UPCOMING WEBINAR: The Roadmap for Market Researchers in the Age of AI The best file formats for use in Displayr are those that contain a lot of metadata. These files greatly reduce the amount of time taken to analyze data in Displayr, as well as decrease the chance of mistakes being made in analysis.
This article evaluates the types of file formats that are supported by Displayr.
Good data file formats
The following data file formats are typically the best for use in Displayr.
- SPSS data files (
.sav) and compressed SPSS files (.zsav): This is the most widely available of the good formats. There are lots of different ways that these files can be created, and some are much better than others; see How to Set Up Your SPSS File for Importing into Displayr. SPSS .sav files load faster than the other two, and thus are good for large numbers of cases. - Triple-S data files: This is a standard and open data file format for survey data. Displayr supports the Triple-S version 2.0, which can describe both fixed-format and CSV data files. Triple-S data will come in two files. One file contains the metadata and will have a file extension of
.xmlor.sssand a second file containing the raw data, either as a fixed format (typically.datfile or.csvfile). Please note: not all .xml files are Triple-S files (the easiest way to check is to try and import into Displayr).- For details on how to format your .XML file, see the SSS organization's specifications here: SSS XML 2.0 (PDF).
- Where you have hierarchical data files, these are set up in Displayr by importing each as a separate Triple-S data file and then using Displayr's facilities for Multiple Data Files to link them together (i.e., Displayr does not use the Triple-S control files for hierarchical data). Additionally, the Triple-S file format is not efficient in terms of how much space it uses, so for huge projects, it can be beneficial to use another format. Triple S and MDD files have the best metadata and will be best at setting up your questions correctly. Please note that when loading .sss files, both the .sss and the associated data file must have the same file names, with the exception of the extension.
- SPSS Dimensions (Data Collection Model) data files, which are created by the more modern SPSS data collection packages. These files have the file extension (
*.mdd). Note that Displayr expects an .mdd file and a .ddf file. Some .mdd files will come with a different type of data file (e.g., .sav, .csv, .sss). In these cases, you should use the other data file directly. Other .mdd files have no extra data file and instead refer to a database. You will need to connect to these databases directly from Displayr. MDD and Triple S files have the best metadata and will be best at setting up your questions correctly, and MDD files store data efficiently.
Sub-optimal data file formats
These file formats do not contain metadata (i.e., there is nothing in them to indicate if a 1 means, say, Male) and, as a consequence, their use will greatly increase the amount of setup required within Displayr.
- CSV files (
.csv): See Tips to Get an Excel or CSV File Working Well in Displayr for recommendations on how to set up CSV files and How to Work with Excel/CSV Files in Displayr for an overview. - Excel spreadsheets (.xls and .xlsx): These work identically to CSV files; see the extra documentation referred to above. Note that Displayr will only read the data from the first sheet in your Excel workbook and that the spreadsheet should have no blank rows or columns before the data, and should contain at most one row of headings.
- SQL databases, including Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, and Oracle.
- Access and Excel file databases