You can change how variables appear in your tables in a number of ways. For example:

You can remove the categories that appear in a variable. You can do this using a number of different methods, depending on what you want to achieve:

As well as changing existing variables, you can also create new variables:

From release 4.5, new variables and changes you make to existing variables are saved in the Table Document (.mtd) file and apply to the current table document only, not to the whole project. When you share a table document with colleagues, they can see the variable edits you have made. When you create a new table document, the variables revert to their original form. If you want variable edits to apply to all your table documents, you can create a template document that includes the variable edits. Any new table documents created using the template will automatically include the variable edits. For more information, see Managing template table documents.

Displaying and printing variable questions.