This article provides a summary of the new features available in AskiaTools v7.0.0.

You can now open a QEX file directly with AskiaTools (data will be read as inverted), thus avoiding the QES file format limitations.

• Random data generation
  1. Pre-defined responses
  2. RDG accessible through the command line
• New command line parameters :
  1. Questionselection
  2. Export to SPSS Dimensions
  3. Clean caption before export
  4. Export peri data (system fields)
• Export to an Askia survey
• SAV export new options
• Verification script improvements
• Triple-S export : make shortcuts uppercase
• JSON format

 

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Random data generation

1. Pre-defined responses

   We have added a script window to enter some code to be run prior to the random generation.

   This allows you to generate data for a specific population, ignore screenout routings etc.

   

   If the option `Overwrite existing data if visible` is checked then routing instructions you have set in your survey could be overwritten by the random data generation.
2. RDG accessible through the command line

Here are the parameters you can use when running RDG through the command line :

Parameter	Type	Description
/generateinterviews	-	Flag used to request a random data generation.
/numOfInterviews	Integer	Determines the number of interviews that will be randomly generated. (default value 100)
/attemptsPerQuestion	Integer	Indicates the number of times a generation is attempted for a question when getting an entry error. (default value 10)
/scenario	String	String that specifies the name of the scenario used for the RDG.
/SaveIfTooManyAtempts	Integer	Indicates if the interview should be saved after unsuccessful attempts for a question. (possible values 0 or 1, default 1)
/SaveIfScreenOut	Integer	Indicates if the interview should be saved if screened out. (possible values 0 or 1, default 1)
/randomseed	Integer	Indicates which reproducible way of generating interviews (the value is different at each call).
/definitionfile	String	String that indicates the path of the script to run.
/OverwriteIfVisible	Integer	Indicates if a question data should be re-generated when it’s already filled if it’s visible. (possible values 0 or 1, default 0)
/routingspeed	Integer	Indicates if the speed of the routings should be logged. (possible values 0 or 1, default 0)
/modules	String	String that indicates the path of the module (separated by comma if several modules) to use during RDG.
/quotasource	Integer	0 : no quota 1 : quota from the QEX 2 : quota from LiveSurvey (default 0)

Example :

Tools.exe "C:\Qes\MyFile.qes" /generateinterviews /numOfInterviews:1000 /attemptsPerQuestion:10 /SaveIfScreenOut:1

A definition of these options can be found here.

 

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New command line parameters

1. Questionselection

   Using AskiaScript you can select the variables you want to export (in ASCII delimited, SAV, SPSS Dimensions, Triple S or Askia survey format) based on their properties (tag, type, IsAnonymised etc.).
   For example the script below will select all open ended and datetime questions.

   /questionselection:"(CurrentQuestion.Type has {\"open\";\"datetime\"})"

   You can find more examples here

2. Export to SPSS Dimensions from the command line

   Use the parameter /exportdimensions to export your data from Askia to SPSS Dimensions format.

   Tools.exe "C:\Qes\MyFile.qes" /exportdimensions /completes /datafile:"Provider=mrOleDB.Provider.2;Persist Security Info=False;Data Source=mrDataFileDsc;Location=C:\Qes\Me\ExportDimensions\DataOut.dzf;Extended Properties=\"\";Initial Catalog=C:\Qes\Me\ExportDimensions\ExportData.mdd;Mode=ReadWrite;MR Init MDM Access=1" /questions":gender;age"

    

3. Clean caption before export

   We've added two new parameters:

   • /removehtml : removes all HTML tags inserted in your survey captions.
   • /removeaskiascript : replaces Askia's inline scripts used in your survey captions with  "_".

   Tools.exe "C:\My Directory\CleanCaption.qes" /type:0 /exportdelimited /completes /closedtype:2 /removehtml /removeaskiascript /questioncaption:3 /datafile:"C:\My Directory\Cleaned.txt" 

    

   The parameters listed above can be used with /exportdelimited, /exportsav, /exporttriples, /exportqes.

    

4. Export peri data (system fields)

   We have added a new function (only avaiable from the command line) to get the peri data of a survey by using the parameter /exportperidata.

   Tools.exe "C:\Qes\Ex.qes" /exportperidata /completes /datafile:"C:\Qes\Output.txt" /fields:"seed;fraudinformation"

   If you do not specify the fields (using the parameter /fields) or leave it empty then all possible fields will be exported.
   To specify the ones you want, separate them by a semi-colon among this list:

   InterviewID
   AgentId
   StartInterview
   EndInterview
   Seed
   CallId
   Completed
   LanguageId
   KeyStrokeCount
   ErrorsOnVerifyCount
   Guid
   LastResult
   LastSubResult
   CallCount
   Revision
   WebIdentity
   Resolution
   Capabilities
   Broker
   BrokerPanelId
   Longitude
   Latitude
   PanelId
   ListId
   StartInterviewUTC
   EndInterviewUTC
   StartInterviewUTCOffset
   EndInterviewUTCOffset
   LastSeenQuestion
   DeviceId
   ClickCount
   Speed
   Duration
   FraudInformation
   ExternalCalls
   CollectionMode

 

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Export to an Askia survey

We have create a new type of export : Export to Askia survey.

It allows you to export a survey file to:

• QES file format.
• QEX/Inverted format.
• Field through the CcaWebAPI (SQL format).

The screens and routings are not exported but the questions, responses, languages and data are.

All options are accessible through the command line.

Parameter	Type	Description
/exportqes	-	Flag used to request an export to an Askia survey export in QES file format
/exportinverted	-	Flag used to request an export to an Askia survey export in inverted format
/exportfield	-	Flag used to request an export to an Askia field survey (SQL format) through the CcaWebAPI
/targeturl	String	CcaWebAPI URL to use when exporting an Askia survey to field
/targetusername	String	Supervisor's user name used to connect the CcaWebAPI when exporting an Askia survey to field
/targetpassword	String	Supervisor's password used to connect the CcaWebAPI when exporting an Askia survey to field

 

Example 1 : export to Askia survey in QES format.

Tools.exe "C:\Qes\Me\ExportData\ex.qes" /exportqes /completes /datafile:"C:\Qes\Me\ExportData\ExportDataRes.qes" /questionselection:"(CurrentQuestion.Tags Has {\"Demog\";\"LifeStyle\"} or CurrentQuestion.Type = \"open\") And (CurrentQuestion.IsAnonymised = False)" /additionalfilter:"i1_Gender = 1" 

Example 2 : export to Askia survey in inverted format.

Tools.exe "C:\Qes\Me\ExportData\ex.qes" /exportinverted /completes /datafile:"C:\Qes\Me\ExportData\ExportDataInv.qex" /additionalfilter:"i1_Gender = 1"

Example 3 : export to Askia field survey.

Tools.exe "C:\Qes\Me\ExportData\ex.qes" /exportfield /targetUrl:"http://127.0.0.1/ccawebapi" /targetUserName:"Administrator" /targetPassword:”pwd" /completes /datafile:"NewExport" /additionalfilter:"i1_Gender  = 1" 

 

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SAV export new options

We have added an option to specify which number you want the DK for closed questions exported as.

You can chose how the shortcuts of multiple closed questions will be post-fixed. Either using the modalities order, the modalities entry codes or with the same size entry codes.

 

We have added options in the SAV Export so you can decide if you want to use the default current behaviour (use the flag that indicates a question is ranked), or if we always use dichotomy or export as if the question was a ranking.

The values (factors) of scaled responses can now be exported.

 And all these options are accessible through the command line:

Parameter	Type	Description
/preservecase	Integer	Indicates that the shortcuts case should be kept when exporting to SAV format.
/samesizeloopentrycode	Integer	Flag indicating that loop items entry codes should have the same size. (possible values 0 or 1, default 0)
/uselongcaption	Integer	Flag use to make sure long captions will be used in the SAV export. (possible values 0 or 1, default 0)
/multipleseparator	String	A string to specify the separator of multiple closed questions.
/entrycodeformultiple	Integer	Flag used to create multiple shortcut with entry codes. (possible values 0 or 1, default 0)
/opensize	Integer	Value that specifies the size of open ended questions (default value : 1024, 1 for auto-detection).
/numericdk	String	String to indicate if a numeric value should be interpreted as a system DK (used by /importpkd, /importdimensions and /exportsav)
/closeddk	Integer	Parameter indicating the value of DK for closed questions.
/shortcutpostfixtype	Integer	Value indicating how the shortcut of multiple closed questions should be postfixed. 0 : postfix with order 1 : postfix with entry codes 2 : postfix with same size entry codes
/multipletype	Integer	Value indicating which format should be used to export multiple closed questions. 0 : use question ranking flag (check if the question is ranked - default behaviour) 1 : always use dichotomy 2 : always use ranking (export with the full list of resonses as a ranking)
/usefactors	Integer	Flag use to indicate that values (factors) of scaled responses should be exported. (possible values 0 or 1, default 0)

 

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Verification script improvements

 

We have allowed the running of verification scripts which can change interview data.

Once you have checked that you have allowed write back to the masque, you can use the Question.SetValue method and a new method (just for here) Interview.MarkAsCompleted( true / false).

All these calls are logged and you can see it in your list of Assert windows.

This option can be set as a default.

And accessible via command line with the parameter /allowwrite.

We have added an option to indicate where to look for a list of .ASX files to be used as a library of functions for the verification script.

 

Triple-S export : make shortcuts uppercase

We have added the option forcing all shortcuts to be upper case when exporting to triple-S.

This option is also available from the command line with the following parameter : /shortcutuppercase:1

 

JSON format

It is now possible to import and export data to JSON format.

Both options are available from the interface and via command line parameters. 

- Import :

Tools.exe "C:\MyDirectory\MySurvey.qex" /importjsondata /datafile:"C:\MyDirectory\input.json" /logfile:"C:\MyDirectory\importlog.txt"

- Export :

Tools.exe "C:\MyDirectory\MySurvey.qex" /exportjsondata /datafile:"C:\MyDirectory\Output.json" /completes /incompletes

Here's an extract of the JSON format

[
    {
        "Data":[{"AnswerData":
    [
            {"Answer":["2"],"Data":[]}],"QuestionShortcut":"Gender"},
            {"AnswerData":[{"Answer":["21"],"Data":[]}],"QuestionShortcut":"Age"},
            {"AnswerData":[{"Answer":["2025-06-25T00:00:00"],"Data":[]}],"QuestionShortcut":"DOB"},
            {"AnswerData":[{"Answer":["Teacher"],"Data":[]}],"QuestionShortcut":"Profession"},
            {"AnswerData":[{"Answer":["1","3","2"],"Data":[]}],"QuestionShortcut":"Brands"},
            {"AnswerData":[
                {"Answer":["1"],"Data":[{"AnswerData":[{"Answer":["1"],"Data":[]}],"QuestionShortcut":"Q"}]},
                {"Answer":["2"],"Data":[{"AnswerData":[{"Answer":["1"],"Data":[]}],"QuestionShortcut":"Q"}]},
                {"Answer":["3"],"Data":[{"AnswerData":[{"Answer":["1"],"Data":[]}],"QuestionShortcut":"Q"}]}],"QuestionShortcut":"Loop"}
            ],
    "Interview":"7BCC3315-B886-4630-A212-17D6B3620940"
    }
]

 

Full details of the Change Logs can be found in this section of the Askia Helpdesk.