Variable selection

Overview

In the bottom pane of the transform you will need to select the variables you'd like to keep in your output table. One or more variables must be kept in order to run the transform.

Usage

Click on a variable and use the center buttons to move it between the two lists. You can use command-/control- and shift-click to select multiple variables at once.

For larger variable lists, clicking the search icon will allow you to quickly filter the available variable options down based on search terms.

Distinct

You can select the Distinct box to drop any records that are an exact copy of another record across values in all variables in your output table.

This can be useful in situations where you create variables using analytic methods or if your data is in a particular format. Otherwise this might slow down your transform run time unnecessarily.

Source indicators

Hovering on any variable will show a tooltip with information about where the variable came from, it's type, and any assigned label.

You will also see to the left of variables in the list an icon showing the variable's source. For variables originating in the source table, the icon will show t0 and for variables from subsequently joined in tables the icon will show t1, t2, etc. For variables created in this transform it will show v.

Selection options

Some steps will add or remove variables as options for selection to keep in the discard table. Join and occasionally Merge will bring in variables from other tables. Create variables will make new variables. Aggregate will remove all variables that are not included in the collapse, but has the potential to add newly created aggregate variables.