Logical Decisions - Classweb

Next, LDW asks you if it should append import file records that
have the same name as an existing alternative. If you answer
"Yes," LDW will create a new alternative for each record in the
import file. Otherwise, the program will check for alternatives
with the same name as the record being loaded, and LDW will not
append a new alternative if a match is found.
Finally, LDW asks two questions that determine which
alternatives will be kept in the LDW analysis.
First LDW asks if it should apply the measure cutoffs to the
alternatives. If you say "Yes," LDW will not save any alternative
that fails a cutoff defined for any of the measures. In addition,
when you select this option, LDW will not append an alternative
with a text label that is not on the current list for a measure.
Next, LDW asks the maximum number of alternatives that should
be read in. If you specify a number less than the number of
alternatives in the import file, say 10, LDW will rank each
alternative as it reads it and will only save the top 10 ranked
alternatives (it bases its ranking on the active preference set).
This ability -- when combined with the Import Structure option -provides
a powerful way of quickly screening large data files for
the most promising alternatives.
The Update and Append option in the import dialog box is a
combination of the Update and Append options. It lets you
simultaneously update existing alternatives and append new
records to an existing database using an import file.
The option again proceeds similarly to the Update option. First
you select a file for importing. Next you mark which measures
LDW should update from the import file.
LDW will read measure levels for the marked measures from the
import file for each appended or updated alternative. LDW will
assign the unmarked measures their most preferred levels for
each appended alternative, but will not change their levels for
updated alternatives.
LDW will then ask whether it should screen to make sure the
alternatives pass all cutoffs and the maximum number if
alternatives it should save, as is done in the Append option.
Section 8 -- Using LDW 3: Reviewing Results 8-71