Reading old SPSS-X system files from the 80's on the mainframe (a dataarcheological problem)

[Staffan Lindberg]

Dear list!

 

A while ago I asked the list if it was possible to read old SPSS-X system files from the 80’s that had been transferred (binary dump of EBCDIC files) from tapes onto disks. The mainframe center had long been closed down and the operating system (IBM 360/MVS?) was no longer in use. Several kind souls tried but did not succeed. A time ago I was contacted by Chris Muller from Muller Media Conversions (www.mullermedia.com) who was willing to give it a try. I cannot say that my hope was great but after some correspondence he actually succeeded in converting many of them to readable SPSS for Windows files with most of the labels intact although the variable labels were something of a problem.

 

I know making advertisements in this list is frowned upon but I think I am not alone with these kind of conversion problems and only want to point out that there sometimes are solutions.

 

best

 

Staffan Lindberg

Sweden

[statisticsdoc]

Staffan,

Advertisements are one thing, testimonials are another.  Thank you for the information!

Best Regards,

Stephen Brand

 

From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Staffan Lindberg
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 9:24 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Reading old SPSS-X system files from the 80's on the mainframe (a dataarcheological problem)

 

Dear list!

 

A while ago I asked the list if it was possible to read old SPSS-X system files from the 80’s that had been transferred (binary dump of EBCDIC files) from tapes onto disks. The mainframe center had long been closed down and the operating system (IBM 360/MVS?) was no longer in use. Several kind souls tried but did not succeed. A time ago I was contacted by Chris Muller from Muller Media Conversions (www.mullermedia.com) who was willing to give it a try. I cannot say that my hope was great but after some correspondence he actually succeeded in converting many of them to readable SPSS for Windows files with most of the labels intact although the variable labels were something of a problem.

 

I know making advertisements in this list is frowned upon but I think I am not alone with these kind of conversion problems and only want to point out that there sometimes are solutions.

 

best

 

Staffan Lindberg

Sweden