Add filles and pull apart a string

[Craig Hansen]

Hi All

I have to append (eg. add files) two datasets and they have different
variables, what would be the most efficient way. Below are examples of
the two datasets and the final dataset (how I need it to look).

Dataset 1
Name                    Age             Sex             Score1
Smith, John             23              m               14
Jones, Terry            34              m               12
Johns, Tracey   25              f               25

Dataset 2
Firstname               Surname         Age             Sex
Score_1 Score_2
Samantha                Jones                   23              .
12                      13
David                   Smith                   34              .
12                      24
Timothy                 Johnson         23              .
12                      23


Final dataset
Firstname               Surname         Age             Sex
Score1          Score2
John                    Smith                   23              m
14                      .
Terry                   Jones                   34              m
12                      .
Tracey                  Johns                   25              f
25                      .
Samantha                Jones                   23              .
12                      13
David                   Smith                   34              .
12                      24
Timothy                 Johnson         23              .
12                      23

I need to pull apart the names in dataset1 to create 'Firstname' and
'Surname'.
I then need to rename 'Score_1' and 'Score_2' so they are 'Score1' and
'Score2'.
The 'Sex' variable in dataset1 is a string and 'Sex' in dataset2 is
numeric (even though they are all missing) so I need to change Sex in
dataset2 to be a string.
The scores are formated differently in each dataset, for example,
Score_1 (f6), Score1 (f8).

Thanks in advacne for any help
Cheers
Craig

[Oliver, Richard]

If you can safely assume that the format of names in the first file is always "last name, first name" with a comma separating the two values, the job is fairly simple. Note that numeric variable width doesn't matter, but string variable width does. Numeric variables of the same name can vary in width across files; string variables of the same name must be the same defined width, and sometimes that requires a little extra work. Also, there's probably a more elegant solution to the the string/numeric sex variable problem.
 
****sample data***.
data list list (";")  /Name (a25) Age (f2) Sex (a2) Score1 (f8).
begin data
Smith, John;  23; m; 14
Jones, Terry;  34; m; 12
Johns, Tracey; 25; f; 25
end data.
string firstname surname (a25).
compute #comma=index(name, ",").
compute surname=substr(name, 1, #comma-1).
compute firstname=ltrim(substr(name, #comma+1)).
dataset name dataset1.
***sample data***.
data list list  (";")/Firstname (a25) Surname (a25) Age (f3) Sex (f2) Score_1 (f6) Score_2 (f6).
begin data
Samantha;Jones; 23;; 12; 13
David;Smith; 34;; 12;24
Timothy; Johnson; 23;; 12; 23
end data.
string gender (a2).
*next two commands not technically necessary if sex is always sysmis.
compute gender=string(sex, f2).
execute.
delete variables sex.
dataset name dataset2.
add files file=dataset1 /file=dataset2 /rename (Gender=Sex) (Score_1=Score1) (Score_2=Score2)
  /keep Firstname Surname Age Sex Score1 Score2.


________________________________

From: SPSSX(r) Discussion on behalf of Craig Hansen
Sent: Wed 9/27/2006 6:59 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Add filles and pull apart a string



Hi All

I have to append (eg. add files) two datasets and they have different
variables, what would be the most efficient way. Below are examples of
the two datasets and the final dataset (how I need it to look).

Dataset 1
Name                    Age             Sex             Score1
Smith, John             23              m               14
Jones, Terry            34              m               12
Johns, Tracey   25              f               25

Dataset 2
Firstname               Surname         Age             Sex
Score_1 Score_2
Samantha                Jones                   23              .
12                      13
David                   Smith                   34              .
12                      24
Timothy                 Johnson         23              .
12                      23


Final dataset
Firstname               Surname         Age             Sex
Score1          Score2
John                    Smith                   23              m
14                      .
Terry                   Jones                   34              m
12                      .
Tracey                  Johns                   25              f
25                      .
Samantha                Jones                   23              .
12                      13
David                   Smith                   34              .
12                      24
Timothy                 Johnson         23              .
12                      23    

I need to pull apart the names in dataset1 to create 'Firstname' and
'Surname'.
I then need to rename 'Score_1' and 'Score_2' so they are 'Score1' and
'Score2'.
The 'Sex' variable in dataset1 is a string and 'Sex' in dataset2 is
numeric (even though they are all missing) so I need to change Sex in
dataset2 to be a string.
The scores are formated differently in each dataset, for example,
Score_1 (f6), Score1 (f8).

Thanks in advacne for any help
Cheers
Craig