Alias Mapping

What is an Alias?

An alias is another name a research site may choose for a data element. When preparing data for submission, a research site may conform element naming to those in the NDAR Data Dictionary, or they may map their element names by adding aliases to the data elements in the NDAR Data Dictionary. This process is outlined below.

Adding an alias to a data element

Use the following procedures to add an alias to a data element. This method is useful for adding one or a few aliases to data elements. If you wish to map many aliases at once, please see the bulk alias mapping instructions.

1. Log in to NDAR.
2. Click the Data Dictionary Tab.
3. Select the Assessment containing the element name you wish to alias.
4. Scroll down to the "Data Elements Associated with this Data Structure" section.
5. Click the "edit" link next to the data element you wish to alias.
6. A window will pop up. Scroll down to the bottom.
7. In the "Add Alias" field, enter the name used in the data you wish to submit for that element.

Bulk Alias Mapping

Use the following procedures to add many aliases to data elements in a data structure. This method is useful for adding aliases to many elements within a data structure or to an entire data structure at once.

Excel 2007 or newer is required for this procedure

1. Download the Alias Mapping Template.
2. Enter the data structure name and version in cell A1.
   • The format for this is the structure's short name, followed by a two digit version number (example: abc_community01 for version 1 of abc_community).
   • The short name and most recent version number can be found at http://ndar.nih.gov/ndarpublicweb/DataStructures.go.
3. Enter the NDAR element names under "ndar."
   • NDAR element names can be found and downloaded from http://ndar.nih.gov/ndarpublicweb/DataStructures.go.
4. Enter the research site element names under "alias."
5. Review and verify your mappings.
6. Save the file as XML.
   • Click Microsoft Logo in the top left.
   • Click on "Save As."
   • Select the "Save as type" drop box and choose "XML Data (*.xml)
   • Choose a file name in the "File Name" field and click "Save."
7. Log in to the NDAR Portal.
8. Click the Data Dictionary tab.
9. Click the Title of the Data Structure containing the elements you wish to alias.
10. Click the "Import Aliases" link under the Actions box on the right side of the page.
11. Click the "Browse" button and navigate to the XML file you saved in step 6.
12. After selecting the appropriate XML file, click the "upload" button.
13. You will receive a confirmation message on the next page.
14. Review the data structure elements to verify the aliases.