Combine/sort card image data

This option allows the sorting and combining of card data without changing each respondent’s logical card order. The input cards are always kept together as a block of data and each block is sorted by the fields specified.

All respondents must have the same number of cards and be in the same order across all sets.

The Combine/sort card image data dialog box is split into 5 sections:

• Input files
• Card specifications
• Sort options
• Output file
• Duplicate options

Input files

Select input files lets you select the input files to use.

• A dialog box is displayed to allow selection of the files. When processing, files are read from the Input files dialog box in top to bottom order. The Input files dialog box displays all files that have been selected.
• The cards do not need to be in order and cards can be missing from the set.
• Each input file must have the same number of cards per respondent and also be in the same order across all sets.
• Clear files will clear the Input files dialog box.

Card specifications

• The default for the card number position is 79 and 80. If your card number is in a different position, enter that position here.
• Read card info reads all input files and verifies that all logical sets of cards match across all files.
• Any errors will be reported and must be fixed before running the Combine/Sort.

Sort options

There are 3 sort fields available with the following options:

• No sort - no sorting will be applied to the output file. Input files will be written to the output file in selected order.
• Ascending - the sort will be in ascending order.
• Descending - the sort will be in descending order.

When Ascending or Descending has been selected you must define where the sort field is located:

• Card specifies the card number. This card number must be numeric and exist in the data. A card entry of 3 will look for a card with a value of 3. This would be a card id of 03 or 3.
• Start position is the fields starting position in the card specified. Position 1 refers to the first column of the card. This entry cannot be larger than the end position entry
• End position is the fields ending position in the card. Position 1 refers to the first column in the file. This entry cannot be less than the start position entry.
• Length is a generated field. The length of the sort field is automatically displayed.

When multiple sort fields are selected, the sort fields are processed in order. For example, if sort field 1 is the State and sort field 2 is the City. The output file would be in State order with the Cities within each State also in order.

Output file

Save as opens a dialog box that allows you to specify the output file name. You can also specify the file name by entering the full path name into the Output file field.

Duplicate options

Duplicate field selects the sort field to use for duplicate filtering. These options are only available when you have specified one or more sort fields

Once the Duplicate field has been selected, you can specify which filter to apply. You can filter your sorted output with one of the following options. The filters are applied to the sorted order of the output file NOT the input file order.

• Allow duplicates - no filtering will be applied. All records will be written to the output file.
• Output first duplicate - the first occurrence of the duplicate field is written to the output file.
• Exclude all duplicates - creates a file where all duplicate values from the field selected are removed from the output.
• Output only duplicates - creates an output file where only duplicate values from the field selected are written to the output file.

Run

Selecting the Run button will check for any entry errors and to process the input files creating a new output file. When processing is finished your entries will remain intact. This allows for changes and the process easily repeated.

Close

Selecting the Close button will clear all fields and return to the WCSortMerge dialog box.