Next
Before you create your (non-IBM® SPSS® Data Collection Interviewer Server) data analysis project in IBM® SPSS® Data Collection Interviewer Server Administration, you need to make sure that any data files that are required are ready for uploading. You can upload files individually or in a .zip file. Using a .zip file is recommended when you upload large files. If you use a .zip file, Interviewer Server Administration will automatically unzip the .zip file and delete it, after the upload is finished. You can upload files from your own machine or from any other suitable network location.
IBM® SPSS® Data Collection Survey Tabulation uses the IBM® SPSS® Data Collection Data Model to access the underlying data, which can be, for example, an SPSS .sav file, a IBM® SPSS® Quanvert™ database, a relational MR (RDB) database, IBM® SPSS® Quancept™ data stored in .qdi and .drs files, etc. The Data Model handles case data (which stores the actual responses) and metadata (which describes the case data and stores the question and category texts, etc.) separately. Survey Tabulation requires a metadata source as well as a case data source. The metadata source can be an IBM® SPSS® Data Collection Metadata Document (.mdd) file or any other metadata format for which a suitable read-enabled Metadata Source Component (MDSC) is available. The case data can be in any format for which a suitable read-enabled Case Data Source Component (CDSC) is available.
Although Survey Tabulation can read metadata in any format for which a suitable read-enabled MDSC is available, there are performance advantages in using metadata in an .mdd file. This is because when the metadata for the project is stored in an .mdd file, Survey Tabulation caches the metadata and this leads to significantly improved performance. The caching persists between sessions and is updated when you create and edit variables.
Survey Tabulation does not cache the metadata when it is stored in a proprietary format (such as Quanvert, Quancept .qdi, or SPSS .sav). However, you can use MDM Explorer to create an .mdd from the proprietary metadata for use in the Survey Tabulation project. You would then need to upload the .mdd file you create with the other data files for the project, and configure the project to use the .mdd file. MDM Explorer is a tool that comes with the IBM® SPSS® Data Collection Developer Library, which is available on the IBM SPSS Data Collection Server DVD-ROM and also as a free download from Data Collection Developer Library.
Here are some notes to help you prepare data files of the main data formats that are suitable for use with Survey Tabulation:
Quanvert database. Quanvert databases come in two formats--packed and unpacked. You can tell the difference between a packed and unpacked Quanvert database because a packed database consists of a single file with a .pkd filename extension whereas an unpacked database consists of many files including a header file called qvinfo. Survey Tabulation can support both formats. When using the unpacked format it is advisable to pack the files before uploading, but note that the packed format is not supported for Quanvert multiprojects.
There are some additional manual steps for setting up Quanvert multiprojects for use in Survey Tabulation. See the topic Setting up a IBM SPSS Quanvert Multiproject for Use in IBM SPSS Data Collection Survey Tabulation for more information.
SPSS .sav file. When you are using a .sav file that you created using the Data Model (for example, using IBM® SPSS® Data Collection Paper - Scan Add-on Transfer or exporting Interviewer Server data), it is always preferable to read it using the .mdd file that was used when creating it (that is the output metadata file if you created the .sav file using a DMS file). This means that the variables (and their names) will match those in the .mdd file and will therefore be easier to understand. For example, several variables may be created in the .sav file from a single text variable in the .mdd file. When you access the .sav file in Survey Tabulation using the .mdd file, these variables will be recombined and presented as one variable.
Note: For some languages you will also need to upload a .sav.ini file specifying the language of the .sav file so that Survey Tabulation can read it, for example:
[mrSavDsc] SavLanguage=JPN
The name of this file must be <savfilename>.sav.ini, for example, myproject.sav.ini.
For further details, see the Language Handling by SPSS Statistics SAV DSC section in the Data Collection Developer Library.
Quancept QDI/DRS file. When you are using Quancept data, generally the metadata is in the form of a .qdi file and the case data is in a .drs, .drz or .dru file.
Data Collection XML format. By default, Survey Tabulation uses the hierarchical view when you work with case data in the XML format. However, when you export data to XML, the data is generally written in the flat (VDATA) format. The Data Collection Developer Library comes with a sample mrScriptBasic file (called CdscHdataTransfer.mrs) that you can use to export hierarchical data to an XML file in the hierarchical (HDATA) format. Alternatively, you can select the flat view within Survey Tabulation. When you use case data in the XML format, the metadata is generally in the form of an .mdd file.
Relational MR database. When the case data is stored in a relational MR database, the metadata is generally stored in an .mdd file and is generally the only file you need to upload. If the database is in the form of an SQL Server backup, you need to restore it.
Surveycraft QDT/VQ files. When you upload IBM® SPSS® Surveycraft™ data, you must upload both the .qdt and .vq files. You may also want to create a metadata (.mdd) file and upload that as well. This does not increase the initial speed of Survey Tabulation, but can improve performance when you next open the project in Survey Tabulation. You must have write access to the .qdt and .vq files that you want to upload.
For detailed information about the DSCs that come with the Data Model and how they interpret the underlying data, see the Data Collection Developer Library.