Is it possible to create custom Template files (*.sat) for use with autorecode?

[Moser, Gary]

Hello List,

 

I am very pleased with the subcommands 'apply template' and 'save
template' on the autorecode command -

especially because the template can be applied and updated and re-saved
all in the same command. I love it. However, what if I want to create a
template that has numbers assigned to values in non-ordinal arrangements
(like: 'Black' = 1, 'Asian' = 2, 'White' = 3, 'Intl' = 4). I can see
many situations where having everything arranged alphabetically will
make them out of the order I want them in when I try to create a table.
Can I create a template that I can apply and update via autorecode that
does not require my values to sorted to begin with? Thanks!

 

Gary Moser

Research Analyst

Institutional Research

Dominican University of California

Ph: 415.482.2400

Fax:[phone]

Email: [hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>

 

 

[Richard Ristow]

Hi, Gary!

At 02:18 PM 10/23/2006, Moser, Gary wrote:

>I am very pleased with the subcommands 'apply template' and 'save
>template' on the autorecode command. What if I want to create a
>template that has numbers assigned to values in non-ordinal
>arrangements? Can I create a template that I can apply and update via
>autorecode that does not require my values to sorted to begin with?

Boy, I sure thought so. For one,

>at 01:28 PM 3/11/2006, Michael Healy <[hidden email]> wrote
>("Re: Speeding up Recode"):
>
>>I use AUTORECODE with the APPLY TEMPLATE option.  The template file
>>turns out to be a standard SPSS data file. The manual states that
>>creating your own files is experimental, but so far its working
>>fine.  This procedure is hundreds if not thousands of times faster
>>than the RECODE approach I was using. [The speedup was for a RECODE
>>with hundreds of clauses.]

And I'm pretty sure I tested it myself at that point (using SPSS 9),
and had it work for me. I was going to post you a nice demonstration
(SPSS 14). Instead, the test run, with problems, is below. You will
see,

- The auto-generated template file appears, as stated, to be a normal
SPSS data file; it can be GET FILEd and LISTed. (By the way, SPSS 14
datasets don't seem to work. Design, or oversight?) And it can be
APPLYed, and work properly.

- BUT, the user-generated template file fails in a very interesting
way:
A. There's no error message
B. AUTORECODE obviously reads the template file. You'll see that it
assigns VALUE LABELS for the specifications in the template file.
(AUTORECODE always assigns the character source values as labels for
the numerical target values.)
C. However, it seems to create and apply a whole new set of RECODE
specifications:
- The new specifications recode the values in alphabetical order
(sigh).
- The new target values are numbered sequentially after the
user-specified ones.
- The correct VALUE LABELS are assigned for the new specifications; the
target variable therefore has labels for both the user-specified,
desired, target values, and the (apparently) generated target values.

SPSS, Inc: Comments?

The following run, SPSS draft output using 14.0.2, illustrates all of
the above.

*  ................................................... .
*  ............   AUTORECODE, create a template ...... .
GET FILE=TestData.
LIST.

List
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |25-OCT-2006 14:12:22       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
DATA.SAT

CharVar

Alpha
Beta
Gamma
Delta
Epsilon
Eta
Theta

Number of cases read:  7    Number of cases listed:  7


DATASET DECLARE AutoTmpl.
AUTORECODE CharVar
      /INTO NmbrAuto
      /SAVE TEMPLATE=AutoTmpl.

LIST.

List
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |25-OCT-2006 14:12:22       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
DATA.SAT

CharVar      NmbrAuto

Alpha            1
Beta             2
Gamma            6
Delta            3
Epsilon          4
Eta              5
Theta            7

Number of cases read:  7    Number of cases listed:  7


*  ............   Load and list    the template ...... .
GET FILE=AutoTmpl.
LIST.

List
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |25-OCT-2006 14:12:23       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
GENERATED TEMPLATE.SAT

Source_      Target_

Alpha           1
Beta            2
Delta           3
Epsilon         4
Eta             5
Gamma           6
Theta           7

Number of cases read:  7    Number of cases listed:  7


*  ............   Create      a user's template ...... .
NEW FILE.
DATA LIST FREE / Source_ (A8) Target_ (F3).
* ... BEGIN DATA
* ... Alpha 101 Beta 102 Gamma 103 Delta 104 Epsilon 105 Theta 107.
* ... END DATA.

BEGIN DATA
Alpha 101 Beta 102 Gamma 103 Delta 104 Epsilon 105 Eta 106 Theta 107.
END DATA.
*  ............   List and save template        ...... .
*  - 'Eta' is not included in values to be recoded     .
*  - Variable "Source_" is (A8); variable to be        .
*    recoded is (A12).
SORT CASES BY Source_.
SAVE OUTFILE=UserTmpl.
*  ............   Load and list    the template ...... .
GET FILE=UserTmpl.
LIST.

List
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |25-OCT-2006 14:12:26       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
TEMPLATE CREATED BY USER.SAT

Source_  Target_

Alpha      101
Beta       102
Delta      104
Epsilon    105
Eta        106
Gamma      103
Theta      107

Number of cases read:  7    Number of cases listed:  7


*  ............   Recode, with both templates   ...... .
GET FILE=TESTDATA.

AUTORECODE CharVar
      /INTO NmbrAuto
      /APPLY TEMPLATE=AutoTmpl.

AUTORECODE CharVar
      /INTO NmbrUser
      /APPLY TEMPLATE=UserTmpl.
FORMATS NmbrUser (F4).

LIST.

List
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |25-OCT-2006 14:12:27       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
DATA.SAT

CharVar      NmbrAuto NmbrUser

Alpha            1       108
Beta             2       109
Gamma            6       113
Delta            3       110
Epsilon          4       111
Eta              5       112
Theta            7       114

Number of cases read:  7    Number of cases listed:  7


DISPLAY DICTIONARY.

File Information
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |25-OCT-2006 14:12:27       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
DATA.SAT

Variable Information
|--------|--------|------|------------|-------|---------|-------|-------|
|Variable|Position|Label |Measurement |Column
|Alignment|Print  |Write  |
|        |        |      |Level       |Width  |         |Format |Format
|
|--------|--------|------|------------|-------|---------|-------|-------|
|CharVar
|1       |<none>|Nominal     |14     |Left     |A12    |A12    |
|--------|--------|------|------------|-------|---------|-------|-------|
|NmbrAuto|2       |<none>|Nominal     |10     |Right    |F1     |F1
|
|--------|--------|------|------------|-------|---------|-------|-------|
|NmbrUser|3       |<none>|Nominal     |10     |Right    |F4     |F4
|
|--------|--------|------|------------|-------|---------|-------|-------|
Variables in the working file

Variable Values
|--------|---|-------|
|Value   |   |Label  |
|--------|---|-------|
|NmbrAuto|1  |Alpha  |
|        |2  |Beta   |
|        |3  |Delta  |
|        |4  |Epsilon|
|        |5  |Eta    |
|        |6  |Gamma  |
|        |7  |Theta  |
|--------|---|-------|
|NmbrUser|101|Alpha  |
|        |102|Beta   |
|        |103|Gamma  |
|        |104|Delta  |
|        |105|Epsilon|
|        |106|Eta    |
|        |107|Theta  |
|        |---|-------|
|        |108|Alpha  |
|        |109|Beta   |
|        |110|Delta  |
|        |111|Epsilon|
|        |112|Eta    |
|        |113|Gamma  |
|        |114|Theta  |
|--------|---|-------|

[Oliver, Richard]

There seem to be two threads here:
 
1. Can you create/apply templates with non-ordinal arrangements? Yes. A template file is actually just an SPSS data file; so you can create your own following any logic you want -- but you're on your own if it doesn't work. ;-)
 
2. Applying a template from a string of one defined width to a string of a different defined width doesn't work as one would expect for the same values (e.g. a value of "abc" from an 8-character string variable applied to a value of "abc" from a 12-character string variable). This is an undocumented limitation -- but a cursory test suggests that it's only problematic when the string variable in the template is shorter of the two. So a value of "abc" from a template for a 12-character string variable will treat a value of "abc" in an 8-character string variable as the same value and apply the same autorecode value.
 
*applying template created with longer string
 to shorter string works for same values.
data list free /longstring (a12).
begin data
abc def ghi jkl
end data.
autorecode longstring /into numvar
  /save template='c:\temp\autotemplate.sat'
  /print.
data list free /shorterstring (a10).
begin data
aaa abc def ghi jkl
end data.
autorecode shorterstring /into numvar
 /apply template='c:\temp\autotemplate.sat'
 /print.


________________________________

From: SPSSX(r) Discussion on behalf of Richard Ristow
Sent: Mon 10/30/2006 6:07 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: Is it possible to create custom Template files?



At 02:18 PM 10/23/2006, Moser, Gary wrote:

>I am very pleased with the subcommands 'apply template' and 'save
>template' on the autorecode command. What if I want to create a
>template that has numbers assigned to values in non-ordinal
>arrangements?

After posting a failure on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:43:37 -0400, I looked
again, and,

"By George, I think he's got it!" - Alan Jay Lerner

 From the SPSS 14 Command Syntax Reference, article on AUTORECODE,
p.166:

>APPLY TEMPLATE Subcommand
>The APPLY TEMPLATE subcommand allows you to apply a previously saved
>autorecode template.
>.. Value mappings from the template are applied first. All remaining
>values are recoded into values higher than the last value in the
>template

'Remaining values'; i.e. values the source variable takes on, that are
not in variable "Source_" in the template. AND, for this purpose, for
string values to be the 'same', they must have the same length. (If
this is documented, I haven't seen it.)

Below is a revised run; it's SPSS draft output, release 14. It
AUTORECODEs an 8-character variable, generating a template; and creates
a user template, in which variable "Source_" has length 8. Both those
templates work properly when applied to the original variable. Neither
of them give the desired results applied to a 12-character copy of the
original variable; for both AUTORECODE regards the specifications from
the template as not matching, and generates new recode specifications
according to the rule quoted above.

*  ............   AUTORECODE, create a template ...... .
GET FILE=TestData.
LIST.
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |30-OCT-2006 18:10:39       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
DATA.SAV

CharVar

Alpha
Beta
Gamma
Delta
Epsilon
Eta
Theta

Number of cases read:  7    Number of cases listed:  7


AUTORECODE CharVar
      /INTO NmbrAuto
      /SAVE TEMPLATE=AutoTmpl.

LIST.
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |30-OCT-2006 18:10:39       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
DATA.SAV

CharVar  NmbrAuto

Alpha        1
Beta         2
Gamma        6
Delta        3
Epsilon      4
Eta          5
Theta        7

Number of cases read:  7    Number of cases listed:  7


*  ............   Load and list    the template ...... .
GET FILE=AutoTmpl.
LIST.
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |30-OCT-2006 18:10:39       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
GENERATED TEMPLATE.SAT

Source_  Target_

Alpha       1
Beta        2
Delta       3
Epsilon     4
Eta         5
Gamma       6
Theta       7

Number of cases read:  7    Number of cases listed:  7


*  ............   Create      a user's template ...... .
NEW FILE.
DATA LIST FREE / Source_ (A08) Target_ (F3).
*  The data line, below, omits 'Eta', code 106.        .
BEGIN DATA
Alpha   101 Beta  102 Gamma 103 Delta 104
Epsilon 105 Theta 107
END DATA.

* ... Alpha   101 Beta  102 Gamma 103 Delta 104
* ... Epsilon 105 Eta   106 Theta 107.

*  ............   List and save template        ...... .
*  - 'Eta' is not included in values to be recoded     .
SORT CASES BY Source_.
SAVE OUTFILE=UserTmpl.
*  ............   Load and list    the template ...... .
GET FILE=UserTmpl.
LIST.
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |30-OCT-2006 18:10:41       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
TEMPLATE CREATED BY USER.SAT

Source_  Target_

Alpha      101
Beta       102
Delta      104
Epsilon    105
Gamma      103
Theta      107

Number of cases read:  6    Number of cases listed:  6


*  ............   Recode, with both templates,  ...... .
*                 8-character and 12-character         .
*                 source variables.                    .
GET FILE=TESTDATA.

STRING  Char12            (A12).
COMPUTE Char12 = Charvar.

AUTORECODE CharVar
      /INTO TgAuto
      /APPLY TEMPLATE=AutoTmpl.

AUTORECODE CharVar
      /INTO TgUser
      /APPLY TEMPLATE=UserTmpl.

AUTORECODE Char12
      /INTO TgAuto12
      /APPLY TEMPLATE=AutoTmpl.

AUTORECODE Char12
      /INTO TgUser12
      /APPLY TEMPLATE=UserTmpl.

FORMATS TgAuto TO TgUser12 (F4).

LIST.
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |30-OCT-2006 18:10:41       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
   \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
DATA.SAV

CharVar  Char12       TgAuto TgUser TgAuto12 TgUser12

Alpha    Alpha            1    101       8      108
Beta     Beta             2    102       9      109
Gamma    Gamma            6    103      13      113
Delta    Delta            3    104      10      110
Epsilon  Epsilon          4    105      11      111
Eta      Eta              5    108      12      112
Theta    Theta            7    107      14      114

Number of cases read:  7    Number of cases listed:  7


DISPLAY DICTIONARY.
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|Output Created               |30-OCT-2006 18:10:41       |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
C:\Documents and Settings\Richard\My Documents\Temporary\SPSS
    \2006-10-23 Moser - Is it possible to create custom Template files
DATA.SAV

Variable Information
|--------|--------|------|-----------|------|---------|------|------|
|Variable|Position|Label |Measurement|Column|Alignment|Print |Write |
|        |        |      |Level      |Width |         |Format|Format|
|--------|--------|------|-----------|------|---------|------|------|
|CharVar |1       |<none>|Nominal    |10    |Left     |A8    |A8    |
|--------|--------|------|-----------|------|---------|------|------|
|Char12  |2       |<none>|Nominal    |14    |Left     |A12   |A12   |
|--------|--------|------|-----------|------|---------|------|------|
|TgAuto  |3       |<none>|Nominal    |8     |Right    |F4    |F4    |
|--------|--------|------|-----------|------|---------|------|------|
|TgUser  |4       |<none>|Nominal    |8     |Right    |F4    |F4    |
|--------|--------|------|-----------|------|---------|------|------|
|TgAuto12|5       |<none>|Nominal    |10    |Right    |F4    |F4    |
|--------|--------|------|-----------|------|---------|------|------|
|TgUser12|6       |<none>|Nominal    |10    |Right    |F4    |F4    |
|--------|--------|------|-----------|------|---------|------|------|
Variables in the working file

Variable Values
|--------|---|-------|
|Value   |   |Label  |
|--------|---|-------|
|TgAuto  |1  |Alpha  |
|        |2  |Beta   |
|        |3  |Delta  |
|        |4  |Epsilon|
|        |5  |Eta    |
|        |6  |Gamma  |
|        |7  |Theta  |
|--------|---|-------|
|TgUser  |101|Alpha  |
|        |102|Beta   |
|        |103|Gamma  |
|        |104|Delta  |
|        |105|Epsilon|
|        |107|Theta  |
|        |108|Eta    |
|--------|---|-------|
|TgAuto12|1  |Alpha  |
|        |2  |Beta   |
|        |3  |Delta  |
|        |4  |Epsilon|
|        |5  |Eta    |
|        |6  |Gamma  |
|        |7  |Theta  |
|        |---|-------|
|        |8  |Alpha  |
|        |9  |Beta   |
|        |10 |Delta  |
|        |11 |Epsilon|
|        |12 |Eta    |
|        |13 |Gamma  |
|        |14 |Theta  |
|--------|---|-------|
|TgUser12|101|Alpha  |
|        |102|Beta   |
|        |103|Gamma  |
|        |104|Delta  |
|        |105|Epsilon|
|        |107|Theta  |
|        |---|-------|
|        |108|Alpha  |
|        |109|Beta   |
|        |110|Delta  |
|        |111|Epsilon|
|        |112|Eta    |
|        |113|Gamma  |
|        |114|Theta  |
|--------|---|-------|

[Richard Ristow]

At 01:53 AM 10/31/2006, Oliver, Richard wrote:

>1. Can you create/apply templates with non-ordinal arrangements? Yes.
>A template file is actually just an SPSS data file; so you can create
>your own following any logic you want -- but you're on your own if it
>doesn't work. ;-)
>
>2. Applying a template from a string of one defined width to a string
>of a different defined width doesn't work as one would expect for the
>same values (e.g. a value of "abc" from an 8-character string variable
>applied to a value of "abc" from a 12-character string variable). This
>is an undocumented limitation -- but a cursory test suggests that it's
>only problematic when the string variable in the template is shorter
>of the two. So a value of "abc" from a template for a 12-character
>string variable will treat a value of "abc" in an 8-character string
>variable as the same value and apply the same autorecode value.

THANK you. That's something I didn't test, and missed. It's a major
difference, and a major improvement: you can make a template work for
all sorts of strings simply by making variable Source_ very long.