Text Labels Editor

You can access the Text Labels Editor in the following ways:
  • Click the Text Labels button in the Variable specification dialog box to display the Text Labels Editor.
  • Ribbon bar. Select the Data tab. In the Variables group, click Text Labels to display the Text Labels Editor.
  • Classic menus. From the Data menu, select Text Labels Editor to display the Text Labels Editor.

Use these options to create or modify Text Labels that accompany the selected variable(s). See Using the Text Labels Editor for an example. Note that if the Type of the variable is Text, the Text Labels button is not available.

Several formatting tools are available at the top of the Editor:
Tool Function
Click the Font button to display the Format Characters dialog box, which offers a choice of fonts and font sizes, styles/effects, and text and background colors, as well as a preview of the selected font options.
Use the Font drop-down list to apply a specific font to text in the selected cell(s).
Use the Font Size drop-down list to choose a font size to apply to text in the selected cell(s).
Click the Bold button to apply bold formatting to text in the selected cell(s).
Click the Italic button to apply italic formatting to text in the selected cell(s).
Click the Underline button to apply underlining formatting to text in the selected cell(s).
Click the arrow on the Font Color button to display a standard color palette of available colors from which to choose a font color to apply to the text in the selected cell(s).
Click the Cut button to cut the selected cell(s) in the Editor to the Clipboard.
Click the Copy button to copy the selected cell(s) in the Editor to the Clipboard.
Click the Paste button to paste the contents of the Clipboard to the selected cells.
Click the Undo button to undo your last action. You can continue to click the Undo button to undo previous actions.
Option Description
Sort Now Click the Sort Now button to display a drop-down list of options available to specify a sort order for the values in the selected column.
Numeric Ascending Select Numeric Ascending to perform an ascending numeric sort in the selected column in the table (e.g., 1, 2, 3, ...).
Numeric Descending Select Numeric Descending to perform a descending numeric sort in the selected column in the table (e.g., 10, 9, 8, ...).
Text Ascending Select Text Ascending to perform an ascending text sort in the selected column in the table (e.g., A-Z).
Text Descending Select Text Descending to perform a descending text sort in the selected column in the table (e.g., Z-A).
Renumber Click the Renumber button to display a drop-down list of options available to specify a numbering sequence for the Text Labels in the table.
From Cursor Select From Cursor to renumber the Text Labels from the location of the cursor.
Selection Select Selection to renumber the selected Text Labels.
All Select All to renumber all of the Text Labels in the table.
Copy From Click the Copy From button to display a drop-down list of options available to choose a location from which to copy values into the table.
Variable Select Variable to display the Select Variable dialog box, which is used to applyText Labels from other variables in the active spreadsheet.
Case Names Select Case Names to insert all case names from the active spreadsheet.
Apply To Click the Apply To button to display the Select Variables dialog box, which is used to apply all of the Text Labels and Numeric associations into other variables in the active spreadsheet.
Information Field The information field column is located directly to the left of the Text Label column. (Note that it does not contain a title in the Text Labels Editor.) This column may contain descriptive information about the Text Label/Numeric association for each row in the table. If one of the Text Label/Numeric associations is incomplete, then this column will display a dash (-). If a Numeric value is assigned to two different Text Labels, then this column will display the letter N. If the same Text Label is assigned to two different Numeric values, then this column will display the letter T.
Text Label The Text Label column lists the Text Label entries (strings of characters) that label specific Numeric values within the selected variable. Note that a Text Label always corresponds to a Numeric value. All printable characters can be used in the Text Label column. There is virtually no length limit (actually 10,000 characters). Text values, on the other hand, do not correspond to Numeric values. They are merely text strings and the Type of the variable (displayed on the Variable dialog) will be Text. See Data Types for further details.

Note that you can autofit columns in the Text Labels Editor by double-clicking on the far-right side of the Column Header (the mouse pointer will be a cross with a double-headed arrow ), then dragging the column to the desired width. Additionally, you can resize the Text Labels Editor itself by dragging its sides or corners.

Numeric The Numeric column lists the specific Numeric value that is used to label each Text Label. You can switch between viewing Text Labels or their Numeric equivalents in the spreadsheet by clicking the Show/Hide Text Labels button on the spreadsheet toolbar (see also, Display Text Labels).
Description Use the Description column to enter a more detailed explanation of the Text Label. All printable characters can be used in this column. There is virtually no length limit (actually 10,000 characters). The Description column is used for optional comments about a Text Label. In other words, this column is used to add further descriptive information about a code, other than its normal display name. For instance, if the Text Label is "Coke," then the Description could be "Subject chose Coke over other colas." Descriptions can be used in the output of all analyses that involve individual values (e.g., frequencies, crosstabulations, breakdowns, etc.). For instance, Descriptions will be displayed when you check the Display long text labels check box on the Statistics by Groups Results dialog box - Descriptives tab.
OK Click the OK button to accept the specified text labels and return to the spreadsheet.
Cancel Click the Cancel button to return to the spreadsheet, disregarding any changes you have made.
Arrow buttons Click the buttons to browse the list of variables in the active spreadsheet. You can use these buttons to switch between variables in the Text Labels Editor without closing the Text Labels Editor.
Delete Row Click the Delete Row button to delete the selected row. This ends the Text Label/Numeric association of the row.
Clear All Click the Clear All button to delete all of the values in the Text Label, Numeric, and Description columns. This ends all Text Label/Numeric associations for the selected variable.

Note that the lower-left corner of the Text Labels Editor displays the number of complete (valid) Text Label/Numeric associations compared to the total number of associations for the variable.

Output to Spreadsheet Click this button to create and display a spreadsheet containing the information displayed in the Text Labels Editor.