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.