.
Name"Text"boolean;
Item
Name
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
Keywordtocreateatrue/falsequestion.Createsacheckboxonwebsurveys.
CheckingtheboxisaTrueresponseandleavingitemptyisfalse.
"Text"
boolean
YoucanaddcategoriestoaBooleanquestiontosimulateacategoricalquestion.Besure
ifyouusethisoptionthatyouwillonlyhave2responses,neveranymore.
HereisanexampleofaBooleanquestionandwhatitwilllooklikeinthebrowser:
ReceiveTravelInfo"Checkhereifyouwishtoreceiveanemailregardingtravelsafety."
Example
boolean;
19
20
Chapte
er3
Chap
pter3Creatin
nganmrStudioInterviewSScript
Cre
eatingan
nmrStudio
oIntervie
ewScript
t
Nowthattyouknowho
owtocreatesomebasicq
questiontypes,letsstartu
usingmrStudiiotocreateand
testoursscript.WewiillusemrStud
diotocreatettheDimensio
onScriptingfo
oroursurveys.
Thischa
T
apterwillcover:
HowtocreeateanmrStud
diometadataffile
Overviewo
ofmrStudioan
ndthetoolbarssand
menus
HowtotesstyoursurveywithmrStudio
o
Openin
ngmrStud
dio
YouwillffindmrStudio
oat:
StartP
ProgramsSP
PSSDimensio
onsmrStudio.
21
Chapter3CreatinganmrStudioInterviewScript
UnderFileNewFileyouwillseethedifferenttypesoffilesyoucancreateinmrStudio.
ForthiscoursewewillbecreatingaMetadataFile(.mdd).Underfilenamefillinafilenameforyour
projectandchooseOpen.NowyouarereadytostarttypingthecodediscussedinChapter2intothe
metadatasection.
Ifyouneedhelpatfirst,ControlMdisplaysthelistofquestiontypesthatyoucanchoose
oneandhavethestructureofthequestiontostartwith.Themacroscanbeaniceplace
tostartwhenyoudontwanttogobacktotheDDLormanualforsyntaxquestions.
22
OverviewofToolbars/Shortcuts
mrStudiohasmanytoolstohelpyouwiththecreationofyourscript.Letsreviewthedifferent
toolbarsandpartsofthemrStudioscreen.
FormattingToolbars
TheformattingtoolbarsprovidebasicbutneedededitingskillsinmrStudio.
FileToolbar:Usedtocreate,opensaveandprintfiles.
EditToolbar:Cut,copy,paste,undo,redoandfind.
FormattingToolbar:Indentations,commenting,macrosandoptions.
Indentingleftorrighticons.Indentingwillbecomeaveryimportantaspectofyourscript
writingintheroutingsection.Itwillhelpmakeyourcodeeasytofollow.
CommentandUncommentSelectionicons.ThecommentsinDimensionsScriptingare
indicatedbyasinglequotemarkandwillturnthecommentedtextgreen.Byhighlightinglarge
blocksoftext,youcancommentanduncommentthesectionseasilywiththetoolbaricons
above.
ThemacrosiconallowsyoutoaccessthepredefinedsyntaxformrStudio.Youalsohavethe
abilitytoaddyourownmacrosaswell.
Notethatyoucancopymacrodefinitionsfromonemachinetoanotherbycopyingthefile
MacroDefinitions.xmlfromthedefaultmrStudiodirectory.
23
ViewToolbar
ThistoolbarcontrolswhichtabsareshowinginmrStudio.Dependingonwhatyouaretryingto
accomplish,youwillwanttoshowdifferentaspectsofmrStudio.
Fornow,letsstartwithtwohelpfulaspects,MetadataExplorerandthelocalspane.
MetadataExplorer
Asyoucreateyourmetadata,youcanopentheMetadataviewertoseeatreeviewversionofyour
script:
TheiconsshowninthisviewerareusedthroughoutallDimensionsproductstorepresentthequestion
types.
24
Locals
Asyourunasurvey,thelocalsallowsyoutoseeyourresponsestothequestionsasshownbelow.
Inaddition,thelocalspanewillprovideextremelyhelpfulinthiscourseasyoustarttounderstandthe
questionsasobjects,asyoucanseethedifferentpropertiesofthequestions.
InterviewOptionsToolbar
TheInterviewOptionstoolbargivesyouaccesstomrStudiotasks.
Fromlefttorighttheoptionsare:
Addingroutingcontexts
Removingroutingcontexts
Metadatatool1
Metadatatool2
HTMLtidy(triestoimproveyourHTMLcodeinyourtemplatestobeperfectlyformed)
Creatingquotas(openstheQuotaToolApplication)
ActivationofthesurveytomrInterview
TipsforCreatingMetadata
WewilldiscussthemrStudioenvironmentandthetoolsprovidedtohelpyoucreateyourscripts
throughoutthemanual.Hereareafewtipstogetyoustarted:
Allkeywordsarecolorcodedinblue.Alltextwithindoublequotesisalsocolorcoded.
Whentroubleshootingsyntaxerrors,lookfortheappropriatecolorcodingtohelpyoufindthe
problems.
Savefrequently,asyourmetadatawillbecheckedforsyntaxerrorswhenyousave.
Errormessageswillstatethelinenumbersassociatedwithit.Noticethelinenumbersonthe
leftsideofyourcodeinmrStudiotohelpyouwiththis.
25
Aftersavingandclosingthedocument,mrStudioreformatsyourmetadataintoastandardized
format.Thetermusedforthisisrehydration.Beawareofthissoyoudontspendadditional
timeonproperformattinginthemetadatasection.
ViewingandTestingtheSurveyinmrStudio
Whenyouhavesavedsothatyouknowallerrorsaregone,youarereadytoviewtheresultsofyour
script.Clickthestartbuttononthetoolbar:
OnthebrowsertabinmrStudio(ifyoucannotseethebrowsertab,fromthemenuchooseView
Browser)youwillbeabletoseetheinterviewasitwillappearwhenitisactivatedinmrInterview.
26
Laterinthiscoursewewilladdformattingandtemplatestoenhancethelookofthe
interview;thesewillalsobeviewableinthemrStudiobrowserwindow.
Youcanchoosetoanswerthequestionsyourself,oryoucanchooseF5toletmrStudioautomatically
answerthequestionsonthescreenforyou.(Thiswillprovehelpfullaterwhentestingsurveyswith
largegridquestions).
Theinterviewwillcomplete,butifyouwishtointerruptthescript,clickontheStopbuttoninthe
browserwindow,ortheStop(squareicon)inthetoolbar.
Asyoucansee,therearemanyfeaturesinmrStudiotohelpyoucreateyourinterviewscripts.Some
featuresyouwilluseimmediately,suchasthelocaltestingofsurveysandtheautoanswering
questionswithF5.Others,suchascreatingmacrosandviewingthelocalspaneinformationwillcome
laterinyourlearning.
27
Exercise
OpenmrStudioandcreateametadatafilecalledGroceryBill.mdd.Completethefollowingquestions
inthisdocument,thentestthesurveywithinmrStudio.
GroceryIntro Asyouagreedtopreviously,pleasehaveyourlastgrocerybillavailableforreferencefor
thisnextsectionofthesurvey.
GroceryDate Lookingatyourlastgrocerybill,whatdatedidyougotothestore?
StoreName
Whatwasthenameofthestoreinwhichyoushopped?
Walmart
Safeway
Kroger
Albertsons
AholdUSA
Delhaize
Publix
WinnDixie
ItemTypes
Whichofthefollowingcategoriesofgroceriesdidyoupurchaseonthisshoppingtrip?
Cheese/OliveBar
SaladBar
DeliItems
Meat/Seafood
Produce
CannedGoods
Pasta/Grains
Generic
Onthisparticularshoppingtrip,didyoupurchaseanygenericbranditems?
Yes
No
28
ItemsBought Howmanyitemsdidyoubuy?
GroceryCost Exactlyhowmuchdidyouspend?
PurposeTrip Brieflydescribethereasonforyourtriptothegrocerystoreonthatparticularday.
AgreeContact Pleasechecktheboxbelowifyouagreetoallowustocontactyoulaterifwehave
additionalquestionsregardingyourtriptothegrocerystore.
29
30
Chapte
er4
Chapter4 SpecialRespo
onsesandOp
ptions
SpecialResp
ponsesan
ndOption
ns
InChapteer2wecoverredbasicquestionsyntax.Thischapterrwillexpandontheconceeptsofthat
chapteraandaddaddittionaloptionsstoenhancethosequestio
ontypes.
Intthischap
pterwew
willcoveer:
Specialkeyywordstoprovvideadditionall
functionality
Collectingspecifictextreesponseswhen
n
ntchoosesother
responden
Creatingsu
ubheadingstoimprovethe
appearancceofcategoricalquestions
nMultiple
eSelection
nQuestion
ns
SingleResponseChoicesin
Withmultipleselectio
oncategoricallquestions,yyoumaywantttohavecerttainresponsesthatcannottbe
chosenin
ncombination
nwithanyottherresponsee.Inorderforthatlogicto
ohappen,you
umustindicate
thattherresponsesho
ouldbeasingleselectchoiiceusingthekeyword,excclusive.
N
Name"Text"
"categorical[[min..max]
{
{ID1"AltText1
1",
IIDn"AltTextn
n"exclusive}};
31
Chapter4SpecialResponsesandOptions
Item
Name
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
Keywordtocreateaquestionwithcategoriesforresponsechoices.Question
typemustbecategoricaltousetheexclusivekeyword.
Indicatesthestartofthecategoriesyouwishtherespondenttochoosefrom
nameofthequestion.
showtherespondent.
Makesaspecificresponsetheonlychoicethatcanbechoseninamultiple
selectionquestion.Keywordisplacedafterthecategorynameandalternate
text(ifpresent).
"Text"
categorical
[min..max]
{}
ID1,IDn
AltText1,
AltTextn
exclusive
AirlinesFlown"Inthepastyear,whichofthefollowingairlineshaveyouusedfortravel?"
Example
categorical[1..]
{
American,
Delta,
United,
OtherAirline"Otherairline",
NeverFlown"Neverflownbefore"exclusive
};
32
IftherespondenttriestochoosetheresponseNeverflownbeforeandanyotherresponse,the
followingerrorwillappear:
Exclusiveresponsesshowupinboldbydefault.Thiscanbeoverwrittenbytemplatesor
styles,whichwillbediscussedinChapter13.
33
SpecialResponseswithCategoricalQuestions
Therearespecialkeywordswhichrepresentsomecommonresponsestointerviews,NoAnswer,Dont
Know,andRefusedtoAnswer.
Name"Text"categorical
{ID1"AltText1",
ID2"AltText2",
IDn"AltTextn"Keyword};
Item
Name
"Text"
categorical
{}
ID1,ID2,IDn
AltText1,
AltText2,
AltTextn
Keyword
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
Indicatesthestartofthespecialresponsecategoriesyouwishtherespondentto
choosefromforthequestion
nameofthequestion.
showtherespondent.
RepresentsoneofthekeywordsNA(NoAnswer),DK(DontKnow),orREF
(Refused)
Benefitsforusingthesekeywords:
34
Theresponseisautomaticallysettobeexclusiveandfixedinthepositioninwhichitwastyped
whenthecategoryorderischanged.
WhenusingtheCATI(ComputerAidedTelephoneInterviewing)option,thesekeywordshave
shortcutkeysfortheeaseofusefortheinterviewers
Theseresponsescanbeidentifiedinasystematicway,whichmakesiteasiertoreference
thesequestiontypeswhencreatingsubroutinesorfunctions.
Example
HotelChainStayed"Choosethehotelchainsyouhavestayedatthispastyear."
categorical[1..]
{
InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
DontKnow"DontRemember"DK,
Refused"PrefernottoAnswer"REF
};
Youcanusethekeywordsasthenamesfortheresponses;howeverafterrehydrationthenameswill
showasadash().
35
CategoricalResponseswithNonCategoricalQuestions
Youcanaddcategoricalresponsestoquestiontypesthatarenumeric,text,ordate.Thespecial
keywordoptionsofNA,DKandREFaretypicallyusedinthisscenario,asthiscanprovevaluableto
providerespondentswithawaytoindicatetheydontknoworprefernottoanswerthequestion.
Name"Text"qtype[min..max]
codes(
{ID1"AltText1"Keyword,
IDn"AltTextn"Keyword}
);
Item
Name
"Text"
Qtype
[Min..Max]
codes
{}
ID1,IDn
AltText1,
AltTextn
Keyword
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
Representsthenoncategoricalquestiontypesoflong,double,textordate.
Optionalparameters.Controlstheminimumandmaximumvaluesthatcanbe
chosenbyarespondent.
Keywordtoindicateyouareaddingspecialresponsecategoriestoanon
categoricalquestion.
Indicatesthestartofthespecialresponsecategoriesyouwishtherespondentto
choosefromforthequestion
nameofthequestion.
showtherespondent.
RepresentsoneofthekeywordsNA(NoAnswer),DK(DontKnow),orREF
(Refused).Thiskeywordisoptional.
36
AmtSpentYr"Whatpricedidyoupayforyourlastairlineflight?"
Example
double[0..3999.99]
codes(
{
dontknow"Dontremember"DK,
Refused"Prefernottoanswer"REF
}
);
Thiscodewouldcreatecheckboxesbelowthenumericresponseboxasshownbelow:
37
CollectingOtherTextResponsesinCategoricalQuestions
Theotherkeywordallowstherespondenttoenterananswerthatisnotonthecategorylist.
{ID1"AltText1",
IDn"AltTextn"other};
Item
Name
"Text"
categorical
{}
ID1,ID2
AltText1,
AltText2
other
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
thequestion
nameofthequestion.
showtherespondent.
Keywordtocreateatextboxontheresponsetocollectadditionalinformation.
Example
categorical[1..]
{InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
OtherHotel"OtherHotelChain"other,
Refused"PrefernottoAnswer"REF};
38
Thiswillcreateatextboxtocollectthespecificnameofanyhotelchainsnotlisted.
Youcanhavemultipleotherspecifyresponsesperquestion.
Subheading
Youcancreatetextonlyitemstodescribeagroupofresponsesbycreatingsubheadings.
{
Subhead1"SubText1"
ID1"AltText1",
ID2"AltText2"
},
Subheadn"SubTextn"
ID3"AltText3",
IDn"AltTextn"
}
};
39
Item
Name
"Text"
categorical
{}
Subhead1,
Subheadn
SubheadText1,
SubheadTextn
ID1,ID2,IDn
AltText1,
AltText2,
AltTextn
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
Indicatesthestartofthesubheadingsandcategories
NameforSubheadingitem
RepresentsalternatetextfortheSubheadings.
nameofthequestion.
showtherespondent.
Example
TravelHelp"Haveyouusedanyofthefollowingtohelpyouwithyourtravel
arrangements?"
categorical[1..]
{
TravelBooks"TravelBooks"
{
LonelyPlanetBook"LonelyPlanet",
Fodor"Fodor's",
Frommer"Frommer's"
},
Websites"Websites"
{
Expedia"Expedia",
Orbitz"Orbitz",
Govt"GovernmentWebsites"
}
};
40
Thepreviouscodewillcreatethefollowingquestioninthebrowser:
41
Exercise
Updatethefirstexercise(GroceryBill.mdd)withthefollowingadditionsthatarehighlightedbelow:
GroceryIntro Asyouagreedtopreviously,pleasehaveyourlastgrocerybillavailableforreferencefor
thisnextsectionofthesurvey.
GroceryDate Lookingatyourlastgrocerybill,whatdatedidyougotothestore?
StoreName
Whatwasthenameofthestoreinwhichyoushopped?
Walmart
Safeway
Kroger
Albertsons
AholdUSA
Delhaize
Publix
WinnDixie
Other(Specify)______________
ItemTypes
PreparedFoods
Cheese/OliveBar
SaladBar
DeliItems
NonPreparedFoods
Meat/Seafood
Produce
CannedGoods
Pasta/Grains
NoneofThese
Generic
Onthisparticularshoppingtrip,didyoupurchaseanygenericbranditems?
Yes
No
DontRemember
42
ItemsBought
Howmanyitemsdidyoubuy?
GroceryCost Exactlyhowmuchdidyouspend?
PrefernottoAnswer
PurposeTrip Brieflydescribethereasonforyourtriptothegrocerystoreonthatparticularday.
AgreeContact Pleasechecktheboxbelowifyouagreetoallowustocontactyoulaterifwehave
additionalquestionsregardingyourtriptothegrocerystore.
43
44
Chapte
er5
Chapter5B
BasicRoutingLogic
Ba
asicRoutin
ngLogic
Sofar,wehaveonlyccreatedthem
metadataporttionofoursurvey.Thischapterfocusessonhowto
controlth
heflowofthe
esurveyquesstions.
Thisch
hapterco
overs:
Understan
nding,adding,reemovingroutingg
context
Changingtheorderofyou
urquestions
Addingskiplogic/routingtoyoursurvey
Understan
ndingDimension
nsFunctionsanduse
withlogicstatements
Herearesomeofthemanythingstheroutingsectionallowssyoutodo:
Controlwhatquestionsareeasked
C
T
Theorderofq
questions
A
Addcondition
nalstatementtsaboutquesstionstoconttrolif/howtheeyareasked
A
Allowsasingl
emetadatafiilewithdifferrentroutingsforeaseofch
hangestomu
ultimodesurvveys
mddfileassh
hownbelow:
Toaccessstheroutingsection,clickkontheWebtabinyour.m
45
Chapter5BasicRoutingLogic
Youcanaddadditionalroutingstoyourquestionnaire.Thiswouldbenecessaryforsurveysfielded
withmultiplecollectionmethods,suchasweb,paperscanning,andtelephoneinterviewing.You
wouldalsoneedtoaddroutingifyouoriginallycreatedyourmetadatausingeithermrInterivewsBuild
activityortheaccessoryWordCapture,astheycreateapaperroutingthatisreadonly.
Toaddanadditionalrouting:
Tools
AddRoutingContext
46
Youwillbepromptedforanamefortherouting.
Toremovearoutingcontext,clickonthetabofthecontextyouwishtoremoveandchoose
ToolsRemoveRoutingContextasseeninthediagramabove.
Whensettingupyourrouting,hereareafewthingstoremember:
Thereisnorehydrationoftheroutingsection,soformatcounts.UseTabstoindentandmake
yourcodeeasytoread.
Savingdoesnotchecktheroutingsyntax;onlywhenyoustartthesurveywillyouseethe
runtimeproblems.
AskingQuestions
Allwehavedonesofariscreatemetadataandrunthesurveytoreviewthequestions.mrStudiowill
runallthequestionsinthemetadataifthereisnothingintheroutingsection.Thisisnotapractical
option,asalmostallscriptshavesomerouting.Additionally,mrInterviewwillnotrunascriptwithout
havingaproperroutingsection.Themainitemsinyourroutingarestatementstoaskthequestions.
Name.Ask()
Item
Name
.Ask()
Description
Metadataitemname
Displaysandasksthequestion
Wewillneedtocreate.Ask()statementsforeachquestioninoursurvey.Toquicklyaskallthe
questionsinyourmetadata,
ViewtheMetadataExplorer
ClickontheFieldsfolder
RightclicktochooseCopyasAsk
Pasteintheroutingsection
47
ByexpandingtheFieldsfolder,youcanpickandchoosespecificquestionstocopyas.Ask
statements.
48
ReadOnlyItems
Thereisawaytoshowthequestionandcurrentresponseforaquestionwithouttheabilitytochange
theresponse:
Name.Show()
Item
Name
.Show()
Description
Metadataitemname
Displaysthequestionanditscurrentresponseinreadonlyformat
When.Show()isusedwithaquestion,thechoicesaregrayedoutandyouareonlyabletoseethe
currentresponseforthequestionasshownbelow.
.Show()canalsobeusedwithinfoitems;thereisnodifferenceusinga.Show()or.Askwith
aninfoitem.
49
ConditionalStatements
Nowthatwehaveaskedallthequestions,letslookintowaystodetermineifarespondentshouldbe
askedcertainquestions.Thisisusuallycalledroutingorskippatterns.Therearetwoconditionalitems
wewillreviewtohelpuscreatetheroutingforoursurveys.
IfThenElse
SelectCase
IfThenElse
Ifthenelseisaconditionalstatementwhichwillcomparetwoormorestatementsandtestthe
results.Iftheresultsaretrue,thethenactionsaretaken;ifnot,theelseactionsaretaken.The
syntaxinDimensionsscriptingis:
IfconditionThen
Actions
Endif
Forsimpleconditionsitcanallbestatedonasingleline:
IfconditionThenAction
Additionally,youcouldaddtheoptionsforElseifand/orElse:
IfconditionThen
Actions
ElseIfconditionThen
Actions
Else
Actions
EndIf
50
Nowletslookatsomeexamplesoftheseconditionalstatements.Todothis,wewillneedto
understandthesyntaxforsomeoftheActionsyoucoulduseintheconditionalstatements.One
actiontouseintheroutingsectionistestingtheresponsetoapreviousquestion.Wewilllookat
manywaystodothisthroughoutthemanual.Forthisconditionalsection,hereissomebasic
information.
Name.Response.Value=conditionorresponse
Item
Name
.Response.Value
Conditionor
response
Description
Representsthemetadataitemname
Propertytoreferencethenamedquestionscurrentresponsevalue
Anyconditiontorepresentapossibleresponseforthenamedquestion,or
specifyanactualresponse
Inthenextexample,wehavethefollowingquestionsasshowninthemetadata:
Metadata(enUS,Question,Label)
Example
onaleisuretrip?"
categorical[1..1]
{
Camera,
Map,
};
'IfFriend/TravelCompanionischoseninTravelItem,askFriendRelate
FriendRelate"Whatistherelationshipofthatpersontoyou?"
text;
'IfCameraischoseninTravelItem,askTravelItemCost
TravelItemCost"Howmuchwouldyouexpecttopayforthecamera?"
Double[0..5000];
EndMetadata
51
Thelogicforthequestionsis,iftheanswertotheTravelItemquestionisFriend/TravelCompanion,
thenasktheFriendRelatequestion.Thelogicisachievedinthefollowingroutingsectionwiththeuse
ofanIfThenstatement:
Routing(Web)
Example
TravelItem.Ask()
IfTravelItem.Response.Value={FriendTravelCompanion}Then
FriendRelate.Ask()
EndIf
IfTravelItem.Response.Value={Camera}Then
TravelItemCost.Ask()
EndIf
EndRouting
Ifthequestioniscategorical,youwillneedtorefertotheNameoftheresponse(notthelabelthatis
showntotherespondent)andenclosethisincurlybracketsasshownintheaboveexample.
SelectCase
SelectCasestatementsworksimilartoanIfThenstatement.SelectCasestatementsallowyouto
createconditionalactionsbasedonaquestiontypethatcanonlyhaveasinglevalue(single
categorical,numeric,Boolean).
SelectCaseName.Response.Value
CaseResponse1
Actions1
CaseResponseN
ActionsN
...
[CaseElse
ActionsN]
EndSelect
52
Item
SelectCase
EndSelect
Description
MarkstheStartandendoftheselectcasestatement
Name.Response.Value Questionanditsresponsethatyouaretesting
CaseResponse1,Case Representsresponsestoaquestionorexpressionsthatgroupresponsesto
Response2
thequestion.
Actions1,Actions2
Representoneormorestatementstobeexecutedifthequestion'sresponse
matchestheresponseforthecurrentCasestatement.
CaseElse
Representsoneormorestatementstobeexecutedforrespondentswhofail
ActionsN
allthepreviousCasetests
Thecasestatementcanbeusefulwhenyouhavemanyresponsestotestsinceyouonlyspecifythe
questionnameonce.Thefollowingshowsthepreviousexampleforanifthenstatement,nowwith
theselectcasesyntax.
Example
onaleisuretrip?"
categorical[1..1]
{
Camera,
Map,
Comfortablefootwear"ComfortableFootwear",
};
'IfFriend/TravelCompanionischoseninTravelItem,askFriendRelate
FriendRelate"Whatistherelationshipofthatpersontoyou?"
text;
'IfCameraischoseninTravelItem,askTravelItemCost
TravelItemCost"Howmuchwouldyouexpecttopayforthatitem?"
Double[0..5000];
EndMetadata
53
Routing(Web)
TravelItem.Ask()
SelectCaseTravelItem.Response.Value
Case{FriendTravelCompanion}
FriendRelate.Ask()
Case{Camera}
TravelItemCost.Ask()
EndSelect
EndRouting
TohavemrStudiocreatethecasestatementforyou,viewthemetadataexplorer,then
choosethequestioninwhichyouwillbebasingtheselectstatement.Choosethequestions
categoriesfolderandrightclicktochooseCopyasSelectstatement.Youcanthenpastea
shelloftheselectstatementwiththequestionscategoriesasastartingpoint.
54
Goto
Intheexamplesabove,wehavebeencreatingourroutingbasedongoodprogrammingpracticesin
whichyounestquestionswithinconditionalstatements.Themethodsshownthusfarcanhelpmake
yourcodeeasytofollowanddebug.Sometimes,however,itmaybehelpfultoskiparoundstatements
intheroutingsection.TheGotokeywordcanallowyoutodothiswhencombinedwithaconditional
statement.
GotolineLabel
lineLabel:
Item
Goto
Linelabel
:
Description
Keywordindicatingthescriptshouldskiptothelinelabelindicated
Representsalinelabelofyourchoice.Thenamingconventionforlinelabelsfollows
thepatternofallnamesinthemetadata.Thesearenotseenbytherespondent.
Neededtoindicatethisisthelinelabelitem.
Asanexample,supposeweaskediftherespondenttravelsforbusiness.Thenthereareaseriesof
questionsaboutbusinesstravel,andaseriesofquestionsabouttravelforpleasure.Wecanuseagoto
andlinelabelstoachievetheroutingnecessary.
Routing(Web)
Example
TravelforBusiness.Ask()
IfTravelforBusiness.Response.Value={No}thengotoPleasureSection
DaysPerYrBusinessTravel.Ask()
InternationalBusiness.Ask()
PleasureSection:
TravelforPleasure.Ask()
EndRouting
55
LogicalExpressions
Intheprevioussection,welookedatsomeverysimplelogicalexpressions,suchas
QuestionName.Response.Value=response.Wewillcoveradditionaloptionsforcreatingexpressions.
NumericQuestions
Fortestingnumericquestions(longordouble),usethemathoperatorslistedinthetablebelow.
Item
=
<>
<
<=
>
>=
Example
Description
Equalto
Unequalto
Lessthan
Lessthanorequalto
Greaterthan
Greaterthanorequalto
AmtSpentAccom"Whatpricedidyoupayforyourlastovernightaccommodations?"
double[0..3999.99];
'IfAmtSpentAccomis$150orgreater,askTypeAccomquestion
TypeAccom"Atwhattypeofaccommodationsdidyoustay?"categorical[1..1]
{Hotel,
Motel,
BedBreakfast"BedandBreakfast",
Hostels,
Resorts,
OtherAccom"OtherAccommodations"other};
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
AmtSpentAccom.Ask()
IfAmtSpentAccom.Response.Value>=150Then
TypeAccom.Ask()
EndIf
EndRouting
56
BooleanQuestions
BooleanquestionshavevaluesofTrueorFalse,sotheycaneasilybecheckedwithasimplestatement:
Name.Response.Value=condition
Item
Name
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
Response.Value Currentresponsetothequestionidentifiedbynameabove
condition
True(checkboxwaschecked)orFalse(checkboxwasleftempty)
TextQuestions
Withtextquestionsyoucantestwhethertheresponsematchesapattern.Theexpressionformatis:
NameLike"pattern"
Item
Name
like
pattern
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
Keywordtoindicateyouaretryingtomatchatestpattern
Representsthetextwithwhichtheresponseistobecompared.Anunderscore
(_)inthetextmatchesanysinglecharacter,andapercentsign(%)matchesany
numberofcharacters,includingzero
Thefollowingcodecheckstextquestionstoseeifitcontainstheword,Luftansa.Ifitdoes,thenit
followsupwithanotherquestion.
Example
BestAirTravel"Explainyourbestexperiencewithairtravel.Pleasementionyour
destinations,airportsandairline."
text;
TimesWithLuftansa"AndhowmanytimesoverthepastyearhaveyouflownLuftansa?"
long[0..365];
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
BestAirTravel.Ask()
IfBestAirTravel.Response.ValueLike"%Luftansa%"Then
TimesWithLuftansa.Ask()
EndIf
EndRouting
57
CategoricalQuestions
Forsingleresponsecategoricalquestions,youmayfindsimpleexpressionstosuffice,suchas
Name.Response.Value={Yes}.However,thingswillgetcomplex,andyoullneedtheDimensions
functionstomakemoreadvancedlogicstatements.
DimensionsfunctionsforcategoricalresponseswerecreatedspecificallyforDimensionsscripting.We
willcover3basicfunctionsforroutingpurposes,ContainsAll,ContainsAnyandAnswerCount.
Forafulllistoffunctions,seeDDL.chm::/funclib_overview.htm
ContainsAll
Identifieswhetheracategorylistcontainsallofthecategoriesinagivenlist.Andconditionforan
individualquestion.
Name.ContainsAll({ID1,IDn},parameter)
Item
Name
ContainsAll
Description
Representsthequestionname
Dimensionsfunctiontestingwhetheralistofcategoriesareallcontainedinthe
namedquestion.(Andcondition)
ID1,IDn
Uniqueidentifyingnamefortheresponse.
parameter
Representsanoptionalparameter.Iftheparameterissettotrue,thenthe
functionwillbetrueonlyiftheresponsecontainsallofthecategoriesandno
others(exclusive).Iftheparameterissettofalse(default),thenthefunction
willbetrueiftheresponsecontainsalloftheresponseslisted,regardlessof
otherresponseschosenfromthequestion.
Example
CountryVisited.ContainsAll({NorthAmerica,SouthAmerica})
ThisstatementwouldbetrueifarespondentchosebothNorthAmericaandSouthAmericainthe
CountryVisitedquestion,regardlessofotherresponseschosenfromthequestion.
58
Example
CountryVisited.ContainsAll({NorthAmerica,SouthAmerica},true)
ThisstatementwouldbetrueifarespondentchosebothNorthAmericaandSouthAmericaANDdid
notchooseanyotherresponsesinCountryVisited.
ContainsAny
Identifieswhetheracategorylistcontainsoneormorecategoriesinagivenlist.Orconditionforan
individualquestion.
Name.ContainsAny({ID1,IDn},true)
Item
Name
ContainsAny
Description
Dimensionsfunctiontestingwhetheranyofthelistofcategoriesarecontained
inthenamedquestion.(Orcondition)
ID1,IDn
True
Representsanoptionalparameter.Iftheparameterissettotrue,thenthe
functionwillbetrueonlyiftheresponsecontainsanyofthecategoriesandno
others(exclusive).Iftheparameterissettofalse(default),thenthefunction
willbetrueiftheresponsecontainsanyoftheresponseslisted,regardlessof
otherresponseschosenfromthequestion.
Example
CountryVisited.ContainsAny({NorthAmerica,SouthAmerica})
TheabovestatementwouldbetrueforrespondentschoosingNorthAmerica,SouthAmerica,orboth.
59
AnswerCount
ThefunctionAnswerCountcountsthenumberofmentionschosenforaspecificcategoricalquestion.
Name.AnswerCount()
Item
Name
AnswerCount
Description
Dimensionsfunctionreturninghowmanyresponseshavebeenchoseninthe
namedcategoricalquestion.
Itreturnsanumericvalue,soyouwouldusenumericoperatorstotesttheresultofthefunction.
IfCountryVisited.AnswerCount()>3then
Example
WhySoMany.Ask()
Endif
Theexampleabovestatesthatifthenumberofanswersmentionedinthecategoricalquestion,
CountryVisited,isgreaterthan3,thenaskthefollowupquestion.
LogicalOperators
YoucanalsousethelogicaloperatorsofNot,And,Or,andXortocreatemorecomplexrouting
conditions.
NOT
Itisusedtonegateexpressions.Itsrecommendedtoenclosetheitemtonegateinparenthesisas
shownbelow.
Example
Not(TravelHelp.ContainsAny({Expedia}))
TheabovewouldbetrueiftherespondentdidnotanswerExpediafortheTravelHelpquestion.
60
AND
Returnstruewhenbothpartsoftheexpressionaretrue.
Example
DaysTravelYr>5AndTravelHelp.ContainsAny({Expedia})
Theabovewillbetrueiftherespondenttraveledmorethan5daysandusedExpedia.
OR
Returnstruewheneitherorbothpartsoftheexpressionaretrue.
Example
DaysTravelYr>5OrTravelHelp.ContainsAny({Expedia})
Theabovewillbetrueiftherespondenttraveledmorethan5daysorusedExpedia.
XOR
Returnstruewhenonepart(butnotbothparts)oftheexpressionaretrue.
Example
DaysTravelYr>5XorTravelHelp.ContainsAny({Expedia})
Theabovewillbetrueiftherespondenttraveledmorethan5daysanddidnotuseExpedia,orifthe
respondenttraveled5daysorlessanddiduseExpedia.
61
Somefindxorconfusing,butitcansavesomesyntax.Thefollowingstatementistheequivalentofthe
previousxorstatement:
Example
(DaysTravelYr>5And(Not(TravelHelp.ContainsAny({Expedia}))))Or(DaysTravelYr<=5And
TravelHelp.ContainsAny({Expedia}))
Asyoucanseewhencreatingcomplexconditionswithcombinationsofand,or,andnotstatements,
putparenthesisaroundthingsyouwantevaluatedtogether.
IfyouneedtorefertothespecialresponsesDK,REF,NAinanoncategoricalquestion,you
needtorefertoitasQuestionName.Response.Coded={ID},whereIDistheIDofthespecial
response.
TipsforRoutingSectionSyntax
Therearenumerouswaystowritethesyntaxwithintheroutingsection.Herearesomehintstohelp
youtotakefulluseoftheScriptAssistwithinmrStudio.
CtrlQtoseethefulllistofquestionsinyourmetadata
CtrlRwilldisplaytheresponsesforaQuestionlisted
RightclickonaquestionnameintheroutingsectionandchooseGotoDefinitionwhichwill
takeyoutothatquestioninthemetadatasection
Choosetheperiod(.)toseevalidchoicesforyourstatement
Thismaynotalwayswork,astherearemultiplewaystowritethestatements.Youwill
noticetheScriptAssistmaynotalwaysprovidetheproperchoices.Agoodexamplewould
beDimensionsfunctions,suchasContainsAny.Themethodusedinthischapter,
Name.ContainsAny({Response}),doesnotprovidescriptassistance.Thefullydocumented
way,ContainsAny(Name.Response.Value,{Response}),willshowparametersneeded.
62
AddingErrorHandling
Anotherimportantaspectoftheroutingsectionistheabilitytosenderrormessagestoboththe
respondentandthemrInterviewloggingwhenthereisaproblemwiththescript.Errorhandlingallows
thesystemtogracefullyhandleerrorsthatoccur,asopposedtoagenericerrormessagesthatwillnot
provideappropriateinformationtofixtheproblemandpossiblyconfuserespondents.Thecodecan
bestandardizedandplacedineveryscript.Belowisasimpleexampletouseasastartingpoint.
Example
Routing(Web)
'Errorhandler
IfNotIOM.Info.IsDebugThenOnErrorGotoDefaultErrHandler
GotoStartOfScript
DefaultErrHandler:
Dimerrmsg,numerror
errmsg="Scripterroratline"+CText(Err.LineNumber)+","+Err.Description
IOM.Log(errmsg,LogLevels.LOGLEVEL_ERROR)
IfIOM.Info.IsTestThen
IOM.Banners.AddNew("ScriptErrMsg"+CText(numerror),errmsg)
numerror=numerror+1
EndIf
ResumeNext
StartOfScript:
'Enderrorhandler
EndRouting
Breakingdowntheexampleabove:
TheIOM.Info.IsDebugpreventstheerrorhandlerbeingenabledifthescriptisbeingrunin
mrStudio.
OnErrorGotoDefaultHandlersendsallerrostotheerrorhandler.Whenanerroroccurs,the
errorhandlerwritestheerrormessageandthelinenumbertothelogfile,IVW*.tmp.
IOM.Info.IsTestdisplaysthemessageonthetopofthecurrentpage.
TheResumeNextlineallowstheinterviewtocontinueafteranerror.
63
Exercise
Usethemetadatafile,Routing.mddasyourstartingpoint.Completetheroutingsectionand
routing/skippatternsshownbelow.
CookAtHome Doyouevercookfoodathome?
Yes
No(SkiptoItemsOwned)
CookMealWk Howmanymealsperweekdoyoucookathome?__________
PeopleCookFor Doyounormallycookforanyofthefollowingatyourhome?Checkallthatapply.
Spouse/OtherAdultsinthehousehold
Childreninthehousehold
NonHouseholdMemberAdults
NonHouseholdMemberChildren
OnlyforMyself
(IfCookMealWkisgreaterthanorequalto5andPeopleCookForquestionhasadults,askWine)
Wine
Doyoueverservewinewiththemealsyouservetoothers?
Yes
No
(IfPeopleCookForisbothChildreninHHandNonHouseholdMemberChildren,askAllergyKids)
AllergyKids
Doanyofthechildrenyoumakemealsforhavefoodallergies?
Yes
No
64
PrepTime
Onaverage,howmuchtimedoyoudevotetopreparingasinglemeal?
30minutesorless
3190minutes
Over90minutes
Dontknow
(IfPrepTimeis30minutesorless,askMealStrategy)
MealStrategy Pleaselistsomeofyourstrategiesforpreparingmealssoquickly.
(IfPrepTimeis3190minutes,askAmtPrep)
AmtPrep
Doyoufeelthatyourpreparationtimeformealsis
Tooshort
Toolong
Justright
DontKnow
(IfPrepTimeisOver90minutes,askPrepDescrip)
PrepDescrip
Doyoutakeover90minutestopreparemealsmainlybecauseof
Theamountofentreescreated
Thecomplexityofthedishes
Thenumberofinterruptionsduringtheprocess
Other(specify)______________
DontKnow
65
ItemsOwned
Whichofthefollowingkitchenwareitemsdoyouown?
BreadMaker
FoodProcessor
StandMixer
Wok
FonduePot
NoneofThese
(Ifrespondentowns3ormorekitchenitemsinItemsOwned,askUseItems)
UseItems
Doyouusesome/alltheitemsmentionedpreviously
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Yearly
Never
(IfCookAtHomeisNo,andUseItemsnotequaltoNever,askWhatUseFor)
WhatUseFor
Pleaseexplainwhatyouuseyourkitchenitemsforifyoudonotcookathome.
66
Chapte
er6
Chap
pter6Shared
dLists
SharedListss
Whencreeatingasurve
ey,youmayrrepeatthesameresponsessquestionaftterquestion.Usingasharred
listwillallowyoutocrreatetheresp
ponselistoncceanduseitmanytimes. Inaddition,iifchangesneed
tobemadetoyourre
esponselist,yyouhaveonecentrallocationtomaketthechangesttoupdatemany
questionsatonce.
Thisch
hapterco
overs:
Creatingareuseableressponselist
Includingssubheadingsin
nalist
Dealingwiithidenticalresponsetextintwo
ormorelissts
Creatingasharedlistisverysimilartoaddingcaategoriestoaacategoricalq
question.
LListName"Text"define
{
{ID1"AltText1
1",
IDn"AltTextn
n"};
Item
ListName
e
"Text"
Define
{}
ID1,IDn
AltText1,,
AltTextn
Desscription
Uniiqueidentifierforthesharredlistinthemetadata.TTheymuststartwitha
sym
mbols@,$,#,,or_
Opttionaltextwh
henlistisusedasasublist.
Keyywordtocreaateasharedliist
Indicatesthestaartofthecateegoriesforthedefinelist
Uniiqueidentifyingnameforttheresponse.Thisneedstobeuniqueper
que
estion,notmeetadatafile.Rulesfortheresponsenamesarethessameasthe
nam
meofthequeestion.
Opttionaltexttoshowtheresspondentinstteadofthenaameofthequ
uestion.This
willlapplywhenthenameofthequestionisnotthesam
measthetexxtyouwishto
o
sho
owtherespon
ndent.
67
Chapter6SharedLists
Tomakeuseoftheresponsesinaquestion:
Name"Text"categorical[Min..Max]
{uselistname};
Item
Name
"Text"
Categorical
[Min..Max]
Use
Listname
Description
NameoftheQuestion
Textassociatedwiththequestion(consideredthelabelintheobjectmodel).
Keywordtoincludethecategoriesfromadefinelistinthequestion.
Representsthenameofthedefinelisttouseforthecategoriesofthequestion.
Example
ResortTypesdefine
{
Historical,
AmusementPark"AmusementPark",
Beach,
Adventure
};
ResortStayed"Ofthefollowing,whichResorttypeshaveyoustayedatinthelastyear?"
Categorical[1..]
{useResortTypes};
Somethingstokeepinmindaboutsharedlists:
Youcanusemorethanonelistwithinthesamequestion
Youcancreatesharedliststhataremadeupofothersharedlists
Youcanuseasharedlistwithaquestioninadditiontoaddingothercategoriestothatspecific
question
68
Chapter6SharedLists
CreatingSubheadingswithSharedLists
Youlearnedtocreatesubheadingsinapreviouschapter.Nowthatyouhavelearnedsharedlists,
thereisanotherwaytocreatesubheadingsusingmultiplesharedlists.
{uselistname1Sublist"Sublistname1",
UselistnameNSublist"SublistnameN"};
Item
Name
"Text"
Categorical
[Min..Max]
Description
NameoftheQuestion
Textassociatedwiththequestion(consideredthelabelintheobjectmodel).
Use
Keywordtousethecategoriesfromadefinelist
listname1,
Representsthenameofthedefineliststouseforthesublistcategoriesofthe
listnameN
question.
Sublist
Keywordtodesignatetheprecedingdefinelistasasubheadinglist
Sublistname1, OptionalTexttodisplayasthesubheadingText.Ifnotspecified,willuselabel
SublistnameN specifiedinthedefinelist.
69
Chapter6SharedLists
Thefollowingexampleusestheconceptofsublistusingtwodefineliststocreatesubheadingsinthe
categoricalquestion.
Example
ResortTypes""define
{
Historical,
Beach,
Adventure
};
CampingTypes""define
{
GovtPark"GovernmentPark",
RainForest"RainForest",
River"River(Canoe/WhiteWaterRafting)",
Mountain"MountainClimbing"
};
CamporResortStayed"Ofthefollowing,whichResortshaveyoustayedatandwhattypes
ofcampinghaveyouparticipatedinthelastyear?"
Categorical[1..]
{
useResortTypessublist"Resorts:",
useCampingTypessublist"Camping:",
Noneofthese"Noneofthese"style(Indent=0)NA
};
EndMetadata
70
Chapter6SharedLists
TheexampleshowsaNoneofthesechoice.Thisdemonstratesthatyoucanhaveadditional
categoriesinaquestionoutsideofanydefinelistsused.
Insteadofstatingthesubheadingtextafterthekeywordsublist,thiscouldhavebeen
placedbetweentheemptyinthedefinelists.
71
Chapter6SharedLists
72
Chapte
er7
C
Chapter7Sor
rtingCategoriicalResponseeLists
SortingCate
egoricalR
ResponseLists
Youmayneedtochan
ngetheorderrofthecategoricalresponsesinaquesttion.Thisisssometimesdo
one
topreven
ntbiaswithin
nasurveyorssimplytoreo
orderthelistalphabetically.Thischaptterwillcoverthe
sortingoptionsformrrInterview.
Thischapterw
willshow
wyouhow
wto:
Changetheorderofyourresponselists
Usetheso
ortingcomman
ndsinboththe
metadataandroutingseections
Ensurecerrtainresponsessarenotsorteed
withinaso
ortedlist
ThetypesofsortsavaailableinmrIn
nterviewareaasfollows:
Item
Rotate
Descriptio
on
Thecatego
orylistisrotaatedbyonecategorybeforeeachpreseentationofth
he
list.
Thecatego
orylistispressentedinrandomizedordeer.
Thecatego
orylistisreveersedbeforeeachpresenttation.Thism
meansthattheelist
ispresenteedtopdowntothefirstreespondent,bottomuptotthenext,etc..
Thecatego
orylistissorttedinascendingalphabeticalorder.
Thecatego
orylistissorttedindescendingalphabeticalorder.
Randomiize
Reverse
Ascendin
ng
Descending
useanyofthe
esortingfeatturesabovein
neitherthem
metadataortheroutingseectionsassho
own
Youcanu
inthenextsections.
andomizefea
atureinthem
metadataandroutingsections
Thereisadifferencceusingthera
whenusingthesam
meresponsellistformultiplequestions. Usingthemetadatameth
hodwill
holdth
hesamepattternforeachq
questionperrespondent;ttheroutingm
methodwillch
hange
thepa
atternforeachquestion.
73
Chapter7SortingCategoricalResponseLists
SortinginMetadata
TosortaquestionintheMetadatasection,useanyofthekeywordsforsortingfollowingthecurly
bracketsofacategorylist.
{ID1"AltText1",
IDn"AltTextn"}sortingkeyword;
Item
Name
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
"Text"
categorical
[Min..Max]
{}
thequestion
ID1,IDn
AltText1,
AltTextn
showtherespondent.
sortingkeyword Representsoneofthesortingkeywordsrotateorrot;randomizeorran;reverse
orrev;ascendingorasc;descendingordesc
Intheexamplebelow,addingtherankeywordrandomizestheresponselist.
Example
Souvenirs"Whichofthefollowingsouvenirsdoyouprefertopurchasewhenonholiday
orvacation?"
categorical[1..]
{
Clothing,
Hats,
Postcards,
SnowGlobes"SnowGlobes"
}ran;
EndMetadata
74
RoutingSectionSorting
Intheroutingsection,thesyntaxforsortingis:
Name.Categories.Order=orderconstants.osortingkeyword
Item
Description
Name
Representsthenameofthequestiontosort
Osortingkeyword RepresentsoneofthesortingkeywordsoAscending,oDescending,oCustom,
oRandomize,oReverse,oroRotate.
Routing(Web)
Example
Souvenirs.Categories.Order=orderconstants.oAscending
Souvenirs.Ask()
EndRouting
TheabovestatementwillsortthelistalphabeticallyAtoZ.
NotSortingSpecificResponses
Theremaybecertainresponsesthatyoudonotwantsortedwithinalist,suchasNoneofTheseor
AllofThese.Toforceagroupofcategoriestoretainitsoriginalpositionwhentheoverallcategory
listissorted,usethekeywordfix.
{ID1"AltText1"fix,
IDn"AltTextn"}sortingkeyword;
Item
Fix
Description
Keywordtomakethecategorypriortothekeywordfixedinitsoriginalposition,
regardlessofthesortorder
sortingkeyword Representsoneofthesortingkeywordslistedintheprevioussection(example
ran)
75
ThefollowingexamplewillnotsorttheNoneoftheseoption;itwillstayatthebottomofthelist.In
addition,theOtherresponseswillalwaysbethelastintheseriesofitemsfortheirindividuallists.
Example
TravelHelp"Haveyouusedanyofthefollowingtohelpyouwithyourtravel
arrangements?"
Categorical[1..]
{
TravelBooks"TravelBooks"
{
Fodor"Fodor's",
Frommer"Frommer's",
otherBooks"OtherTravelBook"otherfix
}ran,
Websites
{
Expedia,
Orbitz,
Govt"GovernmentWebsites",
otherwebsite"OtherWebsite"otherfix
}ran,
Noneofthese"Noneofthese"style(indent=0)fixexclusive
}ran;
EndMetadata
ThisalsodemonstratesastylebeingusedtoforcetheNoneoftheseresponsetobelinedupwith
theSubheadingsinsteadofindented(indent=0).YouwilllearnmoreaboutstylesinChapter13
ControllingtheLookofYourSurvey.
76
KeepingSpecificCategoriesGroupedTogether
Youmayneedtokeeppairsorgroupsofcategoriestogetherwithinalist,evenwhenadding
randomization.Youcanachievethisbycreatingasublistwiththeitemsthatneedtobekepttogether,
whilerandomizingthemainquestion.TheexamplebelowwillrandomizetheTypeAccomquestionbut
alwayskeeptheresponsesinthedefinelistresortstogether.
Example
Resortsdefine
{
FamilyResorts"FamilyResorts",
CouplesResorts"CouplesResorts"
};
TypeAccom"Atwhattypeofaccommodationsdidyoustay?"
categorical[1..1]
{
Hotel,
Motel,
Hostels,
useResortssublist,
OtherAccom"OtherAccommodations"otherfix
}ran;
EndMetadata
77
Exercise
UpdatethefollowingquestionsbyaddingthefeatureshighlightedbelowinyourGroceryBill.mddfile
toincludesortedcategories.
StoreName
Whatwasthenameofthestoreinwhichyoushopped?(RANDOMIZE)
Walmart
Safeway
Kroger
Albertsons
AholdUSA
Delhaize
Publix
WinnDixie
Other(Specify)______________
ItemTypes
(RANDOMIZEBOTHTHEGROUPSANDTHEITEMSWITHINTHEGROUPS)
PreparedFoods
Cheese/OliveBar
SaladBar
DeliItems
NonPreparedFoods
Meat/Seafood
Produce
CannedGoods
Pasta/Grains
NoneofThese
78
Chapte
er8
Ch
hapter8ResttrictingRespo
onses
Re
estrictingResponse
es
Thelogiccbehindthessurveyisanim
mportantparttofresearchtoensureacccuratedata.Inthissection,
wecanleearnhowtop
presentthereespondentwiithlogicalcho
oices.
Inthischapterw
wewill:
Filterresponsesdisplayeedonaquestio
on
previousansweerstoquestion
ns
basedonp
Filterresponsesbasedonyourinternallogic
Limitthem
maximumorm
minimumamou
unts
fornumericquestionsbaasedonlogic
FilterC
Categoriess
TheFilterrpropertycanbeusedtolimitthecateegoriesdisplaayedbyaquestionintheroutingsection.
Routing(Web)
R
Name.Categories.Filter==condition
Name.Ask())
E
EndRouting
Item
Name
Categorie
es
Filter
condition
n
Desscription
Uniiqueidentifierforthequesstionname.
Pro
operty(keywo
ord)ofthequ
uestiondenottingtherespo
onses
Pro
operty(keywo
ord)tostateyyouarerestrictingthecateegoriesforth
hequestion
Rep
presentsanytthingthatstattesthecategoriestodisplayforthequestion
79
Chapter8RestrictingResponses
Hereisanexampleinwhichweareaskingrespondentstochooseallthehotelchainstheyhavestayed
inthepastyear.ThefollowupquestionisOfthosechains,whichisyourfavorite?Theresponselist
forthefollowupquestionisrestrictedtoonlytheanswersgiveninthefirstquestion.
Example
categorical[1..]
{
InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
};
FavHotelChain"Ofthosechains,whichonewouldyoumostprefertostayatagain?"
categorical
[1..1]
{
InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
};
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
HotelChainStayed.Ask()
FavHotelChain.Categories.Filter=HotelChainStayed.Response.Value
FavHotelChain.Ask()
EndRouting
80
Ifyouchoose:
Theresultwillbe:
SpecialResponsesofDK,REF,andNAarenotfilteredoutautomatically.Inaddition,ifany
ofthosespecialresponsesarechosen,itskipsthefilteredquestion.
81
Howdoestheabovework?ThefiltersarebasedontheNAMESoftheresponses.Whileitisnot
necessarytousesharedlistsforfiltering,itisagoodpracticewhentheresponselistsareidenticalto
ensurethatthenamesarealsoidentical.
YoudoNOTneedtohavethelistsidenticaltofilteronequestionoffanother.mrInterviewwillsimply
matchwhatitcananddisregardstherest.Forinstance,whatifourlistsweredifferent:
Example
categorical[1..]
{
InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
};
FavHotelChain"Ofthechainslistedbelowinwhichyoustayed,whichonewouldyou
mostprefertostayatagain?"categorical
[1..1]
{
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
};
Routing(Web)
FavHotelChain.Ask()
EndRouting
82
Ifyouchoose:
Theresultis:
Asyoucansee,eventhoughInterContinentalwaschosen,itdoesnotshowinthelist,sinceitisnot
partofthecategoriesinFavHotelChain.
Theaboveexamplesassumeanamingconventionforyourcategorynames.Thisis
recommendedasnamesthatidentifytheresponsemakemoresenseacrosstheentire
projectlifecycle.
83
Additionally,thefilterdoesnotneedtobeasinglequestion.Thiscanbeamultitudeofconditions,
suchasDimensionsfunctionsorspecificcategories.
Supposeourpreviousexamplewasslightlydifferent.Whatifwehadtwoseparatequestionsthat
collectedthehotelsstayedinthepastyear.Wewillneedtwofilterstatements:
Filtertheresponsefromthefirstquestionsothatitcannotbechosenfromthe2ndlist
Filtertocombineboththefirstresponseandthe2ndresponseforthefinalquestion
Example
84
HotelChainStayMost"ChoosethehotelchainyouhavestayedattheMOSTthispast
year."
categorical[1..1]
{
InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
};
HotelChainStayed"Choosetheotherhotelchainsyouhavestayedatthispastyear."
categorical[1..]
{
InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
};
FavHotelChain"Ofthechainslistedbelowinwhichyoustayed,whichonewouldyou
mostprefertostayatagain?"
categorical[1..1]
{
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
};
Routing(Web)
HotelChainStayMost.Ask()
HotelChainStayed.Categories.Filter=HotelChainStayed.Categories
HotelChainStayMost.Response.Value
FavHotelChain.categories.filter=Union(HotelChainStayMost,HotelChainStayed)
FavHotelChain.Ask()
EndRouting
SeetheDimensionsDevelopmentLibraryformorecategoricalfunctionstohelpwithfilters,
suchasDifferenceandIntersection)DDL.chm::/categorical_functions.htm
85
LimitingNumericQuestionRangesBasedonLogic
Anotheraspectofaccuratedataistobeabletosettheminimumormaximumamountthatcanbe
enteredforanumericresponsebasedoffpreviousanswersfromtherespondent.Youcancontrolthe
minimumandmaximumvaluesforaquestionwiththefollowingstatementsintheroutingsection.
Name.Validation.MinValue=condition
Name.Validation.MaxValue=condition
Item
Name
Validation
MinValue
MaxValue
Condition
Example
Description
Metadataitemname
Propertyofquestions
Propertytocontroltheminimumvalueallowedforanumericquestion.Takes
precedenceoverwhatisstatedastheminimuminsquarebracketsonthe
question.
Propertytocontrolthemaximumvalueallowedforanumericquestion.Takes
precedenceoverwhatisstatedasthemaximuminsquarebracketsonthe
question.
Representsthenewvaluefortheminimumormaximumlimits
Metadata(enUS,Question,label)
AmtSpentonHoliday"Approximatelyhowmuchintotaldidyouspendlastyearonyour
holidays/vacations?"long[0..10000];
AmtSpentAir"Andofthatamount,howmuchwasspentonairfares?"long[0..10000];
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
AmtSpentonHoliday.Ask()
AmtSpentAir.Validation.MaxValue=AmtSpentonHoliday.Response.Value
AmtSpentAir.Ask()
EndRouting
86
Ifyouanswered5000forthequestionAmtSpentonHoliday,thentriedtosubmitananswergreater
than5000forAmtSpentAir,youwouldseethefollowing:
87
Exercise
CreateanewmetadatafilecalledMealsOut.mdd.Makesurethat:
YoumakesharedlistsforAmericanCuisine,InternationalCuisine,andrestaurantattributes.
FavCuisineonlydisplaysthecuisinestherespondenthasevereaten.
TheanswertoEatMealOutisnotgreaterthantheOrderMealOutamount.
MakethefilterfortheRestaurantOthrquestionbetheresponsesnotchoseninRestaurant1.
Inaddition,theotherspecifychoiceshouldshowinRestaurantOtherregardlessifitwas
choseninRestaurant1.
CuisineEaten
WhichofthefollowingtypesofCuisinehaveyouevereaten?
AmericanCuisine
Barbecue
Cajun
Southern
Southwestern
InternationalCuisine
Italian
Russian
Polish
French
Caribbean
NoneofThese
FavCuisine
Ofthosementioned,whichonedoyouprefer?
AmericanCuisine
Barbecue
Cajun
Southern
Southwestern
InternationalCuisine
Italian
Russian
Polish
French
Caribbean
NoneofThese
OrderMealOut Onaverage,howmanymealsperweekdoyouorderfromarestaurant?
(IfzerotoOrderMealOut,skiptoThanks)
88
EatMealOut Ofthosemeals,howmanydoyoueatattherestaurant,asopposedtohomedeliveryor
carryout?
(IfzerotoEatMealOut,skiptoThanks)
Restaurant1Whenyoueatatarestaurant,whatonethingmakesyouwanttoreturntotherestaurant
again?
Goodfood
Goodservice
NiceAtmosphere
LargeSelectionofmenuchoices
Other(Specify)________________________
RestaurantOthrWhatotherfactorsalsoinfluenceyourdecisiontoreturntoarestaurant?
Goodfood
Goodservice
NiceAtmosphere
LargeSelectionofmenuchoices
Other(Specify)________________________
Thanks
Thankyouforyourinput.
89
90
Chapte
er9
Chapter9M
MultipleQuesttionsonOnePage
Mu
ultipleQu
uestionso
onOnePa
age
BydefaultmrInterview
wdisplayson
nequestionpeerscreen.Th
herewillbetimeswhenyo
ouwillwantto
displaym
multiplequesttionsonthessamescreen.
Inthischapterw
wewill:
Learntoplacemultipleq
questionsonth
he
samescreeen
Discusstheedifferencesb
betweenpagessand
blocks
Learntoco
ontrolifaquesstionispresentedon
thescreen
norinwhatord
der.
placemultiple
equestionso
onthesamesscreenbyusin
ngpageorblo
ockstatemen
nts.
Youcanp
Pagemetadattaitemsreferrenceotherquestionsinth
P
hemetadatatogroupthem
monthesam
me
s
screen.Ifyou
uareonlytryiingtopresenttmorethano
onequestiononascreen,useapage.
B
Blockmetada
taitemsconttainotherqueestions,similartohowaggridquestioncancontain
m
multipleques
tions.Theblocktypecan
nbeusedtoggroupalistoffquestionsfo
orpresentatio
on
a
andorganizat
tionalpurposees.Forexamp
ple,ifyouareetryingtogro
oupquestionsstogetherforruse
w
withtheanaly
ysisproductsmrTablesand
dDesktopReeporter.
91
Chapter9MultipleQuestionsonOnePage
Page
Creatingapageinmetadatacreatesametadataitemthatstatesthequestionsyouwantdisplayedon
ascreenandtheorderinwhichtheyshouldbedisplayed.
Inthemetadatasection:
Name"text"page(QuestionName1,QuestionName2,QuestionNameN);
Item
Name
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
"text"
Optionaltexttoshowonthetopofthescreen
page
Keywordtostatewearegroupingthefollowingquestionsonthesamepage
QuestionName1, Representsthequestionnamestodisplayonthepagetogether.
QuestionName2,
QuestionNamen
Intheroutingsection,askthepage,nottheindividualquestions:
Name.Ask()
Item
Name
.Ask()
Description
Nameofthepagemetadataitem
Askthequestionslistedinthepageitem
Ifyouhavemanypagestocreate.Askstatementsfor,inthemetadataviewerchoosethe
Pagefolder.RightclicktochooseCopyasAsk.
92
Thefollowingisanexampleshowingmultipledemographicquestionsonthesamescreen.
Example
HouseHold"Includingyourself,howmanypeoplecurrentlyliveinyourhousehold?"
long[1..99];
Age"Towhichofthefollowingagecategoriesdoyoubelong?"
Categorical[1..1]
{
Under18"Under18",
_18to34"18to34",
_35to54"35to54",
_55plus"55andover",
};
Participate"Checkhereifyouwishtoparticipateinfuturestudiesontravel."
boolean;
Demos"Nowafewdemographicquestions"
page(
HouseHold,
Age,
Participate
);
EndMetadata
Routing
Demos.Ask()
EndRouting
93
Willdisplayas:
Block
Blocksaremetadataitemsthatcontainthequestionsyouwantdisplayedtogetheronascreen.
Name"text"blockfields
QuestionName1"text"QuestionType;
QuestionNamen"text"QuestionType;
);
94
Item
Name
"text"
block
fields
QuestionName1,
QuestionNamen
Description
Representsthenameoftheblock
Optionaltexttoshowonthetopofthescreen
Keywordtoidentifytheitemasablock
Startofthequestionscontainedintheblock
Representsthequestionscontainedinsidetheblock
Intherouting,asktheblockname:
Name.Ask()
Item
Name
.Ask()
Description
Nameoftheblockmetadataitem
Askthequestionslistedintheblockitem
Asyoucanseeinthefollowingexample,blocksarelikecontainerswhichholdmultiplequestions.
Example
Demos"Nowafewdemographicquestions"blockfields
long[1..99];
categorical[1..1]
{
Under18"Under18",
_18to34"18to34",
_35to54"35to54",
_55plus"55andover",
};
boolean;
);
EndMetadata
Routing
Demos.Ask()
EndRouting
95
Thepreviouscodewilllookidenticaltothepageexamplewhenviewedinthebrowser.However,the
metadataitselfisverydifferent.Theblockcreatesaseparateitemforblocks,asseeninthemetadata
viewer:
Sinceyourquestionsarenowcontainedwithinablock,thiswillalsoaffecthowyourefertoaquestion
inablock.
Blockname.Name
96
Thefollowingexampleshowshowyouwouldrefertoquestionsinablockwithintheroutingsection.
Example
AgeGroups""define
{
Under18"Under18",
_18to34"18to34",
_35to54"35to54",
_55plus"55andover"};
Demos"Nowafewdemographicquestions"blockfields
long[1..99];
categorical[1..1]
{useAgeGroups,
};
boolean;
);
KidsAtHome"Doyouhaveanychildrenundertheageof18livinginyourhousehold?"
categorical[1..1]
{
Yes,
No
};
EndMetadata
Routing
Demos.Ask()
IfDemos.household.Response.Value>1then
KidsAtHome.Ask()
Endif
EndRouting
97
ControllingHowPageandBlockQuestionsareDisplayed
Youcancontrolthepageorblockquestionsaskedonthescreenby:
Filteringthepageorblock
Usingasortingkeywordonthepage/block
FilteringaPage/Block
Usingthesameprincipleswelearnedwithfiltering,wecanuseaQuestionFiltertorestrictthe
questionsshowntocertainrespondents.
Name.QuestionFilter=Question1,QuestionN
Item
Name
QuestionFilter
question1,
questionN
Description
Nameofthegrid/loopquestion
Property(keyword)tostateyouarerestrictingthequestionsofthepage,or
block.Thispropertyalsoappliestogrid/loopcategories.
Representsquestionsthatwillbeaddedtothequestionfilterandshownonthe
screen.
Thefollowingwillnotshowthequestionaskingtoparticipateinfuturestudiesiftheyarealreadya
memberofourpanelgroup.
Example
98
Membership"Areyoucurrentlyamemberofourpanel?"
Categorical[1..1]
{
Yes,
No
};
long[1..99];
categorical[1..1]
{
Under18"Under18",
_18to34"18to34",
_35to54"35to54",
_55plus"55andover"
};
boolean;
Demos"Nowafewdemographicquestions"
page(
HouseHold,
Age,
Participate
);
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
Membership.Ask()
IfMembership={Yes}thenDemos.QuestionFilter=Household,Age
Demos.Ask()
EndRouting
SortingaPage/Block
Youcancontroltheorderofthequestionswiththesamesortingoptionsasshownpreviously.Simply
applythesortkeywordtotheblockorpagename.
Thefollowingexamplewouldrandomizethequestionsshownonthescreenforthedemospageor
block.
Example
Routing(Web)
'UsingDemosfromthepreviousexamples
Demos.QuestionOrder=OrderConstants.oRandomize
Demos.Ask()
EndRouting
99
Exercise
OpentheGroceryBill.mddfileandSaveAsCH09GroceryBill.mdd.ModifyCH09GroceryBill.mddsothat:
100
GroceryDateandStoreNameareonthesamepageusingaPAGEstatement
Generic,ItemsBought,andGroceryCostarecontainedwithinaBLOCKitem
Reviewthemetadatafortheblocktoseehowithaschanged
Chapter10RepettitiveQuestio
onsLoops&Grids
Chapte
er10 Re
epetitiveQ
QuestionssLoops&
&Grids
Manysurrveysinvolvetheconceptofaskingthesamebasicq
questionwith
hdifferentatttributesmultiiple
times.Th
heconceptissometimesccalledagrido
oraloop.
Inthischapterw
wewill:
Understan
ndwhentouseeagridoraloo
opina
survey
Createmeetadataforgrid
dsandloops
Reviewdiffferenttypeso
ofgrids/loops
Ifyourqu
uestionnairecontainsaseriesofquestiionsthatlookksimilartoth
his:
Pleaseraatethefollow
wingtravelde
estinationsonyourintere
estinvisitingthelocation.
Extremely
Someewhat
Somewhat
Extremely
Aruba
Bermudaa
Florida
Hawaii
Fiji
CostaRicca
Thailand
Interestted
Interrested
N
Neutral
D
Disinterested
Disinterested
d
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
eofwhentousetheloop//gridmetadattaitem.Thepropertiesth
hisquestionh
has
Thisisaggoodexample
thatmakkeitaloop/grridare:
Allsharethessameresponsses(ExtremelyInterested,SomewhatIn
A
nterested,etcc.)
D
Duringanalys
is,wewillwaanttoseetheeresultsofeaachdestinatio
onseparately,,butperhapsswill
a
alsowanttos
seetheresulttsinsummaryyintheformaattheyappeaarinabove.
Youwillaalsoneedtod
decideifyouwanttohaveetheappearaanceofthequ
uestionstobeeexactlyasw
we
seethem
mabove(i.e.,o
onthescreen
nallatonce),orwouldweepreferthateeachquestion
nbeona
separatescreen(i.e.,""PleaserateA
Arubaonyou
urinterestinvvisiting.,PleaserateBermudaonyour
interestinvisiting.,etc.,")
101
Chapter10RepetitiveQuestionsLoops&Grids
CategoricalLoops/Grids
Wewilldefinecategoricalloop/gridsnotbythetypeofquestionstheydisplay,butbywhatdefinesthe
numberoftimesyourepeatthequestions.Thefirstexampleswillshowalistofcategoriesdefining
thenumberoftimesyouwillshowthequestioninaloop/grid.
Name"GridText"loop
{
ID1"AltText1",
IDn"AltTextn"
}fields
(
Question1"LoopText1{@}";
Questionn"LoopTextn{@}"
)expandgrid;
Item
Name
"GridText"
Loop
ID1"AltText1",
IDn"AltTextn"
Fields
Question1,
Questionn
LoopText1,
LoopTextn
{@}
expand
grid
column
102
Description
Uniqueidentifierforloop/grid
Optionaltextthatwillbedisplayedwhenthequestionsintheloopareasked
togetherononescreen.
Keywordtomarkasetofrepeatedquestionsanddefinethenumberof
repetitionsrequired.
Definesthecategorylistthatcontrolsthenumberofrepetitionsrequired.You
defineitinthesamewayasthecategorylistforacategoricalquestion.
Keywordpriortothequestionstoberepeatedintheloop
Questionsthatwillberepeatedbasedonthecategorylist(ID1,ID2).
Definesanoptionallabelthatwillbedisplayedwhenthequestionsintheloop
areaskedonindividualscreens.
Representsthecurrentcategorytodisplaywhenthequestionsintheloopare
askedonindividualscreens.
SincemrInterviewsupportsbothahierarchicalandaflattenedviewofthe
data,usingtheexpandkeywordmeansthatthedataisrepresentedinboth
formats(bounded).
KeywordthatallowsSPSSDimensionsapplicationsandcomponentsto
recognizethattheloopisagrid.Examplewouldbeprintinggridsusing
mrPaper.
Optionalkeywordtochangetheorientationofthecategorylisttobethe
columnsofthegridinsteadoftherows.(Keywordrowisthedefault.)Is
placedontheendofthemetadatapriortothesemicolon.
Hereisthesyntaxforthegridshownatthebeginningofthischapter.
Example
InterestinLocation"Pleaseratethefollowingtraveldestinationsonyourinterestin
visitingthelocation."loop
{
Aruba,
Bermuda,
Florida,
Hawaii,
Fiji,
CostaRica,
Thailand
}fields
(
Rating""
categorical[1..1]
{
ExtremelyInterested"ExtremelyInterested",
SomewhatInterested"SomewhatInterested",
Neutral"Neutral",
SomewhatDisinterested"SomewhatDisinterested",
ExtremelyDisinterested"ExtremelyDisinterested"
};
)expandgrid;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
InterestinLocation.Ask()
EndRouting
103
Inthepreviousexample,sinceweaskedthequestionusingtheloopname.Ask(),thesurveywillappear
inthisformat:
Thisiswhatthismanualwillrefertoasagridformat.
Ifyouwanttochangetheorientationsothatthedestinationsareacrossthetopofthe
screen,addthekeywordcolumnafterthegridkeyword.
104
IfweaddtexttotheRatingquestionmetadataandchangethestatementintherouting:
Example
{
Aruba,
Bermuda,
Florida,
Hawaii,
Fiji,
CostaRica,
Thailand
}fields
(
Rating"Pleaserate{@}onyourinterestinvisiting."
categorical[1..1]
{
Neutral"Neutral",
};
)expandgrid;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
InterestinLocation[..].Ask()
EndRouting
105
Thenthesurveywillcomeuponequestionatatimeonthescreen.Thefirsttimeyouwillsee:
Afewthingstorememberaboutthepreviousexample:
Themaingridtext(textpriortothekeywordloop)willnotshowwhenthequestionsareasked
onindividualscreens.
The{@}willshowthelabelofthecurrentcategory,inthiscase,thedestinations.
The[..]indicatesthatyouwanttostepthrougheachvalueinyourcategoricallooponeata
time.
Iftheaboveisnotclear,thinkabouthowyouwoulddisplayjustoneofthequestionsinthe
loop:InterestinLocation[{Aruba}].Ask()
ForEachloops
Analternativewaytowrite[..]andstillhavethequestionscomeupindividuallyonthescreenwould
beusingaForEachloopstatement.
Dimvar
ForeachvarinLoopName
var.Ask()
Next
106
Item
Dim
var
LoopName
ForEach
Next
Description
Declaresatemporaryvariabletobeusedwithintheroutingsection
Representsatemporaryvariablenameyoucreate
Nameofourmetadataloop/grid
Marksthestartandendofaloop.Inthiscase,theloopisdoingwhatsinside
thefor/nextforeachquestioninanotherelement.Inthiscaseour
metadataloop/grid.EachtimethroughtheForEach/Next,varwillbethe
individualquestionsoftheloop/gridandwillbeaskedbythevar.Ask()
statement.
HereisthepreviousexamplewrittenwithaForEach/Nextloopinsteadofthe[..]syntax.Thiswill
displaythesameinthebrowserasthepreviousexample.
Example
{
Aruba,
Bermuda,
Florida,
Hawaii,
Fiji,
CostaRica,
Thailand
}fields
(
categorical[1..1]
{
Neutral"Neutral",
};
)expandgrid;
EndMetadata
107
Routing(Web)
Dimlocation
ForeachlocationinInterestinLocation
location.Ask()
Next
EndRouting
Tohelpunderstandthis,whenrunningthiscodestopononeoftheloopquestionsand
choosetheExpressionstabandEvaluatelocation.QuestionFullName.Oryoucanchoose
theLocalspaneandlookatthecurrentvalueoflocation.
TheForEach/Nextloopwillprovehelpfulinmorecomplexscenarios.
CategoricalLoopswithaNumericQuestion
Anotherexamplewillshowchangingthetypeofquestionintheloop.Thismetadataexampledisplays
numericquestionsinsteadofacategoricalscale.
ExpenseCategoriesdefine
Example
{Transportation,
Accomodations,
FoodDrink"FoodandDrinks",
OtherMisc"OtherMiscellaneous"
};
BusTravelSpent"Inthepastyear,approximatelyhowmuchdidyouspendineach
categorylistedbelowforbusinesstravel?"loop
{useExpenseCategories}fields
(
BusTravel"AmountSpentonBusinessTravel"
long[0..];
)expandgrid;
108
Woulddisplayinthebrowserlikethis:
Youcanalsohavemultiplequestionswithinagrid.Thefollowingexampleexpandsonthelast
exampletoincludetwocolumnsofnumericboxesonthescreen:
Example
ExpenseCategoriesdefine
{Transportation,
Accomodations,
};
TravelSpent"Inthepastyear,approximatelyhowmuchdidyouspendineachcategory
listedbelowforbusinessandleisuretravel?"loop
{useExpenseCategories}fields
(
BusTravel"BusinessTravel"
long[0..];
LeisureTravel"LeisureTravel"
long[0..];
)expandgrid;
Routing
TravelSpent.Ask()
EndRouting
109
110
NumericLoops
Anotherwaytocreaterepetitivequestionsinagrid/loopistocreatealoopinwhichyousetanumber
torepresenttheloopdriver.
Name"GridText"loop[n1..n2]
fields
(
Question1"LoopText1{@}";
Question2"LoopText2{@}"
)expandgrid;
Item
Name
"GridText"
Loop
[n1..n2]
Fields
Question1,
Questionn
LoopText1,
LoopTextn
{@}
Expand
Grid
Description
Uniqueidentifierforloop/grid
Optionaltextthatwillbedisplayedwhenthequestionsintheloopareasked
togetherononescreen.
Keywordtomarkasetofrepeatedquestionsanddefinethenumberof
repetitionsrequired.
Definesthenumberoftimesyouwantthelooptoexecute.
Keywordpriortothequestionstoberepeatedintheloop
Questionsthatwillberepeatedbasedonthecategorylist(ID1,ID2).
Definesanoptionallabelthatwillbedisplayedwhenthequestionsintheloop
areaskedonindividualscreens.
Representsthecurrentcategorytodisplaywhenthequestionsintheloopare
askedonindividualscreens.
SincemrInterviewsupportsbothahierarchicalandaflattenedviewofthe
data,usingtheexpandkeywordmeansthatthedataisrepresentedinboth
formats.
DisplaythequestionasagridwhenthequestionisprintedusingmrPaper.No
effectinbrowserbasedinterviews.
Thecategoriesshowninpreviousloopexamplesarereplacedwithnumbers.Therearevariouswaysto
specifythenumberswhichwillrepresenttherepetitionsoftheloop.
Description
Ranges
SingleValues
StepValues
ExclusiveValues
Example
[1..10]
[1,5,10]
Results
Willdisplaythequestioninthegrid/loop10times
Willdisplaythequestionsinthegrid/loop3times,eachtime
representingoneofthenumberslisted
[1..10step2] Willdisplaythequestionsinthegrid/loop5times,eachtime
representinganoddnumber1to9.
[1..10^5]
Willdisplaythequestions9times,eliminatingthe5thtime.
111
Thefollowingwillproduceapairofquestionsaskedabouttherespondentslastthreetrips.
Example
Last3Trips"Pleasethinkaboutthelastthreetimesyoutraveledforbusinessorpleasure
andanswerthefollowingquestions."loop[1..3]fields
(
BusorLeis"TellusaboutTrip#{@}.Wasthistripfor..."
categorical[1..1]
{
Business,
Leisure,
Both
};
Accommodations"WhenyouweretravelingonTrip#{@},whichofthefollowingtypes
ofaccommodationsdidyoustay?"
categorical[1..]
{
Hotel,
Motel,
Hostels,
Resorts,
OtherAccom"OtherAccomodations"other
};
)expandgrid;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
Last3Trips[..].Ask()
EndRouting
112
Thefirsttimethroughtheloopyouwillsee:
113
Exercise
Createanewmetadatafile,Meals.mddforthisexercise.
Thinkbacktothelastthreemealsofbreakfast,lunch,anddinnerthatyouconsumed.
(ASKMEALTIME&MEALORIGINABOUTEACHMEAL.)
MealTime
Thinkingaboutthelast[INSERTMEAL]youhad,whattimedidyoueat[INSERTMEAL]?
MealOrigin
Wasyour[INSERTMEAL]
Madeathome
Purchasedfromarestaurant
Calories
Howmanycaloriesdoyouestimateyourlastthreemealsofbreakfast,lunchanddinner
contained?
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
HealthAttribs Pleasestateyourlevelofagreementwiththefollowingstatements
Strongly
Agree
Breakfastisthemostimportantmealoftheday
Eatingfastfoodcanbehealthy
Ihaveawellbalanceddiet
Idonteatalotofsugar
{
{
{
{
Agree Neutral Disagree

{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
Strongly
Disagree
{
{
{
{
HealthComm Pleaseaddanyadditionalcommentsyouhaveabouttheimportanceofhealthyfoods
inrestaurants.
114
Ch
hapter11DeebuggingToolswithinmrStudio
Chapte
er11 De
ebuggingToolswitthinmrSttudio
Nowthattwearestarttingtolearnm
morecomplexxquestiontypes,weneed
dtohavesom
meproblem
solvingskkills.mrStudiioprovidesm
manytoolstohelpyouincreatingmorecomplexsurveys.
Inthischapterw
wewill:
Reviewconceptstohelp
pyoutroublesh
hoot
yourscriptt
Createtestdatawithinm
mrStudio
Createyou
urownmacross
owhichmayh
helpyouinteestingyoursccriptsaretheabilityto:
SomeoftheitemswitthinmrStudio
HavemrStudioproducetestdataforreview.
H
S
Setpointswit
thinyourscrip
ptthatthesu
urveywillstop
ptheactionaasyouaretesstingtoallowyou
t
toinvestigate
currentvalues.
V
Viewtheelem
mentsofaqueestion,suchaasitsstyleorcontrols,tosseethecurrentvaluesasyyou
t
testyourscrip
pt.
AutoA
AnswerQuestionnairre
Ifyouwo
ouldliketovie
ewyourskippatternsandviewwhatshappeningin
nyourroutinggatahighlevvel,
thenyoucanhavemrrStudioautom
maticallyansw
werthequesttionsforyouaanddisplayth
henumberoff
responseeseachquestionreceived.
Fromtheemenu,choosetheAutoA
Answericonsh
hownbelow:
115
Chapter11DebuggingToolswithinmrStudio
Youwillbepromptedforthenumberofinterviewsyouwishtoproduceandthenumberofattempts
thesystemshouldmakeperquestion.
TheresultwillshowintheAutoAnswerwindowasshownbelow:
ThisshowsthattheFriendRelatequestiononlyreceived2outofthepossible10automaticallycreated
responses.Wheninvestigatedfurther,thismakessense,astherewasaskippatternaroundthat
question.Othergoodthingstolookatinthisviewwouldbequestionswithnoresponses,whichcould
meanyouforgottoaskthequestion.
116
ProducingTestData
Besidesseeingthesummaryofanswerscreated,wecanalsostorethoseresultstouseasdatachecks
beforethestudygoeslive.WithmrStudio,youcanwritetoSPSS.SAV,.XML,DimensionsDatafile
(.DDF),andDimensionsRDBdatabaseformats.
FromthemenuchooseTools
SelectWritetoDatabase
YoucannowchoosetheAutoAnswericonorToolsAutoAnswerDataGeneration
Youwillstillbepromptedforthenumberofinterviewsyouwishtoproduceandthenumberof
attemptsthesystemshouldmakeperquestion.
117
Thefirsttimeyourunthis,youwillnowseethefollowingscreenaskingyoutochoosethe
datatypetocreate.
Chooseyourdatatypeandbrowseandnamethenewdatafile.
IfyouchoosetocreateaSPSS.SAVfile,choosemetadatatypeasnoneandjustspecifya
casedatalocationandname.
118
AddingAdditionalDataSources
Aftersettingyourdatasourcethefirsttime,mrStudiowillautomaticallywritetothisfileeachtime.
mrStudioallowsyoutoaddmultipledatasourcesifyouwishtomaketestdatainmultipleformats.
ViewtheMetadataExplorerandfindthedatasourcescollection.Rightclickonthefolderandchoose
AddDataSources.Youwillseethemenutochoosethedatatypeandfilename.
NowyouwillbeabletoRightclickonDataSourcesandchooseChangeDataSourcetochoosewhich
datasourceyouwanttocreatetestdatafor.
119
SettingBreakpoints
Tofindoutwhathappensatcriticalpointsinyourprogram,youneedtostopexecutionatthesepoints
andlookatthecontentsofquestionsortemporaryvariablestoseeiftheycontainthecorrectvalues.
PointsatwhichmrStudiostopstoallowthisinvestigationarecalledbreakpoints.
Tosetabreakpoint,clickonthegreyareaontheleftsideofthenumberinginyourroutingsection.
Thisshouldproducealargedotonthatlineasshownbelow:
Youcanusethisfeatureinmanyways.Manypeopletestsurveysandwhentheyfindaproblem,they
wanttostopandfixtheproblemandstartretestingatthatpoint.
Setabreakpointinyourroutingatthequestionyouwanttoreview
ChooseAutoAnswer
Whenprompted,makesuretochooseNumberofinterviewstobesetto1
Thiswillstopautoansweringatthequestioninwhichyousetthebreakpoint
NowchooseF5tocontinueoutofAutoAnswermode
Thisisaneasywaytostartusingbreakpoints.Asyourcodebecomesmorecomplex,youwilluse
breakpointstoevaluateyourcodeevenmore.
120
TroubleshootingSpecificSectionsofCode
Anotherhelpfulfeatureistostepthroughthelinesoftheroutingsection,soyoucanpauseand
evaluateeachaction.Thenyoucanseethecurrentvaluesofquestionsorvariableswiththe
Expressionstaborthelocalspane.
Tostepthroughcode,choosetheF10keyorDebugSingleStep.
Next,investigatespecificquestionvaluesorproperties.
UsingtheLocalspane(ViewLocals)youcanviewpreviousanswerstoquestionsasshowninthe
picturebelow.
Inaddition,youcanseethepropertiesofquestions,suchastheappropriatestylesorpropernamesfor
elementsofaquestion.
121
UsingtheExpressionstab,youcanvieworsetthevaluestoquestionsorvariablesinordertofurther
testyourscript.(ViewExpressions).Intheexamplebelow,wearesettingthevalueofthe
TravelItemquestiontotesttheifthenroutingpatternwehavecreated.
122
WorkingwithMacros
mrStudiocontainsmacrostohelpyoucreatescripts.Youhavetheabilitytoaddnewmacrosand
modifyordeleteexistingmacros.
InmrStudio,chooseToolsMacros.Thiswilldisplaytheoptionsshownbelow.Noticethe3different
areasinwhichyoucanworkwithmacros.ForInterviewScripting,youshoulduse:
mrScriptBasic:Themacroswillappearintheroutingsection
mrMetadataScript:Themacroswillappearinthemetadatasection
Updating/DeletingExistingMacros
Chooseanexistingmacrofromthelistshowninthepreviousscreenshot.Makeanychangesdesiredin
theMacroTextorMacroNameareasandchoosetheUpdateMacroicon.Todeleteanexistingmacro,
choosethemacroandselecttheDeleteMacroicon.
AddingAdditionalMacros
Createthecodeyouwishtomakeintoamacro.ThencopythecodeandchooseToolsMacros.
Choosetheappropriateareatoplaceyourmacro(mrScriptBasicormrMetadataScript),thencopythe
codeintotheMacroTextwindow(CtrlV).CreateauniquenameforthemacrointheMacroName
area.ThenselecttheAddMacroicon.
123
Youcancopymacrosfromonemachinetoanotherbycopyingthefile,
C:\DocumentsandSettings\<yourWindowsusername>\ApplicationData\SPSS\
mrStudio\4.5.0.0\MacroDefinitions.xml.
124
Chapter12
2ConditioneedLoopsandGrids
Chapte
er12 Conditioned
dLoopsa
andGrids
Wehavelearnedtocrreatefilteredquestionsbaasedonansw
werstopreviousquestionsandlogic.
Addingfilterlogictolo
oopsandgrid
dsisthesameeconcept.
Thischapterrlooksatloops/gridsfilteredon:
Prevviousresponseeswithinthelo
oop
Prevviousresponseestoasimpleq
question
outssidetheloop/ggrid
Prevviousresponseestoadifferentloop/grids
quesstions
Asu
ublistofcatego
ories
PreviousRespon
nsesWithiintheLoop
p
Supposeyouhavethe
efollowingqu
uestion:
pondentshou
uldnotseethefollowupq
question,Wh
hydoyou
IftheresponseisNevver,theresp
wewishtorep
peatthesepairsofquestio
onsformultip
ple
referenceethetravelguide,LonelyPlanet?Ifw
travelguides,thenwe
emustplacetthequestionsswithinaloop.Thefollow
wingloopdem
monstratesho
ow
towritetthislogicwith
hintheroutin
ngsection.
125
Chapter12ConditionedLoopsandGrids
Example
TravelGuides"Now,somequestionsaboutTravelGuides."loop
{
Fodor"Fodor's",
Frommer"Frommer's"
}fields
(
Read"Howoftendoyoureadorreferencethetravelguide,{@}?"
categorical[1..1]
{
Weekly,
Monthly,
Yearly,
Rarely,
Never
};
WhyRead"Whydoyoureferencethetravelguide,{@}?"
categorical[1..]
{
Hotel"AdviceonHotels",
Neighborhoods"InformationonNeighborhoods",
Attractions"TouristAttractions",
SaveMoney"Tipsonhowtosavemoney",
Transportation"Localtravel/transportation",
OtherReason"OtherReason"other,
};
)expandgrid;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
Dimtguide
ForEachtguideInTravelGuides
tguide.Read.ask()
Iftguide.Read.Response.Value<>{Never}Then
tguide.WhyRead.Ask()
EndIf
Next
126
Breakingdowntheexampleabove:
tguideisatemporaryvariablethatwillrepresentthecategoriesoftheloop(thetravelguides)
ForEach/nextloopwillloopthrougheachtguideinourloopquestion,TravelGuides
tguide.Read.Ask()willaskjustthequestion,readforeachtravelguide
TheIfstatementchecksthelogicsothatifthecurrentvalueoftguidesresponsetotheread
questionwasnotNever,thenaskthefollowupquestion,WhyRead
Loops/GridsFilteredonPreviousResponsesOutsidetheLoop/Grid
Inpreviousexamples,wecouldfiltertheresponselistofaquestionbytheresponsestoprevious
questions.Wecanapplythatsameprincipletothecategorylistofagrid/loop.Insteadoffilteringthe
categoriesofaquestion,wewilldoaQuestionFilteronaloop:
Name.QuestionFilter=categories
Item
Name
QuestionFilter
Categories
Description
Property(keyword)tostateyouarerestrictingthecategoriesoftheloop/grid
question
Representsanythingthatstatesthecategoriesyouwishtodisplayinthe
loop/grid.SettingthefilterequaltoNullwillsetthefiltertoallvalidcategories.
Thefollowingisanexampleofagridwhichwillonlyshowgridcategoriesthatareappropriate/logical
fortherespondent.
Example
ResortTypes""define
{
Historical,
Beach"Beach",
Adventure"Adventure"
};
AttendedResort"Fromthelistbelow,pleaseindicatewhichtypesofresortsyouhave
stayedat."
categorical[1..]{useResortTypes};
127
RateResortLoop"Oftheresortsyouhavestayedat,pleaseratethemonyouroverall
satisfactionwithyourexperiencesattheresort."loop
{useResortTypes}fields
(
RateResort""
categorical[1..1]
{VerySatisfied"VerySatisfied",
SomewhatSat"SomewhatSatisfied",
SomewhatDisSat"SomewhatDissatisfied",
VeryDissatisfied"VeryDissatisfied"
};
)expandgrid;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
AttendedResort.Ask()
RateResortLoop.QuestionFilter=AttendedResort.Response.Value
RateResortLoop.Ask()
EndRouting
Ifyouchoose:
128
Youwillonlyhavetheresponseschosenasthecategoriesofthegrid:
Loops/GridsFilteredonResponsestoaDifferentLoop/GridsQuestions
Sometimesthefilterconditionscanbecomemorecomplex.Letsthinkaboutanotherscenario.
Lookingatthegridfromthelastexample:
supposethefollowupquestionwas,
Whyareyousatisfiedoverallwiththe[INSERTRESORTTYPE]?Thisshouldonlybeaskedoftheresort
typestheyrespondedverysatisfiedorsomewhatsatisfied.
129
Tocorrectlyaskthisfollowup,weneedto:
Createaloopquestioncontainingthetextquestionabovetoholdtheanswerseparatelyfor
eachresorttype(asinglequestionwouldnotbesufficient).
CreateaQuestionFilterfortheloopthatholdsthetextquestion.ThisQuestionFiltershould
containonlytheresorts(categories)inwhichtherespondentratedVerySatisfiedorSomewhat
Satisfiedinthepreviousloop.
Example
130
ResortTypes""define
{
Historical,
Beach"Beach",
Adventure"Adventure"
};
RateResortLoop"Oftheresortsyouhavestayedat,pleaseratethemonyouroverall
satisfactionwithyourexperiencesattheresort."loop
{useResortTypes}fields
(
RateResort""
categorical[1..1]
{VerySatisfied"VerySatisfied",
};
)expandgrid;
WhyLoop""loop
{
useResortTypes
}fields
(
WhyVerySat"Whyareyousatisfiedoverallwiththe{@}resort?"
text;
)expandgrid;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
RateResortLoop.Ask()
DimResort
DimWhyLoopFilter
WhyLoopFilter={}
ForEachResortInRateResortLoop
IfResort.RateResort.ContainsAny({VerySatisfied,SomewhatSat})Then
WhyLoopFilter=WhyLoopFilter+CCategorical(Resort.QuestionName)
EndIf
Next
WhyLoop.QuestionFilter=WhyLoopFilter
WhyLoop[..].Ask()
EndRouting
YoumustsetthevariableWhyLoopFilterto{}sothatitstartsasafilterwithnothinginit.
Loops/GridsFilteredonaSublistofCategories
Aswehavelearnedinpreviouschapters,wecancreatesubliststomakedefinelistsmorereusable.
Youcanalsousesubliststocreategroupstobeusedascategoryfilters.
Name.QuestionFilter=Name.Categories.sublistname
Item
Name
QuestionFilter
Categories
sublistname
Description
Property(keyword)tostateyouarerestrictingthecategoriesoftheloop/grid
question
Keywordforthecategoriesofthegrid/loop
Nameofthesublistyouwishtoshowinthegrid/loop
Thefollowingexampleasksiftherespondentprimarilytravelsforbusiness,leisureorboth.Basedon
thisresponse,thefollowupgridquestionwilldisplayadefinelistwithbusinesstravelattributes
(BusinessAttribs),leisuretravelattributes(LeisureAttribs)orbothlists.
131
Example
BusinessAttribsdefine
{
MeetInPerson"Ithinkmeetingfacetofaceimprovesworkcommunication.",
WeekendTravel"Travelingontheweekendsinterfereswithmypersonaltime.",
ArriveEarly"Iliketoarriveearlytoprepareforthenextday'sagenda."
};
LeisureAttribsdefine
{
ShortDistance"Iliketotakemanyshortweekendtripsvsonelongvacation/holiday.",
family"Travelisagreattimetoreconnectwithmyfamilymembers.",
cost"Ioftensplurgeonvacation/holidays,pickingthenicesthotelsandlocations."
};
primarytravel"Doyouprimarilytravelfor..."
categorical[1..1]
{
Business,
Leisure,
Both
};
TravelAttribs"Rateyouragreementwiththefollowingstatements."loop
{
useBusinessAttribssublist
ran,
useLeisureAttribssublist
ran
}ranfields
(
attrib""
categorical[1..1]
{
SAgree"StronglyAgree",
Agree,
Neutral,
Disagree,
SDisagree"StronglyDisagree"
};
)expandgrid;
EndMetadata
Theroutingsectionwouldlooklikethis:
132
Example
Routing(Web)
primarytravel.Ask()
SelectCasePrimaryTravel.Response.Value
Case{Business}
TravelAttribs.QuestionFilter=TravelAttribs.Categories.BusinessAttribs
Case{Leisure}
TravelAttribs.QuestionFilter=TravelAttribs.Categories.LeisureAttribs
CaseElse
TravelAttribs.QuestionFilter=Null
EndSelect
TravelAttribs.Ask()
EndRouting
Thecodeabovewilldisplay:
OnlytheBusinesssublistfortheTravelAttribsiftheyprimarilytravelforbusiness
OnlytheLeisuresublistfortheTravelAttribsiftheyprimarilytravelforleisure
BothlistsiftheychoseBothfortheprimarytravelquestion
Breakingdownthecodeabove:
TheQuestionFilterlinesabovearesetequaltotheQuestion.Categories.sublistnameifthe
respondentonlychosebusinessorleisure.
TheQuestionFilterwassettoNullwhentherespondentchoseboth.Nullresetsthe
QuestionFiltersothatallcategoriesareshown.Anotheralternativeistosetthefiltertothe
questionsdefinedcategories.
Usingthesublistsasshownabovedoeslimityourabilitiestosort,asthesublistscanbe
sortedwithinthemselves,butyoucannotsortthetwosubliststogether.Ifsortingisan
issueandyouwishtouseasublistasafilter,seefilterbysublist.mddonyourCDforan
advancedfunctiontoeliminatetheproblem.Thisexampledynamicallycreatesafilterfrom
thecategoriesinasublist,insteadofusingthesublistforthefilterdirectly.
133
Exercise
Usethemetadatafile,Restaurant.mdd.Themetadatahasbeencompleted;pleaseaddtherouting
sectionandlogicasstatedbelow.
(Askthenexttwoquestions(Eaten&OftenEat)foreachoftherestauranttypesof:
Deli/CarryOutRestaurantswithoutSeating
FastFoodRestaurants
Family/CasualDiningRestaurants
UpscaleRestaurants)
Eaten
Haveyouevereatenin[INSERTTYPEOFRESTAURANT]?
Yes
No
OftenEat
(IfYes)Howoftendoyoueatin[INSERTTYPEOFRESTAURANT]?
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Yearlyorless
(AskonlyiftheysaidYestothetypeofRestaurantintheEatenQuestion)
FoodQuality
Pleaserateyouroverallsatisfactionwiththequalityoffoodobtainedinthefollowing
typesofrestaurants.
Very
Somewhat
Satisfied Satisfied
Deli/CarryOutRestaurantswithoutSeating
FastFoodRestaurant
Family/CasualDiningRestaurant
UpscaleRestaurant
Neutral
Somewhat
Very
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied
134
(IfYestoFastFoodinEatenQuestion,askChainAwareandFastFoodQual.)
ChainAware
Whichofthefollowingfastfoodchainshaveyoueatenat?
Wendys
McDonalds
BurgerKing
Arbys
InNOutBurger
Noneofthese
(OfthefastfoodchainsmentionedinChainAware)
FastFoodQual Pleaserateyouroverallsatisfactionwiththequalityoffoodobtainedinthefollowing
fastfoodrestaurants.
Very
Somewhat
Satisfied Satisfied
Neutral
Somewhat
Very
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied
Wendys
McDonalds
BurgerKing
Arbys
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
InNOutBurger
135
136
Chapter13ConttrollingtheLo
ookofYourSu
urvey
Chapte
er13 ControllingtheLook
kofYourS
Survey
Lookand
dfeelcanbeaacrucialelem
mentofsurveyyscripting.m
mrInterviewp
providesgreattflexibilityin
termsofmodifyingthelookofyou
ursurvey.
Intthischap
pterwewilllearrn:
Differentw
waystochangeetheoverall
appearancceofyoursurvey
Howtoap
pplydifferentlo
ookstoyoursu
urvey
Howtoefffectivelyusesttyleswithinyour
script
OverviiewoftheFormattin
ngofaSurrvey
Tofullyu
utilizethecap
pabilitiesofan
nmrInterview
wsurveysappearance,youneedtound
derstandhow
wthe
overallfo
ormattingoftthesurveywo
orks.Thehieerarchyofitem
msthataffectttheappearaanceofan
mrInterviewsurveyarre:
HTMLTemplaates(includingCascadingSStylesheetsaand.xmlfiles)).ThesearesspecialHTML
1) H
p
pagesthatare
eappliedtoyyoursurvey.
2) Styleswithint
S
thescript.Th
hesearescrip
ptingpropertiiesaddedtoeeitherthemeetadataorthee
r
routingsectio
on.
mple,ifyoufo
ormataspecifficquestionw
withastyleinawaythatco
ontradictswh
hatisintheH
HTML
Forexam
templatee,thenthequ
uestionstylew
willoverridetthetemplatesformatforthatquestion
n.
Nowthattyouhaveab
basicundersttandingofhow
wtemplatesandstylesareeappliedtotthesurvey,lets
takeaclo
oserlookate
eachaspect.
Templa
ates
TemplateesareHTMLp
pageswhichh
havespecialm
mrInterviewtagsthatreepresentthed
differentparttsof
asurvey.Templatesccontrolthelayoutofthem
mrInterviewp
pageseparateefromthetexxtofyour
questionnaireasyouccreateditintthemetadataa.Thisallowssyoutheflexiibilitytocreattestandard
templateesforreuseinmanyprojeects.Youcanalsousemorrethanoneteemplatewith
hinasurvey.
137
Chapter13ControllingtheLookofYourSurvey
Thethreemaintypesoftemplatesare:
LayoutTemplate:Definesonepage/screenlayout.Thistemplateisusuallycreatedinawayin
whichyoucanapplythistomultiplestudiesifyouwantthemtoallhavethesamebasiclook.
Also,thisdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatyouhavetocreateacompletelynewtemplatefileif
youwanttovaryjustoneaspectofthelayoutforaparticularpartofanintervieworfora
differentproject.Ifthebasicpagelayoutisthesame,youcancreatesubtemplatesforthe
aspectsthatchange.
SubTemplate:Atemplatefilethatdefinesthelayoutofoneaspectofthepage.For
example,youcancreatesubtemplatesforquestions(questionandresponsetexts),errors,
banners,navigationbars,andgrids.Themainpagelayouttemplate(listedintheprevious
bulletpoint)containsabasictagindicatingwherethevariouscomponentsbelongandthesub
templatesdefinetheexactlayoutforeachcomponent.Youspecifywhichsubtemplatesareto
beusedbynamingthemintheroutingsectionoftheinterviewscriptorinthemainlayout
template.
LocalizedTemplate:Usedfororganizationsthatcreatesurveysforpeopleinmultipleregions
oftheworld.Localizedtemplatesallowyoutosetthelanguageofaninterviewbasedonthe
respondent'sbrowserlanguage,andthelanguagecanbechangedintheinterviewscript.The
interviewingprogrampassesthelanguagetotheHTMLPlayer,whichsearchesforthe
appropriatetemplateinthatlanguagesfolderandthenintheprojectfolder.
Inadditionallthreetemplatetypescanbeassignedgloballyorataprojectlevel.Theorderinwhich
mrInterviewlooksfortemplatesisasfollows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Projectfolderspecificlanguagepassedasthecurrentinterviewslanguage
Projectfolderdefaultlanguage
Projectfolder
Globaltemplatesfolderspecificlanguagepassedasthecurrentinterviewslanguage
Globaltemplatesfolderdefaultlanguage
Globaltemplatesfolder
Becauseofallthevariableslistedabove,youwillwanttothoroughlytestyourscriptsinmanydifferent
waystoensurethattheproperlookisbeingappliedtoyoursurvey.
Thiscoursewillonlydiscusshowtoapplythetemplates,nothowtocreatethetemplates.
Formoreinformation,seetheDDL:DDL.chm::/interviewscripting_templates_writing.htm
138
ApplyingaTemplatewithinYourScript.
Toapplyatemplatewithintheroutingsection:
Routing(Web)
IOM.LayoutTemplate="templatename.htm"
Name.Ask()
Item
Description
IOM.LayoutTemplate Keywordstosignifyyouareaddingatemplatestyletothesurveyfromthis
pointforwardintheroutingsection
templatename.htm
Theactualnameofthetemplatetoapply
Ifaquestionistiedtoaspecifictemplateorsubtemplate(suchasjavascriptlogictocheckaspecific
question,oracomplexquestionstyle),youmaychoosetoaddthetemplatetothemetadata:
Name"text"
templates(Question="templatename.htm")questiontype
Item
Description
Templates(Question=) Keywordstosignifyyouareaddingatemplatestyletothisspecificquestionin
themetadata
Templatename.htm
Representstheactualnameofthetemplatetoapply
questiontype
Representsthequestionstype(categorical,long,text,etc.)Notethatthe
templategoesbeforethequestiontypekeyword.
139
Belowisanexampleofapplyingatemplatetotheentiresurvey.
Example
Routing(Web)
IOM.LayoutTemplate="Card_Blue_TopAndBottomErrors.htm"
BusTravelSpent.Ask()
TravelSpent.Ask()
HotelChainStayMost.Ask()
HotelChainStayed.Categories.Filter=HotelChainStayed.Categories
FavHotelChain.Ask()
EndRouting
Youcandrasticallychangetheappearanceofaquestionwithtemplates.mrStudiodisplaysthe
templatesastheywillappearwhenactivatedtomrInterview.
Whenreviewingyourtemplates,youcanchoosetoseeafullbrowserviewasopposedto
thesmallerwindowwithinmrStudio,bychangingtheUseBuiltinBrowseroptiontoFalse
underToolsOptions.However,withthisoptionyoucannotusetheF5AutoAnswer
featureeasily.
Folders
TheDimensionsDevelopmentLibraryprovidesyouwithexampletemplatestouseandmodify.These
areincludedbydefaultinC:\ProgramFiles\SPSSDimensions\DDL\Scripts\Interview\Templates
folder.
140
TipsforScriptwritersRegardingTemplates
AfewthingstothinkaboutasyouareusingmrStudiotoapplyyourtemplates:
IfyouhavetemplatesfrompreviousversionsofmrInterview,youneedtoensurethe
templatesareXHTMLorperfectlyformedHTML.Inthetoolbar,chooseHTMLtidytohave
mrStudiotrytocleanupyourcode.Thismaynotalwayswork100%,butismaybeworth
seeingwhattheresultsare.MakeabackupofyourtemplatefilesbeforeattemptingHTML
tidy.
MakesurethatwhenyouactivatethestudyinmrInterviewthatyouhaveincludedanyproject
specifictemplatesyouhavebeenusinglocallyinmrStudio.
Styles
Stylesallowustocontrolthemanyformattingaspectsofsurveyitemsfrominsideoursurveyscript.
Wecanusestylesonsuchitemsasquestions,categories,labelsandnavigationcontrols.Therearetwo
majorgroupsofstyles:
DefaultStyles:Defaultstylesaresettingsthatgetappliedtoanentiregroupofsurveyitems.
Forexample,defaultstyleswouldbeusedtomakechangestoallthequestiontextfontfor
thatscript.
QuestionStyles:Questionstylesareusedtoformatitemsforspecificquestions.
Inpracticeyoushouldusedefaultstylestoperformthebulkofyourformattingwithstyles.Use
questionstylestoapplyuniqueorquestionspecificformatting.Itisrecommendedthatyoudeclare
yourdefaultstylesatthetopoftheroutingsectionofthesurvey.However,youcanchangethe
settingsofthedefaultstylesatanytimeinyoursurvey.
Completedetailsregardingtheavailableoptionsofthestylesobjectcanbefoundinthe
DDL:IOMLib.chm::/IStyle.html
DefaultStyles
Therearesixtypesofdefaultstylesandeachgrouphasanumberofsubtypes.Forthisintroductory
course,wewillfocusonlyonthemaindefaultstyles:
Default
Labels
Categories
Grids
Navigation
Questions
Whileeachofthesedifferentareasrepresentsadifferentareaforpotentialformattingyoushouldalso
beawareoftheinteractionbetweentheareas.Thestylesettingsfromoneareawillcascadetoother
styleobjects.Thefollowingistheorderofprecedence:
141
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
DefaultStyles.Default
DefaultStyles.Label
DefaultStyles.NavigationandDefaultStyles.Categories
DefaultStyles.Questions
DefaultStyles.Questions.Labels
DefaultStyles.Question.CategoriesandDefaultStyles.Grids
Forexample,ifwesetthefontdifferentlyinthedefaultandlabelssections,thelabelssectionwillbe
thesettingthatisused.Letsreviewsomeofthedifferentareasofasurveyinwhichstylescanbe
applied.
Default
Thedefaultstyleisthestylesettingsthatallotherstylesarederivedfrom.Sothesesettingswillform
thebasisforallotherdefaultstyletypesand/orquestionstylesettings.
IOM.DefaultStyles.Default
Example
Routing(Web)
IOM.DefaultStyles.Default.Font.Family="Tahoma"
EndRouting
TheexampleabovewouldsetalltexttobeTahomaforthisstudy,overridingwhathasbeensetinthe
template.
142
Categories
Thecategorydefaultstylessectionisusedtoapplyformattingtocategoricalresponses.
IOM.DefaultStyles.Categories[CategoryStyleTypes.CategoryStyleTypeEnum]
WheretheCategoryStyleTypesEnumsareasfollows:
CategoryStyleTypeEnum
csSingle
csMulti
csExclusive
csList
Description
Singleresponsecategorical.
Multiresponsecategorical.
Exclusiveresponsecategorical.
SubheadingText.
Example
Routing(Web)
IOM.DefaultStyles.Categories[CategoryStyleTypes.csExclusive].Label.Font.Effects=_
FontEffects.feBold=null
ModeofTravel.Ask()
EndRouting
Thecodeabovewillturnallresponsesmarkedwiththekeywordsexclusive,DK,REF,orNAtobe
unbold.
143
Grid
Defaultgridstylesareusedtocontroltheformatofgridquestions.Itallowsustospecifyformatting
forcolumn/rowheadingsaswellasalternatingcolumns/rows.
IOM.DefaultStyles.Grids[GridStyleTypes.GridStyleTypesEnum]
WheretheGridStyleTypesEnumsareasfollows:
GridStyleTypesEnum
gsCell
gsAltRow
gsAltCol
gsRowHeader
gsColHeader
gsAltRowHeader
gsAltColHeader
Description
Thecellsofagrid.
Thealternatingrowsofagrid.
Thealternatingcolumnsofagrid.
Therowheadingsofagrid.
Thecolumnheadingsofagrid.
Thealternaterowheadingsofagrid.
Thealternatecolumnheadingsofagrid.
Example
144
Routing(Web)
'DefaultGridFormatting
WithIOM.DefaultStyles
'Rowcellitems
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsCell].Cell.BorderColor="black"
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsCell].Cell.BorderStyle=BorderStyles.bsSolid
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsCell].Cell.BorderWidth=1
'Alternatecellitems
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsAltRow].Cell.BgColor="#D5D5D5;"
'RowHeadings
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsRowHeader].Cell.BorderColor="black"
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsRowHeader].Cell.BorderStyle=BorderStyles.bsSolid
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsRowHeader].Cell.BorderWidth=1
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsRowHeader].Cell.width="120px"
'ColumnHeadings
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsColHeader].Cell.BgColor="#800000;"
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsColHeader].Color="#FFFFFF;"
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsColHeader].Font.Effects=FontEffects.feBold
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsColHeader].Cell.BorderColor="black"
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsColHeader].Cell.BorderStyle=BorderStyles.bsSolid
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsColHeader].Cell.BorderWidth=1
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsColHeader].VerticalAlign=VerticalAlignments.vaBottom
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsColHeader].cell.wrap=true
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsColHeader].cell.width="90px"
'AlternateRowHeadings
.Grids[GridStyleTypes.gsAltRowHeader].Cell.BgColor="#CECECE;"
EndWith
EndRouting
ThiscodehasbeenwritteninaWith/EndWithblock.TheWith/EndWithstatementallowsyouto
specifyinformationthatwillbeaddedtothebeginningofeachlinethatstartswithanopendot(.)
withintheblock.Ifthereisnotanopendot,thentheinformationontheWithlineisnotadded.The
previouscodewillformatallgridswithintheprojectwiththepropertiesspecified.Thereisno
templateappliedtothepicturebelow,onlythestylesspecifiedabove.
145
Labels
Labeldefaultstylesallowustospecifyformattingfordifferenttypesoflabels.Forexample,wemay
wantallquestionlabelstouseadifferentsizefontthanthecategorylabels.
IOM.DefaultStyles.Labels[LabelStyleTypes.LabelStyleTypesEnum]
WhereLabelStyleTypesEnumare:
LabelStyleTypesEnum
lsQuestion
lsCategory
lsBanner
lsError
lsNavigation
lsTitle
Description
Styleforquestionlabels.
Styleforcategorylabels.
Styleforbannerlabels.
Styleforerrorlabels.
Stylefornavigationlabels.
Stylefortitlelabels.
Thecodebelowwillmakeallquestiontexttohaveafontsizeof24.
Example
Routing(Web)
IOM.DefaultStyles.Labels[LabelStyleTypes.lsQuestion].Font.Size=24
AmtSpentYr.Ask()
EndRouting
Navigation
Defaultnavigationstylescanbeusedtoformatthelookandfeelofthenavigationbuttons.
IOM.DefaultStyles.Navigation
Example
Routing(Web)
IOM.DefaultStyles.Navigation.BgColor="#0099FF"
AmtSpenYr.Ask()
EndRouting
Thecodeabovewillcreateabluebackgroundcoloronthenavigationbuttons.
146
Thenumberthatrepresentsthecolorisahexadecimalcolorvalueandiscommonlyusedto
createaveryspecificcolor.Youcanfindmanywebsitesthatprovidethesecolorcodes.
Searchfortermslikewebsafecolors.
Questions
Questiondefaultstylesallowyoutodefineformattingspecifictothetypeofquestionbeingdisplayed.
IOM.DefaultStyles.Questions[QuestionStyleTypes.QuestionStyleTypesEnum]
WheretheQuestionStyleTypesEnumsare:
QuestionStyleTypesEnum
qsInfo
qsLong
qsText
qsCategorical
qsDate
qsDouble
qsBoolean
qsLoopCategorical
qsLoopNumeric
qsCompound
qsBlock
qsPage
qsOther
Description
Informationitems.
Long(integer)questions
Textquestions
Datequestions
Double(real)questions
Booleanquestions
Categoricalloops.
Numericloops.
Compoundquestions
Blockquestions
Multiplequestionpageitems.
AutomaticOtherSpecifyquestions.
Forexamplethefollowingcanbeusedtomakeall"otherspecify"textboxesacertainsize.
Example
Routing(Web)
IOM.DefaultStyles.Questions[QuestionStyleTypes.qsOther].Style.Width=220
EndRouting
147
QuestionStyles
Thesametypesofstyleswediscussedasdefaultcanbeappliedatthequestionlevel.Theuseof
questionstylesshouldbeminimal,forveryspecificformattingneeds.Thissectionwilldiscusssome
commonquestionspecificformattingneeds.
Withacategoricalquestionyoumaywanttodisplaytheavailablecategoriesinmultiplecolumnsor
usingalistboxorcomboboxratherthanthetraditionalcheckboxesorradiobuttons.
Thefollowingexamplewillcreate2columnsofresponsesinsteadofasinglecolumn.
Routing(Web)
Example
HotelChainStayed.Style.Columns=2
EndRouting
Thefollowingexamplewillcreateadropdownlist.Notethatthecategorieshaveasubheadingof
SelectOne.Thisisdonesothattherespondentmustchooseananswer,sincethesubheadingisnot
avalidresponse.
Example
148
Souvenirs"Whichofthefollowingsouvenirsdoyouprefertopurchasewhenonholiday
orvacation?"
categorical[1..1]
{
SelectOne"SelectOne"
{
Clothing,
Hats,
Postcards,
SnowGlobes"SnowGlobes"
}
};
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
Souvenirs.Style.Control.Type=ControlTypes.ctDropList
Souvenirs.Ask()
EndRouting
Youcanalsocontrolthecolumnwidthforthedroplistorcomboboxwith:
Name.Style.Width
TextQuestions
Foratextquestionyoumaywanttocontrolthewidthandheightofthetextboxgenerated.The
followingwillmodifythewidthandheightofthequestion.
Example
Routing(Web)
WhySouvenir.Style.Width=400
WhySouvenir.Style.Height=50
WhySouvenir.Ask()
EndRouting
Youcanalsochangethetypeoftextboxthatwillbecreated:
Tochangetoasinglelineformat:
TextQ.Style.Control.Type=ControlTypes.ctSingleLineEdit
Tomaskwhatistypedintheboxwithdotsinsteadofthecharacters:
TextQ.Style.Control.Type=ControlTypes.ctPassword
149
MetadataStyles
Whenastyleisspecifictoaquestion,itmaybebettertoapplythestyletothequestiondirectlyinthe
metadata.Theoptionsavailablearethesameasintherouting,buthaveaslightlydifferentsyntax.
Thecodebelowwillorienttheresponseshorizontally(orientation=row)andreplacesthebuttonsand
textwithanimage.
Example
HappyLastTravel"ChoosetheimagebelowthatindicateshowhappyyouweretheLAST
timeyoutraveled."
style(Orientation=Row)
categorical[1..1]
{
VeryHappy"Veryhappy"
style(Image="VeryHappy.gif",Control(Type="Button")),
SlightlyHappy"Slightlyhappy"
style(Image="SlightlyHappy.gif",Control(Type="Button")),
NeitherNor"Neitherhappynorunhappy"
style(Image="NeitherNor.gif",Control(Type="Button")),
SlightlyUnhappy"Slightlyunhappy"
style(Image="SlightlyUnhappy.gif",Control(Type="Button")),
VeryUnhappy"Veryunhappy"
style(Image="VeryUnhappy.gif",Control(Type="Button"))
};
EndMetadata
Thecodeabovewillproducethefollowingquestion:
150
CustomControls
Customcontrolsareatypeofsubtemplatethatgeneratesaninteractivecontrolthatrespondentscan
usetoansweraquestion.Forexample,ifyouhaveadatequestionyoumaywanttherespondentto
seeacalendar.Youcouldhavetherespondentflipthroughacalendarandthenclickonthedateto
answerthequestion.
Foranexampleofacustomcontrol,reviewthecalendarexampleintheDDLproject,
C:\ProgramFiles\SPSSDimensions\DDL\Scripts\Interview\Projects\NewFeature.mdd
XHTMLinLabels
Wehaveseenthattemplatesallowustocontroltheoveralllookofasurveypage.Wecanusestylesto
formatindividuallabelsorothersurveyitems.However,sometimeyoumayneedtoformatjusta
singlewordonalabel.Thistypeofgranularformattingfallsoutsideoftemplatesandstyles.Wecan
useXHTMLwithinourmetadatafiletoperformthistypeofformatting.
WhatisXHTML?
XHTMLisamarkuplanguagebasedonHTML.Theprimarydifferenceistheneedforalltagstobewell
formed.Thismeansthatalltagsmusthaveanopeningandclosingtag.
Hereareafewbasictagsthatmayproveusefulwithinyourscript:
Tag
text
text
text
 
Description
BoldTag
ItalicTag
Underline
CarriageReturn
151
Example
TravelItem"Fromthelistbelow,whichoneitemwouldyoumostwanttobring
withyouonaleisuretrip?"
categorical[1..1]
{
Camera,
Map,
};
ItisrecommendedthatyouonlyincludeXHTMLtagswhennoneoftheotherformattingoptions
provideasuitablesolution.Thisisduetothatfactthatthesetagscanmeanadditionalworkwhen
relatingtotranslationand/orreporting.
FinalThoughtsonFormatting
Whenpeoplearefacedwithsomanyplacestoapplyformatting,theymaybeconfusedbywhat
formattingshouldgowhere.Oneissueyoushouldtakeintoconsiderationwhendecidingwhereto
applyspecificlooksofyoursurveyissystemefficiencyvs.easeofuse.Letssayforexamplethatyou
wantallthesurveystohaveadefaultfontof"Tahoma";whereisthebestplacetodeclarethis?Since
youwantthisappliedtoeverything,ideallyyoushouldputthisinthetemplateorassociatedCSSfile
sinceitisatthehighestlevel.Inthiswayyougetthecorrectfontwithouthavingtodeclareanything
inyoursurvey.Alsoifyoulaterchangeyourstyleyouwillnotneedtoupdateanyscripts.(Notto
mentionmrInterviewwillnothavetoprocessthatstyledetail.)Andyoucanstillusethestylesto
overridethetemplateswhennecessary.
152
Exercise
OpentheMeals.mddfileandSaveasMealsWithStyle.mdd
Addthetemplate,Verge_Layout.htmfiletothedocument
TheCaloriesgridhasnumericresponses;makeaboxsizeof50forthosenumericquestions.
ChangetheHealthCommboxsizetoheightof100andwidthof550.
Astimeallowsformatallthegridstohavethefollowinglook:
Hints:
Sizeofcolumns=90px
Colorofratingscaletext=#BB342B
Colorofalternaterows=#B8B8B8
Bordersaresolid,1width,andcolorof#B8B8B8
153
154
Chaptter14TextSubstitutionsaandTextHeadings
Chapte
er14 Te
extSubstittutionsan
ndTextH
Headings
Youmayneedtohave
etextwithinyyoursurveythatchangesw
withtheresp
ponsesgiven.Forinstancee,if
youwantttolisthowm
manyanswerswerechosenatapreviou
usquestiono
ortohavetexxtthatreflectsa
positiveo
ornegativeraatingtoapreviousquestio
on(Whydidyougivetheproductapo
ositiverating??).
Inthischapterw
wewill:
Displayananswertoapreviousquestionin
thetextoffthesurvey
Displayinganswerstoprreviousquestio
ons
withinagrrid
Inserttexttintothemetaadatathatwillbe
controlledintheroutinggsection
Display
yingRespo
onsestoP
PreviousQ
Questions
Youcand
displaythean
nswerstopreeviousquestio
onsinthesurrveywithinan
nyofthetextinthemetad
data.
{
{#Name}
Item
Name
Example
Description
Nameofth
hequestionthatcontainstheresponseeyouwanttodisplay
Souvenirs"Whicho
ofthefollowingsouvenirsdoyouprefeertopurchaseewhenonho
oliday
orvacation?"
cate
egorical[1..1]
{
Cllothing,
Hats,
Po
ostcards,
Sn
nowGlobes"SSnowGlobes""
}ran
n;
WhySo
ouvenir"Whyydoyouprefertopurchasse{#Souvenirrs}whenonholidayorvacation?"
text;
155
Chapter14TextSubstitutionsandTextHeadings
IfSnowGlobeswaschosenintheSouvenirquestionpreviously,theWhySouvenirquestionwillappear
as:
Ifyouareinsidealoopandyouwanttodisplaytheitemdrivingtheloop,usethe{@}sign.
Example
{
Aruba,
Bermuda,
Florida,
Hawaii,
Fiji,
CostaRica"CostaRica",
Thailand"Thailand"
}fields
(
Categorical[1]
{
Neutral,
};
)expandgrid;
EndMetadata
156
Ifthequestioniswithinaloop/gridandyouneedtoreferenceitoutsidetheloop,thenthereferenceis
slightlydifferent.Youneedtousetherootleveloperator\.inthesyntax:
{#\.LoopName[{LoopCategory}].InsideQuestion}
Item
Loopname
LoopCategory
InsideQuestion
Description
Nameoftheloop
Specificloop/gridsliceyouwishtodisplaytheanswerto
Questionwithintheloop/grid
Thefollowingwilldisplaytheresponsetoaspecificgridsliceinthefollowuptextquestion.
Example
InterestInLocation"Pleaseratethefollowingtraveldestinationsonyourinterestin
visitingthelocation."Loop
{
Aruba,
Bermuda,
Florida,
Hawaii,
Fiji,
CostaRica"CostaRica",
Thailand"Thailand"
}fields
(
categorical
{
Neutral,
SomewhatDisinterested"SomewhatDisinterested,
};
)expandgrid;
WhyAruba"WhydidyourateAruba{#\.InterestinLocation[{Aruba}].Rating}?"
text;
EndMetadata
157
InsertTextintotheMetadatathatwillbecontrolledintheroutingsection
Therewillbeothertimesinwhichyouwillcontrolthetexttobeshowninsteadofredisplayinga
previousanswer.Toachievethis,youneedtouseatextinsert.Therearetwopartstocreatingthis
item.Addamarkerinthemetadatatorepresentthetextyouwishtoinsert,andthencreatea
referencetothiswithintherouting.
Name"Text{Marker}"typeparameters;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
Name.Label.Inserts["Marker"].Text=Value
OR
Name.Ask(Value)
EndRouting
Item
Name
Text
{Marker}or
["Marker"]
Type
Parameters
Value
Description
NameofthemetadataitemthatcontainstheplaceholderorMarker
Textassociatedwiththeitem
Representsthevariableyoucreatedtobetheplaceholderforthetextyouwant
toinsert.Asshownabove,itisreferenceddifferentlyinthemetadatavs.the
routing.
Identifiestheitemforitsfunctionality(categoricalquestions,textonlyitems,
etc.)
Thisvariesbyitemtype,butanexamplewouldbetheresponsestoaquestion.
RepresentsthetextyouwanttoinsertinMarker.Werecommendmakingthe
texttobeinsertedaninfoiteminthemetadataforeaseoftranslation.
158
ThefollowingexamplewillsubstitutetextfortheExplainChainquestionbasedoniftherespondent
choseoneanswerormanyanswerstotheHotelChainStayedquestion.Noticethetexttobe
substitutedisstoredininfoitemsinthemetadata.Thisisagoodpracticeifthestudyistobedonein
multiplelanguages.
Example
categorical[1..]
{
InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
};
ExplainChains"Pleasegiveabriefexplanationwhyyouchosetostayat{Chain}as
opposedtoothersinthepastyear."
text[1..];
OneChain"thischain"info;
Chains"thesechains"info;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
IfNot(HotelChainStayed.ContainsAny({DontKnow,Refused}))Then
IfAnswerCount(HotelChainStayed)=1then
ExplainChains.Label.Inserts["Chain"].Text=OneChain.Label
Else
ExplainChains.Label.Inserts["Chain"].Text=Chains.Label
EndIf
ExplainChains.Ask()
EndIf
EndRouting
159
Thereisanalternativetothemethodfortextsubstitutionshownabove.Youcanalsoaddtheinsert
referenceintotheaskstatement.Theexamplebelowshowsthepreviousinsertexample,butusing
thealternativemethod.
Example
categorical[1..]
{
InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
};
ExplainChains"Pleasegiveabriefexplanationwhyyouchosetostayat{Chain}as
opposedtoothersinthepastyear."
text[1..];
OneChain"thischain"info;
Chains"thesechains"info;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
IfNot(HotelChainStayed.ContainsAny({DontKnow,Refused}))Then
IfAnswerCount(HotelChainStayed)=1then
ExplainChains.Ask(OneChain.Label)
Else
ExplainChains.Ask(Chains.Label)
EndIf
EndIf
EndRouting
160
HereisanexamplethatgetsridoftheextraneoustextthatmrInterviewplacesinatextinsertfora
previousquestionwhentheanswerisanotherspecify.Youdonotusethestandard{#Name},but
insteadcreateatextinsertwithaconditiontocheckfortheother.
Example
TypeAccom"Atwhattypeofaccommodationsdidyoustay?"
categorical[1..1]
{
Hotels,
Motels,
BedBreakfast"BedandBreakfasts",
Hostels,
Resorts,
OtherAccom"OtherAccommodations"other
};
HowFreqStay"Howfrequentlydoyoustayat{Accom}?"
categorical[1..1]
{
VeryFreqently"VeryFrequently",
SomewhatFreqently"SomewhatFrequently",
Rarely,
FirstTime"Thiswasthefirsttime"
};
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
TypeAccom.Ask()
ifTypeAccom={OtherAccom}then
HowFreqStay.Label.Inserts["Accom"]=TypeAccom.OtherAccom
else
HowFreqStay.Label.Inserts["Accom"]=TypeAccom.Response.Label
endif
HowFreqStay.Ask()
EndRouting
161
TextHeadings
Youmaywishtoincludeheadingsthatareappliedtoasinglequestionormultiplescreens.Thiscanbe
achievedbycreatingabanner.Intheroutingsection,placethefollowingstatement:
Toaddanewheading:
Name.Banners.AddNew("BannerName",InfoName.Label)
Toreuseabannerwithdifferenttext:
IOM.Banners["BannerName"].Text=NewInfoName.Label
Toremoveabanner:
Name.Banners.Remove("BannerName")
Item
Name
Description
Nameofthequestionorpagetoapplytheheading.ThiscanalsobeIOMto
usethesameheadingformultiplescreens.
BannerName
Uniquenameforthebanner.Mustfollowstandardnamingconventions.
InfoName.Label,
Nameoftheinfoitemholdingthetextyouwishtodisplay.Youcanalsochoose
NewInfoName.Label toplacespecifictextindoublequoteswithinthisitem.
Whenaddingbanners,itisrecommendedthatyouplacethetextininfoitemsinsteadofdirectlyinthe
routingsection.Thisallowsyoursurveystobeeasilytranslatedintomultiplelanguagesorcontexts.In
theexamplebelow,weareaddingonebannerandchangingitstextduringthesurveytoaccommodate
thedifferentsections.
Example
162
categorical[1..]
{
InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
OtherHotel"OtherHotelChain"Other,
};
FavHotelChain"Ofthosechains,whichonewouldyoumostprefertostayatagain?"
categorical[1..1]
{
InterContinental,
Cendant,
Marriott,
Accor,
Choice,
Hilton,
OtherHotel"OtherHotelChain"Other,
};
{
Aruba,
Bermuda,
Florida,
Hawaii,
Fiji,
CostaRica,
Thailand
}fields
(
Rating"Pleaserate{@}onyourinterestinvisiting"
categorical[1..1]
{
Neutral"Neutral",
};
)expandgrid;
HotelText"HotelQuestions"info;
DestinationText"DestinationQuestions"info;
EndMetadata
163
Routing(Web)
IOM.DefaultStyles.Labels[LabelStyleTypes.lsBanner].Font.Size=24
IOM.Banners.AddNew("Header",HotelText.Label)
FavHotelChain.Ask()
IOM.Banners["Header"].Text=DestinationText.Label
Dimlocation
ForeachlocationinInterestinLocation
location.ask()
Next
EndRouting
Theaboveexamplewilldisplaydifferentheadingsforthedifferentscreens.Wehavealsoaddeda
defaultstyletoincreasethefontsizeoftheBannerTextasshownbelow:
164
Chap
pter15EnhaancingSurveyyFlow
Chapte
er15 En
nhancingS
SurveyFlow
Toobtain
naccuratedata,bydefaulttmrInterview
wrequiresareesponsetoeaachquestion.Attimes,yo
ou
maywan
nttoeitherprresetinformaationintoqueestionsorallo
owrespondentstonotansswerthe
questionandcontinue
ewiththesurrvey.
Inthischapterw
wewill:
Preassignttheinitialansweerstoquestions.
Understand
dthepropertyth
hatallowsrespo
ondents
tonotgiveananswertoaq
question
Allowforan
nanswertobetthedefaultrespo
onse
Asstated
dabove,mrIn
nterviewrequ
uiresarespon
nsetoeachqu
uestion.Too
overridethiso
option,youm
must
do2things:
SSettheMustA
AnswerpropeertytoFalse
P
ProvidemrInt
terviewwithaadefaultansw
werwhentheerespondenttdoesnotcho
oosearespon
nse.
Technically,thereissttillananswerrforeachqueestionwhenyyoulookatyo
ourdata,how
weverthe
ndtoeveryqu
uestionwhen
nitisntnecesssary.Agood
duseofthis
respondeentwillnothaavetorespon
featurew
wouldbeatexxtquestionfo
oroptionalco
omments.Iftherespondeentdidnothaaveacommeent,
theycouldsimplychoosetheNextbuttontoco
ontinuewithtthesurveywh
hilemrInterviewwillrecorrd
therespo
onseasthepredetermineeddefault.
165
Chapter15EnhancingSurveyFlow
MustAnswer
TheMustAnswerpropertycanbeappliedattheIOMlevel,oronaquestion,pageorblocklevel.
Routing(Web)
Name.MustAnswer=False
Thefirststatementwouldonlyapplytoaspecificquestion.TheIOMstatementabovewouldprepare
allquestionsinthestudytopotentiallynotgiveananswer.
IfmrInterviewisnotprovidedwithavaliddefaultanswer,thenthequestionwillneedtobe
answeredbytherespondentbeforegoingtothenextquestion.Theexceptionforthisisa
categoricalquestioninwhichtheminimumisnotstated(example[..5]).
DefaultAnswers
DefaultAnswerscaneitherbedirectlyassignedbytheprogrammerorusethepreassigneddefault
valueofNoAnswer.Youcanspecifydefaultanswersinthemetadataorroutingsections.
InMetadatasection:
Name"text"questiontype
DefaultAnswer(response);
OrRoutingsection:
Name.Response.Default=response
Item
Name
response
Description
Representsavalidresponsetothequestion(validnumberforlongquestions,
categorynameforcategoricalquestions,etc.)
166
Thefollowingisanexampleofaddingdefaultresponsesinthemetadata.
Example
TravelSpent"Inthepastyear,approximatelyhowmanymuchdidyouspendineach
categorylistedbelowforbusinessandleisuretravel?"loop
{
Transportation,
Accomodations,
}fields
(
long[0..]defaultanswer(0);
long[0..]defaultanswer(0)
)expandgrid;
Theresultwillnotchangewiththeadditionofthedefaults:
Howeverifanycellisleftblank,thedefaultanswerofzerowillbeenteredinsteadofmrInterview
issuinganerrormessageofMissingAnswer(s).
167
Youcanevensetdefaultvaluesforcategoricalquestions:
Example
categorical[1..1]
{
Under18"Under18",
_18to34"18to34",
_35to54"35to54",
_55plus"55andover",
}defaultanswer({Refused});
EndMetadata
Intheaboveexampleiftherespondentdoesntanswerthequestion,whentheyclicktheNextbutton
theanswerwillberecordedasRefused.
Anotherwaytosetthisdefaultwouldbeintheroutingsection:
Routing(Web)
Example
Age.Response.Default={Refused}
Age.Ask()
EndRouting
Tousedefaultsoptions,thedefaultanswermustbesettoavalidresponseforthequestion.
168
Hiddendefaultresponses
ThekeywordNAistheassumedvalueforthepropertydefaultanswer.Ifyouhave:
TheMustAnswer=False
AresponseassignedtothekeywordNA
Nodefaultanswerresponsespecified
ThentheNoAnswerresponsewillbehiddenonthescreenandiftherespondentdoesnotanswerthe
questionandgoestothenextscreen,theNoAnswerresponsewillbeautomaticallychosenforthat
question.
Example
AddComments"Pleaseprovideuswithanyadditionalcomments."
text
codes({NoAnswer"NoComments"NA});
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
AddComments.MustAnswer=False
AddComments.Ask()
EndRouting
Thescreendisplays:
Asyoucanseeabove,thereisnotaNoCommentsreplyonthescreenduetothepresenceofthe
MustAnswer=FalseandthelackofaDefaultAnswerspecified.
169
InitialResponse
Insteadofassigningdefaultvalueswhentherespondentdoesnotansweraquestion,youcouldhave
anansweralreadyassignedtothequestionwhenitisfirstshowntotherespondent.Thiscouldbe
usedforlargegridsinwhicheveryresponsemaynotbeapplicabletotherespondent.Thisiscalledan
initialanswerandisappliedinthesamewayasthedefaultanswer.
Example
{
Transportation"Transportation",
Accomodations"Accomodations",
}fields
(
long[0..]initialanswer(0);
long[0..]initialanswer(0)
)expandgrid;
Thiswouldbewhatthescreenwouldlooklikewhentherespondentfirstseesthequestion:
170
Thecodeintheroutingsectiontosettheinitialvalueforthiscomplexquestiontypewouldbe:
Example
{
Transportation"Transportation",
Accomodations"Accomodations",
}fields
(
long[0..];
long[0..]
)expandgrid;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
TravelSpent[..].BusTravel.Response.Initial=0
TravelSpent[..].LeisureTravel.Response.Initial=0
TravelSpent.Ask()
EndRouting
Initialvaluewillonlybesetthefirsttimetherespondentisshownthequestion,meaningif
theyusethepreviousbuttontogobacktoquestions,theiranswerswillnotberesetagain
iftheyhavechangedthevalues.Ifyouwouldliketoalwaysresetthevalues,thenusethe
QuestionName.Response.Value=response.
171
Exercise
Openmealswithstyle.mddfileandmakethefollowingmodifications.
MakeHealthCommallowtherespondenttomovepastthequestionwithoutanswering
GivetheHealthAttribsloopinitialvaluesofNeutral
AddthefollowingquestionaftertheHealthAttribsgrid:
FastFoodComments
Pleaseelaborateonwhyyou[AGREE/DISAGREE]withthestatement

Eatingfastfoodcanbehealthy.
PrefernottoAnswer
RespondentswhochoseNeutralfortheattributeEatingfastfoodcanbehealthy
shouldnotbeaskedtheFastFoodCommentsquestion.
FortheinsertAGREEORDISAGREE,insertthewordagreeiftherespondentchose
StronglyAgreeorAgreefortheEatingfastfoodcanbehealthyattribute;insert
disagreeiftherespondentchoseStronglyDisagreeorDisagree.
(Hint:Ifyouneedhelpdetermininghowtoreferenceoneattributewithinagrid
outsidethegrid,refertotheinformationitemonpage106.)
172
Chapterr16CustomizingtheStandardErrorMessages
Chapte
er16 Cu
ustomizing
gtheStan
ndardErrrorMessa
ages
Theremaaybetimesw
whenthestan
ndarderrorm
messagesaren
notdescriptivveenoughforraspecific
question,oryourorgaanizationhasstandardsfortheerrorteextthatarediifferentthanthedefaults.You
cancontrrolthetextoffthestandarderrormessaages.
Inthischapterw
wewill:
Learnthekeywordsasso
ociatedwiththe
standardeerrormessagess
Customizeethetextoftheeerrormessagges
withinyou
urscriptforaspecificquestio
on
Changethestandarderrrormessageforall
surveys
ndarderrorm
messagehasaanameassociiatedwithitaandislistedin
nthetablebeelow.
Eachstan
Message
eName
MissingA
Answer
NotNumeric
NotIntegger
NotDate
NotInRan
nge
NotSingle
eAnswer
TooFewA
Answers
MessageTexxt
Missingansw
wer(s).
Whend
displayed
TherespondentclickksNextwitho
outansweringgthe
question,andthescriptdoesnotspecifyadeffault
answer.Alsoappliesswhentherespondentdoees
notenteranswersin
nallcellsofagrid.
Answer'{AN
NSWER}'isnot
Theresponsecannottbeconverteedintoavalid
d
long(integer)ordou
numeric.
uble(decimal),asappropriiate.
Answer'{AN
NSWER}'isnot
Theresponseisanumericvalue,butisnotan
anintegervaalue.
integervalue.
Answer'{AN
NSWER}'isnota Theresponsecannottbeconverteedintoavalid
d
validdate.
date.
Answer'{AN
NSWER}'isnot
Theresponsedoesn
notfallwithintherange
inrange'{RA
ANGE}'.
specifieedforthequeestion.
Onlyoneansweris
Moreth
hanonerespo
onsewascho
osenfromasiingle
allowed.
choicerresponselist.
Thereareto
oofewanswers, Thenum
mberofrespo
onseschosenfromamultiiple
atleast{MIN
NANSWERS}aare choicelistislessthantheminimu
umnumber
required.
requiredforthequeestion.
173
Chapter16CustomizingtheStandardErrorMessages
MessageName
TooManyAnswers
MessageText
Therearetoomanyanswers,
only{MAXANSWERS}are
allowed.
CannotCombine
Answer'{ANSWER}'
({CATEGORY})cannotbe
combinedwithotheranswers.
Answer'{ANSWER}'
({CATEGORY})hasaresponse
butisnotselected.
Answer'{ANSWER}'isnotvalid.
OtherNotSelected
InvalidText
TooLittleText
TooMuchText
PlayerNavigationDisabled
Theanswerdoesnothave
enoughtext,currentlengthis
'{LENGTH}',minimumis
'{MINLENGTH}'.
Theanswerhastoomuchtext,
currentlengthis'{LENGTH}',
maximumis'{MAXLENGTH}'.
Youhaveusedthebrowser
buttons,pleaseusethe
Next/Previousbuttonsbelow.
SurveyProgram
Whendisplayed
Thenumberofresponseschosenfrom
amultiplechoicelistisgreaterthanthe
maximumnumberallowedforthe
question.
Morethanoneresponsewasselected,
oneofwhichwasmarkedasexclusive.
The'Other'responseboxhastextfilled
in,buttheOtherresponsehasnot
beenselected.
Atextresponseisnotintheformat
specifiedinthequestion;forexample,
notavalidtelephonenumber.
Thenumberofcharactersinatext
responseislessthantheminimum
specifiedinthequestion.
Thenumberofcharactersinatext
responseisgreaterthatthemaximum
specifiedinthequestion.
Therespondentusedthebrowser's
navigationbuttonswhentheproject
doesnotallowthis.
TheabovetableislistedintheDDLatthislink:
DDL.chm::/interviewscripting_errors_standard.htm
Youcanchangethemessagesassociatedwiththeerrorsin3ways:
174
GloballyforallmrInterviewprojects
Forallquestionswithinametadatafile
Foraspecificquestion
Globalchangestoerrormessages
Tochangethewordingoferrormessagesgloballyforallprojects,theyarecontainedinthe
StandardTexts.mddfileonthemrInterviewserver.Pleasenotethatthisfileholdsthetranslationsfor
theerrormessagesaswell.Ifyouproducemultilingualstudies,youwillneedtotranslatethenew
messagestoanyadditionallanguagesnecessary.
Errormessageschangesforaspecificmetadatafile
Toreplacetheerrormessagetextforthewholescript,includeaStandardTextsblockwithanErrors
blockinthemetadataasshownbelow.
StandardTextsblockfields
(
Errorsblockfields
(
MessageName1"Text1"info;
MessageNamen"Textn"info;
...
);
);
Item
Description
MessageName1, Nameofthestandardmessageasshowninthetablepreviously.
MessageNamen
Text1,Textn
Representsthereplacementmessagetext
ThefollowingexamplewillchangethedefaulterrormessageMissingAnswer(s)forallquestions
withinthissurvey.
Example
StandardTexts"StandardTexts"blockfields
(
Errors"Errors"blockfields
(
Missinganswer"Pleaseanswerthequestion."
info;
);
);
EndMetadata
175
SurveyProgram
Ifarespondentdidnotchooseananswerforanyquestionwithinthesurvey,theywouldsee:
Errormessageschangesforaspecificquestion
Changingtheerrormessageforaspecificquestionisverysimilartothemethodforeveryquestion
withinthesurvey.ThedifferenceisthattheStandardTextblockmustbeaddedtoahelperfield
attachedtothequestion:
QuestionName"text"questiontype
helperfields(
(
(
MessageName1"Text1"info;
MessageNamen"Textn"info;
...
);
);
);
Item
helperfields
MessageName1,
MessageNamen
Text1,Textn
176
Description
Keywordusedtostoreadditionalinformationforafield/question
Nameofthestandarderrormessage.
Representsthereplacementmessagetext
Customizingtheerrormessage
Youcancustomizethewordingofthemessagebyusingsomeofthesubstitutionmarkerslistedinthe
tablebelow.Enclosethemarkersincurlybracketswheninsertingintotheerrortext.
SubstitutionMarker
ANSWER
RANGE
QUESTION
QUESTION_NUMBER
LENGTH
MINLENGTH
MAXLENGTH
MINANSWERS
Description
Therespondent'sanswer.
Thevalidanswerrangeforthequestionasdefinedinthemetadatasection.
Thequestionname.
Thequestionnumber.
Thelengthoftheresponsetext.
Theminimumlengthforatextresponse.
Themaximumlengthforatextresponse.
Theminimumnumberofanswersthatmustbechosenfromamultiplechoice
list.
Themaximumnumberofanswersthatmaybechosenfromamultiplechoice
list.
Thetextofasinglemultiplechoiceresponse.
Theerrormessageassociatedwithaninternalerror.
MAXANSWERS
CATEGORY
ERROR
Thisexamplewillmaketherespondentserrormessageclearerinitsmeaning.
Example
DaysTravelYr"Onaveragehowmanydaysperyeardoyoutravelforbusinessorleisure?"
long[0..365]
helperfields(
(
(
NotInRange"{ANSWER}ismorethanthenumberofdaysinayear.Pleasetry
again."
info;
);
);
);
177
SurveyProgram
Whentherespondentsanswerisoutoftherange,itwilldisplayanewerrormessage:
178
Chaptter17Functio
ons&Subrou
utines
Chapte
er17 Fu
unctions&
&Subrouttines
WithDim
mensionsScrip
pting(andoth
herprogramm
minglanguages),youcanccreatereuseeablecodethaat
willhelpyoutodocerrtainactions,suchasvalid
datequestionlogicorspeccificformattin
ngissues.
Inthischapterw
wewill:
DefineFun
nctionsandSubroutines
Learnhow
wtowriteFunctionsand
SubroutineesinDimensio
onsScripting
Seeexamp
plesofFunctionsandSubrou
utines
inDimensiionsScripting
nctionsan
ndSubrouttines
DefinittionofFun
Afunctio
onorsubrouttineisasectio
onofcodewiithinascriptw
whichperformsaspecifictaskandis
relativelyyindependen
ntoftheremaainingscript. Thesearetermsthatarecommontoo
other
programminglanguagges,notspecifictoDimenssionsScriptingg.
nes,includingg:
Thereareeseveraladvaantagestoussingfunctionssorsubroutin
Reducingtheduplicationo
R
ofcodeinaprrogram
E
Enablingreus
eofcodeacrossmultiplesscripts
complexpro
D
Decomposing
oblemsintosimplerpiecess(thismakestthemeasierttomaintainand
a
add/subtract
functionalityasneeded)
Improvedreadabilityofap
program
Thepartssofafunction
norsubroutinemayinclud
de:
Abodyofcod
A
detobeexecu
utedwhenthesubroutineiscalled
P
Parametersth
hatarepassedtothesubroutinefromtthepointwheereitiscalled
d
A
Avaluethatis
sreturnedtothepointwh
herethecallo
occurs(functiononly)
onceptoffuncctionsandsubroutines.
Letslookkatsomeverrybasicexamplestounderrstandtheco
179
Chapter17Functions&Subroutines
Subroutine
Todefineasubroutine:
SubName(var1,var2,varN)
Statements
EndSub
Tocall(use)asubroutine:
Name(parameter1,parameter2,parameterN)
Item
Sub
EndSub
Name
Statements
var1,var2,varN
parameter1,
parameter2,
parameter3
Description
Marksthestartandendofasubroutine
Representsauniquenamegiventothesubroutine
Representsanystatementstobeexecutedwithinthesubroutine
Representsthenameofvariablesthatarepassedtothesubroutinefromthe
pointwhereitiscalled.Thevariablestogetherarecalledtheargumentlist.
Representstheactualparametersthatarepassedtothesubroutine.The
orderoftheseparameterswillmatchupwiththevariablesonthesubroutine
(example:parameter1istheinformationthatwillbeinsertedinthe
subroutinerepresentedasvar1)
SubroutineExample
Dependingonthespecificlookofyoursurveys,youmaywanttocontrolthecolumnwidthsofagridat
adefaultlevelforallgrids,orhaveindividualcontrol.Ifyouneedindividualcontrol,itwouldbeniceto
haveawaytoindicatethespecificspergridonasinglelineinthescript.Wecancreateasubroutine
tohelpuswiththis.
Supposeyouhadtwogridsinyourstudythatafterthedefaultstyleswereapplied,theylookedlike
this:
180
Lookingatthegrids,theymightlookbetterwithsomespecificstylesappliedtothem.Aswelearnedin
thestylesection,youcouldspecifythestyleforeachgrid(AirlineRatingandInterestinLocation)inthe
routingsection:
Example
Routing(Web)
AirlineRating.Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Width="300px"
AirlineRating[0].Item[0].Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Width="70px"
AirlineRating[0].Item[0].Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Wrap=true
AirlineRating.Ask()
InterestinLocation.Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Width="120px"
InterestinLocation[0].Item[0].Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Width="90px"
InterestinLocation[0].Item[0].Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Wrap=true
EndRouting
181
Thepreviouscodewouldproducethefollowinglook:
Nowwemightsaythatthiscodecouldbeusefulinmanystudies.Asyoucansee,wearerepeatingthe
samebasictexteachtime,justchangingthevaluesofthestylepropertiesandthequestionitapplies
to.Thisrepetitivenessmakesitacandidateforasubroutine.
First,createthesubroutinesstructureandgiveitanamethatiseasilyrecognizable:
SubGridStyle1()
EndSub
182
Then,askyourselfwhatwillchangeeachtimeaboutthelinesofcode;thequestionnameandthe
valuesofthestyleswillchangeeachtime,sotheyneedtobereplacedwithavariabletorepresent
thoseitems:
SubGridStyle1(QuestionName,ColHeadWid,ColWid,ColWrap)
EndSub
QuestionName,ColHeadWid,ColWid,andColWraparesimilartotemporaryvariables,so
thenamescanbeanythingyoulike.
Next,addthecode.Beginnersmayfindithelpfultoaddthecodeforonequestionwithoutthe
substitutionsthenmakethechangestothatcodewiththeparameters.
AirlineRating.Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Width="300px"
AirlineRating[0].Item[0].Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Width="70px"
AirlineRating[0].Item[0].Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Wrap=true
EndSub
LookingattheaboveexamplewewillneedtochangeAirlineRating,300px,70px,andtrueto
matchthevariablenameswedefinedonthefirstlineofthesubroutine:
QuestionName.Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Width=ColHeadWid
QuestionName[0].Item[0].Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Width=ColWid
QuestionName[0].Item[0].Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Wrap=ColWrap
EndSub
183
Theabovesubroutinealonedoesnothing.YouneedtoCallthesubroutineandspecifytheparameter
informationforaspecificaction.Hereisthecompletedsubroutineexample:
Example
Routing(Web)
GridStyle1(AirlineRating,"300px","70px",true)
AirlineRating.Ask()
GridStyle1(InterestinLocation,"120px","90px",true)
QuestionName.Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Width=ColHeadWid
QuestionName[0].Item[0].Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Width=ColWid
QuestionName[0].Item[0].Categories[..].Label.Style.Cell.Wrap=ColWrap
EndSub
EndRouting
Function
Asstatedearlierinthischapter,afunctiondiffersfromasubroutineinthatitcanpassavaluebackto
wherethecalloriginated.Inthesyntaxbelow,youwillseeitisverysimilartothesubroutine,butnow
youmaysetavalueequaltothefunctionnametopassbackandusewithinyourscript.
FunctionName(var1,var2,varN)
Statements
Name=value
EndFunction
Tocall(use)afunction:
Name(parameter1,parameter2,parameterN)
184
Item
Function
EndFunction
Name
Statements
var1,var2,varN
Value
parameter1,
parameter2,
parameter3
Description
Marksthestartandendofafunction
Representsauniquenamegiventothefunction
Representsanystatementstobeexecutedwithinthefunction
Representsthenameofvariablesthatarepassedtothefunctionfromthe
pointwhereitiscalled.Thevariablestogetherarecalledtheargumentlist.
Avaluethatisreturnedtothepointwherethefunctioncalloccurred
(Optional)
Representstheactualparametersthatarepassedtothefunction.Theorder
oftheseparameterswillmatchupwiththevariablesonthefunction
(example:parameter1istheinformationthatwillbeinsertedinthefunction
representedasvar1)
185
Supposewehadasharedlistoftravelagenciesthathad30categories:
Example
Agencylst""define
{
Agency1"TravelAgency1",
Agency30"TravelAgency30"
};
AgencyHeardOf"Whichofthefollowingtravelagencieshaveyouheardof?"
categorical
{
useAgencyLst
};
'CreateafilterforAgencyUsetobetheresponsesofAgencyHeardOf
AgencyUse"Ofthoseyouwereawareof,whichtravelagencieswouldyouconsiderusing
tobookyourtravel?"
categorical
{
useAgencyLst
};
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
agencyheardof.Style.Columns=3
agencyheardof.Ask()
agencyuse.Categories.Filter=agencyheardof
agencyuse.Ask()
EndRouting
AndyouwantedtoforcethestyleofthenumberofcolumnsfortheAgencyUsequestiontohaveno
morethan10categoriesineachcolumn.SincethecategoriesofthequestionAgencyUseare
dependentontheresponsetoAgencyHeardOf,wewillneedtofindoutthenumberofcategories
choseninAgencyHeardof,anddivideby10toseehowmanycolumnsweneedusingtheAnswerCount
DimensionsFunctionwelearnedin
186
BasicRoutingLogic,page60.Sincedividingournumberofresponsesby10maynotresultinawhole
number,wewillalsouseabuiltinfunction,int(),whichreturnstheintegerportionofanumber.
Routing(Web)
Example
agencyheardof.Ask()
DimActual,IntegerValue,DecimalValue
Actual=CDouble(AgencyHeardof.AnswerCount())/10
IntegerValue=int(AgencyHeardof.AnswerCount()/10)
DecimalValue=ActualIntegerValue
IfDecimalValue>0Then
agencyuse.Style.Columns=IntegerValue+1
Else
agencyuse.Style.Columns=IntegerValue
EndIf
AgencyUse.Ask()
EndRouting
Sincethismaybeanactionwewouldwanttodoonotherquestionsorinotherstudies,itmightbe
advantageoustocreateafunctioninstead.Thefunctionbelowdoesjustthat.Itwascreatedina
similarwaytothesubroutine.
Routing(Web)
Example
agencyheardof.Ask()
agencyuse.Style.Columns=ForceCols(agencyheardof)
agencyuse.Ask()
FunctionForceCols(filterQ)
DimActual,IntegerValue,DecimalValue
Actual=CDouble(filterQ.AnswerCount())/10
IntegerValue=int(filterQ.AnswerCount()/10)
DecimalValue=ActualIntegerValue
IfDecimalValue>0then
ForceCols=IntegerValue+1
Else
ForceCols=IntegerValue
EndIf
EndFunction
EndRouting
187
Youcanseethatthefunctionissetupverymuchthesameasthesubroutine,inthatithasaname
(ForceCols)andhasaparameter(filterQ).Thedifferenceisthatafterthefunctioniscompleted,itis
settoavalue.Thevaluescanbeanything.
Exercise
Openthereusable.mddfile.Makethefollowingroutingsectioncodemorereuseablewiththe
conceptslearnedinthischapter.Itwouldbehelpfultohaveapieceofreusablecodethatwould
allowyoutoeasilyspecifythenumberofresponsecolumns,columnwidth,andquestiontextcolorfor
specificquestions.
Routing(Web)
PrimaryTravel.Style.columns=3
PrimaryTravel.Style.Width=300
PrimaryTravel.Label.Style.Color="#0000FF"
PrimaryTravel.Ask()
CountryVisited.Style.Columns=2
CountryVisited.Style.Width=600
CountryVisited.Label.Style.Color="#00FF00"
CountryVisited.Ask()
EndRouting
188
Chap
pter18Valid
dation
Chapte
er18 Va
alidation
Inthelasstchapterwediscussedtheconceptsofsubroutinessandfunction
ns.Dimensionsscriptingh
hasa
uniquefu
unctionthataallowsyoutoeasilyvalidattelogicinqueestions.Wew
willalsolookatadditionall
conceptssthatwillhelp
pusvalidatethelogicofth
hesurvey.
Inthischapterw
wewill:
Validateatextquestiontofollowapatttern
Understan
ndhowtoadderrorsforcusttom
logic
Createcusstomlogicwith
htheuseof
Dimension
nsvalidationfu
unctions
ValidattingTextQ
QuestionP
Patterns
Youcaniincludestatem
mentswithinthemetadattathatwillcheckatextfieldtoseeifitmatchesa
specificp
pattern.Regu
ularExpressio
onsallowyoutodocreateverycompliccatedmatchaalgorithmswiitha
smallamountofcode.
Name"Text"text
N
V
Validation("e
expression");
Item
Name
Descrription
Metadataitemname
"Text"
text
Validatio
on
expressio
on
Textaassociatedwiiththeitem
Questtiontype.Mustbetextto
oaddaregulaarexpression
Prope
ertykeywordtoallowyoutoaddaregu
ularexpressio
on
RegullarExpression
nsyntax
189
Chapter18Validation
Testyourexpressionsthoroughly,astherearemanyvariationstoregularexpressions,toonumerous
toplaceinthismanual.Hereareafewtohelpyouunderstandtheexamplesbelow.
Symbol
\w
\W
\d
Description
Matchesanywordcharacter(az,AZ,09)
Matchesanynonwordcharacter.
Matchesanydecimaldigit.Equivalentto\p{Nd}forUnicodeand[09]fornonUnicode,
ECMAScriptbehavior.
Matchesanynondigit.Equivalentto\P{Nd}forUnicodeand[^09]fornonUnicode,
ECMAScriptbehavior.
\D
TheDDLdoesreferenceregularexpressions:DDL.chm::/aliasmap_regularexpressions.htm
however,therearealsomanyreferencesonthewebaswell,suchas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressionsand
http://regexlib.com/cheatsheet.aspx.
Thefollowingexamplewillcheckthelengthofthephonenumberandalsoifitfollowsthespecific
patternwith2dashes.
Example
Phone"Pleaseenteryour10digitphonenumberwithdashes:"
text[7..20]
validation("\d{3}\d{3}\d{4}");
Theregularexpressionaboveshowsyouwant3decimaldigits(numbers)adash,3morenumbersa
dashand4numbers.
190
Chapter18Validation
Thenextexampleismoreflexible,allowingyoutocheckanemailaddresstoensureitcontainsan@
sign.
Email"Email:"
text[5..100]
Example
helperfields(
StandardTexts""blockfields
(
Errors""blockfields
(
InvalidText"Youmustenteravalidemailaddresswithan@andperiod."
info;
);
);
)validation("[.\w]+\@[.\w]*[.\w]+\.[.\w]*");
Thisexpressionensurestherespondentansweredadash,periodoranywordcharacter(az),thena
mandatory@sign,followedbyadash,periodoranywordcharacter.
191
Chapter18Validation
CheckingCustomLogic
Therearemanytimesyouwillneedtodologiccheckswithinyoursurveythatarenotcoveredbythe
standarderrormessages.Themostefficientwaytoachievethisisthroughcustomvalidation.The
conceptisaspecialtypeoffunctionthatistieddirectlytoaquestion.
Functionfunctionname(Question,IOM,Attempt)
Statements
functionname=True
Statements
functionname=False
EndFunction
Item
Function
EndFunction
functionname
Question
IOM
Attempt
Statements
True
False
192
Description
Definesthestartandendofthefunction
Representstheuniquenamegiventothefunction
Parameterthatrepresentsthequestionyouareattachingtothefunction(this
willalwaysbeQuestion)
ParameterfortheInterviewObjectModel(ThiswillalwaysbeIOM)
Parameterforthenumberofcurrentcustomvalidationattempts(Thiswill
alwaysbeAttempt,ifused,butitisanoptionalparameter).Couldbeusedto
setthenumberoftimesthefunctionshouldattempttoreceiveaTruevalue.
RepresentstheDimensionsscriptingstatementstodoanyactionandreturna
value,suchaschecklogic
ValuesthattheDimensionscustomvalidationfunctionmustpassback.These
specialfunctionsmustsetthefunctionnametotrueorfalse
Chapter18Validation
Tosetthevalidationfunctiontouseforaquestion,usethefollowingstatementintheroutingsection
somewherepriortoaskingthequestion:
Routing(Web)
Name.Validation.Function=functionname
Name.Ask()
EndRouting
Item
Name
Validation.Function
functionname
Description
Nameofthequestionyouwishtovalidate
Propertiestosetthevalidationfunctionforthequestion.
Representstheuniquenamegiventothefunction
Thereareafewthingstonoteaboutcreatingcustomvalidationfunctions:
Toreferenceanothermetadataitem(besidesthequestionyouarevalidating)insidethe
function,youneedtoreferencethequestionwithIOM.Questions.QuestionName.
ThefunctionmustreturneitheraTrue(logiciscorrect,moveontothenextquestion)orFalse
value(logicisnotcorrect,issueanerrormessageifthenumberofattemptshasnotbeenmet).
TheycanonlyhavetheparametersQuestion,IOM,andAttempt.Ifyouwanttoincludemore
variableinformationintothefunction,onewaytoachievethisistoaddcustompropertiesin
themetadataofthequestionyouwishtovalidate.(Moretocomeonthissubject.)
Addingcustomerrors
Inthenextexamples,wewillbecreatingcustomizedlogicthatmayrequireyoutohavethe
respondentreanswerthequestion.Todothataction,youneedtoaddyourownerrormessage.You
cancreateerrorsthathavethesamepropertiesasthestandarderrormessages.Intheroutingsection
youwouldadd:
Name.Errors.AddNew("errorname",errortext.label)
Item
Name
Errors.AddNew
errorname
errortext
label
Description
Nameofthequestionyouwanttoapplyanerrormessageto
Statesyouwanttoaddanewerrortothestandardsetoferrormessages
Representstheuniquenamegiventotheerrormessage
Representstheinfoitemcreatedtoholdthetextfortheerrormessage.Youcan
justaddtextindoublequotesintheroutingsectionforthis,butitishighly
recommendedtomaketheinfoitem.
Willshowthelabeloftheinfoitemastheerrormessagetext
193
Chapter18Validation
Youdefinetheerrormessageyouwanttouseasaninfoiteminthemetadatasection.This
isimportantformultilingualprojectsbecauseitmakesthemessagetextavailablefor
translation.
Theexamplebelowisacategoricalgridthatdisplaysacolumnofnumericboxestoenterinformation
thatshouldaddto100%.
Example
Activitiesdefine
{
Train"Onatrain/trainstation",
Airplane"Inanairplane/airport",
Vehicle"InaVehicledrivingorriding",
Subway"SubwaySystem",
Walk"Walking",
OtherMode"Other"
};
PercActivity"Thinkingofyourtraveloverthelastyear,whatpercentageofyourtime
wasspentusingthefollowingmodesoftransportation?Thetotalshouldaddto100%."
loop
{
useActivities
}fields
(
QPercent"Percentage"
style(
Width="30px"
)
long[0..100]
initialanswer(0);
)expandgrid;
ErrorGridAddto100"Pleasecheckyourresponses.Responsesshouldaddupto100."
info;
EndMetadata
194
Chapter18Validation
Intheroutingsection,wewillcreatethespecialDimensionsvalidationfunctiontomakesureourgrid
addsto100%asshownbelow.
Example
Routing(Web)
PercActivity.Validation.Function="ValidateGrid100"
PercActivity.Ask()
FunctionValidateGrid100(Question,IOM,Attempt)
Dimcategory
Dimtotal
Ifattempt<=3Then
ForEachcategoryinQuestion
total=total+category.Item[0].Response.Value
Next
Iftotal<>100Then
Question.Errors.AddNew("ErrorGrid",
IOM.Questions.ErrorGridAddto100.Label)
ValidateGrid100=False
Else
ValidateGrid100=True
EndIf
EndIf
EndFunction
EndRouting
195
Chapter18Validation
Letschangethescenarioslightly.Whatifyouwantedtomodifythequestion,sothatthequestion
priortothiswas:
Thinkingofyourtraveloverthelastyear,approximatelyhowmanyhoursdidyouspendusingsome
typeoftransportation?
Thiswillinvolvemodifyingourpreviousexampletobeabletoreferencethatquestionsresponse
withinthefunction.
Example
HrsTravelMode"Thinkingofyourtraveloverthelastyear,approximatelyhowmany
hoursdidyouspendusingsometypeoftransportation?"
long[0..8760];
HrsActivity"Thinkingofyourtraveloverthelastyear,howmanyhoursofyourtimewas
spentusingthefollowingmodesoftransportation?Thetotalshouldaddto
{#HrsTravelMode}."loop
{
useActivities
}fields
(
QHours"Hours"
style(
Width="30px"
)
long[0..]
initialanswer(0);
)expandgrid;
ErrorGridAddtohrs"Pleasecheckyourresponses.Responsesshouldaddupto
{#HrsTravelMode}."
info;
EndMetadata
196
Chapter18Validation
Again,theroutingsectioniswherethevalidationhappens.Noticethereferencetotheadditional
questionwiththeIOM.Questionsprecedingit.
Example
Routing(Web)
HrsTravelMode.Ask()
HrsActivity.Validation.Function="ValidateGridEqualDependentQ"
HrsActivity.Ask()
FunctionValidateGridEqualDependentQ(Question,IOM,Attempt)
Dimcategory
Dimtotal
Ifattempt<=3Then
total=total+category.Item[0].Response.Value
Next
Iftotal<>IOM.Questions.HrsTravelModeThen
Question.Errors.AddNew("ErrorGrid",IOM.Questions.
ErrorGridAddtohrs.Label)
ValidateGridEqualDependentQ=False
Else
ValidateGridEqualDependentQ=True
EndIf
Endif
EndFunction
EndRouting
197
Chapter18Validation
Theaboveworksnicely,howeveritisveryspecifictothequestion.Theline:
Iftotal<>IOM.Questions.HrsTravelModeThen
Wouldhavetobechangedeverytimeitisusedforadifferentquestion,whichisnotagoodpractice.
Asstatedabove,oneofthebiggestdifferencesbetweenstandardfunctionsandcustomvalidation
functionsisthatcurrentlyyoucannotaddanyadditionalparameters.Thislimitstheflexibilityof
customvalidationfunctions.Onewaythatyoucouldpassparametersintoafunctiontomakeitmore
reusableisbyplacingcustompropertiesinthemetadata.
Addingcustompropertiestometadata
Custompropertiescanbeanyadditionalinformationattachedtoametadataitem.Onebasicwayto
addcustompropertiesisinthemetadatasection:
Name"text"[property]type
Item
Name
"text"
[property]
type
Description
Nameofthequestioninthemetadatasection
Textofthequestion
Representsanyinformationyouwantstoredinthemetadataassociatedwiththe
metadataitem
Representsthemetadataitemtype(categorical,long,etc.).Noticethecustom
propertiesarepriortothis.
Custompropertiesareanadvancedconcept,butanimportantonetorememberasyouprogresswith
yourDimensionsScriptinglearning.Letsaddacustompropertytoourpreviousexamplesothatwe
donothavetomakeourfunctionsospecifictothesesetsofquestions.Belowinboldyouwillnotice
theadditionofcustompropertiesthataddsthenameofthequestionwewanttouseinthefunction
tocomparetothesumofourgrid.
198
Example
Chapter18Validation
HrsTravelMode"Thinkingofyourtraveloverthelastyear,approximatelyhowmany
hoursdidyouspendusingsometypeoftransportation?"
long[0..8760];
HrsActivity"Thinkingofyourtraveloverthelastyear,howmanyhoursofyourtimewas
spentusingthefollowingmodesoftransportation?Thetotalshouldaddto
{#HrsTravelMode}."
[dependentQ="HrsTravelMode"]
loop
{
useActivities
}fields
(
QHours"Hours"
style(
Width="30px"
)
long[0..]
initialanswer(0);
)expandgrid;
ErrorGridAddtohrs"Pleasecheckyourresponses.Responsesshouldaddupto
{#HrsTravelMode}."
info;
EndMetadata
199
Chapter18Validation
Intheroutingyouwillseethechangetothecomparisonline.Noticetheadditionofthecommentsto
identifywhatisneededforthefunction.
Routing(Web)
Example
HrsTravelMode.Ask()
HrsActivity.Validation.Function="ValidateGridEqualDependentQ"
HrsActivity.Ask()
FunctionValidateGridEqualDependentQ(Question,IOM,Attempt)
Dimcategory
Dimtotal
Ifattempt<=3Then
total=total+category.Item[0].Response
Next
Iftotal<>IOM.Questions[Question.Properties["dependentQ"]]Then
Question.Errors.AddNew("ErrorGrid",IOM.Questions.
ErrorGridAddtohrs.Label)
ValidateGridEqualDependentQ=False
Else
ValidateGridEqualDependentQ=True
EndIf
Endif
EndFunction
EndRouting
Nowthisfunctioncanbereusedindifferentprojects.Youcanseehowalibraryofcustomvalidations
willspeedtheprogrammingprocessovertime.
200
Chaapter19Com
mpoundQuesstions
Chapte
er19 CompoundQuestion
ns
Thecomp
poundtypeh
helpsyoutoaachieveaspecciallooktoyo
ourquestionn
nairewhenyo
ouwishtodissplay
multiplequestionsonthesamescrreenhorizonttally.Theseq
questionsmusthavetheco
ommon
urveys,butcaan
denominatorofasharedlistofcattegories.Thissistraditionallyusedinpaaperbasedsu
alsobedoneforwebbasedstudies.
Thisch
hapterco
overs:
Thedefinittionofacomp
poundquestion
n
Validatingcompoundqu
uestions
Differenceesbetweenloo
opsandcompo
ound
questions
Definin
ngCompou
undQuesttions
Inessencce,acompoundissimplym
multiplequesstions(includiinggrids)whiichallshareaacommonlisttof
categoriees.Thinkofaacompoundquestionasaacontainerfo
orotherquesttionsyouwishtodisplayo
on
thesameepagehorizontally.Thesyyntaxforaco
ompoundisassfollows:
C
CompoundNa
ame"Text"ccompound
{
{Categories}
}fields
(
Question1;
Q
Q
QuestionN;
);
Item
Compoun
ndName
"Text"
compoun
nd
categorie
es
fields
Question
n1,
Question
nN
De
escription
Un
niquenamefforthecompo
oundmetadataitem
Op
ptionalTextttodisplayacrossthetopofthescreeno
ofthecompo
oundquestion
n
Ke
eywordtocreeateacompo
oundmetadattaitem
Re
epresentstheecategoriesfo
orwhichthequestionsandloopsareto
obeasked.
Yo
oumayuseasharedlistheereifyouwissh.
Prrecedestheq
questionswith
hinthecompounditem
opsthatyouw
wanttodisplaysidebysid
de.
Caategoricalqueestionsandcategoricalloo
201
Chapter19CompoundQuestions
Supposewewanttocreatethefollowinglookforoursurvey:
Youwillnoticeintheaboveexamplethatallthequestionsonthepagesharealistofairlines.Thenext
examplewillshowhowthiscanbecreatedasacompoundquestion.
202
Example
Airlines""define
{
United,
Delta,
BritishAirways"BritishAirways",
Luftansa"Luftansa"
};
AirlineQ"Pleaseanswerthefollowingquestionsabouttheairlineslisted."compound
{
useAirlines
}fields
(
FlownBefore"FlownPreviously"
Categorical[1..];
Trips6MoLoop"#ofTripsPast6Months"loopfields
(
trips""
long[0..400];
)expandgrid;
SatisLoop"Overall,howsatisfiedareyouwitheachAirline?"loopfields
(
RateAirline"RateAirline"
categorical[1..1]
{
VerySatisfied"VerySatisfied",
};
)expandgrid;
);
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
AirlineQ.Ask()
EndRouting
203
Thequestionsinsideofthecompoundaremissingitemsyoumightexpecttosee.Forexamplethe
FlownBeforequestionhasnoresponses,andthetwoloopshavenoiterationelements.Thisis
becauseallthequestionsinsideofacompoundwillmakereferencetothesharedcategoriesfromthe
firstsectionofthecompound.
Thecompoundcanbecreatedwithoutomittingtheseelements,butforthesakeof
efficiencyyouwillwanttousethemethodshownabove.
Validatingacompoundquestion
Validatingcompoundquestionscanprovechallengingforbeginnerprogrammers.However,withthe
skillstaughtintheprevioussectionsofvalidations,youareonyourwaytovalidatingcomplex
compoundquestionsaswell.Hereisasimplifiedversionoftheexampleabove.Thisexampleonly
includesthequestionsFlownBeforeandTrips6Mo_Loop.
Example
Airlinesdefine
{
United,
Delta,
BritishAirways"BritishAirways,
Luftansa
};
AirlineQ"Pleaseanswerthefollowingquestionsabouttheairlineslisted."compound
{useAirlines
}fields
(
FlownBefore"FlownPreviously"
Categorical[1..];
Trips6MoLoop"#ofTripsPast6Months"loopfields
(
trips""
long[0..400]
codes(
{
NoAnswer""NA
});
)expandgrid;
);
CompoundError"Missinganswers,pleasetryagain."
info;
EndMetadata
204
Thelogicyouwillneedtocheckforwillbe:
IfFlownBeforeischosen,thenTrips6MoLoopmustbeanswered
IfFlownBeforeisnotchosen,thenTrips6MoLoopmustbenull
Thefollowingvalidationfunctioncreatesthoselogicchecks.Byreferencingthequestionsinsidethe
compoundbytheirposition(0=FlownBefore,1=Trips6MoLoop),itmakestheFunctionmorereusable
forothersimilarscenarios.
Example
Routing(Web)
IOM.LayoutTemplate="Card_Blue_TopandBottomErrors.htm"
AirlineQ.MustAnswer=False
AirlineQ.Validation.Function="ValidateSimpleCompound"
AirlineQ.Ask()
FunctionValidateSimpleCompound(Question,IOM,Attempt)
ValidateSimpleCompound=True
DimCat
ForEachCatInQuestion.Categories
If(Question.Item[0].ContainsAny(Cat)AndQuestion.Item[1].Item[Cat].Item[0]=Null)_
Or(NOT(Question.item[0].ContainsAny(Cat))And_
Question.Item[1].Item[Cat].Item[0]IsNotNull)Then
ValidateSimpleCompound=False
EndIf
Next
IfValidateSimpleCompound=FalseThen
Question.Errors.AddNew("CompoundError",IOM.Questions.CompoundError.Label)
EndIf
EndFunction
EndRouting
205
Compoundvs.Loop
Youmayhavenoticedsimilaritiesbetweencompoundquestionsandloopsthathavemultipledifferent
typesofquestions.Thereareafewmaindifferencesbetweencompoundsandloopstobeawareof:
Youcannotdropthesimilarcategorylistsfromthequestionsinaloopasyoucanwitha
compound
Validationofacompoundquestionisverydifferentthatforagrid
206
Chapter20Wo
orkingwithSaample
Chapte
er20 Wo
orkingwiithSamplle
mrInterviewallowsyo
outoaccessinformationyouhaveabou
utyourpoten
ntialrespondeentsandusethis
toenhancethesurveyyexperienceand/ordata.Onescenario
osforusingtheadditionallinformation
wouldbeetocustomize
etheintervieewscreensbaasedonwhoiiscurrentlytaakingtheinteerview.
Inthischapterw
wewill:
Retrievein
nformationfromthesampletable
intotheDiimensionsScript
SendinforrmationfromtheDimensionss
scripttoth
hesampletable
Useatestsamplerecord
dlocallyinmrSStudio
nsscript
tocheckyourDimension
mplemanage
ementallowsyoutheoptio
ontobringad
dditionalinformationabou
utthe
Usingsam
respondeentsforused
duringtheinteervieweitherrby:
Displayinginfo
D
ormationheldinthetableetotherespo
ondent(Hello
o,Bob.Thankyoufor
p
participating.
)
C
Creatingaque
estiontohold
dthesampleinformationssoitiseasilyanalyzedwith
hthe
r
respondents
answers.
nthesamplettableaboutth
hecurrentrespondent:
Torefereenceinformattionstoredin
IOM.SampleR
Record.Item[""sampleField
d"]
Item
SampleFiield
Desscription
Rep
presentsthen
nameoftheffieldintheSQ
QLdatabasetthatholdstheeinformation
you
uwishtoretriieve.
207
Chapter20WorkingwithSample
Hereisanexampleofpullinginformationfromasamplerecordintothetextofaquestion.Weare
assumingtheprojectssampletablehasafieldnamedTAgencythatholdstheTravelAgenciesused
bythepeopleinthesample.
Example
VerifyTravelAgent"Ourrecordsindicateyouhaveusedthetravelagency{Agency}inthe
past,isthiscorrect?"
categorical
{
Yes,
No
};
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
VerifyTravelAgent.Label.Inserts["Agency"].Text=IOM.SampleRecord.Item["TAgency"]
VerifyTravelAgent.Ask()
EndRouting
IfaspecificrespondentstravelagencywasTravelAgencyXYZ,thentheirquestionwillappearas
shownbelow:
208
Thenextexampledoesnotdisplaytherespondentsinformation,butratherstoresitinaquestionfor
analysispurposes.
Example
Region"Storestheregionwheretheylive."
text;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
Region.Response.Value=IOM.SampleRecord.Item["SRegion"]
EndRouting
Youcanalsoputinformationcollectedorderivedinthescriptintoasamplefield.
Example
ReceiveTravelInfo"Checkhereifyouwishtoreceiveanemailregardingtravelsafety."
boolean;
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
ReceiveTravelInfo.Ask()
IOM.SampleRecord.Item["WantsEmail"]=ReceiveTravelInfo.Response.Value
EndRouting
TheaboveexamplewillstoreaTrueorFalseinthesamplefield,providingyouhaveasamplefield
calledWantsEmail.
TestingsampleinformationwithinmrStudio
Youcaneasilytesttoseeifyouarecorrectlypullingyoursampleinformationintothescript.mrStudio
allowsyoutocreateatestsamplerecord.Todothis:
Accessthefile:
C:\ProgramFiles\SPSSDimensions\mrStudio\4.0.0.0\Interview\DefaultSample.xsu.
209
ThisisanXMLdocumentwhichmrStudioreadsasasamplerecordbydefault.Thedefaultfileisshown
below:
210
Item
<SampleRecordID=ID1>
</SampleRecord>
<Samplefields>
</SampleFields>
<SampleField>
</SampleField>
<name>
</name>
<type>
</type>
<value>
</value>
Description
Marksthebeginningandendofthesamplerecord.Canonlycreate
asinglerecordfortestingwithinmrStudio.
Marksthebeginningandendofthesamplefieldsfortherecord.
Marksthebeginningandendofasamplefield.
Tagstosurroundthenameofthesamplefield
Tagstosurroundthetypeoffield.SQLfieldtypesareused.Smallint
=2;Int=3;Datetime=7;Char,Text,Ntext,orNVarchar=8;Bit=11
Tagstosurroundthevalueyouwantthesamplefieldtohave.
YouhavetheabilitytocreateyourownfilesandaddadditionalSamplefieldsasshownbelow:
211
Inordertoaccessthesampleinformation,makesurethatunder
ToolsOptionsSampleManagementRecord
youarereferencingthecorrect.xsufile.
TheexamplebelowwillassumeyouareusingthemodifiedTravelSample.xsuwiththeadditionalfield
forregion.
Example
Region"Storestheregionwheretheylive."text;
VerifyTravelAgent"Ourrecordsindicateyouhaveusedthetravelagency{Agency}inthe
past,isthiscorrect?"
categorical
{
Yes,
No
};
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
Region.Response.Value=IOM.SampleRecord.Item["SRegion"]
VerifyTravelAgent.Label.Inserts["Agency"].Text=IOM.SampleRecord.Item["TAgency"]
VerifyTravelAgent.Ask()
EndRouting
Asyoucanseeinthescreenshotabove,youcaneasilycheckyourreferencestosamplefieldswithin
thetextofyoursurvey(SuchasAgencyXYZ),butwhenyouareaccessingthelocalspane,youcanalso
seethattheregionhasbeencorrectlyaddedtothequestion,Region.
212
AlternativetoSampleManagementtopassinformationintothesurvey
Ifyouarenotusingsamplemanagement,youcansendoutseparateURLlinkstorespondentsthat
speakdifferentlanguages.ThenembedaparameterintheURLthatwillbepassedintothescriptto
setthelanguage.mrInterviewcanpassparametersontheURLusingthenamesI.User1through
I.User9.Thenyoucandothesamethingswiththeseparametersthatwedidwithsample
managementvariables.
URLtosendout:
http://www.servername.com/scripts/mrIWeb.dll?I.Project=myproj&I.User1=DEU
Example
Inthescript:
Routing(Web)
IOM.Language=IOM.Info.User1
EndRouting
TheaboveexamplewouldsetthelanguagetoGerman(DEU)fortheinterview.
213
214
Chapter21Wo
orkingwithQu
uotas
Chapte
er21 Wo
orkingwiithQuotas
Quotasareasystemfforcontrollinggthenumberrofrespondeentsinterview
wedmatchingpredefined
criteria.FForexample,wemaybeaskedtointervview1000resspondentswiththerequirrementsthat500
aremaleand500arefemale.
In
nthischapterwillcover:
Anovervieewofthequotaprocess
Howtocheckandrespondtoquotasin
nthe
routingsecction
Checkingaandchangingq
quotasonline
Definin
ngSurveyQuotas
Tosetupaquotawen
needthreeiteems:
TThequestionthequotawillbebasedon
nscriptedinyyourmetadattasection.
T
Thetargetsfo
orthequota.
T
Thetypeofqu
uota
makingaquottabasedonth
heresponden
ntsgender.
Letslookkatasimpleexampleofm
Gender
Targets
Male
Female
500
500
onweshould
dhaveaquesttionforgender:
Inourmeetadatasectio
Example
Metad
data(enUS,Q
Question,Labeel)
Gende
er"Areyou...""
cate
egorical[1..1]
{
M
Male,
Fe
emale
};
EndM
Metadata
215
Chapter21WorkingwithQuotas
Onceyouhavesavedthemetadatafile,youcancreateyourquotatargetsbyselectingToolsQuotas
orchoosingthequotabuttonfromtheInterviewOptionstoolbar:
Youwillseethequotatoolasshowninthepicturebelow.
Ontheleftofthescreenyouwillseealistofthequestionsinthesurvey.DraganddroptheGender
questionontothequotamatrix.
216
Wecannowseethetwogendercategorieswithagreyboxtotherightofeach:
Next,doubleclickononeofthegreyboxestosetthetargets:
217
Herewecansetthetargetandquotatypeforthecell.
Type
Normal
AllowOver
Counter
Description
Anormalquotawillreportquotafullwhenthequotacountofthecompletedand
pendinginterviewsisequaltothetarget.
Allowoverwillreportquotafullwhenthequotacountofcompletesisequaltothe
target.Note,thisdoesnotincludethependingandassuchyoupotentiallycangoover
quota.
Acounterquotaisreallynotaquotaatall.Thesystemwillnotstoprespondentsfrom
completinginterviewsoncethelimitisreached.Thistypeofquotaisusedfor
informationpurposesonly.
Onceyouhavesetthetargetandtypeforeachquotacellweneedtonamethequotamatrix.Wellcall
thisexampleQuotaGender.
NowSave.Thiswillcreateafiletypewitha.mqdextension.
CheckingQuotas
Nowthatwehavequotalimitsdefined,weneedtoaddlogictoourroutingsectionthattellsthe
sectiontocheckonthequota.Beforewedothat,letsaddanextraitemtoourmetadata.Weare
creatingascenariowhererespondentswillbeturnedawayfromthesurveybasedontheirresponses.
Letsaddamessagetouseforinformingtherespondentwhathashappened.
Example
Gender"Areyou..."
categorical[1..1]
{
Male,
Female
};
OverQuota"I'msorry,thequotaisfull."info;
EndMetadata
Intheroutingsection,wewillstartbydefiningatemporaryvariabletoholdourquotacheckandask
ourquotaquestion.
218
Routing(Web)
Example
DimQuota_Pend_Result
Gender.Ask()
EndRouting
Youmustmakesurethatyoualwayscheckaquotaaftertherespondenthasanswered.
Nextaddthequotacheck:
Routing(Web)
Example
Gender.Ask()
Quota_Pend_Result=QuotaEngine.QuotaGroups["QuotaGender"].Pend()
EndRouting
Asyoucanseeyoumustreferencethenameyougavethequotamatrix.Inthiswayyoucancreate
multiplequotamatrixesandcheckthematdifferentpointsofthesurvey.Thetemporaryvariable
Quota_Pend_Resultstorestheresultsoftheattemptedquotapend.Nowweneedtocheckthose
resultsandrespondaccordingly.
219
Routing(Web)
Example
Gender.Ask()
IfNot(IsSet(Quota_Pend_Result,QuotaResultConstants.qrWasPended))Then
IOM.Texts.InterviewStopped=OverQuota.Label
IOM.Terminate(Signals.sigOverQuota)
EndIf
EndRouting
TheIfstatementischeckingtoseeifthePend()attemptresultedinthesuccessofoneormorequota
cells.Ifthiswasnotthecase,thentherespondenthasfailedthequotacheck.Wewillsetthe
InterviewStoppedtexttothemessagewedefinedinaninfoiteminourmetadatasection.Thenwe
terminatetheinterview,flaggingtherespondentasoverquota.
220
QuotasInmrStudio
IfyoutryrunningthisinmrStudionow,youwillgetanerrormessagebydefault.Onechoiceistoskip
overthecodewhenrunninginsideofmrStudiobyaddingacheckforwhenthescriptisinDebug
mode.
Routing(Web)
Example
Gender.Ask()
IfNotIOM.Info.IsDebugThen
IfNot(IsSet(Quota_Pend_Result,QuotaResultConstants.qrWasPended))Then
IOM.Texts.InterviewStopped=OverQuota.Label
IOM.Terminate(Signals.sigOverQuota)
EndIf
EndIf
EndRouting
IOM.Info.IsDebugwillbeTruewheneverthesurveyisrunninginsidemrStudio.
mrStudiov.4.5andabovedoeshavethecapabilitytosimulatequotas.Noteyoumust
haveeitherMicrosoftSQLServer2000or2005,includingthefreeSQLServer2005Express
EditionandMicrosoftSQLServerDesktopEngine(MSDE)tousethisfeature.SeetheDDL
formoredetail:DDL.chm::/mrstudio_testing_quotas.htm
221
ActivationwithQuotas
Nowthatthequotasarecreated,youneeduploadthe.mqdfileandactivatethestudywithspecial
optionsforquotas.YoucandothisdirectlyfrommrStudiousingToolsActivate,orthrough
DimensionNet.
ForinstructionsonActivatingquotaswithinDimensionNet,seetheDDL:
DDL.chm::/quota_dimnet.htm
Viewing&ChangingQuotas
YoucanviewandchangequotainformationonlineusingtheDimensionNetQuotasactivity.
Eachquotamatrixinyoursurveywillbeabuttononthelefthandsideoftheactivitypage:
222
Selectingaquotagroupwilldisplaythecurrentquotacounts:
Youalsomayseeadropdownlistthatallowsyoutochangeadditionalquotainformation.
Type
DoNotEdit
Targets
All
Description
Viewonlymode.
Allowsyoutomodifythetargetsforeachquotacell.
Allowsyoutomodifythetarget,complete,pendingandtypeforeachquotacell.
223
WhentheTargetsoptionisselectedtextboxeswillappear.Youcanraiseorlowerthecelltargets.Once
youhaveenteredthenewcorrecttargetsclicktheUpdatebutton.
224
WhentheAllselectionischosenyoucaneditthetargets,completecount,pendingcountaswellas
changebetweenNormal,OverQuotaandCounterquotatypes.
225
226
Chapter22 CreatingMulltiLingualPro
ojects
Chapte
er22 Cre
eatingMu
ultiLingu
ualProjeccts
Whenim
mplementingsstudiesindiffferentlanguages,Dimensio
onsallowsyo
outocreateaasurveyinab
base
languagee,andtheneaasilyaddlanguagestothemetadatafilee.Thechapteerwillreview
wtheprocessof
multilinggualstudies,ffocusingonthespecifictaasksforthesu
urveyprogram
mmer.
Intthischap
pterwew
willcoveer:
Anovervieewofhowtoeexecuteasurveeyin
multiplelaanguages
Settingtheelanguagewithinthescript
Tipsforcreeatingmultilin
ngualprojects
OverviiewofTran
nslatingStudiesinD
Dimension
ns
Whenap
projectwillbe
eruninmultiiplelanguagees,thebasicstepsare:
Createthesurrvey.mddfileeinabaselan
C
nguage.
U
UsemrTransla
atetoaddtraanslationstotthemetadataafile.
U
Uploadandac
ctivatethereevised.mddfiiletotheprojject.
B
Besurethatt
heErrorMesssage.mddfileehastheerrormessagestrranslatedforthelanguagees
y
youwillhave
inyourproject.
Onceyou
uhaveametaadatafile,you
ucanaddtheetranslationsthroughtheproduct,mrTTranslate.
mrTranslatereadsthe
emetadatafilleandpresen
ntsthetextoffyoursurveyinaformatssimilartoa
heet.Thenyo
oucanaddad
dditionallangguagesascolu
umnsinmrTrranslate.
spreadsh
mationonusin
ngmrTranslatte,seetheUssersGuideintheDDL:
Fordeetailedinform
mrTra
anslate.chm:://mrtranslate__overview.htm
m
227
Chapter22CreatingMultiLingualProjects
Thensavethemetadatafileandnowitwillcontaintheadditionallanguages.Notethatwhenyoure
openthemetadatafileinmrStudio,youwillnotseetheadditionallanguageswithinthetextofthefile,
buttheyareinthemetadatafile.ToverifyadditionallanguagesareinthemetadatausingmrStudio:
ChoosetheMetadataExplorer
OpentheLanguages
Settingthelanguagewithinthescript
TousethemultilingualfunctionalitywithinmrInterview,youneedtosettheIOM.Language.You
couldaccomplishthisinmanyways.Hereareafewcommonmethods:
Createaquestioninwhichtherespondentchoosesthelanguage.
Havethelanguagestoredinasamplefieldandretrievetheinformationandsetthelanguage
fortherespondent.
Askaquestiontocollectandsetthelanguage
Whenyoudonotknowthepreferredlanguageofyourrespondent,asimpleintroductoryquestioncan
beaskedtocollectthelanguage.
228
Example
LanguageQ"Choosethelanguageforthissurvey:"
categorical[1..1]
{
ENU"English",
DEU"German",
ESN"Spanish"
};
EndMetadata
Routing(Web)
LanguageQ.Ask()
IOM.Language=LanguageQ.Categories.[LanguageQ].Name
EndRouting
Notethatintheexampleabove,thenamesoftheresponses(ENU,DEU,ESN)mustbethe3digit
Microsoftlanguagecodes.
Ifthescripthasthetranslationsadded,youwillbeabletoseethelanguageschangeswithinmrStudio
asyourunthesurvey.
Tofindafulllistofthelanguagecodes,seetheDDL:UserGuide.chm::/Intug
mrscriptmetadata_languages_3char.htm
Setlanguagefromasamplefieldvariable
Ifyoualreadyknowthepreferredlanguageandyouareusingsamplemanagement,afieldcanbeset
inthesampletabletoholdthe3digitlanguagecode.Thefollowingexampleassumesyoursample
tablehasafieldcalledSLanguage.
Example
Routing(Web)
IOM.Language=IOM.SampleRecord.Item["SLanguage"]
EndRouting
229
Tipsforcreatingmultilingualprojects
Creatingthescriptsformultilingualstudiesdoesnotneedtobedifficultaslongasyoufollowafew
simplerules:
230
Ifthetemplatescontaintextthatneedstobetranslated,uselocalizedtemplatesforeach
languagesothatthepropertextisshown.
VerifytheErrorMessage.mddfilehastheerrormessagesforthelanguagesyouwillbeusing.
Alwaysreferenceinfoitemsintheroutingsectionforanytext,suchascustomerrormessages
ortextinserts.TextintheroutingsectionisnotseenbymrTranslate,onlythemetadata
section.
Chaapter23Additionalinform
mationforAnalysis
Chapte
er23 Ad
dditionali
informatiionforAn
nalysis
Thissectiionshowsho
owtheDimensionsscriptin
nglanguageissnotonlyforcreatinginteerviews,butaalso
foranalysispurposes.Thissectionaddsoptionsstoyourinteerviewscripttthatwillspeeedtheanalysis
processb
byaddingcom
mmonstatistiicsandsumm
maryinformattion,suchasttopboxscoreesandalternaate
textforaanalysis.
Intthischap
pterwew
willcoveer:
Addingalternatetextforrreportingpurrposes
Addingspeecialstatisticsintotheintervview
script
Creatingfaactorscoresfo
orusewithstattistics
Alterna
ateTextfo
orAnalysis
Manyorgganizationsw
willaltertheteextofthequeestionsthatw
wereaskedin
nasurveyforreportingor
analysisp
purposes.Th
hemostcomm
monmethodistochangeffromquestion
nformatstosstatements
(Examplee:Whatisyo
ourgender?becomesReespondentGeender).Theealternateteextiscalledan
n
Analysiscontext.You
ucanaddthissinformationinafewdiffeerentways.TTwocommon
nwaysare
mrTranslateandmrSttudiotoviewandaddanallysiscontext.UsingmrTraanslatewillallowindividuaals
whoareunfamiliarwiithDimension
nsscriptingto
oaddthealteernatetext,asmrTranslateemasksthe
actualco
odewithitsin
nterface.Sinccethisisascrriptingcoursee,wewillfocu
usonaddingaanalysisconteext
withmrSStudio.
AddingA
AnalysisCon
ntextwithm
mrStudio
OpentheView
O
wmenu
ts
SelectContex
S
sis
ChooseAnaly
C
231
Chapter23AdditionalinformationforAnalysis
YouwillnowseeablankspotbyalltextinthemetadatalabeledANALYSIS:.Youcanplacethe
alternatetextindoublequotesasshowninthepicturebelow:
Factors
Ifyouwishtoaddstatisticalelements,suchasameanorstandarddeviation,toyourcategorical
questions,thenyouneedtoaddamultipliertoeachresponsechoice.Evenifyoudonotaddthe
statisticalelements,factorscanalsobehelpfultoendusersofthedatacreatingcrosstabulationswith
mrTablesormrStudio.
{ID1"AltText1"factor(value),
IDn"AltTextn"factor(value)};
Text
factor
value
232
Description
Keywordtoidentifyyouwishtoaddamultipliertotheresponseforstatisticalpurposes
Representsthenumericvalueyouwishtoassigntotheresponseforstatistics.
Thisexampleshowsyouhowtospecifyvaluesforeachagerangeforstatisticsinusewithother
Dimensionsproducts,suchasmrTables,DesktopReporter,ormrStudiowithtablesscripting.
Example
categorical[1..1]
{
Under18"Under18"factor(18),
_18to34"18to34"factor(26),
_35to54"35to54"factor(45),
_55plus"55andover"factor(55),
};
EndMetadata
CreatingQuestionItemsforAnalysis
Youcanalsoaddanalysiselementstothequestionstospeedtheavailabilityoftoplineandfinal
results.WewilldiscusstwodifferentmethodsforaddingelementsforAnalysis,ElementTypesand
AxisExpressions.
ElementTypesarenotseenduringinterviewingonlyinanalysis,suchasusingmrTablesor
creatingcrosstabulationswithmrStudio.Theyareasinglelineofinformation,suchasa
summaryitemormeanscore.
Axisexpressionsarealsonotseenduringinterviewing,butareusuallymorethanasingleline
ofanalysisresults.Anexamplewouldbeaddingapredeterminedrangeofcategoriestoalong
ordoubletypequestionforanalysispurposes.
233
ElementTypes
Youusetheoptionalelementtypekeywordtocreateaspecialelementinmetadataforuseinanalysis.
Name"Text"type
{ID1"AltText1,
IDn"AltTextn",
IDElement"AltTextElement"elementtype(typevalue)
};
Item
Name
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
"Text"
Type
Identifiesthequestiontype(categorical,long,etc.)
ID1,IDn
nameofthequestion.
AltText1,
AltTextn
showtherespondent.
IDElement
Uniqueidentifyingnameforthespecialelement.Rulesforthisnamearethe
sameasthenameofthequestion.
AltTextElement Texttorepresentthespecialelement
elementtype
Keywordthatindicatesyouwillbespecifyingusingaspecialelement
typevalue
Representsthekeywordslistedinthenexttabletostatethetypeofspecial
elementyouneed
Belowisatablewithafewcommonanalysiselements,representedbytype_valueinthesyntax
exampleabove.
Text
AnalysisCategory
AnalysisMean
AnalysisStdDev
AnalysisStdErr
234
Description
Anelementthatisusedonlyforanalysis.Youcanusethisvalueforcategories
thatyoudonotwanttoappearininterviews.Anexamplewouldbecreatinga
TopBoxorBottomBoxscore.
Ananalysiselementthatisusedtoshowthemeanvalueofavariable.
Ananalysiselementthatisusedtoshowthestandarddeviationofavariable.
Ananalysiselementthatisusedtoshowthestandarderrorofavariable.
TofindafulllistofAnalysisElements,seetheDDL:
DDL.chm::/mrscriptmetadata_categorical.htm
Tousethetypeslisted,mostrequireadditionalproperties.Hereisthepreviousexamplewherethe
meanvaluehasbeenaddedtotheagequestion.Noticetheadditionalparametersrequiredfora
meanwithcategories.
Example
Categorical[1..1]
{
Under18"Under18"factor(18),
_18to34"18to34"factor(26),
_35to54"35to54"factor(45),
_55plus"55andover"factor(55),
Refused"PrefernottoAnswer"REF,
Mean"MeanScore"[
CalculationType="Mean",
HasNoData=true,
ExcludedFromSummaries=true
]
elementtype(AnalysisMean)
};
EndMetadata
AnotherhelpfulelementtypeistheAnalysisCategory.Thisallowsyoutocreateadditionalelementsin
questionsthatarenotseenduringtheinterview,onlyinanalysis.Thefollowingdefinelistwillprovide
youwithaTopandBottomBoxScoreforeachquestionusingthelistintheanalysis.
Example
Rating5Ptdefine
{Top2"PositiveScores"elementtype(AnalysisCategory)expression("@*{VS,SS}"),
VS"VerySatisfied",
SS"SomewhatSatisfied",
Neutral,
Bot2"NegativeScores"elementtype(AnalysisCategory)expression("@*{SDS,VDS}"),
SDS"SomewhatDissatisfied",
VDS"VeryDissatisfied"
};
EndMetadata
235
Inthepreviousexamplethe@representsanyquestionthedefineisusedwith.Ifyouwish
touseacombiningelementdirectlyinaquestionwithoutadefinelist,theexpression
wouldbe"qname*{VS,SS}"
AxisExpressions
Anotherwaytospeedtabulationprocesseswouldbetocreateanalysisitemscalledaxisexpressions.
Thesecancreatemanydifferenttypesofanalysisitems,acommononeininterviewscriptswouldbe
categoricalrangesonnumericquestions.
Theaxisexpressionsaredynamicallycreatedstatementsattachedtothemetadataquestions.The
syntaxisverysimilartowhatyouwoulddoinadatamanagementscript.
Name"Text"type
{ID1"AltText1,
IDn"AltTextn"}
axis("axis_spec");
Item
Name
"Text"
Type
ID1,IDn
AltText1,
AltTextn
axis
axis_spec
Description
symbols@,$,#,or_
Identifiesthequestiontype(categorical,long,etc.)
nameofthequestion.
showtherespondent.
Keywordtorepresentelementswillbeaddedthatwillonlybeseeninanalysis
Representsmanydifferentsyntaxthatcreateselementstobeseeninanalysis
236
Thefollowingexamplewillcollectalongquestiontypeduringtheinterview,buteasilyallowpeople
doinganalysistoviewthepresetrangesofanswersandameanvalue.
Example
long[1..20]
axis("{_1'One'expression('Household=1'),
_2to3'23'expression('Household>=2andHousehold<=3'),
_4to6'46'expression('Household>=4andHousehold<=6'),
_7plus'7andover'expression('Household>=7'),
mean'Mean'mean(household)}");
EndMetadata
Tipscreatinganalysiselements
Addinganalysiselementscanprovebeneficialforspeedingthetimeforanalysissetup.Afewthingsto
remember:
Theseitemscanbeaddedafterlivedatacollection,sodontworryifyoudonthaveallthe
analysisinformationupfront.
Themetadatasyntaxcheckwillonlybelookingforsyntaxmistakes,notifyourlogicactually
works.Makesuretocreatetestdataandhavesomeonechecktheanalysisfieldsforaccuracy.
Summary
Thischapterhasjustintroducedtheanalysisconceptsandbynomeanshasshownallthepossibilities.
AsyourknowledgeofDimensionsscriptinggrows,youwillseehowallpartsofDimensionsscripting
(interviewing,datamanagementandtabulation)areconnected.Thatknowledgewillallowyoutouse
thepowerofDimensionsScriptingtoitsfullestpotentialanddosomeamazingprojects.Youarenow
onthevergeofdoinggreatthingswiththispowerfullanguage.Remembertothinkoutoftheboxand
trynewwaystodothings,asthislanguagehassomanyfacetsandcapabilities.
237
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