After a Survo data file has been created all the fields are active
and unprotected.
When a field is active, it will be used and it will be displayed in
all Survo operations which treat the data file as a whole.
When a field is unprotected, its values can be changed.
To change the status of the fields with respect to these properties,
a FILE ACTIVATE operation is used. Since this operation is very common,
it can be started for the current data file also simply by pressing
FILE_ACT (alt-F6).
When activating and protecting fields we have a display where one
line is reserved for each field of the data file. If there are more
than 20 fields, several pages of a similar type will be available.
For example, in case of the COMMUNES file (see FILE CREATE) this display
could be following: (The emphasized character indicates the cursor.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data file: COMMUNES M= 14 Col= 1 M(active)= 5 M(protected)= 0
1 A- Commune Name of the commune
2 A- Province UUS,TUR,AHV,HÄM,KYM,MIK,KAR,KUO,KES,VAA,OUL,LAP
3 A- People Population 1.1.1980 (######) {100,500000}
4 A- Births Live births in 1978 (####) {0,6000}
5 A- Area Land area km^2 1.1.1979 (#####.##)
Denote passive variables by - and active by A,X,Y etc. Stop by EXIT!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the field number a set of mask columns (now filled with A--)
are displayed and these columns can now be edited simply by moving the
cursor and overtyping.
The first column (now filled by A's) is meant for activation. Usually
all symbols except '-' indicate an active field, but in some operations
different symbols tell more about the role of the field. For example,
in linear regression analysis (LINREG) 'Y' is a regressand, 'X' is
a regressor, 'R' is a residual variable, etc.
The second one-character column is for protection of the fields.
It is originally filled with '-'s which means that no field is protected
and its values can be changed. To protect a field, simply move the
cursor to that column and put 'P' instead of '-'.
For example, the display below indicates a situation where the fields
'People', 'Births' and 'Area' are active and the fields 'Commune',
'Province' and 'People' are protected:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data file: COMMUNES M= 14 Col= 2 M(active)= 4 M(protected)= 3
1 -P Commune Name of the commune
2 AP Province UUS,TUR,AHV,HÄM,KYM,MIK,KAR,KUO,KES,VAA,OUL,LAP
3 AP People Population 1.1.1980 (######) {100,500000}
4 A- Births Live births in 1978 (####) {0,6000}
5 A- Area Land area km^2 1.1.1979 (#####.##)
Denote protected variables by P. Stop by EXIT!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As an option the scale types of the statistical variables can be given
as mask column 3. By default this column is empty.
More information about scale types is found by SCALES?.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data file: COMMUNES M= 14 Col= 3 M(active)= 4 M(protected)= 3
1 -P- Commune Name of the commune
2 APN Province UUS,TUR,AHV,HÄM,KYM,MIK,KAR,KUO,KES,VAA,OUL,LAP
3 APF People Population 1.1.1980 (######) {100,500000}
4 A-F Births Live births in 1978 (####) {0,6000}
5 A-R Area Land area km^2 1.1.1979 (#####.##)
Enter scale types: N=nominal, O=order, I=interval, R=ratio, -=no
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional mask columns become visible by pressing ESC.
These columns can be used to save various selections of variables
and they are referred to by the MASK specification of the form
MASK=#7 (=mask column 7) in Survo operations.
The mask columns can be interchanged during file activation by the
COPY key.
A typical situation after pressing ESC is displayed. Here the mask
column 7 is being edited.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data file: COMMUNES M= 14 Col= 7 M(active)= 4 M(protected)= 3
1 -P---A- Commune Name of the commune
2 APN---- Province UUS,TUR,AHV,HÄM,KYM,MIK,KAR,KUO,KES,VAA,OUL,LAP
3 APF--AX People Population 1.1.1980 (######) {100,500000}
4 A-F--AX Births Live births in 1978 (####) {0,6000}
5 A-R--AY Area Land area km^2 1.1.1979 (#####.##)
To stop, press EXIT!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
More information during file activation mode is obtained by the HELP key.
M = MASK operation/specification for dynamic activation
D = More information on data management
Help System (web edition)