Measure DHS: Working with Datasets: File Names & Types -- Distribution Files

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File Types & Names -- Distribution Files

Distribution Files | Working Files

Survey datasets are distributed as compressed .ZIP files. A distribution .ZIP file contains multiple working files which generally include a data file, various data definition files, and other documentation. This page includes instructions on how to work with distribution .ZIP files. For information about the working files contained in the .ZIP file, click here.

On This Page

Distribution File Naming Convention
Country Codes
Data File Type Codes
Data Version Codes
File Format Codes

Distribution File Naming Convention

An individual .ZIP file is distributed for each dataset type (e.g. household, women, men, children, couples, etc.) and file format (e.g. hierarchical, SPSS. etc.). Each .ZIP distribution file is uniquely named with a standard naming convention.

Dataset files are named according to the following convention: [CC][DD][VV][FF].ZIP

Code	Description
[CC]	Country Code
[DD]	Dataset Type (e.g. HR–Household, PR-Household Member, IR–Women, MR–Male, KR–Children, and CR–couples)
[VV]	Dataset Version (First Character - DHS Phase) (Second Character - Release version)
[FF]	File Format (eg. FL-Flat, SV-SPSS, DT-STATA, SD-SAS)

Example:

To give an example of how distribution files for a survey are organized, the following table shows the available files, along with the names that they are given for the Colombia 2000 DHS survey.

Colombia 2000 DHS Survey
	ASCII File Types		System File Types
Unit of Analysis	Hierarchical	Flat	SAS	SPSS	STATA
Household		COHR41FL.ZIP	COHR41SD.ZIP	COHR41SV.ZIP	COHR41DT.ZIP
Women	COIR41.ZIP	COIR41FL.ZIP	COIR41SD.ZIP	COIR41SV.ZIP	COIR41DT.ZIP
Men	COMR41.ZIP	COMR41FL.ZIP	COMR41SD.ZIP	COMR41SV.ZIP	COMR41DT.ZIP
Children		COKR41FL.ZIP	COKR41SD.ZIP	COKR41SV.ZIP	COMR41DT.ZIP
Couples		COCR41FL.ZIP	COCR41SD.ZIP	COCR41SV.ZIP	COCR41DT.ZIP
Members		COPR41FL.ZIP	COPR41SD.ZIP	COPR41SV.ZIP	COPR41DT.ZIP

New data users: The most common file to download is the file named "ccIRvvFL.ZIP", where cc is the code for the country, and vv is the survey phase and version of the data (higher numbers are more recent surveys).

The following reference tables contain the descriptions for the four different types of filename codes (country, data type, data version, and file format).

Country Codes - [CC]DDVVFF.ZIP

CC: Country Code Description
Code	Country Name	Code	Country Name
AO	Angola	LB	Liberia
AM	Armenia	MD	Madagascar
AZ	Azerbaijan	MW	Malawi
BD	Bangladesh	ML	Mali
BJ	Benin	MR	Mauritania
BO	Bolivia	MX	Mexico
BT	Botswana	MB	Moldova
BR	Brazil	MA	Morocco
BF	Burkina Faso	MZ	Mozambique
BU	Burundi	NM	Namibia
KH	Cambodia	NP	Nepal
CM	Cameroon	NC	Nicaragua
CF	CAR	NI	Niger
TD	Chad	NG	Nigeria
CO	Colombia	OS	Nigeria (Ondo State)
KM	Comoros	PK	Pakistan
CG	Congo (Brazzaville)	PY	Paraguay
CD	Congo Democratic Republic	PE	Peru
CI	Cote d'Ivoire	PH	Philippines
DR	Dominican Republic	RW	Rwanda
EC	Ecuador	SN	Senegal
EG	Egypt	SL	Sierra Leone
ES	El Salvador	ZA	South Africa
ER	Eritrea	LK	Sri Lanka
ET	Ethiopia	SD	Sudan
GA	Gabon	SZ	Swaziland
GH	Ghana	TZ	Tanzania
GU	Guatemala	TH	Thailand
GN	Guinea	TG	Togo
GY	Guyana	TT	Trinidad and Tobago
HT	Haiti	TN	Tunisia
HN	Honduras	TR	Turkey
IA	India	UG	Uganda
ID	Indonesia	UA	Ukraine
JO	Jordan	UZ	Uzbekistan
KK	Kazakhstan	VN	Vietnam
KE	Kenya	YE	Yemen
KY	Kyrgyz Republic	ZM	Zambia
LS	Lesotho	ZW	Zimbabwe

Data File Types - CC[DD]VVFF.ZIP

DD: Data File Types
Data Type	Description
AH	Adult Health*
BR	Births Recode
XR	Child Under 5 Recode
CH	Children's Raw*
KR	Children's Recode
CP	Couples' Raw*
CR	Couples' Recode
XP	Expenditure*
EX	Experimental*
GE	Geographic Data
HW	Height and Weight Scores - WHO Child Growth Standards
HT	HIV Test Results Raw
AR	HIV Test Results Recode
PQ	Household Member Raw
PR	Household Member Recode
HH	Household Raw
HR	Household Recode
ID	In-depth*
IQ	Individual Raw
IR	Individual Recode
IH	Individual/Household Raw
ML	Male Raw
MR	Male Recode
OB	Other Biomarkers
PG	Parent/Guardian Raw
SM	Safe Motherhood
SC	Screening*
SQ	Service Availability Raw
VA	Verbal Autopsy*
VR	Village Recode
WI	Wealth Index
WS	Women's Status*

(*) Rarely used data file types

Data Versions - CCDD[VV]FF.ZIP

VV: Version Number
Version No.	Description
Phase 1
0(1 - 9)	First survey conducted under DHS-I 00 – Release version 0 01 – Release version 1 02 – Release version 2 03 – Release version 3 [...]
Phase 2
2(1 - 9)	First survey conducted under DHS-II 20 – Release version 0 21 – Release version 1 22 – Release version 2 23 – Release version 3 [...]
Phase 3
3(0 - 9)	First survey conducted under DHS-III 30 – Release Version 0 31 – Release version 1 32 – Release version 2 33 – Release version 3 [...]
3(A – H)	Second survey conducted under DHS-III 3H – Release Version 0 3A – Release version 1 3B – Release version 2 3C – Release version 3 [...]
3(I - Q)	Third survey conducted under DHS-III 3Q – Release Version 0 3I – Release version 1 3J – Release version 2 3K – Release version 3 [...]
Phase 4
4(0 - 9)	First survey conducted under DHS-IV 40 – Release Version 0 41 – Release version 1 42 – Release version 2 43 – Release version 3 [...]
4(A – H)	Second survey conducted under DHS-IV 4H – Release Version 0 4A – Release version 1 4B – Release version 2 4C – Release version 3 [...]
4(I - Q)	Third survey conducted under DHS-IV 4Q – Release Version 0 4I – Release version 1 4J – Release version 2 4K – Release version 3 [...]
Phase 5
5(0 - 9)	First survey conducted under DHS-V 50 – Release Version 0 51 – Release version 1 52 – Release version 2 53 – Release version 3 [...]
5(A – H)	Second survey conducted under DHS-V 5H – Release Version 0 5A – Release version 1 5B – Release version 2 5C – Release version 3 [...]
5(I - Q)	Third survey conducted under DHS-IV 5Q – Release Version 0 5I – Release version 1 5J – Release version 2 5K – Release version 3 [...]
5(R - Z)	Fourth survey conducted under DHS-V 5Z – Release version 0 5R – Release version 1 5S – Release version 2 5T – Release version 3 [...]

File Formats - CCDDVV[FF].ZIP

FF: Format of the Data
Format Code	Description
	Hierarchical (no format indicator)
FL	Flat data
SV	SPSS System file
DT	STATA System file
SD	SAS System file

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