Data Model > Available DSCs > SPSS Statistics SAV DSC > Reading from an SPSS Statistics .sav file > Variable definitions when reading from a .sav file > Category values
 
Category values
When a IBM SPSS Statistics variable or multiple response set maps to a MDM categorical variable, the SPSS Statistics SAV DSC saves the IBM SPSS Statistics native value for each category to the corresponding MDM category's NativeValue property (see IElementInstance.NativeValue in the MDM Object Model Reference). The IBM SPSS Statistics native value is the index or "sequential" value of the category and starts from 1. It can refer either to the position of a value label in an IBM SPSS Statistics variable's list of value labels or to the position of an IBM SPSS Statistics variable in a multiple response set.
By default, when accessing the case data with an MDM document or generating an MDM document from the .sav file, the SPSS Statistics SAV DSC returns category values as MDM mapped (or "unique") category values. To return category values as IBM SPSS Statistics native values instead, set the MR Init Category Values connection property (see Connection properties) to 1. When accessing the case data with no metadata, the always returns the IBM SPSS Statistics native values.
The SPSS Statistics SAV DSC cannot return the IBM SPSS Statistics raw category value (that is, the actual data value stored in the .sav file), because the MDM supports integer category values only, whereas IBM SPSS Statistics also supports category values that are decimal, text, and dichotomy (True/False) values. However, if a raw category value is numeric (integer or decimal), you can set the corresponding MDM category's Factor property (see IElement.Factor in the MDM Object Model Reference) to the raw value by using the ImportFactors property.
See also
Variable definitions when reading from a .sav file