Protobi defines each element as a set of parameters written in JSON syntax. An example is below:

{
    "key": "Q2",
    "displayKey": "Question 2.  Opinions",
    "title": "Do you agree with the following statements?",
    "children": ["Q2a", "Q2b", "Q2c", "Q2d","Q2e"],
    "format": {
       "1":  "Extremely favorable",
       "2":  "Somewhat favorable",
       "3":  "Somewhat unfavorable",
       "4":  "Extremely unfavorable",
       "5":  "Don't know / no opinion"
    },
    "type": "number",
    "showBasis": true,
    "showStats": [4,5],
    "chartType": "Pie",
    "filter": {
        "Q1": 2
    },
    "roundby": null
}

This syntax may look foreign at first, but has the advantage of being both easily readable by computers in almost any language, and also readable by humans (at least with a little bit of introduction).

The basic idea is that an element is defined as a "hash" or "object" that defines attribute-value pairs.  In the example above, "title" is one such key and "Do you agree with the following statements?" is its corresponding value. 

Attributes are always strings.  Values can be numbers (e.g. 10), strings (e.g. "Q2"), arrays of values (e.g. [4,5]) or other objects (e.g. see format above).

Each element is uniquely identified by an attribute  "key".    No two attributes in a Protobi project can have the same value of "key".   And the value of  "key" alone is enough to define the element, a lot of things can be assumed from its value, principally what data column to associate with the element.

Below is a partial list of attributes recognized by Protobi with their allowable values and a brief description:


Attribute Type Example Description 




key
 string "s1" Unique identifier for element. Required and immutable. 
displayKey
 string "S1" Override key for display. 
title
 string "Primary specialty" Additional description text. 
field
 string "s1x" Specify another data column as data source (default is "key") 
element
 key "s1x" Specify another element as data source, a 
children
 array  ["s1a","s1b","s1c"] List child elements. If not null, element is a group. 
format
 hash {"1":"PCP","2":"Neuro"} Format values for display after analysis. 
reformat
 object {"99":"", "7":0} Recode values prior to analysis. 
color
 string "gold"|"#FA0" CSS color for element. 
colors
 object {"1":"red","2":"yellow"} CSS colors for values. Can be "ascending" or "descending". 
type
 string "string"|"number"|"empty" Whether element values are numbers, string, or not applicable. 
compactto
 value or array 1 One or more summary values for top/bottom box percentages. 
roundby
 value or name 0|10|"auto"|"log" Bin range for numeric values. 
transform
 name "squish"|"sum"|"mean"|(fn) Specify standard transform function or code a custom function 
split
 string "," Split values at delimiter into a multiple response value 
weight
 number or key "ptwt"|1000 Weight frequencies by value of a data column or constant. 
scale
 number or key "s4"|100 Multiply values by a data column or constant. 
denominator
 number or key "s3"|100  Divide values by a data column or constant. 
display
 name null|"checkbox"|"compact" Specify how to display element as expanded, compact or group 
hidden
 boolean TRUE Hide element from tab 
hideChildren
 boolean TRUE Hide children (useful for groups with transform specified) 
showBody
 boolean FALSE Hide distribution (useful to show just summary stats) 
heritable
 boolean FALSE Whether changes to heritable properties propagate to children 
showMissing
 boolean FALSE Whether to include NA values in distribution percentages 
chartType
 name "VennDiagram" Specify alternative chart type (default is "BaselineBarChart") 
chartOptions
 boolean {"width":"480px"} Specify options specific to selected chartType 
showStats
 array of values or objects [[1,2],{label:"net",value:[6,7]} Additional custom statistics to show 
follow
 hash {"q1":["chartOptions.width"} Specify which elements and which attributes of them to follow