CANSIM II on CHASS

University of Toronto. Data Library Service

The CHASS interface to CANSIM II (English language)

Title: Canadian socio-economic information management system (CANSIM)
Database author: Statistics Canada et al.
Interface software author: University of Toronto. Computing in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS).
Disseminator: Statistics Canada. Data Liberation Initiative
Edition/Date: updated weekly
Geographic area: Canada (national and sub-national), some United States, some international
Time span of data coverage: varies by series
Periodicity: varies by series

About CANSIM: CANSIM - the many faces
Quick links: CANSIM II on www.statcan.ca, E-stat, CHASS, CANSIM I on CHASS,
Contents: Search and retrieve options, Functions: navigation, browsing, searching, retrieving, manipulating, saving, printing

Search and retrieve options

The CHASS WWW interface to CANSIM is available at: <http://dc1.chass.utoronto.ca/cansim2/index.jsp>.

You may use any forms-capable browser (e.g. Netscape, or Internet Explorer) to access the interface.

From the main CANSIM II web page, the following options are available:

Continue in English and
Continuez en français

The remainder of this document deals with the English language interface. Selecting Continue in English returns the main Search and retrieve page:

Search & Retrieve

What is CANSIM II@CHASS? Introductory discussion of the development of CANSIM II from CANSIM I, and the CHASS CANSIM subscription service.

Statistics Canada's CANSIM Daily Newsflashes News re updates and terminations of CANSIM series and tables. Last 5 working days only.

CANSIM II Quick Starts - Frequently Requested Series Direct links to a retrieval form for the most commonly requested 70+ series in the CANSIM database.

CANSIM II Table to CANSIM I Matrix Concordances From a CANSIM I matrix number, provides the comparable CANSIM II table number(s) and table title(s). From a CANSIM II table number, provides the comparable CANSIM I matrix(ces).
CANSIM II to CANSIM I Series Concordances From a CANSIM I series identifier, provides the comparable CANSIM II series and table number(s) and title(s). From a CANSIM II series number, provides the comparable CANSIM I matrix and series identifier.
CANSIM II by subjects Directory-style list of the 24 major CANSIM II subject areas, with drop-down lists of sub areas, leading to subject listings of tables.
CANSIM II IMDB (Integrated Meta Data Base) List of Statistics Canada survey numbers and titles (IMDB). Duplicates list on Statistics Canada web site.
Search CANSIM II Catalogues Main search interface, for table and series titles and subtitles.
Access the Alphabetical Listing of CANSIM II tables for a list of all tables for any given letter of alphabet. Alphabetical list of table titles, by first word of title. Tables from major data collection activities often begin with title of the survey, e.g. 'Labour force survey'
Access the Sequential Listing of CANSIM II tables for a sequential list of all tables in various numeric ranges. Numerical list of CANSIM II tables. Major subject areas cluster in numerical ranges, e.g. most residential constuction and availability tables cluster in 260001 through 280000.
Access a CANSIM II table by number Displays content (series) of a known CANSIM II table by table number.
Access a CANSIM II series by label Displays retrieval/plot form for a known CANSIM II series by series identifier.

Retrieve a single CANSIM II series by label Retrieval form for a known CANSIM II series by series identifier.

Plot a single CANSIM II series by label Plot form for a known CANSIM II series by series identifier.

Retrieve multiple CANSIM II series by label or/and range(s) Retrieval form for more than one known CANSIM II series by series identifiers.

Search & Retrieve
What is CANSIM II@CHASS?	Introductory discussion of the development of CANSIM II from CANSIM I, and the CHASS CANSIM subscription service.
Statistics Canada's CANSIM Daily Newsflashes	News re updates and terminations of CANSIM series and tables. Last 5 working days only.
CANSIM II Quick Starts - Frequently Requested Series	Direct links to a retrieval form for the most commonly requested 70+ series in the CANSIM database.
CANSIM II Table to CANSIM I Matrix Concordances	From a CANSIM I matrix number, provides the comparable CANSIM II table number(s) and table title(s). From a CANSIM II table number, provides the comparable CANSIM I matrix(ces).
CANSIM II to CANSIM I Series Concordances	From a CANSIM I series identifier, provides the comparable CANSIM II series and table number(s) and title(s). From a CANSIM II series number, provides the comparable CANSIM I matrix and series identifier.
CANSIM II by subjects	Directory-style list of the 24 major CANSIM II subject areas, with drop-down lists of sub areas, leading to subject listings of tables.
CANSIM II IMDB (Integrated Meta Data Base)	List of Statistics Canada survey numbers and titles (IMDB). Duplicates list on Statistics Canada web site.
Search CANSIM II Catalogues	Main search interface, for table and series titles and subtitles.
Access the Alphabetical Listing of CANSIM II tables for a list of all tables for any given letter of alphabet.	Alphabetical list of table titles, by first word of title. Tables from major data collection activities often begin with title of the survey, e.g. 'Labour force survey'
Access the Sequential Listing of CANSIM II tables for a sequential list of all tables in various numeric ranges.	Numerical list of CANSIM II tables. Major subject areas cluster in numerical ranges, e.g. most residential constuction and availability tables cluster in 260001 through 280000.
Access a CANSIM II table by number	Displays content (series) of a known CANSIM II table by table number.
Access a CANSIM II series by label	Displays retrieval/plot form for a known CANSIM II series by series identifier.
Retrieve a single CANSIM II series by label	Retrieval form for a known CANSIM II series by series identifier.
Plot a single CANSIM II series by label	Plot form for a known CANSIM II series by series identifier.
Retrieve multiple CANSIM II series by label or/and range(s)	Retrieval form for more than one known CANSIM II series by series identifiers.

Navigation

Mode of navigation is dependant on the capabilities of the WWW browser you are using. Use the browser's backward and forward tool-bar buttons to navigate, as appropriate.

Most pages include, at the bottom of the page, links to

previous page in the CANSIM II hierarchy
CANSIM II main page (at CHASS)

Browsing

Three browsing options are available from the CANSIM II Search and Retrieve page:

CANSIM II by subjects
Expand appropriate top-level subject category to reveal subcategories (click on right arrow). Select subcategory to display list of relevant tables. Click on table number to display series. Click on series identifier to access the series retrieve & plot form.
Alphabetical list of CANSIM II tables
Select an appropriate first letter of table titles to display list of relevant table titles. Click on table number to display series. Click on series identifier to access the series retrieve & plot form.
Numerical list of CANSIM II tables
Select an appropriate numerical range of table numbers to display list of relevant table titles. Click on table number to display series. Click on series identifier to access the series retrieve & plot form.

Note: If a table contains more than 10,000 series, you may choose to:

View the series in batches of 500, starting from the beginning of the list of series: click the appropriate button
Download the entire list of series identifiers and titles as a .zip file. Uncompress the file, and view the text file in the A[table_number]/web2/Arrays/[table_number] file with a text editor capable of reading large files, such as PFE.

Searching

To search, select Search CANSIM II catalogues from Search and Retrieve page.

Enter one or more character strings in the dialogue box. Do not use prepositions and conjunctions such as 'a', 'and', etc. Press <Enter> or click Submit Search button to search. Available options are:

Table titles: Searches character strings in the 1600+ table titles. Delivers a list of table numbers and titles.
Series titles: Searches character strings in the 13 million+ series titles. Delivers a list of series identifiers and titles. Default.
Note: few table titles contain explicit geographic identifiers (e.g. 'British Columbia', 'St. John') or units of measure (e.g. 'index', 'dollars'). These are best searched in the 'series titles' index.
Binary search: and/or: Determines whether character strings in dialogue are implicitly joined by 'and' or 'or'. Default is 'and'
Search limit: Allows you to select the number of hits to display on each result page. Options are '20', '50', '100', or '500. Default is '50'.
Match full keyword: Select to disable automatic pre- and post-string truncation. I.e. when not selected, a search for 'migrant' will return 'migrant', 'migrants', 'emigrant', 'emigrants', 'immigrant' and 'immigrants'. When selected, the search will return only 'migrant'.
Submit search: Click to submit search with current string and options.
Clear form: Select to reset all options, including string(s) in dialogue box.

Notes:

Alternatively, search CANSIM II on www.statcan.ca to identify relevant table numbers and/or series identifiers, then retrieve using this interface.
Search the Statistics Canada Daily to identify relevant table numbers and/or series identifiers, then retrieve using this interface.
the search capability of your WWW browser (usually <Ctrl><f>) will allow you to search within the current page being displayed only.

Retrieving

Retrieving a single series via the series retrieve & plot form

Once an appropriate series identifier and title has been located, by either searching or browsing, click on the series identifier to display the series retrieve & plot form. The series identifier is automatically entered into relevant selection boxes. The first portion of the series retrieval & plot form provides information (metadata) about the selected series, including comparable series identifiers in CANSIM I if applicable. For example:

                              CANSIM II SERIES V2091429

A retrieval form and a plot form (server generated graphs) are at the bottom of this page.


Statistics Canada Classification:
TABLE NUMBER: 2820001

TABLE TITLE: LABOUR FORCE SURVEY ESTIMATES (LFS), BY SEX AND DETAILED AGE GROUP

Data Sources: IMDB (Integrated Meta Data Base) Numbers:
# 3701 - Labour Force Survey

SERIES TITLE: CANADA; EMPLOYMENT RATE; MALES; 15 YEARS AND OVER

CANSIM I Series Number: NULL

SERIES FREQUENCY: Monthly

SCALING FACTOR: units

DECIMALS: 1

EARLIEST REFERENCE DATE: 19760101

LATEST REFERENCE DATE: 20030101

LATEST DATAPOINT: 65.7

RELEASE TIME (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM): 2003-02-07 07:00

STATUS: normal

The second portion of the series retrieval & plot form provides an opportunity to define options, as follows

Retrieve CANSIM II Vector options include:

Beginning date

Date must be entered as YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY/MM/DD. Default: earliest available date.

Terminating date

Date must be entered as YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY/MM/DD. Default: latest available date.

Output format

Plain

Suitable for printing. Includes full header information, years in rows, quarters/months in columns. Default.

Spreadsheet

Suitable for input to spreadsheet program. One column of time periods, one column of series data points. Blank-delimited. Series identifier only

Comma-separated (CSV)

Suitable for input to spreadsheet program. One column of time periods, one column of series data points. Comma-delimited. Series identifier only

SAS

Suitable for use with SAS. Brief series and table information. SAS control commands

Shazam

Suitable for use with Shazam. Brief series and table information. Shazam control commands.

SPSS

Suitable for use with SPSS. Brief series and table information. SPSS control commands.

RATS

Suitable for use with RATS. Brief series and table information. RATS control commands.

TSP

Suitable for use with TSP. Brief series and table information. TSP control commands.

TSPterse

Suitable for use with TSP. Series identifier only. Data points in exponential format.

Click on Retrieve button to activate retrieval.
Plot CANSIM II Vector options include:

Plot method

Lines graph

Line graph image. Cannot be further manipulated.

Bars graph

Area graph image. Cannot be further manipulated.

Lines graph with regression line

Not available at time of writing.

Beginning date

Date must be entered as YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY/MM/DD. Default: earliest available date.

Terminating date

Date must be entered as YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY/MM/DD. Default: latest available date.

Click on Plot button to activate retrieval.

Retrieving multiple series via the multiple series retrieval form
Before selecting this option, make a note of:
- all series identifiers to be retrieved
- the periodicity of each series (ie, monthly, quarterly, annual, etc.)
- the beginning and terminating dates of each series
1. Retrieve multiple CANSIM II series by label or/and range(s) options include:
  
  Label list and/or range(s)
  
  Enter series identifiers as a first-last range, or as a series of identifiers separated by commas. Series will be retrieved in the order specified. Maximum 1000 series can be retrieved at one time.
  
  Beginning date
  
  Date must be entered as YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY/MM/DD. Default: earliest available date.
  
  Terminating date
  
  Date must be entered as YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY/MM/DD. Default: latest available date.
  
  Output format
  
  Plain
  
  Suitable for printing. Includes full header information, years in rows, quarters/months in columns. Multiple series arranged sequentially. Default.
  
  Spreadsheet
  
  Suitable for input to spreadsheet program. Multiple series arranged in adjacent columns. Blank-delimited. Series identifier only
  
  Comma-separated (CSV)
  
  Suitable for input to spreadsheet program. Multiple series arranged in adjacent columns. Comma-delimited. Series identifier only
  
  SAS
  
  Suitable for use with SAS. Brief series and table information. Multiple series arranged sequentially. SAS control commands
  
  Shazam
  
  Suitable for use with Shazam. Brief series and table information. Multiple series arranged sequentially. Shazam control commands.
  
  SPSS
  
  Suitable for use with SPSS. Brief series and table information. Multiple series arranged sequentially. SPSS control commands.
  
  RATS
  
  Suitable for use with RATS. Brief series and table information. Multiple series arranged sequentially. RATS control commands.
  
  TSP
  
  Suitable for use with TSP. Brief series and table information. Multiple series arranged sequentially. TSP control commands.
  
  TSPterse
  
  Suitable for use with TSP. Series identifier only. Multiple series arranged sequentially. Data points in exponential format.
  
  Redirect the results to
  
  Screen
  
  Suitable for printing. Includes full header information, years in rows, quarters/months in columns. Default for 50 series or fewer.
  
  Zip file
  
  Default for more than 50 series. Output to a file on the CHASS server. If no e-mail address is provided, you must keep retrieval window open until the link from which to download the output .zip file is provided
  
  E-mail address
  
  Optional. URL from which to download .zip output file is e-mailed to this address.
  
  Click on Retrieve button to activate retrieval.
Hints:
1. For best results, especially if retrieving series in a format for a spreadsheet program, select series with the same periodicity together, i.e. all monthly series, or all quarterly series, or all annual series, in one retrieval.
2. When retrieving series in a format that does not provide series and table title information (e.g. spreadsheet and comma- separated formats) retrieve the series twice, once in the spreadsheet or comma-separated format, and once in plain format to retain documentation for future reference.

Manipulation

No manipulation is supported by the CHASS interface at this time. The data are intended to be extracted and input to standard statistical or spreedsheet software for mamipulation.

Use the Statistics Canada interface at www.statcan.ca, E-stat, or the CHASS CANSIM I interfaces, which do allow manipulation of periodicity, etc.

Manipulation of plots is not supported.

Saving

The following options are available for saving retrieved series to a local file:

Saving a single or multiple series retrieve
1. Save file
2. Cut and paste
  Cut and paste, using normal Windows/MacOS functions, into a word processing document (e.g. Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, etc.). 'Plain' and 'Spreadsheet' formats are best for this purpose.
  You can also cut and paste, using normal Windows/MacOS functions, into a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel, QuattroPro, etc.), although some functionality will be lost. 'Plain' and 'spreadsheet' formats are best for this purpose. It is recommended that you instead save the output in comma-separated format as a .csv file (see above).
Saving a single series plot
1. Select File/Save page as to save plot as a .png file. Files with extension .png can be read by WWW browsers, such as Netscape and Windows Explorer.
2. Alternatively, use <Ctrl><PrtSc> to capture the screen, and paste it to a word processing document (e.g. Microsoft Word, or WordPerfect), presentation document (e.g. PowerPoint, etc.), or similar document processing software.

Output type	Save with file extension
Plain	.txt
Spreadsheet	.dat
Comma-separated (CSV)	.csv
SAS	.sas
Shazam	.sha
SPSS	.sps
RATS	.rat
TSP	.tsp
TSPterse	.tsp

Printing

The recommended output format for printing is 'plain'.

Use the WWW browser File/Print preview function to determine the number of printed pages.

Html by Laine G.M. Ruus, Data Library Service, University of Toronto
Created: 08/03/2003; Last updated: 10/03/2003