Checking ID Variable

This script checks the properties of an ID variable. In particular it:

• Checks that the ID variable is a Categorical, Ordered Categorical or Numeric Variable.
• Checks that all values are unique.

To run this script

1. Change the name of the id variable that appears in quotes in the first line of code below.
2. Save this file to a location somewhere on your computer/network (but not where it is currently located).
3. Run the QScript.

var id = "URLID";  //Variable names are case sensitive (e.g., URLID is not the same as urlid)

//The code below performs the checks; only edit this code if youw wish to change what this routine is doing.
if (project.dataFiles.length  != 1)
  alert("Warning: multiple data files exist in this project; only the first is being examined.");
var data = project.dataFiles[0];
var results = ""
var v = data.getVariableByName(id);
if (v == null) 
{
  results = "Variable " + id + " does not exist in this data file";
}
else 
{
  var invalid_type = v.variableType != "Categorical";
  if (invalid_type)
     results = "The variable type of " + id + " is  " + v.variableType
            + "; change it to Categorical and then, if necessary, change the name of the id variable at the top of this script to the new variable's name."
  else
  {
    var t = project.report.appendTable();
    t.primary = v.question;
    t.secondary = "SUMMARY";
    var output = t.calculateOutput()
    var id_counts = output.get('n')
    var n = output.numberRows;
    var rowLabels = output.rowLabels;
    for (var r=0; r<n; r++)
        if(id_counts[r][0] > 1)
          if (rowLabels[r] != "NET")
             results += "\r\n"+rowLabels[r]+ " appears " + id_counts[r][0] + "times";
    //identifying missing values
    t.secondary = "RAW DATA";
    var output = t.calculateOutput()
    var ids = output.get('Values')
    var n = output.numberRows;
    results += "\r\n";
    for (var r=0; r<n; r++)
        if(isNaN(ids[r][0]))
          results += "\r\nThere is missing data for the id variable for row " + (r+1);
    t.deleteItem();
  }
}
if (results.length == 0)
  results = "The variable passes all the tests.";
log("Checking the suitability of " + id + " as a unique identifier\r\n\r\n" + results);

See also

• QScript for an explanation of how to run this code.
• QScript Reference for technical information.
• JavaScript for information about the JavaScript programming language.