Lesson 9: How to organize codes

A single click on a code activates the code. The following procedures are initially related to the active code. A double-click on the code results in the PD-window to pop up and present the code within that window if only a single quotation has been assigned to it. In case more than a single quotation has been assigned to the code, a list with those quoting pops up and you may now select a passage to be displayed with your mouse.

A multitude of features for organizing is available through the code-list window and its context-menu. You must always differentiate between relating to the entire list or relating to a particular marked and therefore active code. You will notice the difference that only currently unavailable sections are grayed out in the unified context-menu after a new HU was opened and no code or a quotation has been activated. Please note that it doesn't make any sense to rename all code-labels at the same time using the rename-command.

Once you have activated a code in the opened list it will remain unless another code has been selected. But how do you return to the state where no code was active? The solution at first glance would be to hold down the key and to click the active code with the left mouse button causing it not to appear inverted anymore. However this method won't work since the last active code is still always being treated as if it would be active! I don‘t know the reason for it either.

Functions for a code

• Renaming
• Commenting
• Using them to code.
• Opening a network focused around this code (see below)

• Binding the code to other objects (other codes, memos, quotations) (binding to quotations is identical to the process of coding provided that both objects, quotation and code are already defined!)
• Starting the "Autocode" function
• Deleting
• Merging with other codes ("miscellaneous/merge codes"; currently being revised, usage might result in the creation of an inconsistent HU)

Deletion of multiple codes at the same time is not possible! Although you can mark multiple codes simultaneously and select the "delete" option from the context-menu while holding down Shift or Strg only the first selected code is deleted.

You can also achieve the opposite effect through this menu --- the deletion of codes from quotations. For this purpose you will find the „unlink quotation" and „unlink all quotations" in „miscellaneous". When using "unlink quotation", a list with the quotations linked to the marked code is presented. You may then select the quotations from the list that are to be unlinked from the code. The quotations remain untouched.

Please use the "unlink all quotations" function with care: this will surprisingly not delete all quotations from the active code but all quotations of the entire HU are being removed from all codes! This process is likely to be used in rare cases only. However the application prompts you to confirm the removal of all codes from their quotations.

Functions for a list of codes

• Opening and editing it with the family-editor (s. below)
• modifying the sort-criteria (s. below)
• changing the list-filtering (that is a difference!; s. below)
• starting the "Autocoding"-function (s. below)
• producing different types of code-lists: The following are at your disposal
  • a simple list of all codes (as we have previously used to import- and export)
  • the code-hierarchy
  • codes and its „neighbors"
  • table of codes per primary-text
  • list of codes listing the found positions in miscellaneous primary-texts by line-numbers
  • Output through the SPSS-interface (not described in greater detail)