Parameters Settings

When a variable is assigned to one of the breakdown axes (Layers, Column Label, or Row Label) in Reporting Tables, double-click on the variable name to display the Parameters Settings dialog box for that variable. This dialog box contains a variety of settings that control the way the headings and data for that variable will be displayed in the output spreadsheet (some settings, e.g., Header Style, apply to underlying nested variables as well). The options control the placement of the variable name and the default style (font, color, alignment) for the entire row or column header area associated with that variable. Only a subset of these parameters affects variables assigned to the Layers axis.

Level header. The options in this group box control the style and arrangement of level headers.

Label. This field contains the variable name. By default, it is the name of the variable as found in the input data set, but you can enter a different name; for example, a cryptic database column name can be replaced with a name recognized by regulators.

Header Style. This option controls the style parameters for the row or column headers area associated with this variable. This area is subdivided into level labels, totals labels, and subordinate variable header areas. All of these have style controls associated with them and can override some or all of the style parameters inherited from the Header Style. Only the variable name label style is exclusively determined by Header Style.

Note: The three option buttons described below - Stacked, Span, and Suppress - control the way the variable name header relates to the levels and totals header areas in the output spreadsheet. When a node (B) is added as a child (to Parent A) , B inherits its immediate parent's (A's)  level header settings until its (B's) settings is overridden, i.e., changed manually. From then on, B no longer inherits from its parent. But all the children of B, if any, will inherit B's settings until their settings are overridden manually. The settings name/label (Stacked/Suppressed/Span) will be in bold if it's inherited.

Stacked. This arrangement places the variable name in line with the level labels and results in the allocation of a blank row or column in the data area. Stacked is primarily useful to reduce the width of the row headers area in a report with deeply nested row axis variables.

Span. This arrangement places the variable name in a large header cell across all the level header cells. This is the default arrangement.

Suppress. This option causes the variable name to not be displayed.

Levels Settings. The options in this group box control the ordering and style of the levels (categorical values) of the variable.

Level ordering. Following are the options on this drop-down list. Note that Missing level is always at the end, and if text is honored, levels with text labels sort before levels without labels.

Ascending / Descending. Alphabetical order for textual values and numeric for unlabeled numeric input.

Ascending Numeric / Descending Numeric. Sorts text label input by the underlying numeric code value. This is one way of obtaining the desired order of levels (categories) when it is not simply alphabetical order. For example, fiscal periods may be coded using naturally sequential numeric values, but their names may not sort alphabetically. In this case, numeric level ordering will provide the correct results even when the set of input values is not fixed.

User-Specified Order. The direct way to obtain a specific ordering of levels when the possible input values are known in advance. The Code Settings dialog box, associated with the variable’s name in the Variables list, can be used to order the levels; this order is used as the sort order for the report when the User-Specified Order option is selected.

Level Style. Controls the style parameters for all of the levels of the variable, overriding style parameters inherited from the Header Style. The level style is in turn inherited by any subordinate header levels.

Other options. The options in this group box configure the handling of cases where the value of the axis variable is missing, and the computation and display of totals over the levels of the axis variable:

Treat missing data as category. When this check box is selected, cases in the input with no value for the axis variable will be grouped into a missing category, and statistics for that group of cases will be displayed as if they had a value. When this check box is cleared, statistics for those cases will not be displayed.

Header Text. Type an optional label to be used in the row or column header to denote the missing value group. By default, a blank label is generated. If missing values are present, the missing data group always sorts after (below or to the left of) other categories.

Total includes missing data. Select this check box to enable display of a totals row/column/layer. Statistics in this area reflect all active input case data, regardless of the value of the axis variable.

Total without including missing data. Select this check box to enable display of a row/column/layer totals computed over all cases for which a valid value of the axis variable is preset. Cases with the axis variable missing (or NULL in a database) do not contribute to the statistics displayed in this area.

Include total before / Include total after / Do not include total. These option button determine where the totals are displayed, before or after the detail level data or not at all. When both totals with and without missing category values are displayed, the total without missing is placed inside (closer to the detail rows or columns), and the total over all cases is placed in the outside position.

Note: even if no totals are displayed for an axis variable, higher-level totals may exist in the design. In this case, if one of the totals with/without missing data check boxes is selected, that controls how cases with a missing value for the current axis variable are treated in the higher-level totals.

Total Style. This option controls the style parameters applied to the output spreadsheet cells for the total or totals displayed. Both the header and data areas are affected by these parameters. The default style is inherited from any outer variables in the axis definitions except that all totals default to the bold version of their fonts. Settings made here override inherited formatting properties.