Creating a template from a table document
You can create a template by setting up a table document with the defaults that you require, removing the survey data file information, and saving the file in the templates folder. You can then select this file as the template in UNICOM Intelligence Reporter. This feature is useful for organizations who want to save both default settings for table properties, and also default tables. For example, you might want to create a standard set of tables to use with different survey data files, perhaps to analyze sets of responses from different countries or successive batches of results from a survey that is run on a regular basis.
If you create templates containing tables, the tables are valid only when used with survey data files that contain the same or similar variables. For example, if you create a template that includes tables defined using a particular numeric variable, using the template with another survey that uses a categorical variable to store the same data will result in invalid tables.
To create a template from an existing table document
1 Create a new table document file.
2 Set up the tables you want to include in the template.
3 Use the Table Properties dialog to change the table properties to your requirements, either for individual tables or for all tables.
Click File > Advanced.
4 In the Advanced dialog, select Include table and profile results when saving.
5 Click Copy without Dataset. This removes the details of the metadata and case data files when the table document file is saved.
6 Enter a file name and location for the new table document in the Save As dialog, and then click OK.
Templates can have any name, but must have the file extension .mtd. You can save the file in the default template folder, or in another folder. For example, you might want to create a template for use by everyone in the department. In this case, you could set the template file to be read-only and save it on a network drive.
The default template folder is a sub-folder under your user name, for example:
C:\Users\<your_Windows_user_name>\AppDataRoaming\IBM\SPSS\DataCollection\<version>\Survey Reporter<version>\Reporter
If you have previously used Save as Default in the Table Properties dialog, a default template called template.mtd already exists in this folder. Once you have set up your template and saved it in a suitable location, you must change the File Locations tab of the Options dialog to specify the new template.
7 Click Tools > Options.
8 In the File Locations tab, click Browse to the Template file field, select the table document file that you created, and then click OK.
When you subsequently open any survey data file, the table document that is created automatically picks up the default settings from the new template file.
You can make further changes to the template file by using the Table Properties dialog, choosing Set as Default, and select the option to update the template file as usual. Alternatively, you can prevent this by setting your template file properties to read-only in Windows Explorer so that you do not accidentally overwrite the template settings.
See also