The following describes the layout of the FERRET Metadata
Interface File (MIF).
(View a sample MIF.)
This file is used to populate the FERRET database
metadata repository, and to create the internal description files.
These can then be used to create a data dictionary, either complete
or customized (through FERRET). It also is used to drive the information
passed to the customers through the FERRET front end.
View five illustrations
of how the MIF information is used by FERRET.
The following pieces of item metadata are mandatory. Note that the one character delimiters should be in column one followed immediately by at least one space. The delimiters surrounded by colons allow for multiple line entries without having the delimiter at the beginning of each line. They should be at the beginning and ending of the text.
M Item (variable) name or mnemonic name.
S Short description or English label (limit sixty characters)
C Concept label or topic label 1
T Time of item (when it began),e.g. 199401 for January 1994, and when it ended
(if it has, if it continues into the future, there is no stopdate),
e.g. 199401:199406 1
W Suggested weight variable name (e.g. BASEWGT),
Yes (if item is a weight), OR
NONE (if there is no suggested weight)1 2
X Security Level(e.g. Public, Sponsor, Sworn, Census). 1
Y Variable type abbreviation as follows: 1
E = Edited
U = Unedited
W = Weighting
R = Recode
X = Allocation flag
T = Topcoded
S = Sample Control
G = Geography
P = Replicate Weights
N = Public Use
Z Data type abbreviation as follows: 1
B = Binary (numeric)
C = Character
T = Military time (HH:MM)
Ix.y = Implied decimal (user defines the x to be the total length of value
including the decimal and y is the number of digits to right of decimal
For example:
I10.4 = Implied decimal (5 digits to the left and 4 digits to right of decimal)
I5.2 = Implied decimal (2 digits to left and 2 to right)
Note: the value line should then contain minimum and maximum value with
a decimal. E.g. for Z I5.2, the value line should be V 0.00:99.99
Fx.y = Floating point with precision as described for Implied decimals
N Unit type abbreviation as follows: 1
ABS = Absolute number
AVG = Average
DOL = Dollars
MIN = Minutes
PCT = Percent
SQM = Square miles
TH$ = Thousands of dollars
RTE = Rate
V Value (mandatory for binary items only, however character items may have V lines)
with description. Each value line should have a V at
the beginning. The first 16 characters of two or more description lines
cannot duplicate.
V 1 Male
V 2 Female
or for a continuous range variable:
V -1 Blank
V 0:99 Years
or for a continuous range with decimals (e.g. Z I10.4):
V 0.0000:99999.9999
IF the data contains a blank, the value should be defined exactly as:
V Blank
The following item is optional, but strongly recommended for items that are not allocation flags or topcoded items:
:L: Long description. There may be a multiple line description. There must be a :L: on the following line after the description. :L:
The following items are optional:
P CD-ROM or ascii file data start and end positions
e.g. P 15 16
U Universe description 3
:A: Attachment type (e.g. Edit Specs, Recode Specs, Instrument Specs, Sampling, User Note,
etc.) followed by the URL of the text, beginning on the next line, e.g.
http://www.census.gov/mydir/myfile.htm
(Please note: there is no :A: line after the URL line.)
B Synonyms(Multiple words should either be listed separately, or comma delimited).
I Iteration group size - (i.e. variable repeats 12 times, then 12 would be the
group size). 1
_____________________________View five illustrations of how the MIF information is used by FERRET