Creating and populating a test table

After setting up a non-UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer project for use in UNICOM Intelligence Reporter or Survey Tabulation, you should open the project in the application to test that the connection string has been set up correctly and the data is accessible. You can follow these instructions using either Reporter or Survey Tabulation; the instructions refer to Reporter.

This step is not generally necessary when you are using an UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer project in UNICOM Intelligence Reporter, because the connection string is created for you.

1 Select the new project and click UNICOM Intelligence Reporter.

If a “Server error: Failed to load data” message appears, it indicates that UNICOM Intelligence Reporter can not connect to the metadata. You are returned to UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin. Make sure that you have checked the project's data files into the shared folder. If they have been checked in, use the project editor to check and, if necessary, correct the connection properties for the metadata source. See Edit project for more information.

2 If you see the main UNICOM Intelligence Reporter screen, including the list of variables, it means that UNICOM Intelligence Reporter is able to connect to the project's metadata correctly. Now create and populate a simple table (for example, one that crosstabulates two simple categorical variables) to check that UNICOM Intelligence Reporter is able to connect to the project's case data. For information on creating and populating a table, see the UNICOM Intelligence Reporter documentation.

▪If an error occurs when you attempt to populate the table, make a note of the error message, return to UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Server Admin, and then use the project editor to check and, if necessary, correct the connection properties for the case data source. See Edit project for more information.

When there is an error populating a simple table immediately after setting up the project, it usually means that there is a problem connecting to the case data. This might be because there is an error in the connection properties for the case data, a problem with the case data itself, or incorrect access permissions.

Generally, the first part of the error message comes from the Table Object Model (TOM) and the related Table Aggregator component. Sometimes there is an additional error message from the CDSC that is used to access the case data, and this can sometimes give a clue to the cause of the specific problem.

This generally means the case data specified in the connection string cannot be found. If you are using a file-based case data format, check that you specified the correct file and location and that the file is present. Check that you specified the right type of data (that you didn't select SPSS Statistics SAV DSC when you meant UNICOM Intelligence DRS DSC, etc.) If you are using RDB DSC 2, check the following:

▪In the OLE DB connection string specified for the Case Data Location, is the Initial Catalog property set to the name of the database?

▪In the OLE DB connection string specified for the Case Data Location, is the Data Source property set to the name of the server on which the SQL Server database is located?

▪Is the Case Data Project correct? In a project that originated in UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer, this is typically the same as the database name.

This message is generally followed by a message from the CDSC that should provide more information about the problem. When attempting to connect to an XML file, this message might indicate that the specified file does not exist. When attempting to connect to an RDB database, this message might indicate that you have specified the Case Data Project incorrectly.

If you are trying to connect to an XML file, this generally means that data is in the flat (VDATA) format. This means you must change to use the flat view within UNICOM Intelligence Reporter. See Creating an Interviewer Server project for more information. Sometimes this error message occurs when you have selected the wrong case data type (for example, if you accidentally select RDB DSC 2 instead of SPSS Statistics SAV DSC).

For more information about the CDSCs that come with the UNICOM Intelligence Data Model, see DSCs supplied with the UNICOM Intelligence Data Model and Available DSCs.