CSPro Users Forum

good day!

the system-controlled entry program i am developing has 2 levels - household and individual. our practice here is to assign special values (9,99,999,...) to skipped/NAP fields rather than keep them blank. what i noticed was that when i try to open the data file using a text editor, the skipped fields in the rosters in the household level do not retain the special value/s i assigned thru logic. they still remain blank. but at the individual level, the rosters seem ok (retain assigned special values). though note that during entry, the values i assigned do appear in the skipped fields (dark gray boxes).

here's my sample code automating the line number in my household members roster (HHMEMS) of which i set the # occurrence to 30:
(item LINE is protected)
PROC LINE
preproc
i=curocc(HHMEMS);
if i<=TOTAL then
$=i;
skip to VAR1;
else
$=99;
skip to VAR1;
endif;

in this particular sample, when i check the data file using a text editor, the item LINE has no single value in it -- all blank spaces for all occurrences.

am i doing something wrong? please help. thank you.

If you want retain your values [-99] then use operator controlled. In system controlled you can not retain your values.

a.

but why is it that at the individual level, the values are retained? i'm leaning more on system-controlled due to the complexity of the survey. is there any way around this?

I suspect that there is something else going on with your application. I created a test application where, on the first level, I assigned 999 (which in my dictionary was set to notappl) to a variable, and the resulting data file shows the 999 values.

Can you email me your application (gregory.martin@census.gov)? I can look at it and see if something else is the problem.

email sent...