Strings of data constants
Quick reference
To refer to a string of codes in a field of columns, type:
$codes$
The list of codes contains one code per column.
More information
When data constants are single-coded or the multicodes correspond to ASCII characters (for example, ‘A’, ‘B’) they may be strung together. Strings of data constants are sometimes called literals or column fields. Strings are enclosed in dollar signs, with the component single codes losing their single quotes. For example:
$12345$ $ABC$ $916 7&$
The first string is 5 columns long with 1 in the first column, 2 in the second, 3 in the third, and so on. The third string is six columns wide with the fourth column being blank.
Times when you might use strings are:
▪to refer to a questionnaire serial number
▪when the answers to a question are represented by codes of more than 1 digit.
For example, in a car ownership survey the car make and model owned may be represented by a 3-digit code. To pick up respondents owning a particular type of car, you must check whether the relevant columns contained the code for that car. For example, to look for owners of Ford Escorts you might ask Quantum to search for the string $132$ in a particular field of columns.
See also