I am opening this discussion to facilitate decisions regarding the handling of qdc import for codebooks. The codebook exchange from one Requal project into another works smoothly. However, when we encounter qdc files from other programs, numerous questions arise with no single correct answer.
When we export, there are no problems - Requal has a full control over what is going, how the file is constructed, and what validation is used. However, it may still be worthwhile to know how other programs process Requal-generated qdc files.
Potential discussion points:
Do we ignore them, import as codable codes, import as categories, offer multiple options....?
The current approach is to ignore them.
How do we approach failed validation? Currently, many qdc files fail to pass validation, possibly due to qdc version conflicts.
The current approach is to issue a warning but proceed with the import. This may, however, lead to crashes if the imported file has more serious departures from the standard.
One problem with invalid files is that they often include colors in RGB format instead of valid HEX, some programs even export qdc with transparency values. These files crash Requal.
I am inclined to use a more robust color processing (already in place for CSV imports), but with invalid files we can never be 100% sure about what the color format looks like.
The current approach is to ignore them, but I am inclined to include them in the imported codes descriptions.
A valid approach to invalid files would be to report the error and cancel the import. But it will make Requal quite restrictive.
I am opening this discussion to facilitate decisions regarding the handling of qdc import for codebooks. The codebook exchange from one Requal project into another works smoothly. However, when we encounter qdc files from other programs, numerous questions arise with no single correct answer.
When we export, there are no problems - Requal has a full control over what is going, how the file is constructed, and what validation is used. However, it may still be worthwhile to know how other programs process Requal-generated qdc files.
Potential discussion points:
Do we ignore them, import as codable codes, import as categories, offer multiple options....?
The current approach is to ignore them.
How do we approach failed validation? Currently, many qdc files fail to pass validation, possibly due to qdc version conflicts.
The current approach is to issue a warning but proceed with the import. This may, however, lead to crashes if the imported file has more serious departures from the standard.
One problem with invalid files is that they often include colors in RGB format instead of valid HEX, some programs even export qdc with transparency values. These files crash Requal.
I am inclined to use a more robust color processing (already in place for CSV imports), but with invalid files we can never be 100% sure about what the color format looks like.
The current approach is to ignore them, but I am inclined to include them in the imported codes descriptions.
A valid approach to invalid files would be to report the error and cancel the import. But it will make Requal quite restrictive.