Code Manager

The Code Manager is frequently used to:

  • create and modify codes
  • to code data segments via drag & drop
  • to set code colors
  • to retrieve coded data segments
  • to organize them in code groups
  • to merge and to split codes
  • to filter them
  • to review them in networks
  • to review its content using word clouds and word lists
  • to create reports.

Code Manager

In the bottom pane below the code list, you can either view the code comments or a diagram. For more information about the diagram, see Code Distribution Over Documents.

To change between comment and diagram view, click on the burger menu on the top right-hand side of the diagram.

Switch between comment and diagram

Good to know

Groundedness: Code frequency or groundedness. It shows how many quotations are linked to a code.

Density: Number of linkages to other codes. See Linking Nodes.

Colors: If you add code colors, a colored circle is displayed in front of the code icon and name. Code colors also have an effect on the display of code nodes in networks. See Working with Networks.

If you do not want to see all columns, right-click on a column header and deselect, what you do not want to see.

Selection behaviour

A double click on a code opens the list of linked quotations in the Quotation Reader You can browse through the list of quotations and view them highlighted in the context of its document. If there is only one quotation linked to a code, it will immediately be highlighted in the context of its document.

Single-click: Selects a code. If you have written a definition for the selected code, it is displayed in the comment pane below the list. Once selected, the code can be used for drag & drop coding, or you can add it to a code group via drag & drop. Multiple Selection: You can select more than one code at a time by holding down the Ctrl or Shift key. This is useful to:

  • delete multiple codes
  • to code a data segment with multiple codes
  • to open a network that includes all selected codes
  • to create reports based on the selected codes
  • to assign multiple codes to a code group or to remove them from a group
  • to create a new code group based on the selected codes

Drag & Drop

You can use the Code Manager as a convenient tool for coding by dragging codes onto a highlighted piece of data. If you drag codes onto another code within the same list pane, code-links will be created. If you drag a code on top of another code in the margin area, it will be replaced.

Filter

Click on one or more code groups in the filter area on the left to set a local filter. This means only the items in the manager are filtered. If you want to filter your entire project, then you need to set a global filter. See Applying Global Filters for Data Analysis.

Status Bar: The status bar at the bottom shows how many codes there are in the project.

Code Manager Ribbon

Code Manager Ribbon

From left to right:

New Codes: Create one or more new codes.

New Folder:

New Smart Code: If you select two or more codes in the Code Manager, you can create ORed smart codes i.e., a smart code that combines all selected codes with the OR operator. For further information see Working with Smart Codes .

Create Snapshot: You can create a 'snapshot' of a smart code to turn it into a regular code again with real links to quotations. The word snapshot indicates that it conserves the state of the smart code. See Creating Snapshot Codes.

New Group: Create a new code group based on a selection you have made.

New Smart Group: Smart Groups are a combination of existing groups using Boolean operators. For further information see Working with Smart Groups.

Duplicate Code(s): This option duplicates an existing code with all it links. It is a 1:1 clone of the original. Before the code splitting function became available it was a helpful first step for splitting. Now this is no longer necessary. However, you might find some other usages for it. See Working with Codes.

Rename Code: When building a code system it is often necessary to rename a code.

Delete: Delete selected code(s).

Edit Comment: Open a text editor for writing or editing a comment for a selected code. See Working with Comments and Memos.

Edit Smart Code: A smart code is a saved query. If you want to see the query that the smart code is based upon or edit it, use this option. For further information see Working with Smart Codes .

Open Group Manager: Open the Group Manager for Codes. See Working with Groups for more detail.

Change Color: Select a color for one or more selected codes.

Merge Codes: This option allows you to merge two or more codes into one code. If the codes have a comment, it will be added to the merged code. In addition, information about which codes were merged will be added to the comment of the merged code as an audit trail. Also see Merging Codes.

You need to select multiple codes (i.e., all codes that you want to merge) in order for the Merge option to become selectable.

Split:

Split Code: The split code function supports you in developing sub codes for a category. See Splitting a Code.

Split into Subcodes:

Show in Network: Opens an ad-hoc network on the selected code that shows all existing links. See Opening ad-hoc Networks.

Word Cloud: Word Clouds visualize the frequency of words. The more frequent a word occurs, the larger the word is displayed in the image. Word Clouds are an exploratory tool that allow you to gain quick inside into your data. If you create a word cloud for selected codes, it shows you the frequencies of the words that are coded with the code(s). See Creating Word Clouds.

Word List: This function allows you to generate a list of all words that occur in the quotation sof the selected code(s). The list can be sorted in alphabetic order or by frequency. You can export it to Excel for further data crunching. See Word Lists.

Concepts: Let ATLAS.ti find concepts in your data that you then can review and autocode. See Find Concepts.

Report / Excel Export: Reports can be created as text file (Word, PDF), or in Excel format. All reports are customizable. See Creating Reports.

Tools Tab

Import / Export Codebook: A codebook including codes and code colors, code definitions and code groups can be imported or exported in two formats: Excel and the QDPX exchange format. See Importing & Exporting Code Lists and QDPX Universal Data Exchange.

Find Redundant Codings: It can happen that you code a longer segment and then within this segment you code a segment using the same code again. This is redundant.

ATLAS.ti can find all those instances for you to help you clean up your coding. It is a helpful option when working in teams where redundant codings may occur after merging. See Finding Redundant Codings .

Search & Filter

The options under the Search tabs are the same as in all other managers, and are discussed here: Entity Manager.

View Tab

Code Manager View options

The above image shows the default options: You see the code groups on the left-hand side, the comment field below the code list, and the code list in 'Details' view.

Code Cloud

Click on the button Cloud to visualize your code list in form of a word cloud:

Code Manager Cloud View with code comments

If you right-click on a code, the same context menu opens as in 'Details' view. Thus, in the cloud view you can start the same actions as in the regular view. You can for instance rename codes, split or merge codes, or open a network on one or multiple codes.

Code List as Bar Chart

Select Bar Chart to visualize your code list in form of a bar chart:

Code Manager Bar Chart View with code comments

The codes in the bar chart view also have a context menu. Thus, also from here, you can start the same actions as in standard view. Select multiple codes if you want to merge codes.