1.10 Variable Display Parameter Record

The variable display parameter record, if present, has the following format:

/* Header. */
int32               rec_type;
int32               subtype;
int32               size;
int32               count;

/* Repeated count times. */
int32               measure;
int32               width;           /* Not always present. */
int32               alignment;

int32 rec_type;

Record type. Always set to 7.

int32 subtype;

Record subtype. Always set to 11.

int32 size;

The size of int32. Always set to 4.

int32 count;

The number of sets of variable display parameters (ordinarily the number of variables in the dictionary), times 2 or 3.

The remaining members are repeated count times, in the same order as the variable records. No element corresponds to variable records that continue long string variables. The meanings of these members are as follows:

int32 measure;

The measurement level of the variable:

0

Unknown

1

Nominal

2

Ordinal

3

Scale

An “unknown” measure of 0 means that the variable was created in some way that doesn’t make the measurement level clear, e.g. with a COMPUTE transformation. PSPP sets the measurement level the first time it reads the data using the rules documented in Measurement Level in PSPP Users Guide, so this should rarely appear.

int32 width;

The width of the display column for the variable in characters.

This field is present if count is 3 times the number of variables in the dictionary. It is omitted if count is 2 times the number of variables.

int32 alignment;

The alignment of the variable for display purposes:

0

Left aligned

1

Right aligned

2

Centre aligned