At 09:22 AM 8/8/2008, Genevieve Thompson wrote:
>I am trying to extract data from an ODBC Database using SPSS. I
>started by opening a new database, selecting the ODBC Data source
>and selecting the needed variables. When I try to retrieve the data
>I'm looking for, the Data view tab only shows the list of variables
>I selected. The data fields are not populated.
Could it be as simple as that the command has been executed, but has
not yet carried out the data retrieval?
SPSS's is 'lazy' in data retrieval (and running transformations).
That is, it doesn't carry out the operation until the results are
'needed', which means a procedure command or a SAVE. It can do a lot
for efficiency, but it can be confusing if you're running interactively.
Try selecting menu
Transforms > Run Pending Transforms
More:
1. 'Run Pending Transformations' runs an EXECUTE; EXECUTE is a
procedure. This is probably what gave the widespread (inaccurate)
impression that you must run EXECUTE for the results of
transformations to be available. (You must run a procedure for the
results to be *visible*, but that's different.)
2. It's often wise to run CACHE after an ODBC retrieval, or other
retrieval that may take a lot of resources.
-Good luck to you,
Richard
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