Submitting statistics files

A submission package is an extract of data that has been used for statistical analysis.

The submission package consists of data, metadata and documentation of data and must meet certain requirements for folder structure as well as naming of folders, files, data types, etc.

All the requirements for a submission package are listed in Annex 9 of Executive Order no. 128 on the submission of archive versions to the Danish National Archives.

The following steps are mandatory before creating your submission package:

Retrieve the serial number for the submission package. The serial number is stated in the submission notice that you receive in an e-mail from your caseworker at the Danish National Archives. The serial number consists of the last five digits in the name of the submission package (FD.XXXXX).

Retrieve the two index files in the XML format: the archive description file and the context documentation file. You receive these files from your caseworker by e-mail.

Your context documents should be converted to TIFF format (text, spreadsheets, and images), MP3/WAV (audio files), or MPEG2/MPEG4 (videos).

Check that your datasets comply with the Danish National Archives’ requirements for submission

• Check that the data files have the extension .sav, .sas7bdat, .dta, or .rds.
• Check that the data file names do not contain spaces and do not start with a number
• Check that all variable names comply with variable naming rules and have variable labels. Read more in the Quick Guide to ASTA.
• Check that all value labels are unique, and specified so that they are self-explanatory.
• Check that all variables have specified a type/format that is accepted by the Danish National Archives. Read more in the ASTA User Guide.
• Make sure that only numeric and categorical variables use missing values codes.
• Check that data files are encoded to UTF-8. This ensures that the characters Æ, Ø and Å are correctly displayed.
  Read more in our UTF-8 guide.

Determine whether there are any unique variables in the statistics files which need to be specified as key variables during extraction via ASTA.

Determine whether there are merge variables across multiple statistics files in the submission package that should be provided as a reference during extraction with ASTA. Check that any merge variables have the same type/format and length.

The Danish National Archives has created the extraction tool ASTA (Aflevering af Statistikfiler til Arkiv), which you can use to create and test a submission package. You can also create an information package yourself without using ASTA; for example by allowing a supplier to convert your statistics files into a submission package.

ASTA undergoes regular updates and bug fixes, so make sure to check for new versions of the tool.

Annex 9 of Executive Order no. 128 of 12 February 2020 sets out the requirements for submitting submission packages.

If you encounter any issues while testing or creating your submission copy, you can contact us by e-mail at mailbox@rigsarkivet.dk. Enter ‘Research Data Manager’ in the subject header.