UNICOM Intelligence - better known as IBM SPSS Dimensions or IBM SPSS Data Collection - is a dedicated survey system in SurveyTester. A project set to UNICOM Intelligence (IBM SPSS Data Collection/SPSS Dimensions) (or to Automatic) recognises a Dimensions survey the moment the browser extension opens it: every page with its questions, answer options, grid rows and columns, text and number fields, the error messages and the end page. From there everything else in SurveyTester works as usual - Auto Answer, Auto Complete, SurveyBots, test cases, issues and the Pages & Routing overview.
What a Dimensions survey looks like to a tester
A Dimensions survey runs in the Interviewer Server's web player. The survey link usually points to mrIWeb.dll with the
project in the address, for example https://<server>/mrIWeb/mrIWeb.dll?I.Project=<PROJECT>; when you paste such a link
into a new project, SurveyTester preselects Dimensions for you. Every page is a classic web page: the respondent
answers, clicks Next and the server sends the next page. If an answer is missing or out of range, the same page
comes back with a red error message above the question.
The look of a Dimensions survey depends entirely on its templates. Two surveys from the same system can look very different, but underneath they share the same structure, and that structure is what SurveyTester reads.
Why this is hard to test without SurveyTester
- Every survey has its own templates. Grids may be drawn as tables, as rows of buttons or as one row per item; dropdowns, list boxes and text fields may sit inside grid cells. SurveyTester reads the questions from the page structure, not from the template's look.
- Variable names hide in the page. Dimensions builds its field names from the question, the loop iteration and
the category. SurveyTester turns them back into the question and category names from the script, so a tester sees
Q5and its categories instead of long technical field names. - Special answers are easy to miss. "Don't know", "No answer" and "Refused" often appear as a small checkbox next to a text or number field. SurveyTester attaches them to their field instead of treating them as extra questions.
- Rules are only visible as error messages. Number ranges, the allowed number of answers and totals are often enforced only when the page is submitted. SurveyTester reads the error message, learns the rule and answers within it on the next try.
Supported question types
| Dimensions question type | How SurveyTester records it |
|---|---|
| Single choice (radio buttons, dropdown, list box) | One category is chosen. |
| Multiple choice, with exclusive categories | Several categories are ticked; an exclusive category such as "None" is ticked alone. |
| Categories with "other, please specify" | The category and its text field are recorded together, and a text is entered when the category is chosen. |
| Yes/no checkbox | The checkbox is ticked or left empty. |
| Open text (single line or text box) | A fitting text within the allowed length is entered. |
| Number fields | A number within the allowed range is entered; ranges from error messages are respected. |
| Text and number fields with "Don't know", "No answer" or "Refused" | The special answer is recorded as part of its field. |
| Single-choice grid, also as a one-row rating scale | Every row is answered with one column. |
| Multiple-choice grid | Every row gets its ticks; exclusive columns are ticked alone, and a column limited to one answer gets one. |
| Grids with dropdowns, text or number fields in the cells | Every cell is recorded as a field of its row and answered by its type. |
| Grids with "other, please specify" rows | The row and its text field are recorded together. |
| Flipped grid (items in columns, scale in rows) | Every column is recorded as an item with its own scale. |
| Compound grids (several questions per row) | Every question of every row is recorded on its own. |
| Numeric grids that must add up (constant sum, row totals) | The values are spread so the total matches. |
| Ranking grids | Every item gets a different rank. |
| MaxDiff (best and worst columns) | One best and one different worst item are chosen per task. See Testing MaxDiff questions. |
| Unaided awareness (a list of text fields, optionally with "Don't know") | One or more fields are filled from the top; the "Don't know" box is recorded with the question. |
| Info pages and banners | Recorded as information pages with nothing to answer; banner texts belong to the page. |
Errors, test pages and end page
- Error messages. Each red Dimensions error message is stored with the question it belongs to, so you can see in the result which question the survey refused, and with what text.
- Test-only pages. Pages that the script shows only during testing - for example with "DISPLAYED DURING TESTING ONLY" or "[HIDDEN QUESTION]" in the text - are recorded, but Auto Answer leaves them alone.
- Navigation. SurveyTester uses the survey's Next and Previous buttons and never presses the "Go to", "First" or "Last" buttons some templates show.
- End page. A page without a question name is recorded as the last step of the run, with the closing message as its text. Complete, screenout and quota outcomes are configured as for any other survey system, with survey end page identifiers on the project. See Survey end pages.
Step by step
- Create the project. Choose UNICOM Intelligence (IBM SPSS Data Collection/SPSS Dimensions) as the survey system, or leave it at Automatic - the survey is recognised either way. Paste the survey link.
- Start a test run from the project with the SurveyTester browser extension, or let SurveyBots run the survey. The SurveyTester bar appears above it, and the first page is recorded as step 1.
- Answer the survey by hand, or press Auto Answer and Auto Next to let SurveyTester fill the page and move on. Each page creates the next step.
- Check the result on the Pages & Routing page: every page appears with its questions, every question with its categories, grid rows and columns.
Good to know
- Question and page names. SurveyTester uses the names from the Dimensions script: the page is named after its question or page in the routing, questions and categories keep their script names. Questions inside loops and grids carry the names of their parent question and iteration, so the same question in two iterations stays apart.
- Upload the metadata first. If you have the survey's
.mddfile, upload it on the Pages & Routing page before the first run. SurveyTester then knows every question in advance, including those that a test run has not reached yet. See Survey Metadata Upload. - Export back to Dimensions. What SurveyTester has recorded can be exported as a Dimensions script. See Export the tested survey as a questionnaire or Dimensions script.
- CATI and XML player. Pages from the Dimensions CATI player and from the XML player are recognised automatically as well; choose Automatic or the Dimensions entry for such projects.
- Custom templates. Some surveys use heavily customised templates or interactive widgets (sliders, drag-and-drop, click-to-rank tiles). SurveyTester records their fields, but may not be able to answer every one automatically. If you find a page that SurveyTester does not read correctly, please send it to us.