Export a Metadata Input Sheet#

To create a spreadsheet containing the metadata that is already documented for a set of variables, use the Export Metadata Input Sheet command. This is useful for reviewing existing documentation, for editing metadata in bulk, and for producing a starting point that can be filled in and applied with the Apply Metadata Input Sheet command.

  1. Navigate to a dataset, variable set, or variable group.

  2. Click the Export Metadata Input Sheet button on the ribbon.

  3. Choose the location and name of the CSV file to create.

Colectica writes one row for each variable, with columns for the properties that a metadata input sheet can set. The exported file can be edited and then applied to the same dataset, or used to copy documentation to a different dataset.

See also

For the meaning and format of each column, see Apply a Metadata Input Sheet.

What Is Exported#

The exported sheet contains the columns described in Apply a Metadata Input Sheet, with the following details.

Languages

A separate column is written for each of your configured metadata languages. For example, if English and French are configured, the sheet contains both Label[en-US] and Label[fr] columns.

Groups

A group: column is written for each top level variable group. Variables that are not in a group have an empty cell in that column.

Custom fields

A column is written for each custom field defined for variables, and for each custom field that has a value on any exported variable. Custom fields that are defined but not yet filled in are included as empty columns, so the exported sheet can be used as a form for collecting that information.

Item references

The CodeListId, MissingValuesId, UniverseId, and UnitTypeId columns contain the full identifiers of the referenced items, so that reapplying the sheet links the same items rather than creating duplicates.

Note

Custom fields on questions are exported only when they contain text or multilingual text. Other question custom field types are not included in the exported sheet.

Reapplying an Exported Sheet#

An exported sheet can be applied again with the Apply Metadata Input Sheet command. Applying an unmodified sheet to the dataset it came from makes no changes, so any messages in the summary reflect edits you made to the sheet.

When a sheet is applied to a different dataset, the ID columns are resolved against your connected repositories. If a referenced code list or missing values representation is not available, Colectica falls back to the Codes and MissingValueCodes columns, so the codes are recreated rather than lost.