Substitute Values Using the Special Characters Window

Certain data files, such as text files or numeric data stored as a text field in SQL server, can have non-numeric values or special numeric values that Supervisor is not able to read correctly. For example, NM (not measured) may mean a missing value, or <0.001 may mean below detection level. These values must be defined to be recognised and used appropriately by Supervisor.

Special characters are manually defined in the Special Characters Window of the .

Activity Steps

1. In the Component Options section, click the Library tab.
2. Click Data Loading.
3. Select the Special Characters tab at the bottom of the Main Canvas.
4. Select whether to Enable a special character entry.

   Note: Click in the Special Character(s) field to create a new entry before enabling it.

5. Enter the Special Character(s), for the data loader to interpret in a non-standard way.
6. Select how the special characters Match with a loaded value from:Match – Match the loaded value exactly.
   • Starts – Match a loaded value that starts with the Special Character(s) string.
   • Ends – Match a loaded value that ends with the Special Character(s) string.
   • Contains – Match a loaded value that contains the Special Character(s) string. This means it can start, or end or have the string anywhere else is the loaded value.
7. Select the Interpretation of the action taken on a matched loaded value from:
   • As Column – Use the No Value setting in the data loader's Column Definition Table.
   • Missing – Set as a missing value with no data.
   • Default – Set to the value defined in the Default column.
   • Error
8. If Interpretation is set to Default, enter the Default value to be used.
9. Select which Data types are used to find matches from:
   • Numeric
   • String
   • Any
10. If required, enter a Comment.