This article explains how to address the red X’s that appear in the New Question Responses of a User Defined Question (UDQ).

During the process of Updating a UDQ or Applying a UDQ to Another Study, an additional step requiring the Recode feature will be necessary if there are red X’s in the New Question Responses section of the User Defined Question window.

Right-click on the UDQ. It will either be orange or red.

Select Edit User Defined Question from the menu.

If the New Question Responses display a red “X” instead of a green check mark, it means that the question being used to create the new response has changed between the studies that are loaded.

In the following example, the original Model # of Item Purchased question appears yellow and has changed between the study years. This is normal and expected since new models are added and dropped during each year. Using a Recode will create a common response table between the studies.

Right-click on the yellow question in the Filter Questions section. Select Recode from the menu.

Another option may appear which asks to use an Alternate Recode. If this appears, click on Base Question.

Click the Copy Old to New button to start the Recode process.

The Copy Old Labels To New Labels message box will appear.

Select Auto Create Recode Across Selected Studies.

Another message box will appear asking to sort the new labels alphabetically. Choose either Yes or No.

Note the New Labels column is now populated on the right side of the Recode.

Name the Recode.

Save the Recode

After Saving the Recode, the User Defined Question window will return.

Find the newly saved Recode under the Available Topics / Questions section. Drag the Recode into Filter Questions

Right-click on the green Recode in the Filter Questions section. Select Subset from the menu.

Subset the responses in the Recode so that they match the definition for the New Question Response. For example, if one of the New Question Responses is named “Brand A – Recommend,” then Subset all of the Brand A responses in the Recode.

Remove the original yellow question from the Filter Questions.

Repeat the previous steps to Subset the Recode for each of the New Question Responses in the UDQ.

The New Question Responses that were previously red X’s should now all be green check marks.

Click on each of the New Question Responses to verify that the Filter Description is correct.

After verifying that there are only green check marks for the New Question Responses, click the Apply button.

The User Defined Question should update and the orange or red icon should change back to green. Green icons indicate that the UDQ can be used and will properly display data when run.

Include the green UDQ in a tab and run it by hitting the lightning bolt. Instead of ‘NA’s, mTAB will now display data for the UDQ.

Update New Question Responses In a UDQ