Census 2000 Summary File 1 Disc Product Support
Getting Started
Overview
The DVD contains all of the individual State SF1 files in a single database. This database is composed of approximately 9.2 million geographic summary records with a total of about 30 billion individual data cells. Each CD-ROM contains data for a single state*. The Census 2000 Data Engine software is a customized version of SRC's Allocate product. Some of its basic functionality is illustrated below. Refer to the product's Help function for a complete overview of the software's functionality. A more detailed on-line tutorial is also available.
Immediate installation and use of the software requires being logged on as either an administrator or a power user on a PC with Windows 2000 or later versions such as XP. The following procedure can be used to install and run the software while logged in as a regular user in the versions of Windows mentioned above.
Census 2000 Data Engine and Windows 2000 User Rights
A search on a census disc for setup*.exe will generate the following results ; one file in the root directory which installs the Census 2000 Data Engine software and one or more files in folders which install or setup a single separate data set for use by the software. The Install button (mentioned in Installation) runs these files automatically.
* A few large states are on multiple CD-ROM discs.
Installation
icon on the
Desktop.
Pick Geography
Example: Select all county records in California.
Procedure:Click on + (the plus sign) to the left of County first and then select California. If you only
want to select a few specific counties in California, next click on + to the left of California and then
select individual counties of interest. The "tree" on each of the software tabs works in the same way.
Please note that you can not select block group areas from Pick Geography and then select any PCT table from Simple Variables (see below). You will get an error message because PCT tables are population tables only available down to the census tract level.
Output Report
Example: Produce Profile of General Demographic Characteristics reports.
Procedure: Select Report output mode, accept the default (DP-1) report template, and then click Finish.
(Many other report templates for Detailed Tables and Quick Tables are available through Browse).
A separate file is created for each individual area selected from the Pick Geography tab. If more than one area is selected, a home page with a set of hyperlinks is also created.
Display Report
Example: Display or print reports.
Procedure: Your internet browser is used to display and/or print reports.
Simple Variables
Example: Specify Simple Variables to include in an Output File or in a custom report using the
Report (Blank) template.
Procedure: Select whole tables or individual data items to be included in an Output File. The Simple
Variables selected can also be included in a custom report using the Report (Blank) template.
Geographic identifiers can also be selected from this screen by clicking on the + sign to the left of Geographic Identifiers.If more than one area type from the Pick Geography tab was selected, it will be necessary to select the geographic identifier variable Sumlev.
Custom Variables
Example: Specify Custom Variables to include in an Output File or in a custom report using the
Report (Blank) template.
Procedure: Create new variables derived from Simple Variables.
Include Custom Variables in an Output File or in a custom report using the Report (Blank) template.
Output File
Example: Specify the name and type of an Output File.
Procedure: Select File output mode, then click on the Save As button
and specify the file name and type, and click Finish. This example uses the CSV type (comma-separated
values).
The output file will include records (or rows) based on selections made from the Pick Geography tab and fields (or columns) based on selections made from the Simple Variables tab (including geographic identifiers and/or data items) and Custom Variables tab.
If the "Create Output As Summary" box is checked, your output file will contain only one record which includes a total for all of the individual areas selected from the Pick Geography tab. Leave this box unchecked if you want the detail data.
Display File
Example: Display the Output File.
Procedure: The Census Data Engine software does not contain functionality to display an Output File.
This is done through companion software. In this example, Microsoft Excel is installed on the computer and the operating
system is configured to automatically launch Excel for CSV files.
Using the file documentation as a reference
File documentation [4.86 MB]
The Census 2000 Summary File 1 file documentation is contained in a file named sf1.pdf on the disc. The relationship between the different tabs of the software interface and the file documentation appears below.
Chapter 4 (Summary Level Sequence Chart) can be used to find complete descriptions of area types (for which summary data is available) on the Pick Geography tab. Codes for each element making up the complete summary level description will appear as part of a field labeled KEY in output files created by the software. These codes, additionally, can also be included as separate fields by selecting the Simple Variables tab and then clicking on the + sign to the left of Geographic Identifiers folder. Chapter 7 (Data Dictionary Identification section) contains descriptions of all geographic identifiers. Appendix A contains definitions of all geographic terms.
Chapter 3 (Subject Locator) can be used to more quickly find demographic data tables from the Simple Variables tab. The Table Matrix section of Chapter 7 (Data Dictionary Table Matrix section) contains complete table information.
Note that the output file created will include records or rows based on selections made from the Pick Geography tab and fields or columns based on selections made from the Simple Variables tab (including geographic identifiers and/or data items) and Custom Variables tab.
Known problems and issues
05/23/2006
Inaccessible tables
During installation, the following Census 2000 Summary File 1 housing tables (see below) are incorrectly installed and inaccessible from the Cenus 2000 Data Engine. If you need to access these tables, solutions are provided below.
| Disc title | Inaccessible tables | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| US Summary DVD | H16A-H16I | More information, Download files [366K, 607K] |
| National DVD | H11A-H11I, H12A-H12I, H15A-H15I, H16A-H16I | More information, Download files [366K, 605K] |
07/26/2004
Precision of latitude and longitude fields in dBase 5 output file format
The latitude and longitude fields INTPTLAT and INTPTLON contain coordinates to six digits of decimal precision. Only five of these decimals are exported to the dBase 5 file type. This problem seems to be limited solely to the dBase 5 file type. The INTPTLAT and INTPTLON fields are in the Geographic Identifiers folder from the Simple Variables tab.
Incorrect report heading
Quick Table Report H03 (Household Population and Household Type by Tenure) prints an incorrect heading. Download the new version of report and extract contents to C:\Program Files\SRC\Census 2000\US_SF1\Reports\Quick Tables\
Technical Support
