We are not aware of the existence of any common data file formats not supported by Displayr.

Importing as a Data Set or in a Calculation

There are two choices when importing data into Displayr. It can be imported as a Data Set or a Calculation. Data Sets are, for most problems, the best format. However, Calculations are more flexible, and are preferable for more idiosyncratic problems (i.e., data that cannot be fit into a data set).

How to import a Data Set

A Data Set is imported by selecting Home > Data > Data Set and choosing an appropriate option. The most general option is to select R, as this permits the data to be imported using any of the file importing code developed for R. However, it should only be chosen as a last option as the other approaches will often lead to superior quality Data Sets being automatically created.

Related: Switching methods for importing data file

Choice of file format when importing data as a Data Set

Two key considerations when choosing a format for a data file are:

• Whether Displayr reads it natively, or, uses an R package to import the file. All else being equal, files read natively by Displayr are preferable to those that are imported using R.
• Whether the file format supports rich metadata. As a general rule, a file that contains metadata is vastly preferable to one that does not. However, this distinction is only important with fields where rich metadata exists (e.g., survey research).

The benefit of having a good file format relates to time savings. The worse the file format, the more time that will be required in order to setup and analyze the data in Displayr.

Exporting Variables

If you need to export the raw data from your dataset or select variables within it to Excel. Go to Insert > Tables > Raw Data. Then select the variables you wish from the Inputs > Raw Data > Variables dropdown. You can then export the created table to Excel.