Table and axis syntax
This topic provides a detailed description of the syntax you use to specify tables in a script. The syntax has been designed to provide a fast and easy way of creating tables using a script.
The conventions used for defining the syntax in this topic are similar to those used in the Advanced Expressions section. See
Syntax conventions.
Example of creating a new axis
You can create an axis specification without basing it on an existing variable, using the syntax axis{(<element-list>)} as MyAxis. For example, if you want to create a variable containing only the Male category of the gender variable, instead of modifying the existing variable using the syntax:
Set Table = TableDoc.Tables.AddNew("Table1", "gender{base(), male expression('gender={Male}')} * age")
you can create a new variable directly, using the syntax:
Set Table = TableDoc.Tables.AddNew("Table2", "axis({base(), male expression('gender={Male}')}) * age")
This avoids the need to create a new derived variable using MDM script. It also makes it easier to create several variables based on the same initial variable. For example, you could also create a variable containing the Female category and add both variables to the table, using the syntax:
Set Table = TableDoc.Tables.AddNew("Table3", "axis({base(), male expression('gender={Male}')}) as MyMaleAxis + axis({base(),
female expression('gender={Female}')}) as MyFemaleAxis * age")
The variable is always created at the top (HDATA) level.
For an example script that uses the
axis({}) syntax, see
Creating summary statistic tables.
See also