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Each SEER*Stat database has a unique dictionary. Therefore, when you create a variable and save it to the dictionary, it is available only in sessions that use the same database. Variables that you create in SEER*Stat, including user-defined and merged variables, can be exported to a file. Using this file, you can then import the variables to a dictionary for a different database. Only variables that you create can be exported; that is, standard variables distributed with the database can not be exported. Only variables that are compatible with the dictionary can be imported. A variable could be incompatible for the following reasons:
- A base variable is not in the dictionary. For example, you could not import a variable based on age at diagnosis (exported from an incidence database) into a mortality database.
- One or more values used in groupings do not exist in the base variable of the dictionary. For example, a variable based on year of diagnosis that includes the groupings 1973-1985 and 1986-2000 could not be imported into a dictionary that only has data for diagnosis years 1990-2000.
