Specifying columns for table controls

The Table Columns dialog box specifies the properties of the columns of the Table control.

Identifier. A unique identifier for the column.

Column Name. The name of the column as it appears in the table.

Contents. Specifies the type of data for the column. The value Real specifies that there are no restrictions on the entered value, other than it is numeric. The value Integer specifies that the value must be an integer. The value Any specifies that there are no restrictions on the entered value. The value Variable Name specifies that the value must meet the requirements for a valid variable name in IBM® SPSS® Statistics.

Default Value. The default value for this column, if any, when new rows are added to the table at run time.

Separator Type. Specifies the delimiter between the values of the column, in the generated syntax. The allowed separators are a blank, a comma, and a plus sign (+). You can also enter an arbitrary single character to be used as the separator.

Quoted. Specifies whether each value in the column is enclosed in double quotation marks in the generated syntax.

Quote Handling. Specifies handling of quotation marks in cell entries for the column when the Quoted property is true. Quote handling applies only to double quotation marks in cell values. The following types of quote handling are available.
Syntax
Double quotation marks in cell values are doubled. For example, if the cell value is This "quoted" value then the generated syntax is "This ""quoted"" value".
Python
Double quotation marks in cell values are escaped with the backslash character (\). For example, if the cell value is This "quoted" value then the generated syntax is "This \"quoted\" value".
R
Double quotation marks in cell values are escaped with the backslash character (\). For example, if the cell value is This "quoted" value then the generated syntax is "This \"quoted\" value".
None
Double quotation marks in cell values are retained with no modification.

Width(chars). Specifies the width of the column in characters. The allowed values are positive integers.

Syntax. Specifies the command syntax that is generated by this column at run time. The generated syntax for the table as a whole is a blank-separated list of the syntax that is generated by each column in the table, starting with the leftmost column.

  • You can specify any valid command syntax. For multi-line syntax or long syntax, click the ellipsis (...) button and enter your syntax in the Syntax Property dialog.
  • The value %%ThisValue%% specifies the run time value of the column, which is a list of the values in the column, delimited by the specified separator.
  • If the Syntax property for the column includes %%ThisValue%% and the run time value of the column is empty, then the column does not generate any syntax.
Note: You can add a row for a new Table column in the blank line at the bottom of the existing list in the Table Columns dialog. Entering any of the properties other than the identifier generates a unique identifier, which you can keep or modify. You can delete a Table column by clicking the identifier cell for the Table column and pressing delete.

Link to Control

You can link a Table control to a Field Chooser control. When a Table control is linked to a Field Chooser, there is a row in the table for each field in the Field Chooser. Rows are added to the table by adding fields to the Field Chooser. Rows are deleted from the table by removing fields from the Field Chooser. A linked Table control can be used, for example, to specify properties of fields that are selected in a Field Chooser.

To enable linking, the table must have a column with Variable Name for the Contents property and there must be at least one Field Chooser control on the canvas.

To link a Table control to a Field Chooser, specify the Field Chooser from the list of Available controls in the Link to Control group on the Table Columns dialog box. Then, select the table column, referred to as the Linked column, that defines the link. When the table is rendered, the linked column displays the current fields in the Field Chooser. You can link only to multi-field Field Choosers.