Convert

Sheet Type

Converts the spreadsheet from one type to another. The following restrictions apply to spreadsheet conversion:

A Vector spreadsheet containing text columns cannot be converted to any other type.
Converting a spreadsheet to type scalar will preserve Row 1 and discard all other rows.
Spreadsheets can only be converted to diagonal or symmetric matrix type if they are square, i.e. have equal numbers of rows and columns.
Converting a spreadsheet to type vector will produce columns of type variate. These can subsequently be converted to other types using the Edit Column Attributes menu.

Column Type

Converts a column of a Vector spreadsheet to another type. The desired column should be selected from the drop-down list above the list of column types.

Variate columns are generated by taking the values as currently displayed in the column. Factor labels or text values are converted to numbers if possible, otherwise they are replaced by missing values.
Factor columns are generated from variates by forming a set of levels from the distinct set of values in the column. Similarly, factor labels are formed from the distinct set of values in a text column.
Text columns are generated by converting the values currently displayed into strings.
Units Vector columns are non-editable columns displayed next to the row numbers and provide additional identification for the rows of a spreadsheet. A Units Vector is formed using the currently displayed text or numeric values.

Matrix or Table Name

You can change the name of matrices or tables by typing the new name into this box.

Factor Options

When factors are generated by converting columns of numbers or text, appropriate sets of levels or labels are formed from the data. You can elect to have these sorted into order.

Tolerance

A positive value in this edit box will be used as a tolerance in creating levels from a factor. If two values differ by less than this tolerance, the will be assigned to the same factor group. A value of 0 puts all unique values into their own group. If the values have been calculated, then values that display as the same may differ in their final few significant figures. For example, the calculated values 1/3 and 200/600 may be assigned to different groups depending on how the final figure rounds. A small value such as 1e-12 could then be used to allocate these two distinct values to the same group. The default value for this item is taken from the option Tolerance on creating levels from variate in the Spreadsheet Conversions Options Tab.

Text Options

When factors are generated by converting columns of text, appropriate these options control how strings are grouped together.
If Ignore case is selected, then strings which are identical a part from their case will be grouped together. For example, 'male', 'Male' and 'MALE' would be set as one level if this was selected and three separate levels otherwise.
If Ignore blanks is selected, then strings which are identical a part from leading, trailing or duplicate spaces will be grouped together. For example, be set as one level if this was selected and four separate levels otherwise. Note however 'FordFiesta' would be regarded as separate in either case, as this is a single word rather than two words.

Read Text As Date

When converting a text to a variate you can use this option to read the text as a date (e.g. 31/12/98). The format that the date text is in needs to be specified via the Date button which becomes visible when this option is selected. The base date (day 1) is also set via the Date button.

Note

When a text is converted to a factor, the strings in the text will be truncated to 60 characters (maximum factor label length).