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Step by Step

The Matrix Clustering Wizard uses a step by step approach to processing the matrix to find its inherent clusters and to converting them to new items in a third sphere with new relations to the original rows and columns.

The form contains the following control buttons:

The Next button

to move on to the following stage of the process as defined below. Note that this button is not available after stage 6; to exit from this point you should use the Exit button.
The Back button

to return to the prior stage as defined below. Note that this can be done at any point after the initial stage 1 during which the button is disabled.
The Report button

is used to launch the Unclustered Items report. Note that this button is available only during stage 4 and then only if there are unclustered items to report.
The Exit button

to abort or terminate the process at any point. Note that after stage 2, any changes to the "clusterable" relations will be recorded as the new default.

The stages of the process are:

1)    Choose a matrix. The wizard will show you which are the current matrix tables for this project, their types and the row and column spheres from which they were compiled. To make your choice, click one of the radio buttons.

Note that you cannot proceed forward from this stage until you have made a choice.

2)    Decide which relation values should be used for the clustering process. You can use your existing default set or, to change the default, click any relation values you wish to alter so that those included are checked and those not included are not checked.

Note that you cannot proceed forward from this stage unless at least one relation value is checked.

3)    Confirm your choice of a matrix and its components. This stage is only for confirmation purposes and you should check the detail before proceeding. To change any choice, click the Back button and revise your selection.

4)    Report the results of clustering, including a facility to print the Unclustered Items report. Clustering is actually carried out on moving from the prior stage to this one. If no unclustered items were found, this stage shows no further detail and you may continue or exit. If unclustered items were found, the Unclustered Item table is displayed and the Report button is shown and enabled. To view or print the Unclustered Items report, click the Report button.

5)    Determine whether to continue to the conversion of the clusters or to exit at this point. This stage is only for confirmation purposes, you should be sure that you know where you wish to record the clusters as sphere items before clicking the Next button to proceed.

6)    Carry out the conversion, choosing a third sphere (or creating a new sphere for the purpose) and adding the necessary relations from the original row and column items to the new cluster items. To store the clusters as sphere items, you must choose a sphere, a level and a range of sequence codes. The sphere used may be an existing sphere or a new one which the wizard will create for you as required. In this case, the wizard will also create the required relation tables between the row or column sphere and the new cluster sphere. To choose a sphere, use Page Up or Page Down to scroll through the eight spheres available to the project. Stop when you reach the desired sphere. If the sphere already exists, you should enter only a first sequence code in the last field. If the sphere name is shown as "UNDEFINED", you should provide a name, the names of the first two levels and the first sequence code.

Note that i) you must provide a name for an undefined, new sphere.
  ii) if no level name is available, either because you fail to include it or because you have chosen a first sequence code which implies a lower level than two, you can repair the omission later in the Project Schema Manager.
  iii) the first sequence code must comply with the standard format rules.
  iv) if you fail to provide a first sequence code, it will be set arbitrarily to the first two characters of the sphere name followed by "01".
  v) the new sphere items created for the clusters will be given names of the form - Level 01 - where Level is the name of the sphere level inferred from the length of the sequence code. If no name had been supplied for the level, it will be set arbitrarily to "L" and the level number (e.g. "L2").

7)    To exit triumphantly, click the Exit button.