insert text from custom item later

[merpy]

[edited by moderator]

I've used <varname> in the instructions before to insert a previous response into a later item, but for some reason it's not working this time, and I'm wondering if it's because the variable I'm trying to insert is a Custom item. It's a TEXTAREA variable... so like a mini essay. It's recording to the data file correctly, but when I try to recall it later for the other question, it just shows <varname> rather than what the subject entered.

Any idea what's going on, and how to fix it?

Thanks.
-merpy

[jarvis24]

What version of MediaLab are you using (2008.x.x)? If you have a recent version then also check to make sure the variable name is the same as it is labeled in the data file output. You could also check to make sure the variable is always entered in lowercase wherever it is referenced in case there is an upper/lower case issue (unlikely but possible). If none of this helps, please zip and post or email me a sample I can look at--I'll see if I can reproduce the problem.

[merpy]

My version of MediaLab is 2008.1.21.

The variable name in question is <HHHmem1-happy> (just like that, with the caps and everything). Is it too long, or not allowed to have capitals? I tried changing it to all lowercase in both the original location and where it is called, and it made no difference. Then I tried changing it to <boogle> to see if it was the hyphen or the length, but that made no difference either.

[merpy]

I've attached here an abbreviated version of the experiment, including only the two relevant questionnaires: the one where the variable is written to the file, and the one where it is called.

Thanks for your help. :)

[jarvis24]

I should have known this but you need to create a responses.xls file (see Advanced Features in the user's guide) and list the variables you want to use later on in this manner. See the attached sample as an illustration.

Let me know if you have any trouble with it!

[merpy]

Whoops, totally forgot about that!

I did also discover that when recalling an earlier variable, it doesn't like capital letters. I added the responses.xls file, but it wouldn't work until I changed the variable name from <HHHmem1-happy> to <hhhmem1-happy>. This in spite of the fact that it was the same, casewise, in all three locations (original essay, where it was output, and responses.xls).

Though that might be good to know for anyone else who might have this problem.

Thanks for your help!

[jarvis24]

Thanks Merpy, I thought that had been resolved. Will look into it.