Common Excel Formats Questions
#1 Dimension, Attributes and Time
Periods appear as header columns
#2 If any Dimensions or Attributes
have fixed values for the whole dataset, these may be placed in a Header
section.
Shown below are fixed values for DATA_DOMAIN, REF_AREA and COUNTERPART_AREA
#3 Multiple Frequencies are supported
in the same worksheet (Annual and Monthly for example). The frequency of the reported values is
derived from the date formats.
Note: When using SDMX Central to derive the Frequency from the Time Period column, use the highest frequency reported in the FREQ Dimension.
When the data is read, the value for the dimension FREQ will be derived from the corresponding date format. The following rules are used:
#4 It is permissible to have multiple worksheets with data. This mechanism can be used to report different frequencies of data per worksheet.
The Header section of each worksheet must be consistent in terms of layout, as shown in the image below.
#5 Observation Attributes may be reported in the header section, which applies this as a default value for all observations.
#6 The header section should be
separated from the data section by a blank row
#7 Reported values appear in the data section
#8 Dimension values are mandatory. If a value is not reported, this will result in an error.
#9 Extra rows and in the spreadsheet may be added to improve the readability for the user. Blank rows are permitted but with certain restrictions. Blank rows may appear before the header section and between the header section and data section. However, a blank row may not exist within the header section. If a blank row is encountered in the header section, then this is assumed to indicate the end of the header section and this may cause your spreadsheet to be read incorrectly.
#10 Blank columns indicate that no further information should be read from that row. IMF SDMX Central will read from the first column of information in a row until it reaches a blank cell (unless it’s a data row). The image below shows a spreadsheet where column H is blank and row 9 is blank. This would mean that in the data section only data for 2001 and 2002 are read (columns F and G). Columns I and J will not be read. However, all the 3 series (rows 7,8 and 10) will be read.
#12 It is permissible to have entire
rows in the data section that are there to indicate what the data represents.
This has the restriction that the text in these rows must not be in a column
that indicates a Dimension, Attribute or Value. The image below shows row 7
being used to explain what rows 8 and 9 represent. The text for row 7 is in
column A, which is now used as additional information.