Does Qualtrics have the restriction of the length of variables? | XM Community
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Does Qualtrics have the restriction of the length of variables?

  • June 17, 2022
  • 5 replies
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I want the variable name as self_reported_weight_units_2. However, Qualtrics cannot give me this. Every time I edit, nothing changes after for a while.

Best answer by CarolK

https://community.qualtrics.com/XMcommunity/discussion/comment/47082#Comment_47082Yes, once I understood that you were talking about question numbers, then I knew you were calling them variables based on the output file. It's just that's not where I started from. :)

Anyway, yes, there is a limit on the length of a variable as set by a question number, and it is 20 characters. Variable names set via embedded data can have longer names.

5 replies

CarolK
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  • June 17, 2022

It doesn't appear that the variable name is too long to be accepted (as I just added it to a test survey here). Can you tell us a little more about what is happening?

  • Are changes to your survey not saving after you've been working for a while? (If so, definitely report this to Qualtrics support).

  • Is the variable appearing but the values you're assigning to it not showing up? If so, can you explain how you're setting it so maybe we can help troubleshoot?


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  • Author
  • 5 replies
  • June 17, 2022

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But when I exit and reenter, there is no change. So the problem is it shows up saved when I edit the change, But in fact, there is no change at all.

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CarolK
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  • June 20, 2022

OK I see. When you said "Variable" I was thinking survey variable, like embedded data. But you meant Question numbering. There is a length limit: 20 characters. (I tried naming a question number 123456789012345678901... to see how far it would let me go, and it will not accept the 1 at the end: 20 characters in total.)


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  • June 20, 2022

These are variable names when we download the data from the Qualtrics to the Excel.


CarolK
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  • Answer
  • June 21, 2022

https://community.qualtrics.com/XMcommunity/discussion/comment/47082#Comment_47082Yes, once I understood that you were talking about question numbers, then I knew you were calling them variables based on the output file. It's just that's not where I started from. :)

Anyway, yes, there is a limit on the length of a variable as set by a question number, and it is 20 characters. Variable names set via embedded data can have longer names.