UserGuide.txt

Lattice is a free and open-source Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis
Software (CAQDAS). It is designed to be native, lightweight, fast, and scalable,
and is envisaged from the ground up to be intuitive for setting up and managing
projects. Every project is contained in a standalone ‘Lattice Project File’ with
‘.lattice’ extension. This user guide provides a brief overview of the following
topics to start with a Lattice project:

  • Project Management
  • Documents, Data Import, and Export
  • Managing Attributes
  • Coding Data
  • Memos
  • Editing Documents
  • Filtering, Sorting, and Searching
  • Retrieval and Exports
  • Analysis Workspace


PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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To get started, launch the application and use the start-up dialog to ‘Create New
Project’ or ‘Open Existing Project’.

The ‘Project’ menu provides tools for database maintenance:

  • ‘Optimise Project’: Rebuilds search indices, defragments the database, and
    reclaims unused disk space. It is intended for use on larger projects.
  • ‘Snapshot Project’: Creates a timestamped backup copy of the current working
    state.
  • ‘Close Project’: Safely commits all transactions and returns to the start-up
    dialog.


DOCUMENTS, DATA IMPORT, AND EXPORT
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The primary analytical data unit is a document. Documents are plain-text data;
images, audio, and video are not supported.

Multiple import pathways are available in Lattice. To import data into a project,
navigate to ‘Menu’ → ‘Documents’ → ‘Import Documents’.

  1. ‘Import Plain-Text Files’: Directly load ‘TXT’ files.
  2. ‘Import DOCX/ODT Files as Plain-Text’ or ‘Import PDF Files as Plain
     Text’: Extract text content from word processor or document files.
  3. ‘Import from XLSX/ODS Spreadsheet’, ‘Import from JSON Structured Data’,
     or ‘Import from SQLite Database’: Import structured records containing
     attributes.

When importing structured data, the ‘Import Manager’ assists in mapping fields.
Use the left panel to select source columns and the right panel to map them to
target fields. Available target mappings include ‘Document Name’, ‘Document
Content’, ‘Attribute’, or ‘Skip’. For attributes, specify the data type and
determine whether to ‘Use Existing Attribute’ or ‘Create New Attribute’ (see
§ MANAGING ATTRIBUTES).

To export documents from the project, select the target items in the document
list, then navigate to ‘Menu’ → ‘Documents’ → ‘Export Documents’.

Available export formats include:

  • ‘Export as TXT with Metadata CSV’: Saves documents as individual plain-text
    files alongside a unified ‘CSV’ file containing all associated attributes.
  • ‘Export as XLSX/ODS Spreadsheet’: Compiles documents and their attributes
    into a single tabular spreadsheet.
  • ‘Export as JSON Structured Data’ or ‘Export as XML Structured Data’:
    Structures the document content and metadata into machine-readable
    hierarchical formats.


MANAGING ATTRIBUTES
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Attributes allow metadata to be stored as typed parameters rather than plain text,
enabling richer analysis. The available attribute types are ‘Text’, ‘Categorical’,
‘Numeric’, ‘Date-Time’, and ‘URL or Path’.

To define project-wide attributes, open the ‘Attribute Manager’ via ‘Menu’ →
‘Attributes’. This interface facilitates adding, updating, or deleting attributes
and controlling their data-type across the entire database.

Attributes associated with a specific document are displayed in the bottom-left
panel of the main interface, alongside the document text. A ‘URL or Path’ type
attribute is clickable and will open the original webpage or local file for
quick access. To modify a specific document’s attributes, right-click the item
in the ‘Documents’ tree and select ‘Add Attribute’, ‘Edit Attribute Value’, or
‘Delete Attribute’.


CODING DATA
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Creating and organising codes and sub-codes is primarily handled from the ‘Codes’
panel in the main window. The application supports a hierarchy of up to six levels
including the first-level code and subsequent sub-codes.

To create and apply codes:

  • Click ‘+ New’ to create a top-level code with an assigned name and optionally
    a description.
  • Select a segment of text within the reading panel, then double-click the
    preferred code in the ‘Codes’ tree to apply the coding.
  • Right-click an existing code and select ‘Add Sub-Code’ to expand the
    hierarchy, or ‘Change Colour’ to modify its visual highlight.
  • Reorganise the code order and hierarchy by right-clicking and selecting ‘Move
    Code Up’, ‘Move Code Down’, ‘Promote Code Level’, or ‘Demote Code Level’.
  • Merge duplicate or overlapping codes by selecting multiple items,
    right-clicking the intended target code, and choosing ‘Merge Selected
    Here’.

Hovering over the vertical brackets beside the document text reveals the applied
code in the ‘Legend’ panel. Right-clicking a bracket provides options to ‘Remove
Coding’ or ‘Re-code to Current Selection’.

The ‘Menu’ → ‘Codes’ → ‘Code System’ allows exporting or importing the code system
as a ‘JSON’ file for reuse. The ‘Menu’ → ‘Codes’ → ‘Export Codebook’ option
exports the details related to codes along with associated code memos to ‘XLSX’,
‘ODS’, or ‘CSV’ formats.


MEMOS
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Five distinct types of memos are supported to capture analytical reflections:

  • ‘Project Memo’: Intended for project-wide notes and is available via ‘Menu’ →
    ‘Memos’ → ‘Project Memo’.
  • ‘Analytical Memo’: Meant for fleeting thoughts. Add new entries via ‘Menu’ →
    ‘Memos’ → ‘Add Analytical Memo’.
  • ‘Document Memo’: Specific to individual documents. Right-click a document in
    the tree to ‘Create/Modify Document Memo’.
  • ‘Code Memo’: Attached to specific codes. Right-click a code to ‘Create/Modify
    Code Memo’.
  • ‘Segment Memo’: Linked to specific document text segments. Right-click a text
    selection or an existing coding bracket to ‘Create Memo for Selection’ or
    ‘Create Memo for Coded Segment’.

All memos can be centrally managed from the ‘Memo Manager’ (via ‘Menu’ → ‘Memos’ →
‘Manage Memos’). The manager allows filtering, editing, and exporting memos to
‘XLSX’, ‘ODS’, ‘CSV’, ‘JSON’, or ‘XML’ formats. Documents, codes, or segments with
attached memos are visually indicated by an underline beneath their respective
labels or text.


EDITING DOCUMENTS
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While the central text panel is read-only by default to prevent accidental
modification, an integrated editing mode allows for text correction.

To edit a document:

  1. Select the document from the left panel.
  2. Click the ‘Enter Edit Mode’ button (pencil icon) located beside the document
     title.
  3. Modify the text, correct typographic errors, or insert new content. Existing
     codings and segment memos will synchronise with the structural changes.
  4. Click the ‘Save Changes’ button (floppy icon) or press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘S’ to
     permanently save the changes made to the document.
  5. Click the ‘Exit Edit Mode’ button (cross mark icon) to return to the reading
     mode.


FILTERING, SORTING, AND SEARCHING
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Filtering and search capabilities allow for quicker access to relevant data across
large projects.

To locate and organise data:

  • Search the document list or code tree directly using the search bar positioned
    above each panel.
  • Search within an open document using the ‘Find in document’ search bar,
    navigating results via the ‘Previous’ and ‘Next’ buttons.
  • Filter the document list by clicking the ‘Filter Documents’ button (funnel
    icon). Documents can be filtered by ‘Document Title Pattern’, ‘Document
    Content Match (FTS5 Syntax)’, or via ‘Filter by Attribute’.
  • Attribute filters employ type-specific operators such as ‘Equals’, ‘Contains’,
    ‘Greater Than’, ‘Between’, or ‘Is Empty’.
  • Sort the document list by clicking the ‘Sort Documents’ button. Available
    criteria include import time, coding count, segment memo count, or specific
    attribute values. Select ‘Make Sort Permanent’ to persist the order.


RETRIEVAL AND EXPORTS
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Coded data segments can be retrieved, reviewed, and exported for reporting using
the ‘Retrieval Manager’ (accessible via ‘Menu’ → ‘Retrieval’).

To retrieve and export data:

  1. Define the scope by selecting specific target nodes within the ‘Code Scope’
     and ‘Document Scope’ tabs.
  2. Apply ‘Attribute Filters’ to restrict the retrieval to documents meeting
     strict metadata criteria (e.g. all participants located in a specific
     region). Use the ‘Attribute Filter Logic’ controls to specify ‘Match all
     (AND)’ or ‘Match any (OR)’.
  3. Click ‘Retrieve’ to compile the matching segments into the results grid.
  4. Navigate to the ‘Export Options’ tab to configure the output structure.
     Select fields to include (e.g. ‘Document Name’, ‘Code’, ‘Attributes’) and
     define up to three sorting levels (‘Primary Sort’, ‘Secondary Sort’,
     ‘Tertiary Sort’).
  5. Click ‘Export’ to generate coding reports in ‘PDF’ or ‘HTML’ formats, or
     save the raw data tables in ‘XLSX’, ‘ODS’, ‘CSV’, ‘JSON’, or ‘XML’.


ANALYSIS WORKSPACE
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Five distinct analytical tools are built into the ‘Analysis Workspace’ (accessible
via ‘Menu’ → ‘Analysis’):

  • ‘Code Frequency’: Displays the application frequency of selected codes across
    the dataset.
  • ‘Code Co-occurrence’: Identifies patterns of intersection where codes from an
    X-Axis selection overlap with codes from a Y-Axis selection.
  • ‘Attribute-Code Crosstab’: Tabulates code occurrences within the scope of a
    selected document attribute.
  • ‘Coding Coverage’: Discerns the character extent of coding for each selected
    document.
  • ‘Word Cloud’: Produces a frequency visualisation of words found within
    coded segments. Click ‘Stopwords’ to manage the comma-separated exclusion
    list.

To perform an analysis:

  1. Select the desired analysis type from the top tabs.
  2. Adjust the code, document, and attribute scopes using the left-hand panels
    to precisely target the data of interest.
  3. Click ‘Run Analysis’ to generate the visualisation and compile the
     underlying data grid.
  4. Adjust the ‘Limit Bars to’ or ‘Limit Words in Cloud to’ parameters to control
     the density of the output visualisation. Use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom,
     and click-and-drag to pan the graphics area.
  5. Click ‘Export Visualisation’ to save the chart as ‘SVG’, ‘PDF’, ‘PNG’, or
     ‘JPEG’.
  6. Click ‘Export Data Table’ to extract the calculated matrix into ‘XLSX’,
     ‘ODS’, ‘CSV’, ‘JSON’, or ‘XML’ files.