Writing Data

Hello,
I was trying to find a clear answer for when data is written to the .csv file. I've always been under the assumption this happens when the "OK" button is clicked at the end of the questionnaire, but it's become important for me to know this with certainty.

We're having issues with password-protected screensavers popping up, then other lab staff "kicking off" prior users by terminating their idle sessions. I have a theory that if this is happening after the screen has gone idle waiting for someone to click "OK" that the data isn't getting saved when the questionnaire-administering user is kicked off the machine.

One way or another, we're missing a participant's data!

How about a clear-ish answer? All of the major data files are updated at the absolute end of the session. If the session ends before that point due to a system crash or intentional shutting down of the program (e.g., via ctrl+alt+delete) then no data will be written. There are a few minor exceptions to this--but they are [I]few[/I]--and included essay text data files and unusal techniques such as creating text data files from fill in the blank and/or scale response items in conjunction with the filename parameter.

Note that if you skip to the end of the session using [URL="http://www.empirisoft.com/medialab/help/main_navigation.htm"]secret keys[/URL], the data will still be written and the skipped over items will simply be written as missing values. That's the easiest way to end a session early and still keep the data that [I]were[/I] gathered.

See also, the [I]Data FAQ[/I] in the user's guide or online here:
[URL]http://www.empirisoft.com/medialab/help/data_faq.htm[/URL]

Thank you for your answer. To beat a dead horse here... when you say the absolute end of the session, do you mean closing the MediaLab program, or just exiting the questionnaire?

Ah.. at the end of the session--when it says "please tell the experimenter you're done..." (or whatever). If you are using multiple [I].que[/I] questionnaires (via an [I].exp[/I] experiment file), the data will also be written at the end of the final questionnaire.