Aggregating a string variable

[nina]

Dear all,
My aim is to aggregate a string variable which stretches over several lines of text such that the text appears in one row. To illustrate, my data structure looks like this:

Casenumber V1_STRING
1           This text
1     should appear
1           in a single row for case #1
2           This text
2     should appear
2     in a single row for case #2
.
.
.

The problem is that when I use e.g. this syntax:

AGGREGATE
  /OUTFILE='C:\Users\Lasek-N\Documents\aggr.sav'
  /BREAK=casenumber
  /V1_STRING =MAX (VAR00001).

only the first line (“This line”) appears in the new data file. The other lines are not aggregated. I would be very helpful for suggestions how to solve this issue…

Greetings,
Nina

[David Millar]

Hi Nina

I think you need to have a look at "casestovars" and try the concatenation then.  Below is some old code of mine that may help.

Best wishes

David


*This code works where you have a (perhaps different) number of cases for a single individual (or school)
*and you was want a single case with variables for 1st response, 2nd response, 3rd response etc.

*Input looks like
tchid com_code
1 1
1 2
1 3
2 1
3 5
3 6
4 3
4 12
4 13

*Output like
tchid com_code.1.00 com_code.2.00 com_code.3.00 case.1.00 case.2.00 case.3.00
1 1 2 3 1 2 3
2 1 . . 4 . .
3 5 6 . 5 6 .
4 3 12 13 7 8 9

*Need to tidy this up and improve my understanding as I don't need the case.1.00 etc vars at the end.


get file='C:\Usecode\input.sav'.

sort cases by tchid.

compute case =$casenum.

do if case=1.
compute comcount=1.
end if.

do if (tchid = lag (tchid,1) ).
compute comcount = comcount + 1.
leave comcount.
else if (tchid ne lag(tchid,1)).
compute comcount = 1.
end if.
exe.

split file by tchid.

casestovars
  /id=tchid
  /index=comcount.

save outfile='C:\Usecode\output.sav'.

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of nina
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2016 11:41 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Aggregating a string variable

Dear all,
My aim is to aggregate a string variable which stretches over several lines
of text such that the text appears in one row. To illustrate, my data
structure looks like this:

Casenumber V1_STRING
1           This text
1     should appear
1           in a single row for case #1
2           This text
2     should appear
2     in a single row for case #2
.
.
.

The problem is that when I use e.g. this syntax:

AGGREGATE
  /OUTFILE='C:\Users\Lasek-N\Documents\aggr.sav'
  /BREAK=casenumber
  /V1_STRING =MAX (VAR00001).

only the first line (“This line”) appears in the new data file. The other
lines are not aggregated. I would be very helpful for suggestions how to
solve this issue…

Greetings,
Nina




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[David Marso]

That is a bit over engineered:
DATA LIST /Casenumber (F1) V1_STRING (A40).
BEGIN DATA
1           This text
1     should appear
1           in a single row for case #1
2           This text
2     should appear
2     in a single row for case #2
END DATA.

STRING CombStr (A200) .
COMPUTE CombStr=V1_STRING.
IF Casenumber= LAG(Casenumber)
   CombStr=CONCAT(LTRIM(RTRIM(LAG(CombStr)))," ",LTRIM(RTRIM(V1_STRING))).
AGGREGATE OUTFILE * / BREAK Casenumber / Combined=LAST(CombStr).
LIST.

 
  Casenumber: 1
    Combined: This text should appear in a single row for case #1
 
  Casenumber: 2
    Combined: This text should appear in a single row for case #2

David Millar wrote

Hi Nina

I think you need to have a look at "casestovars" and try the concatenation then.  Below is some old code of mine that may help.

Best wishes

David


*This code works where you have a (perhaps different) number of cases for a single individual (or school)
*and you was want a single case with variables for 1st response, 2nd response, 3rd response etc.

*Input looks like
tchid com_code
1 1
1 2
1 3
2 1
3 5
3 6
4 3
4 12
4 13

*Output like
tchid com_code.1.00 com_code.2.00 com_code.3.00 case.1.00 case.2.00 case.3.00
1 1 2 3 1 2 3
2 1 . . 4 . .
3 5 6 . 5 6 .
4 3 12 13 7 8 9

*Need to tidy this up and improve my understanding as I don't need the case.1.00 etc vars at the end.


get file='C:\Usecode\input.sav'.

sort cases by tchid.

compute case =$casenum.

do if case=1.
compute comcount=1.
end if.

do if (tchid = lag (tchid,1) ).
compute comcount = comcount + 1.
leave comcount.
else if (tchid ne lag(tchid,1)).
compute comcount = 1.
end if.
exe.

split file by tchid.

casestovars
  /id=tchid
  /index=comcount.

save outfile='C:\Usecode\output.sav'.

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of nina
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2016 11:41 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Aggregating a string variable

Dear all,
My aim is to aggregate a string variable which stretches over several lines
of text such that the text appears in one row. To illustrate, my data
structure looks like this:

Casenumber V1_STRING
1           This text
1     should appear
1           in a single row for case #1
2           This text
2     should appear
2     in a single row for case #2
.
.
.

The problem is that when I use e.g. this syntax:

AGGREGATE
  /OUTFILE='C:\Users\Lasek-N\Documents\aggr.sav'
  /BREAK=casenumber
  /V1_STRING =MAX (VAR00001).

only the first line (“This line”) appears in the new data file. The other
lines are not aggregated. I would be very helpful for suggestions how to
solve this issue…

Greetings,
Nina




--
View this message in context: http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/Aggregating-a-string-variable-tp5733154.html
Sent from the SPSSX Discussion mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
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[nina]

...many thanks for this very fast solution!!!
N.