Add an Attribute to an Object

Add a data attribute to a loaded data object.

Attributes can either be numeric, alphanumeric or calculated. Alphanumeric attributes are constrained to a length limit (where length is measured in number of characters). This limit will depend on the mode of your system.

Note: In the context of object or table data, "column", "field" and "attribute" have the same meaning. "Attribute" is used throughout Studio documentation.

Activity Steps

1. Display the Add Column dialog:
   • In the Loaded Data control bar, right-click an object and select Add Column.
   • Run add-attributes.

   • In a 3D or Plots window, use the quick keys "nat".

   • Activate the Edit ribbon and select Attributes >> Edit Attributes.

2. Select an Object to append. If you right-clicked an object to display the Add Column dialog, that object will be listed automatically.

3. Decide which Type of attribute is appropriate:

   • Numeric attributes store number values or an absent indicator ("-").

   • Alphanumeric attributes store any data value and will be considered text, not numbers. An absent indicator ("-") is also supported.

   • Calculated attributes will store automatically generated values, such as an open string's Length, or a closed string's Area.
     
     Calculated string attributes are stored with fixed, reserved names. They are prefixed with an underscore, e.g. "_AREA". All entries in this list other than Numeric and Alphanumeric are calculated attribute types.
     

4. Enter an attribute Name, up to a maximum length limit.

5. For Alphanumeric attributes, specify a Length. This is the maximum number of characters the attribute can store.

6. Set a Default Value which will be used in place of empty records. This is commonly a hyphen ("-") representing absent data, but can be any value the attribute supports.

Important: Numeric data expressed as "-" is not the same as zero. Zero is a measured quantity and can influence the results of application calculations in a different way to absent data, where the record is considered to be missing.