Compose Control Commands

Compose control commands controls the composing of questions.

AUTO_RESPONSE_CODE

AUTO_RESPONSE_CODE=#

This option will generate response codes for items in response lists (they will be specifically shown in the QSP file). The codes will start at 1. This can make it easier to write up the questionnaire, but use caution when making changes to a questionnaire when you have already collected data.

The options are:

  • 1 –  will return codes 1-9, 0, A-Z to a maximum of 36 codes
  • 2  – will return 01-99
  • 3  – will return 001-500

BLANK_LINES

BLANK_LINES=#

This option puts # blank lines after every question’s text. # must be an integer from 0-7. For FIELD questions, blank lines are inserted between the question text and recode table. For NUMERIC and VARIABLE questions, blank lines are inserted between the question text and the prompt. For TEXT questions, blank lines are inserted between the question text and the response box.

BLANK_LINES=0

This resets this command to the default.

NOTE: If you specify this command in either your spec file or in the Script Composer, the blank lines will not appear in the QSP file, but they will show on the screen. The BLANK_LINES command is passed along to the QSP file and only affects the QFF, HRD, and DB files.