SDA 3.4 Documentation for TABLES
NAME
tables - run tables in batch mode
USAGE
tables -b filename [-t language_file]
DESCRIPTION
TABLES is a crosstabulation program. Ordinarily this program is
invoked by the Web interface for the SDA programs, and the user
does not have to deal with the keywords given in this document.
Output from the program is in HTML, which can be viewed with a
Web browser.
Meaning of the option flags:
- -b filename
- It is possible to run the program directly by preparing a
command file, which specifies the variables to be analyzed and
the options to use. This document explains how to prepare such a
file. The name of this batch command file is specified to the
program after the ‘-b’ option flag.
- -t filename
- Write the strings used by all of the analysis programs into
the specified file, so that they can be replaced with strings in
another language. TABLES and the other analysis programs will
then use the revised strings file to output their results, if the
name of the directory containing the modified file is specified
with the ‘LANGUAGE=’ keyword in the
general section of the HARC file.
See the
language document
for details.
KEYWORDS
The batch command file contains specifications for the analysis.
These specifications are given in the form "keyword = something"
with one keyword per line. Keywords may be given in any order,
either in upper or in lower case. The valid keywords are as
follows (with significant characters shown in capital letters):
Basic Specifications for the Table
Keyword Possible Specification Default (if no keyword)
_____________________________________________________________________
STUdy= path of dataset directory Look for variables only in
current directory
ROWvar= variable name(s) REQUIRED
(separated by spaces/commas)
COLUMNvar= variable name(s) No column variable
CONtrolvar= variable name(s) No control variable
Weight= name of weight variable No weighting
Filter= name(s) and codes of filter No filter
variable(s)
GVARCase= LOWER or UPPER Do not convert all variable
names to lower/upper case
STRatum= name of variable giving No stratification for
sample stratum computing standard errors
$1: Force one stratum
CLuster= name of variable giving No cluster variable for
sample cluster computing standard errors
SAvefile= filename to receive output Output sent to screen
(overwrite existing file) (standard output)
TExt= Yes No text for variables
Statistics in Each Cell
The user can specify one or more types of percentaging. For each
percentage, the user can request standard errors and/or
confidence intervals.
If a stratum and/or cluster variable has been specified in the
command file, standard errors are calculated that take into
account the complex design. The confidence intervals created
from those standard errors will also reflect the complex design.
By default the percentages, confidence intervals, and weighted
N’s are displayed with one decimal place. The user can specify a
different number of decimal places by putting that number in
parentheses after the desired type of percent. Both the percent
and the confidence interval will have the same number of decimal
places. For standard errors, Z-statistics, and summary
statistics the default is two decimal places. A different number
of decimal places can be specified in parentheses.
The Z-statistic for each frequency can also be output. This is
the statistic that controls the color for each cell. Note that
this statistic is based on expected values, in the chi-square
sense, and it is not based on the standard error (SRS or complex)
of the cell percents. By default the Z-statistics are output
with 2 decimal places.
Keyword Possible Specification Default (if no keyword)
_____________________________________________________________________
Percents= Row (ndec) No percentaging
Column (ndec)
Total (ndec)
OTHERSTats=
CONFidence (level) No confidence intervals
(level can be 90,95,or 99)
SE (ndec) No standard errors
ZSTAtistic (ndec) No Z-statistics
N [of cases] No unweighted N
WN [of cases] (ndec) No weighted N
Other Table Options
Keyword Possible Specification Default (if no keyword)
_____________________________________________________________________
COLORcoding= Yes No color coding of cells
or colored headings
MISSing= Valid Exclude MD or out-of-
range codes on the
row, column, and
control variables
NOTABle= Yes (to suppress entire table Display the table
but still get other info)
RUNtitle= title or comments for run No title or comments
STAtistics= Yes No summary statistics
NDECimals= number of decimals in stats 2
LAnguagefile= Name of file with non-English English labels on
labels and messages output
QUICKtables= Yes (special HTML output Regular HTML output
for insertion into the
output from QuickTables)
Chart Options
There are several chart options, assuming that the chart
generation servlet is running on the server computer.
The first two specifications are required, in order to produce
charts.
Keyword Possible Specification Default (if no keyword)
_____________________________________________________________________
TBLProperties= PATHNAME for chart specs file REQUIRED for charts
(This is a temporary file, to
be passed on to the charting
servlet. The TABLES program
will generate multiple files
from the given filename, if
multiple charts are generated
because a control variable
was specified or because
multiple row or column
variables were specified.)
CH_URL= URL of chart-generation REQUIRED for charts
servlet on the server.
CH_MAXCHarts= Maximum number of charts to 25
create on this run (1-100)
CH_TYPe= Type of chart to create stackedbar
(stackedbar, bar, pie,
or line)
CH_ORientation= Orientation of BAR charts vertical
(vertical or horizontal)
CH_EFfects= Visual effects for BAR charts use2D
(use2D - 2 dimensional;
use3D - 3 dimensional)
CH_SHOWPcts= Yes (put percentages on the No percentages
chart)
CH_COLor= Yes (create charts in color) Greyscale charts
CH_FONT= Font to use in charts SansSerif
CH_WIdth= Width of chart in pixels 600
CH_HEight= Height of chart in pixels 400
ABBREVIATIONS
Keywords can usually be abbreviated down to the number of
characters required to differentiate them from other keywords.
Sometimes only one character is required. The keyword for the
weight variable, for instance, can be given as "weight=" or
"wei=" or even "w=". Either upper or lower case may be used. In
the list of keywords above, the minimum string of characters
required for each specification is shown in capital letters.
MENTION OF KEYWORD SUFFICIENT
The form ‘keyword=yes’ may be shortened to ‘keyword’. For
example, ‘statistics=yes’ can be shortened to ‘statistics’.
REPETITION OF KEYWORDS
If there is not enough room on a line to list all of the desired
variables, the keyword can be repeated on a new line, and more
variables can be listed. In such a case the second list is
appended to the first list, for purposes of generating tables.
This appending feature only applies to the keywords for
specifying the row, column, control, or filter variables. If
other keywords are repeated, the program will print an error
message and stop.
EFFECT OF A WEIGHT VARIABLE
If a weight variable is specified, the weighted number of cases
in each cell is used to calculate the percentages. Furthermore,
all of the other statistics are based on the weights. Note that
the weight variable is used for these purposes even if the
weighted number of cases is not displayed in each cell.
ORDER OF PROCESSING LISTS
When more than one variable is given for the row, column, or
control variable specifications, the tables are produced in the
following order: Tables for EACH of the control variables are
produced with the FIRST column variable and the FIRST row
variable. Then the whole list of control variables is processed
again for the SECOND column variable and the FIRST row variable;
and so on until the whole set of column variables has been
processed. Then the whole series is repeated for the SECOND row
variable; and so on until all the row variables have been used.
Briefly, the variables will cycle in the following order:
control, column, row. All of the tables will be produced using
the same weight, filters, and other options.
COMMENTS
Anything on a line beginning with "#" is ignored by the batch
processor and can therefore be used for comments. Blank lines
are also ignored.
BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY
Versions prior to SDA 1.2b used ’vertical’ and ’horizontal’ to
specify the ’rowvar’ and ’columnvar’ variables in the batch
command files. Although the older terminology has been
superseded, those keywords are still recognized for now as
synonomous with the newer ’rowvar’ and ’columnvar’
specifications.
EXAMPLES OF BATCH FILES
Basic example
The SDA dataset is assumed to be in the current directory. The
results will overwrite the file named after the ‘savefile=’
keyword, if the file already exists.
row = spend spend2 spend3
column = ideo, gender
percents = column
otherstats = N
statistics = yes
savefile = mytables.htm
Using more options
Specify multiple row and column variables, redefine some ranges,
and use weight and filter variables. Also output confidence
intervals for the percentages.
study = /sa/sdatest
row = spend(1-9) spend2(1-8)
column = ideo educ
control= gender
weight= casewt
filters= age(18-50) party(1-3)
percents=row column
otherstats = confidence(95), WN
statistics
text
savefile= mytables.htm
Specifying some chart options
In addition to the required two chart specifications, request
charts in color (instead of grayscale) with percentages printed
on the bars.
study = /sa/sdatest
row = spend
column = ideo
percents = column
statistics = yes
savefile = mytables.htm
tblproperties = /sa/charts/mychartspecs
ch_url=http://sda.berkeley.edu/chartgen
ch_color = yes
ch_showpcts= yes
CSM, UC Berkeley
January 25, 2010