ASCII (Text) File form an SPSS *.sav File

[Eugenio Grant]

Hi Guys:



How do I create and ACII (plain text file with *.dat extension) file form an
SPSS File???



Is there a syntax for it???



Regards.

[Marta Garcia-Granero]

Hi Eugenio

> How do I create and ACII (plain text file with *.dat extension) file form an
> SPSS File???
>
> Is there a syntax for it???
>

WRITE OUTFILE='ChooseTheNameForYourFile.dat'
  TABLE /ALL .
EXECUTE.

Regards,
Marta

[Florio Arguillas]

Hi Eugenio,

Another way to go about it is via point-and-click.

With your SPSS data set open in the active Data Editor window,

1. Click File>Save AS
2.  In the Save In box, click the pull-down menu to select the folder
where you want to store your .DAT file
3.  In the File name box, enter the name of your .DAT file
4.  In the Save as type box, click the pull-down menu and select
"Fixed ASCII (*.dat)
5.  Then click Paste

Note that in Step 4, you have several options for saving your
file.   You can save it not just as an ASCII file, but as a SAS
dataset, STATA, DBASE, EXCEL, etc...

HTH,

Florio





At 06:31 PM 9/21/2007, Eugenio Grant wrote:

>Hi Guys:
>
>
>
>How do I create and ACII (plain text file with *.dat extension) file form an
>SPSS File???
>
>
>
>Is there a syntax for it???
>
>
>
>Regards.

[ViAnn Beadle]

Just a comment on the user interface--it never hurts to start with the user
interface (menus, dialogs, etc.) if you're a newbie or looking for something
you've never tried before. I'd guess that about 90% of all SPSS syntax is
covered by the hundreds of dialog boxes available. It's a good place to
start if you want to learn the syntax since nearly all UIs provide a Paste
button.

Shields up ;-)

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
Florio Arguillas
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 9:59 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: ASCII (Text) File form an SPSS *.sav File

Hi Eugenio,

Another way to go about it is via point-and-click.

With your SPSS data set open in the active Data Editor window,

1. Click File>Save AS
2.  In the Save In box, click the pull-down menu to select the folder
where you want to store your .DAT file
3.  In the File name box, enter the name of your .DAT file
4.  In the Save as type box, click the pull-down menu and select
"Fixed ASCII (*.dat)
5.  Then click Paste

Note that in Step 4, you have several options for saving your
file.   You can save it not just as an ASCII file, but as a SAS
dataset, STATA, DBASE, EXCEL, etc...

HTH,

Florio





At 06:31 PM 9/21/2007, Eugenio Grant wrote:
>Hi Guys:
>
>
>
>How do I create and ACII (plain text file with *.dat extension) file form
an
>SPSS File???
>
>
>
>Is there a syntax for it???
>
>
>
>Regards.

[Art Kendall-2]

I have been using SPSS since 72.  I frequently use the GUI.

However, like any other creative process, there is a spiral of
continuous rewrite.
The GUI is an excellent way to develop a draft of your approach.

<PASTE>ing however, results in much better communication:
with yourself, you will inevitably be interrupted in your analysis
(meals, sleeping, bathroom, meetings, visitors,etc);
with yourself again, as you become more fluent in SPSS and more familiar
with your data, you will refine what you are doing;
with yourself again, when you cannibalize your syntax to use different
cases or different variables in later analyzes;
with yourself again, when you are reviewing the write-up;
with the people doing quality assurance review;
with the people who are trying to help you debug your syntax and
approach. (co-workers, help desks, this list, etc)
with people you are trying to help. (Docens discimus!)

Art Kendall
Social Research Consultants



ViAnn Beadle wrote:

> Just a comment on the user interface--it never hurts to start with the user
> interface (menus, dialogs, etc.) if you're a newbie or looking for something
> you've never tried before. I'd guess that about 90% of all SPSS syntax is
> covered by the hundreds of dialog boxes available. It's a good place to
> start if you want to learn the syntax since nearly all UIs provide a Paste
> button.
>
> Shields up ;-)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
> Florio Arguillas
> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 9:59 AM
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: ASCII (Text) File form an SPSS *.sav File
>
> Hi Eugenio,
>
> Another way to go about it is via point-and-click.
>
> With your SPSS data set open in the active Data Editor window,
>
> 1. Click File>Save AS
> 2.  In the Save In box, click the pull-down menu to select the folder
> where you want to store your .DAT file
> 3.  In the File name box, enter the name of your .DAT file
> 4.  In the Save as type box, click the pull-down menu and select
> "Fixed ASCII (*.dat)
> 5.  Then click Paste
>
> Note that in Step 4, you have several options for saving your
> file.   You can save it not just as an ASCII file, but as a SAS
> dataset, STATA, DBASE, EXCEL, etc...
>
> HTH,
>
> Florio
>
>
>
>
>
> At 06:31 PM 9/21/2007, Eugenio Grant wrote:
>
>> Hi Guys:
>>
>>
>>
>> How do I create and ACII (plain text file with *.dat extension) file form
>>
> an
>
>> SPSS File???
>>
>>
>>
>> Is there a syntax for it???
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards.
>>
>
>
>

[Bob Schacht-3]

At 06:46 AM 9/24/2007, Art Kendall wrote:

>I have been using SPSS since 72.  I frequently use the GUI.
>
>However, like any other creative process, there is a spiral of
>continuous rewrite.
>The GUI is an excellent way to develop a draft of your approach.
>
><PASTE>ing however, results in much better communication:
>with yourself, you will inevitably be interrupted in your analysis
>(meals, sleeping, bathroom, meetings, visitors,etc);
>with yourself again, as you become more fluent in SPSS and more familiar
>with your data, you will refine what you are doing;
>with yourself again, when you cannibalize your syntax to use different
>cases or different variables in later analyzes;
>with yourself again, when you are reviewing the write-up;

This in fact is what I'm doing now, as I have a series of quarterly  and
annual tasks that I am trying to automate. I also find it helpful to lard
the syntax programs with commentary.

Where I have trouble now is with automating the process of what to do with
the output, as I usually need to extract a number from the output and do
additional operations with it. Is there a guide for doing that written up
somewhere?

For example, if I obtain Descriptive Statistics/ Frequencies, and want to
extract the mean value and compare it with a benchmark (from another
website)? So, can I extract the mean value, give it a name, and do logical
operations on it?

Bob Schacht

>with the people doing quality assurance review;
>with the people who are trying to help you debug your syntax and
>approach. (co-workers, help desks, this list, etc)
>with people you are trying to help. (Docens discimus!)
>
>Art Kendall
>Social Research Consultants
>
>
>
>ViAnn Beadle wrote:
>>Just a comment on the user interface--it never hurts to start with the user
>>interface (menus, dialogs, etc.) if you're a newbie or looking for something
>>you've never tried before. I'd guess that about 90% of all SPSS syntax is
>>covered by the hundreds of dialog boxes available. It's a good place to
>>start if you want to learn the syntax since nearly all UIs provide a Paste
>>button.
>>
>>Shields up ;-)
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
>>Florio Arguillas
>>Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 9:59 AM
>>To: [hidden email]
>>Subject: Re: ASCII (Text) File form an SPSS *.sav File
>>
>>Hi Eugenio,
>>
>>Another way to go about it is via point-and-click.
>>
>>With your SPSS data set open in the active Data Editor window,
>>
>>1. Click File>Save AS
>>2.  In the Save In box, click the pull-down menu to select the folder
>>where you want to store your .DAT file
>>3.  In the File name box, enter the name of your .DAT file
>>4.  In the Save as type box, click the pull-down menu and select
>>"Fixed ASCII (*.dat)
>>5.  Then click Paste
>>
>>Note that in Step 4, you have several options for saving your
>>file.   You can save it not just as an ASCII file, but as a SAS
>>dataset, STATA, DBASE, EXCEL, etc...
>>
>>HTH,
>>
>>Florio
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>At 06:31 PM 9/21/2007, Eugenio Grant wrote:
>>
>>>Hi Guys:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>How do I create and ACII (plain text file with *.dat extension) file form
>>an
>>
>>>SPSS File???
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Is there a syntax for it???
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Regards.
>>
>Robert M. Schacht, Ph.D. <[hidden email]>
>Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research & Training Center
>1268 Young Street, Suite #204
>Research Center, University of Hawaii
>Honolulu, HI 96814

[ViAnn Beadle]

Look at OMS.

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Bob
Schacht
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 1:27 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: extracting syntax for re-use

At 06:46 AM 9/24/2007, Art Kendall wrote:

>I have been using SPSS since 72.  I frequently use the GUI.
>
>However, like any other creative process, there is a spiral of
>continuous rewrite.
>The GUI is an excellent way to develop a draft of your approach.
>
><PASTE>ing however, results in much better communication:
>with yourself, you will inevitably be interrupted in your analysis
>(meals, sleeping, bathroom, meetings, visitors,etc);
>with yourself again, as you become more fluent in SPSS and more familiar
>with your data, you will refine what you are doing;
>with yourself again, when you cannibalize your syntax to use different
>cases or different variables in later analyzes;
>with yourself again, when you are reviewing the write-up;

This in fact is what I'm doing now, as I have a series of quarterly  and
annual tasks that I am trying to automate. I also find it helpful to lard
the syntax programs with commentary.

Where I have trouble now is with automating the process of what to do with
the output, as I usually need to extract a number from the output and do
additional operations with it. Is there a guide for doing that written up
somewhere?

For example, if I obtain Descriptive Statistics/ Frequencies, and want to
extract the mean value and compare it with a benchmark (from another
website)? So, can I extract the mean value, give it a name, and do logical
operations on it?

Bob Schacht

>with the people doing quality assurance review;
>with the people who are trying to help you debug your syntax and
>approach. (co-workers, help desks, this list, etc)
>with people you are trying to help. (Docens discimus!)
>
>Art Kendall
>Social Research Consultants
>
>
>
>ViAnn Beadle wrote:
>>Just a comment on the user interface--it never hurts to start with the

user
>>interface (menus, dialogs, etc.) if you're a newbie or looking for
something

>>you've never tried before. I'd guess that about 90% of all SPSS syntax is
>>covered by the hundreds of dialog boxes available. It's a good place to
>>start if you want to learn the syntax since nearly all UIs provide a Paste
>>button.
>>
>>Shields up ;-)
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
>>Florio Arguillas
>>Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 9:59 AM
>>To: [hidden email]
>>Subject: Re: ASCII (Text) File form an SPSS *.sav File
>>
>>Hi Eugenio,
>>
>>Another way to go about it is via point-and-click.
>>
>>With your SPSS data set open in the active Data Editor window,
>>
>>1. Click File>Save AS
>>2.  In the Save In box, click the pull-down menu to select the folder
>>where you want to store your .DAT file
>>3.  In the File name box, enter the name of your .DAT file
>>4.  In the Save as type box, click the pull-down menu and select
>>"Fixed ASCII (*.dat)
>>5.  Then click Paste
>>
>>Note that in Step 4, you have several options for saving your
>>file.   You can save it not just as an ASCII file, but as a SAS
>>dataset, STATA, DBASE, EXCEL, etc...
>>
>>HTH,
>>
>>Florio
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>At 06:31 PM 9/21/2007, Eugenio Grant wrote:
>>
>>>Hi Guys:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>How do I create and ACII (plain text file with *.dat extension) file form
>>an
>>
>>>SPSS File???
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Is there a syntax for it???
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Regards.
>>
>Robert M. Schacht, Ph.D. <[hidden email]>
>Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research & Training Center
>1268 Young Street, Suite #204
>Research Center, University of Hawaii
>Honolulu, HI 96814

[Peck, Jon]

As ViAnn mentioned, OMS (the Output Management System) provides a way to capture output and use it for further computation.  It can give you a dataset holding the contents of a pivot table.

If you just need to do transformations based on such output, you can do that with traditional SPSS operations.  If you need to apply logic based on this, say, to decide what procedures or other actions to do next, then you need the programmability capabilities via Python or .NET.

HTH,
Jon Peck

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Bob Schacht
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 2:27 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [SPSSX-L] extracting syntax for re-use

At 06:46 AM 9/24/2007, Art Kendall wrote:

>I have been using SPSS since 72.  I frequently use the GUI.
>
>However, like any other creative process, there is a spiral of
>continuous rewrite.
>The GUI is an excellent way to develop a draft of your approach.
>
><PASTE>ing however, results in much better communication:
>with yourself, you will inevitably be interrupted in your analysis
>(meals, sleeping, bathroom, meetings, visitors,etc);
>with yourself again, as you become more fluent in SPSS and more familiar
>with your data, you will refine what you are doing;
>with yourself again, when you cannibalize your syntax to use different
>cases or different variables in later analyzes;
>with yourself again, when you are reviewing the write-up;

This in fact is what I'm doing now, as I have a series of quarterly  and
annual tasks that I am trying to automate. I also find it helpful to lard
the syntax programs with commentary.

Where I have trouble now is with automating the process of what to do with
the output, as I usually need to extract a number from the output and do
additional operations with it. Is there a guide for doing that written up
somewhere?

For example, if I obtain Descriptive Statistics/ Frequencies, and want to
extract the mean value and compare it with a benchmark (from another
website)? So, can I extract the mean value, give it a name, and do logical
operations on it?

Bob Schacht

>with the people doing quality assurance review;
>with the people who are trying to help you debug your syntax and
>approach. (co-workers, help desks, this list, etc)
>with people you are trying to help. (Docens discimus!)
>
>Art Kendall
>Social Research Consultants
>
>
>
>ViAnn Beadle wrote:
>>Just a comment on the user interface--it never hurts to start with the user
>>interface (menus, dialogs, etc.) if you're a newbie or looking for something
>>you've never tried before. I'd guess that about 90% of all SPSS syntax is
>>covered by the hundreds of dialog boxes available. It's a good place to
>>start if you want to learn the syntax since nearly all UIs provide a Paste
>>button.
>>
>>Shields up ;-)
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
>>Florio Arguillas
>>Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 9:59 AM
>>To: [hidden email]
>>Subject: Re: ASCII (Text) File form an SPSS *.sav File
>>
>>Hi Eugenio,
>>
>>Another way to go about it is via point-and-click.
>>
>>With your SPSS data set open in the active Data Editor window,
>>
>>1. Click File>Save AS
>>2.  In the Save In box, click the pull-down menu to select the folder
>>where you want to store your .DAT file
>>3.  In the File name box, enter the name of your .DAT file
>>4.  In the Save as type box, click the pull-down menu and select
>>"Fixed ASCII (*.dat)
>>5.  Then click Paste
>>
>>Note that in Step 4, you have several options for saving your
>>file.   You can save it not just as an ASCII file, but as a SAS
>>dataset, STATA, DBASE, EXCEL, etc...
>>
>>HTH,
>>
>>Florio
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>At 06:31 PM 9/21/2007, Eugenio Grant wrote:
>>
>>>Hi Guys:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>How do I create and ACII (plain text file with *.dat extension) file form
>>an
>>
>>>SPSS File???
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Is there a syntax for it???
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Regards.
>>
>Robert M. Schacht, Ph.D. <[hidden email]>
>Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research & Training Center
>1268 Young Street, Suite #204
>Research Center, University of Hawaii
>Honolulu, HI 96814

[Richard Ristow]

At 12:09 PM 9/24/2007, ViAnn Beadle wrote:

>It never hurts to start with the user interface (menus, dialogs, etc.)
>if you're a newbie or looking for something you've never tried before.

So far so good, and warmly seconded.

>I'd guess that about 90% of all SPSS syntax is covered by the hundreds
>of dialog boxes available.

90% may be a bit that's optimistic. I may be missing things, not being
a high-energy menu user, but I'm not aware of menu entries to generate,
for example,

. MATCH FILES or ADD FILES, naming more than two files; or naming two
files, not including "*" (the current working file)

. DO IF, DO REPEAT, LOOP; XSAVE

. Any of the DATASET commands

. CASESTOVARS: /RENAME and /SEPARATOR; /DROP?

. GPL?

And I don't think the full syntax of most complicated procedures is
available from the menus.

On the other hand,

>[The menus are] a good place to start if you want to learn the syntax
>since nearly all UIs provide a Paste button.

I heartily second this. Having the menus work by generating syntax is
an implementation strategy that SPSS has conspicuously right, almost
alone among menu-driven applications.

It's not even merely a place to start. As one example, I usually click
up my CASESTOVARS commands, paste them, and tweak the syntax.


>Shields up ;-)

You wouldn't be thinking of poor, innocent little me?? O:-)

[ViAnn Beadle]

I didn't say 90% of all possible syntactical constructions ;-).

The DATASET command is frequently generated as a consequence of using an
open dialog so if you paste from it you'll get a Dataset command.

Most transformation commands are not generated by dialogs but particular
ones may be generated to support some other function.

CASESTOVARS generates the most useful ones including the mysterious INDEX
subcommand whose significance is enormous.

The Chart Builder generates GPL.

You'd be surprised about what is covered, especially for the advanced
statistics procedures and the CTABLES command.

Clearly there is always a trade-off in choosing what to cover in a given
procedure. The common and ordinary things are always covered--rare special
cases may not be covered to avoid a producing a UI that is more complicated
to use than the syntax ;-)


-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Ristow [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 5:22 PM
To: ViAnn Beadle; [hidden email]
Subject: Re: ASCII (Text) File form an SPSS *.sav File

At 12:09 PM 9/24/2007, ViAnn Beadle wrote:

>It never hurts to start with the user interface (menus, dialogs, etc.)
>if you're a newbie or looking for something you've never tried before.

So far so good, and warmly seconded.

>I'd guess that about 90% of all SPSS syntax is covered by the hundreds
>of dialog boxes available.

90% may be a bit that's optimistic. I may be missing things, not being
a high-energy menu user, but I'm not aware of menu entries to generate,
for example,

. MATCH FILES or ADD FILES, naming more than two files; or naming two
files, not including "*" (the current working file)

. DO IF, DO REPEAT, LOOP; XSAVE

. Any of the DATASET commands

. CASESTOVARS: /RENAME and /SEPARATOR; /DROP?

. GPL?

And I don't think the full syntax of most complicated procedures is
available from the menus.

On the other hand,

>[The menus are] a good place to start if you want to learn the syntax
>since nearly all UIs provide a Paste button.

I heartily second this. Having the menus work by generating syntax is
an implementation strategy that SPSS has conspicuously right, almost
alone among menu-driven applications.

It's not even merely a place to start. As one example, I usually click
up my CASESTOVARS commands, paste them, and tweak the syntax.


>Shields up ;-)

You wouldn't be thinking of poor, innocent little me?? O:-)