• <GetStart>
  • CSPro User's Guide
    • The CSPro System
    • Data Dictionary Module
      • Introduction to Data Dictionary
      • Organization
      • Dictionary Concepts
      • Data Dictionary Application
        • Creating a Dictionary for a New File
        • Creating a Dictionary for an Existing File
        • Data Dictionary Screen Layout
        • View Dictionary Questionnaire
        • Dictionary Property Panel
        • Data Dictionary Tree
        • Relative and Absolute Mode
        • Dictionary Types
        • Reconciling Dictionary Changes
      • How to ...
    • The CSPro Language
    • Data Entry Module
    • Batch Editing Applications
    • Tabulation Applications
    • Data Sources
    • CSPro Statements and Functions
    • Templated Reporting System
    • HTML and JavaScript Integration
    • Action Invoker
    • Appendix
  • <CSEntry>
  • <CSBatch>
  • <CSTab>
  • <DataViewer>
  • <TextView>
  • <TblView>
  • <CSFreq>
  • <CSDeploy>
  • <CSPack>
  • <CSDiff>
  • <CSConcat>
  • <Excel2CSPro>
  • <CSExport>
  • <CSIndex>
  • <CSReFmt>
  • <CSSort>
  • <ParadataConcat>
  • <ParadataViewer>
  • <CSCode>
  • <CSDocument>
  • <CSView>
  • <CSWeb>

Creating a Dictionary for a New File

 

To create a data dictionary application do the following:

 

• Click New Button on the toolbar, or from the File menu, select New; or press Ctrl+N

 

• Select the Other category and the Dictionary type and press OK.

 

• Provide a name for the new dictionary (you need not provide the dictionary extension (.dcf); it will be automatically appended to the name).

 

• Select the folder where the dictionary (object) is to be stored. You can press the "Browse" button to locate an existing folder. If the dictionary file already exists, it will be used. If the dictionary file does not exist, it will be created.

 

• Press "Next" to advance to the Summary Screen and review your choices.

 

• If everything looks correct, press Finish to complete the operation.

 

If you are creating a dictionary to describe an existing data file, you may want to use absolute mode, in the event there are any "holes" in the data file(s). Or, if you want to use only a subset of the data file's information, using absolute positioning allows you to define only those data items of interest to you. If you are defining a dictionary for a new data file, you should be in relative mode, as this does not allow "holes" in your data.

 

If you have a long questionnaire, you can split the job and have several persons create data dictionaries for different sections. Later, you can copy and paste the items into one dictionary, making sure that the record type identification is unique.