User Guide

45
Data Files
Text Wizard Step 3: Fixed-Width Files
Figure 3-18
Text W iz ar d S
tep 3 for fixed-width files
This step provides information about cases. A case is similar to a record in a database.
For ex
ample, each respondent to questionnaire is a case.
The first case of data begins on which line number? Indicates the first line of the data
file that contains data values. If the top line(s) of the data file contain descriptive
label
s or other text that does not represent data values, this will not be line 1.
How many lines represent a case? Controls how the Text Wizard determines where
each case ends and the next one begins. Each variable is defined by its line number
withi
n the case and its column location. You need to specify the number of lines
for each case to read the data correctly.
How many cases do you want to import? You can import all cases in the data file, the
firs
t n cases (n is a number you specify), or a random sample of a specified percentage.
Since the random sampling routine makes an independent pseudo-random decision