Data Model > Available DSCs > Quantum DSC > Writing to a Quantum file > Card, column, and punch definitions > Element Instance definitions
 
Element Instance definitions
There is an ElementInstance object for each category within each categorical variable. ElementInstance custom properties define the punch character to be used to indicate that the category was chosen as a response to the question.
ColOffset
An integer value that defines the column in which the punch for the element is stored. It is in the form of a number that is added to the variable's ColStart custom property. (An offset is used instead of a hard coded column number to allow for shared element lists.)
Punch
A string value that defines the punch character for the element. This must be a single printable character, and not an asterisk (*).
Value
The value to be used if the DataFormat custom property is set. If DataFormat is set to numeric, literal, or bitstring and the Value custom property is not set, the value is determined by combining the ColOffset and Punch. For example, a ColOffset of 1 and a Punch of 1 would result in a value of 11.
See also
Writing to a Quantum file
Quantum DSC
Card, column, and punch definitions