How to convert multiple string varibles into numeric in SPSS?

[behkami]

My Excel file (xlsx) contains more than 1200 columns. I tried to open it using the SPSS version 17.01 but the following error came up: "Error Starting the Java Virtual Machine; unable to open file; "FILE NAME"".
I had no choice but copy/paste all the data from Excel into SPSS. But when I do it, all the variables are changed into string (on variables page).
Is there a way to convert multiple string variables into numeric using a single command?
Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Behkami M.D
PhD student in Immunology

[Jon K Peck]

SPSS should be able to read the file directly - maybe your version is too old to support Excel 2007, but you can use the ALTER TYPE command to change the type of all the variables.  The pasted cells probably contained some nonnumeric values, which forced the types to be string.

Jon Peck
Senior Software Engineer, IBM
[hidden email]
new phone: [phone]




From:        behkami <[hidden email]>
To:        [hidden email]
Date:        07/11/2011 08:55 AM
Subject:        [SPSSX-L] How to convert multiple string varibles into numeric in              SPSS?
Sent by:        "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>

---

My Excel file (xlsx) contains more than 1200 columns. I tried to open it
using the SPSS version 17.01 but the following error came up: "Error
Starting the Java Virtual Machine; unable to open file; "FILE NAME"".
I had no choice but copy/paste all the data from Excel into SPSS. But when I
do it, all the variables are changed into string (on variables page).
Is there a way to convert multiple string variables into numeric using a
single command?
Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Behkami M.D
PhD student in Immunology


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[Garry Gelade]

If your SPSS version does not support xlsx, simply save the .xlsx file to .xls in Excel, and then read in the .xls file.

 

Garry Gelade

 

From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jon K Peck
Sent: 11 July 2011 08:04
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: How to convert multiple string variables into numeric in SPSS?

 

SPSS should be able to read the file directly - maybe your version is too old to support Excel 2007, but you can use the ALTER TYPE command to change the type of all the variables.  The pasted cells probably contained some nonnumeric values, which forced the types to be string.

Jon Peck
Senior Software Engineer, IBM
[hidden email]
new phone: [phone]




From:        behkami <[hidden email]>
To:        [hidden email]
Date:        07/11/2011 08:55 AM
Subject:        [SPSSX-L] How to convert multiple string varibles into numeric in              SPSS?
Sent by:        "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>

---

My Excel file (xlsx) contains more than 1200 columns. I tried to open it
using the SPSS version 17.01 but the following error came up: "Error
Starting the Java Virtual Machine; unable to open file; "FILE NAME"".
I had no choice but copy/paste all the data from Excel into SPSS. But when I
do it, all the variables are changed into string (on variables page).
Is there a way to convert multiple string variables into numeric using a
single command?
Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Behkami M.D
PhD student in Immunology


--
View this message in context: http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/How-to-convert-multiple-string-varibles-into-numeric-in-SPSS-tp4574076p4574076.html
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[Albert-Jan Roskam]

Hello,

You can save the file as csv in Excel, then open it in Spss. Check that the columns don't contain any unintended characters. If there is e.g. a dot/period in one of the cells, the corresponding column will be a character var.

This could be  the case with 'dirty' excel sheets. At least Spss handles this nicely (cf. RODBC in R).

Cheers!!
Albert-Jan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

--- On Mon, 7/11/11, behkami <[hidden email]> wrote:

From: behkami <[hidden email]>
Subject: [SPSSX-L] How to convert multiple string varibles into numeric in SPSS?
To: [hidden email]
Date: Monday, July 11, 2011, 8:53 AM

My Excel file (xlsx) contains more than 1200 columns. I tried to open it
using the SPSS version 17.01 but the following error came up: "Error
Starting the Java Virtual Machine; unable to open file; "FILE NAME"".
I had no choice but copy/paste all the data from Excel into SPSS. But when I
do it, all the variables are changed into string (on variables page).
Is there a way to convert multiple string variables into numeric using a
single command?
Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Behkami M.D
PhD student in Immunology


--
View this message in context: http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/How-to-convert-multiple-string-varibles-into-numeric-in-SPSS-tp4574076p4574076.html
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[behkami]

Thank you soooooooooo much Albert-Jan. It was really helpful.   

[David Marso]

Hmmm,  By chance do you have fieldnames in the first row and picking them up in the "copy/paste"?  If so then OF COURSE everything is going to show up as a string.
Have no idea why the "open" failed.

behkami wrote

My Excel file (xlsx) contains more than 1200 columns. I tried to open it using the SPSS version 17.01 but the following error came up: "Error Starting the Java Virtual Machine; unable to open file; "FILE NAME"".
I had no choice but copy/paste all the data from Excel into SPSS. But when I do it, all the variables are changed into string (on variables page).
Is there a way to convert multiple string variables into numeric using a single command?
Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Behkami M.D
PhD student in Immunology

[Jarrod Teo-2]

Hi Behkami,

 

I am not sure if someone had answered you on converting a set of string variables into numeric question part.

 

Assuming that your data is as follows.

 

1st scenario:

 

 v1 v2 v3 v4 

 1   1   1  1 

 1   1   1  1 

 1   1   1  1 

 1   1   1  1  

 

Then the syntax to convert the string numbers, v1 v2 v3 v4, into numerical variables will be as follows:

 

do repeat x1=n1 to n4

/x2=v1 to v4.

 

compute x1=number(x2,f8).

 

end repeat.

exe.

 

The f8 in function of the compute reads the number of string values you want to convert from the original string variables.

 

 

2nd scenario:

 

 v1 v2 v3 v4 

 a   a   a  a 

 a   a   a  a 

 a   a   a  a 

 a   a   a  a 

 

 

recode v1 ('a'=1) into n1.

crosstab v1 by n1.

 

You will have to do it one by one by doing a copy and paste of the above syntax for v2 to v4. This is because it is always a good habit to check your recode to see if you have recoded all the values from your original variable.

 

Warmest Regards

Dorraj Oet

>

>
> behkami wrote:
> >
> > My Excel file (xlsx) contains more than 1200 columns. I tried to open it
> > using the SPSS version 17.01 but the following error came up: "Error
> > Starting the Java Virtual Machine; unable to open file; "FILE NAME"".
> > I had no choice but copy/paste all the data from Excel into SPSS. But when
> > I do it, all the variables are changed into string (on variables page).
> > Is there a way to convert multiple string variables into numeric using a
> > single command?
> > Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.
> >
> > Behkami M.D
> > PhD student in Immunology
> >
>
>
> --
> View this message in context: http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/How-to-convert-multiple-strin! g-varibles-into-numeric-in-SPSS-tp4574076p4580036.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
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> INFO REFCARD