Quota Commands

Modify_Quota/MQ

Modify quota can be used to modify quotas, one at a time or in batch mode.

Syntax:

MQ <study name><quota number or name><+ - =><value>

Example:

MQ STUDY1234 100=250

You can modify a set of quotas by using a quotaname pattern on the modify command.

Example:

MQ STUDY1234 *.T =200

This would set the target values for all quotas to 200.

NOTE: You can use the “*” (all characters), “#” (single number), and “?” (single letter or number) as pattern matching characters.

Numbered_Quota/NQ

Modify Numbered Quotas by command.  This command allows for specific numbered and named quota modification in batch mode at the command line, without requiring you to enter the quota screen for modification.

Syntax:

NQ <study name><number or name><+ - =><value>

Example:

NQ STUDY1234 100=250

Numbered_Quota_Show/NQS

Show/Modify Numbered Quotas on screen.  Allows you to show and/or modify numbered quotas.

  • Specify the study name and quota number to start at.
  • The screen displays quotas, beginning with the numbered quota you specified and continuing for up to 250 quota cells.
  • If you say MOD, modification of quota values is allowed.
  • If you say ZERO then quota cells with a zero (0) value are shown, otherwise they are not shown.

Syntax:

NQS <study name> <number> MOD | ZERO

Example:

NQS STUDY1234 725 MOD

Quota_Show_Screen/QSS

Show quota screens or modify quotas for study.  Allows you to show or modify the named quotas for any of your studies.

Syntax:

QSS <study> <keyword> <pattern>

Example:

QSS STUDY1234 SORT

KEYWORDS:

  • MODIFY lets you make changes to the quotas unless the study header option MODIFY_QUOTA_FILE=N has been specified.
    • If MODIFY_QUOTA_FILE=P is set and you try to modify quotas, you will be prompted for the password (as specified on the PASSWORD option on the header statement).
    • Use QUOTAMOD to modify quotas if the Supervisor cannot modify quotas.
    • You will be asked if you want to save changes after making any.
  • NOSORT shows quotas in order specified in questionnaire.
    • This is the default.
  • RESET allows you to reset the “resettable” quotas to zero for a study with a single command.
    • The resettable quotas increase along with the regular quotas, but they are designed to allow you to reset them to zero at the beginning of some period so that you can keep track of that period, separate from the overall quotas.
    • The command is QSS <STUDY> RESET
    • This matches the “RESET” command in the quotamod program.
  • SHOWZEROVALUES shows all quotas, even those with zero values.
    • This is the default.
  • SHOW shows just non-zero quotas.
  • SORT sorts the display in ASCII order

Furthermore, after specifying MODIFY, the supervisor moves the highlighted box to the desired quota and enters the new value. To move to the next item, you can press enter. If there are more quotas than will fit on one screen, use the Page Up and Page Down keys on monitors, and Ctrl-T (previous screen), or Ctrl-Y (next screen) on terminals. You will see a message at the bottom of the screen indicating the number of pages of information. Also, for UNIX, you can use Ctrl-G (top of list,) Ctrl-E(end of list), or Tab (down).

PATTERN:

Allows you to specify a subset of quotas to show.

  • * Says any matching characters in name.
  • ? Says any matching alphabetic character in name.
  • # Says any matching number in name.
  • @ Says match what starts or ends with.

Example:

CITY@ - Would show all quotas that start with the word CITY.

After displaying the quotas on the screen, you can press “Esc,” and the program will display a summary of time counts spent on the study from the quota file.

Your display will look like this:

*survent_totaltime = 000123:28:36 *survent_currentime = 000017:41:14 *interviewing_totaltime = 000102:14:05 *interviewing_currentime = 000012:38:57 *unique_number = 0

This shows that there have been 123 total hours of interviewing on the study, 17 hours in the current session, 102 total hours in interviews, and 12 hours in interviews in the current session.

The “unique_number” is a special quota value you can set in the program using !SPECIAL,ASSIGN_NEXT_CASEID to allow you to have a new number in each data record. It will update by 1 every time it is used.

Specifying LP or LP! at the end of the command will send a copy of the screen to the file indicated on a previous LPDEV command.

The default QSS screen is updated every 15 seconds with new interviewer information.

Quota changes are logged in the Server log files.

Next Topic