To define global and default conditions for the run, type:

at the start of the tabulation section.

Global run conditions, if any, are defined on the a statement. If used, it must be the first statement in the tabulation section. Its format is:

options are keywords defining the global characteristics of the run. You can use as many keywords as you like and you can list them in any order, but you must separate them with semicolons (;), for example:

This statement tells Quantum that all rows will be double-spaced (dsp), cells will contain absolute figures and column percentages (op=12), the date will be printed on each table (date) and absolutes will be shown to one decimal place (dec=1). These and all other options are described below.

Most options which are valid on the a statement are also valid on sectbeg, flt or tab statements. In this section, unless an option’s description specifically states that the option is not valid on particular statements, assume that the option is valid on a, sectbeg, flt and tab statements.

Where a keyword appears on two or more of these statements, the setting at the lower level overrides the setting at the higher level for that table or group of tables only. For example, if the same option is present with different values on a flt and a tab statement, the option on the tab overrides the option on the flt for that table only. Similarly, where an option is present on both the a statement and a flt, the option on the a statement is overridden by the option on the flt until another flt is read.

For more information about this concept of overriding options, see Options on the tab statement and Named filters.