System variables
The UNICOM Intelligence products use a number of system variables. The way the system variables are used varies from product to product. For example, Respondent.Serial.SourceFile is used by UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Paper/Scan Add-on, but not by UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin.
Full list of system variables
Some data sets may have some but not all of these system variables.
Respondent.ID
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: The respondent ID that links a respondent record to log entries. When the respondent data is collected using IUNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin Web interviewing, this is either the ID from the sample record or an ID generated randomly by UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin. It can be supplied by the interview engine host using the RespondentID property. If it is not supplied, the Respondent ID will be stored as "".
Valid values: From 0 to 50 characters.
Respondent.Origin
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Multiple-response categorical
Description: The origin of the respondent data. This is the ID of the software product that created the respondent data. In UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin it is supplied by the interview engine host using the Origin property. This must be set by the engine host and cannot be changed in script. If not supplied, the value is set to Other.
Valid values: From 1 to 6 of the following categories: Scan, HTMLPlayer, CATI_HTMLPlayer, CATI_TTYPlayer, DataEntryPlayer, Other.
Respondent.Origin.Other
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: The source software product name. This is used when the Other category is specified for Respondent.Origin. In UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin it is supplied by the interview engine host using the OriginName property. This must be set by the engine host and cannot be changed in script. If not supplied, the OriginName property is based on the Origin setting. If the Origin is also not set, the OriginName is empty.
Valid values: From 0 to 25 characters.
Respondent.Serial
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Long
Description: The respondent's serial number. The serial number is important for assigning a unique ID to the data for each respondent. In UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin it can be optionally supplied by the interview engine host using the Serial property. If not supplied, the next available serial number is used when writing the respondent record.
Valid values: A whole number from 1 to 2147483647.
Respondent.Serial.SourceFile
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: A source file variable indicating where the respondent serial number can be found. Typically the path to a .tiff file created during scanning.
Valid values: From 0 to 1024 characters.
DataCollection.BatchID
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: Records a unique ID for the batch.
Valid values: From 0 to 50 characters.
DataCollection.BatchName
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: Records a readable name for the batch.
Valid values: From 0 to 50 characters.
DataCollection.CurrentPage
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Long
Description: The current page the respondent is answering. This is a number indicating how many pages have been answered. UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin numbers pages starting with 0 for the first page.
Valid values: A whole number from 0 to 2147483647.
DataCollection.DataEntryMode
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Single-response categorical
Description: This represents the data entry case’s current mode.
Valid values: One of the following categories will be set: Initial, Full, Partial, or Maintenance.
Initial is the default value and is used for initial data entry.
Full is for full verification.
Partial is for partial verification.
Maintenance is for future use
DataCollection.Debug
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: The SIF stores some debugging information here. UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin does not use this variable.
Valid values: From 0 to 1024 characters.
DataCollection.EndQuestion
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: When an interview is completed, stopped, or times out, this variable will hold the last question that was presented to the respondent. When an interview ends after a pause, this variable holds the pause ID number. The pause ID is a sequential number that represents the position in which the pause appears in the script. This variable is not set when an the interview crashes.
Valid values: From 0 to 255 characters.
DataCollection.FinishTime
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Date
Description: The time of the last clean finish of the interview, through, for example, the respondent stopping or completing it, a clean server shutdown, or a timeout. The time is written in universal co-ordinated time (UTC). This variable is not set when an interview crashes. This variable is reset to NULL when an interview restarts.
Valid values: Any valid value for the Date variable type.
DataCollection.InterviewEngine
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: The version of the interview engine used for the interview. In UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin surveys that use the Interview Object Model, the version is of the form IOM major.minor (for example, IOM 3.0). This variable is set when the interview is created. It is not updated when the interview is restarted, even if a new version of the Interview Object Model is used for the restart.
Valid values: From 0 to 15 characters.
DataCollection.InterviewerID
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: The interviewer ID. This property is not supplied for projects using inbound sample management (the variable is then set to "") unless the TrackWebSessions option is enabled. When TrackWebSessions is enabled, the interview session token is stored for the InterviewerID.
Valid values: From 0 to 50 characters.
DataCollection.InterviewMode
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Single-response categorical
Description: The current interview mode.
Valid values: The following categories can be set:
▪Web - specifies web interview case data.
▪Phone - specifies CATI interview case data.
▪Local - specifies locally deployed case data.
▪DataEntry - specifies data entry case data.
DataCollection.InterviewerTimeZone
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Long
Description: The time zone in which the CATI interviewer is located. It is normally supplied by the interview engine host using the InterviewerTimeZone property. If this property is not supplied, the ServerTimeZone is used instead.
Valid values: Any whole number that corresponds to a valid time zone. For more information, see
Time zone management.
DataCollection.MetadataVersion
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Single-response categorical
Description: This is a derived categorical variable that makes it easy to filter case data on the metadata version used to collect it. Unlike the other system variables, this one is present at runtime only, is included only if requested, and is not persisted in the metadata. The MDM automatically creates a category in this variable for each version that you select when you open or connect to the metadata. For example, if you open versions 1, 2, and 3, this variable will have three categories, one for each version.
Valid values: The category names are of the form ver_ n where n is the version name, and the category labels show the version name.
DataCollection.MetadataVersionGUID
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: The metadata version that was used for the interview, expressed as a GUID. In UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin it is set by the Interview Object Model when the interview is created., based on the current version of the supplied MDM document.
Valid values: A GUID, which is 36 characters long.
DataCollection.MetadataVersionNumber
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: The metadata version that was used for the interview. In UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin this is set by the Interview Object Model when the interview is created, based on the current version of the supplied MDM document. If the interview is restarted, the original MDM version is used.
Valid values: From 0 to 15 characters.
DataCollection.QuotaID
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Long
Description: This system variable is no longer in use. It might still exist in metadata files that were created in UNICOM Intelligence Data Model 2.4 or 2.5.
Valid values:
DataCollection.Removed
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Boolean
Description: Indicates if the case has been removed.
Valid values: True when the case has been removed; False when a case is first created. False is the default value.
When this variable is set to True, the DataCollection.Status variable may automatically be set to Shutdown.
DataCollection.RespondentTimeZone
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Long
Description: The time zone in which the CATI respondent is located. It is normally supplied by the interview engine host using the RespondentTimeZone property. If this property is not supplied, the ServerTimeZone is used instead.
Valid values: Any whole number that corresponds to a valid time zone. For more information, see
Time zone management.
DataCollection.RoutingContext
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Single-response categorical
Description: The routing context that was used for the interview. This is taken from the Current property of routing contexts on the supplied MDM document.
Valid values: One of the following categories: PAPER, SIF, Web.
DataCollection.SeedValue
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Long
Description: The seed value for the interview. This is a random value used to control the rotation of responses, questions, and loop control items. It ensures that when you snap back and redo parts of the interview, rotated items are presented in the same order as when they were first encountered. In UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin it can be optionally supplied by the interview engine host using the SeedValue property. If not supplied, the initial SeedValue is based on the current tick count.
Valid values: Any valid value for the Long variable type.
DataCollection.ServerTimeZone
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Long
Description: The time zone in which the CATI interviewing server is located. This is set by the Interview Object Model when the interview is created, and is based on the time zone of the local computer.
Valid values: Any whole number that corresponds to a valid time zone. For more information, see
Time zone management.
DataCollection.StartTime
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Date
Description: The interview start time, set when the interview is created. The time is written in universal co-ordinated time (UTC).
When storing the interview start and finish times, the UNICOM Intelligence Data Model automatically uses the locale of the component writing the data to convert the time to UTC. Similarly, when displaying the times, the UNICOM Intelligence Data Model uses the locale of the component displaying the data to translate from UTC.
Valid values: Any valid value for the Date variable type.
DataCollection.Status
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Multiple-response categorical
Description: The status of the interview. In UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin this is based on the Interview status and the setting of the IsReview and IsTest properties as follows:
Active if interview status is isIdle or isPost.
Completed if interview status is isComplete.
RespondentStopped if interview status is isStopped.
Reviewed if the IsReview property is True.
ScriptStopped if interview status is isStopped (Suspend).
Shutdown if interview status is isShutdown. This setting may be automatically set when the DataCollection.Removed variable is set to True.
Signal if interview status is isComplete (Terminate).
Test if the IsTest property is True.
TimedOut if interview status is isTimedOut.
Valid values: From 1 to 3 categories as follows:
One of the following categories (numeric values in parenthesis): Active (7), Completed (6), RespondentStopped (10), ScriptStopped (9), Shutdown (11), Signal (13), TimedOut (8).
Plus, none, one, or both of the following categories: Reviewed (12), Test (14).
Note While the numeric values are provided here for reference, it is recommended that you use the category names whenever possible. The numeric values above may change in future versions of the product.
DataCollection.TerminateSignal
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Long
Description: Signal used for termination of interview. DataCollection.Status should have the Signal category set.
Valid values: A whole number from 0 to 2147483647.
DataCollection.Variant
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: Used by UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Paper to store the paper variant of the questionnaire. This provides a way of implementing regional differences and simulating randomization in paper questionnaires.
Valid values: From 0 to 255 characters.
DataCleaning.Note
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Text
Description: Records a note to indicate why the case data record was flagged for review, delete, etc.
Valid values: From 0 to 1024 characters.
DataCleaning.ReviewStatus
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Multiple-response categorical
Description: Records additional information about the data cleaning status.
Valid values: From 1 to 4 of the following categories: FlaggedForReview, FlaggedForMove, FlaggedForCopy, FlaggedForDelete.
DataCleaning.Status
Metadata Model (MDM) variable type: Multiple-response categorical
Description: Indicates the cleaning status of the case data record. Typically DataCleaning.ReviewStatus and/or DataCleaning.Note will hold additional information when the NeedsReview category is set.
Valid values: One or both of the following categories: Clean, NeedsReview.
See also
See also