Transferring data to a UNICOM Intelligence Data File

This topic provides some notes on using a DMS file to transfer case data to a UNICOM Intelligence Data File (.ddf or .dzf). The DMS file uses the UNICOM Intelligence Data File CDSC to write the data to the UNICOM Intelligence Data File.

If the UNICOM Intelligence Data File you specify in the OutputDataSource section does not exist, the UNICOM Intelligence Data File CDSC will create a new file.

The UNICOM Intelligence Data File CDSC can write data to an existing UNICOM Intelligence Data File. If the structure of the data has changed, the UNICOM Intelligence Data File CDSC will update the structure in the existing file whenever possible. You can update data that was transferred previously only if you include the UseInputAsOutput option in the OutputDataSource section. Otherwise, the DMS file merely appends the new case data records to the end of the UNICOM Intelligence Data File. You should therefore be careful not to create duplicate records in the UNICOM Intelligence Data File by exporting the same case data more than once.

The UNICOM Intelligence Data File CDSC can update existing records and so you can use the Weight component to set up weighting in the UNICOM Intelligence Data File. For an example of doing this, see Setting up weighting in a DMS file.

Each level can have a maximum of 32,674 fields; this limit is because of the underlying SQLITE maximum columns setting. The limit is based on the number of fields at a level, not the number of variable instances. It applies to both read and export. If this limit is exceeded, a “Failed to create the column 'column_name'” error occurs.

In the connection string in the OutputDataSource section, specify mrDataFileDsc for the Data Source property and the name and location of the UNICOM Intelligence Data File for the Location property. For example:

OutputDataSource(Output,"The output data source")
  ConnectionString = "Provider=mrOleDB.Provider.2; _
      Data Source=mrDataFileDsc; _
      Location=[INSTALL_FOLDER]\IBM\SPSS\DataCollection\7\DDL\ _
          Output\AnalysisData.ddf;
      MetaDataOutputName =
          [INSTALL_FOLDER]\IBM\SPSS\DataCollection\7\DDL\ _
          Output\AnalysisData.mdd"
End OutputDataSource

Follow the instructions above, but specify the .dzf file extension instead of .ddf. For example:

OutputDataSource(Output,"The output data source")
  ConnectionString = "Provider=mrOleDB.Provider.2; _
    Data Source=mrDataFileDsc; _
    Location=[INSTALL_FOLDER]\IBM\SPSS\DataCollection\7\DDL\
    Output\AnalysisData.dzf;
    MetaDataOutputName = _
      [INSTALL_FOLDER]\IBM\SPSS\DataCollection\7\DDL\ _
Output\AnalysisData.mdd"
End OutputDataSource

Note The UNICOM Intelligence Developer Documentation Library includes some sample DMS files that transfer data to a UNICOM Intelligence Data File. For more information, see Sample DMS files.