Modifying and Managing Data Files
Occasionally it is helpful to be able to edit
the responses in a particular data file, for
example in case the person entering the data
made certain errors.  The FIXFILES module,
accessible from the Main Menu, allows you to
do this.

In fact, it allows you to do many useful
things with data files, such as append records
to a file from another file, edit records from
one file to a newly created file, and extract
selected responses from a data file by using
the data filter to export them to a new file.

If you're thoroughly familiar with the
principles involved in laying out a survey
format, you can even change the basic
structure of a data file.


All of these options are available to the
advanced user on the File Management Menu,
which you can reach from the main SurveyMaker
menu.  When you get there, you first have to
open a data file to work with.  Then you see a
menu of actions you can take in working with
the selected data file.

For example, you might want to create a
special data file for use by another
SurveyMaker owner, by filtering only certain
responses in a data file into a newly created
data file.  Your original file remains
unaltered; the new one has the same format and
has the selected responses.  You just supply
the file name for the output file, set the
data filter to select the desired responses
from the source file, and give the go-ahead to
copy the responses.

Or, you might want to change the structure of
an older data file to match the most recent
structure of the data you are using.  Without
affecting the original data file, you actually
create a new one by adding, deleting, or
rearranging items and copying the surviving
responses to the newly created file.

Bear in mind that inserted items will be
recorded with no-response values (i.e.
asterisks), and that changing the type of a
question can affect whether the answers
survive or become asterisks.  See the Appendix
to the manual for more information on this.

SurveyMaker can automatically generate a
questionnaire file for you if you didn't
originally create one, by copying the format
and key-word descriptors from a data file to
create a "skeleton" questionnaire.
This option is available from the F2-Files
menu in the DATA module,  Later you can use
the DESIGN module to call up the skeleton .QNR
file and finish entering the text of the
questions and the multiple-choice options.

As you accumulate more and more data files for
a variety of survey projects, you are likely
to want to use some of the advanced file
management features SurveyMaker offers you.

Be sure to make backup copies of all of your
data files on a regular basis, and in
particular before you attempt to modify them.