About File Types

WinCross creates job files including WinCross job files (*.job), report files and report log files. You supply the data files.

A WinCross job file (*.job) contains the job specifications. You can assign any filename. When you use the *.job file extension (automatically appended to your job files by WinCross), the file is displayed on the Open Job dialog along with other *.job files.

A report file contains the results of the tables, marginals, frequencies, sample balancing, factor analysis or regressions you run. You can assign any filename. When you use the *.rpt file extension (the default file extension for plain text report files), the file is displayed in the Open Report dialog along with other *.rpt files. Reports in rich text format (*.rtf) preserve fonts, styles and extended characters and are suitable for opening in a word processor such as Microsoft^® Office Word. Reports in portable document format (*.pdf) preserve fonts, images, graphics and layout and are suitable for opening in reader software such as Adobe^® Acrobat. Reports in Microsoft^® Excel format (*.xls or *.xlsx) preserve fonts, images, graphics and layout. Reports in Microsoft^® PowerPoint format (*.pptx) preserve fonts, images, graphics and layout. Plain text reports (*.rpt) do not preserve any fonts, styles or extended characters. Reports in enhanced text format (*.xml) can be fully-customized for general printing from within an Internet browser. Additionally, XML formatted reports can be uploaded directly to, and viewed from, a company Intranet or an external Internet Website.

A report log file contains information about the run, such as the data file used, the number of cases, and so on. If you have used the WinCross user interface to create your tables (rather than a text editor), you are less likely to encounter syntax errors. This is because WinCross automatically checks your logic syntax as you enter it. If errors do occur during a run, processing stops, the errors are written to the report log file and it is displayed on your screen. The file contains a description of the error, the line from the job file that caused the error and affected report table number. The report log file is saved with the same name as the report file, using the extension *.lg unless you explicitly specify another filename and/or extension.

WinCross creates another type of file when you run Simple Weighting, Sample Balancing, Factor Analysis and/or Regression. These files are linked to your WinCross job file and contain simple weighting specifications (*.swv for variable data and *.swa for ASCII data), sample balancing specifications (*.sbv for variable data and *.sba for ASCII data), factor analysis specifications (*.fac for either variable or ASCII data) and/or regression specifications (*.wro for either variable or ASCII data).

WinCross saves profiles created using Setup|Profile Settings|Save Profile As. The profile name entered on the Save Profile As dialog box is modified replacing blanks with underscores and saved with a *.pro extension.

WinCross reads your data file when it runs tables, but the data file is not changed and it is not saved as a part of the job or report files. Your data file can have any filename and extension.

You open each file type individually. For example, when you open a job file (*.job), any report (*.rpt) or report log file (*.lg) is not automatically opened. You can open a report, report log or data file at any time; those files do not have to be associated with the current job.

WinCross can process data files that are in ASCII format (fixed, comma separated (*.csv), tab separated (*.tsv or *.tab)), SPSS®, and several versions of Microsoft Office^® Excel format. Using your job file and ASCII format data (fixed, comma separated (*.csv), tab separated (*.tsv or *.tab)), or Microsoft Excel format data, you can create an SPSS (*.sav) format data file using File|Export Wizard.

SPSS, Excel, comma separated and tab separated data files are not column-oriented (as are ASCII fixed data files). In these files, fields are distinguishable by their variable names. You refer to the variable name rather than a column position when writing logic statements for rows, banners, filters and glossary statements. View|Data File Information displays variable names, their internal location and width in the data file and other helpful information about the data.

Field length considerations:

Blank fields in comma- (*.csv) and tab- (*.tsv or *.tab) separated ASCII files have a default width of 12.
Variable labels can have up to 256 characters.
WinCross uses only the first 12 positions of the variable values.

Variable name considerations for files being imported:

variable names can be no longer than 64 characters
if variable names appear on the first row of an Excel, comma separated or tab separated data file, select the Use first row as variable labels option on the Open Data dialog.
if variable names do not appear on the first row of an Excel, comma-separated or tab separated data file, deselect the Use first row as variable labels option on the Open Data dialog, WinCross will assign default names, VAR1, VAR2, etc. or COL1, COL2, etc.
avoid using special characters in variable names (e.g. @, #, &, !, ^, etc.)

You do not need to open your data file until you run your tables (except when you want to write a revised file using Setup|Glossary Variables|Save Data As).

WinCross always prompts you to save files that have been changed before you exit the application or before you attempt to open a different job or data file.