SPSS cannot treat string variables as string variables?

[huang jialin]

Hi,

I imported data from SQL sever by ODBC. There is a string variable, formatted as following:

Jun 22 2010  6:23AM

Apr 11 2011  3:16PM

Nov  1 2010 10:52PM

Aug 11 2011 12:05PM

I tried to pull out the date only, by using substr() function in SPSS. Thus, my syntax is as below:

COMPUTE timedate=substr(var00001, 1, 11).

EXECUTE.

But I kept on having warning like this:

>Error # 4309 in column 1024.  Text: (End of Command) 

>Invalid combination of data types in an assignment.  Character strings may 

>only be assigned to string variables.  Numeric and logical quantities may only 

>be assigned to numeric variables.  Consider using the STRING or NUMBER 

>function. 

>Execution of this command stops.

However, in the variable view, it is a string variable. How can I solve this problem?

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Jialin 

[David Marso]

One must *DECLARE* string variables prior to use in transformation expressions!
STRING timedate (A11).

huang jialin wrote

Hi,

I imported data from SQL sever by ODBC. There is a string variable,
formatted as following:

Jun 22 2010  6:23AM
Apr 11 2011  3:16PM
Nov  1 2010 10:52PM
Aug 11 2011 12:05PM

I tried to pull out the date only, by using substr() function in SPSS.
Thus, my syntax is as below:

COMPUTE timedate=substr(var00001, 1, 11).
EXECUTE.

But I kept on having warning like this:

>Error # 4309 in column 1024.  Text: (End of Command)
>Invalid combination of data types in an assignment.  Character strings may
>only be assigned to string variables.  Numeric and logical quantities may
only
>be assigned to numeric variables.  Consider using the STRING or NUMBER
>function.
>Execution of this command stops.

However, in the variable view, it is a string variable. How can I solve
this problem?

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Jialin

[Maguin, Eugene]

The immediate answer is to declare timedate as A11, because var00001 is string and you are extracting a substring (as David said). The result, therefore, will be a string. But, I’d bet that’s not where you want to wind up. That is, you want timedate to be a numeric variable with a timedate format so that you can do arithmetic with it. That requires more work.

This is untested.

 

Compute Timedate=number(concat(substr(var00001,5,2),’-‘,substr(var00001,1,3),’-‘,substr(var00001,8,4)),date11).

 

Gene Maguin

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of huang jialin
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2011 11:48 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: SPSS cannot treat string variables as string variables?

 

Hi,

 

I imported data from SQL sever by ODBC. There is a string variable, formatted as following:

 

Jun 22 2010  6:23AM

Apr 11 2011  3:16PM

Nov  1 2010 10:52PM

Aug 11 2011 12:05PM

 

I tried to pull out the date only, by using substr() function in SPSS. Thus, my syntax is as below:

 

COMPUTE timedate=substr(var00001, 1, 11).

EXECUTE.

 

But I kept on having warning like this:

 

>Error # 4309 in column 1024.  Text: (End of Command) 

>Invalid combination of data types in an assignment.  Character strings may 

>only be assigned to string variables.  Numeric and logical quantities may only 

>be assigned to numeric variables.  Consider using the STRING or NUMBER 

>function. 

>Execution of this command stops.

 

However, in the variable view, it is a string variable. How can I solve this problem?

 

Thank you very much.

 

Sincerely,

Jialin 

[Rick Oliver-3]

You have to declare the new string variable first:

string timedate (a11).

But there are relatively simple ways to convert the original string to a real date.

Rick Oliver
Senior Information Developer
Business Analytics (SPSS)
E-mail: [hidden email] | Phone: [phone] | T/L: 206-4922



From:        huang jialin <[hidden email]>
To:        [hidden email]
Date:        12/01/2011 10:50 AM
Subject:        SPSS cannot treat string variables as string variables?
Sent by:        "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>

---

Hi,

I imported data from SQL sever by ODBC. There is a string variable, formatted as following:

Jun 22 2010  6:23AM
Apr 11 2011  3:16PM
Nov  1 2010 10:52PM
Aug 11 2011 12:05PM

I tried to pull out the date only, by using substr() function in SPSS. Thus, my syntax is as below:

COMPUTE timedate=substr(var00001, 1, 11).
EXECUTE.

But I kept on having warning like this:

>Error # 4309 in column 1024.  Text: (End of Command) 
>Invalid combination of data types in an assignment.  Character strings may 
>only be assigned to string variables.  Numeric and logical quantities may only 
>be assigned to numeric variables.  Consider using the STRING or NUMBER 
>function. 
>Execution of this command stops.

However, in the variable view, it is a string variable. How can I solve this problem?

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Jialin 

[huang jialin]

Hi,

Thanks all for your quick responses. The Declare line works. 

To Gene, I do want the date reformatted. Thanks for the tips.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Jialin 

On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 11:15 AM, Rick Oliver <[hidden email]> wrote:

You have to declare the new string variable first:

string timedate (a11).

But there are relatively simple ways to convert the original string to a real date.

Rick Oliver
Senior Information Developer
Business Analytics (SPSS)
E-mail: [hidden email] | Phone: <a href="tel:[phone]" value="[phone]" target="_blank">312.893.4922 | T/L: 206-4922



From:        huang jialin <[hidden email]>
To:        [hidden email]
Date:        12/01/2011 10:50 AM

Subject:        SPSS cannot treat string variables as string variables?

Sent by:        "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>

---

Hi,

I imported data from SQL sever by ODBC. There is a string variable, formatted as following:

Jun 22 2010  6:23AM
Apr 11 2011  3:16PM
Nov  1 2010 10:52PM
Aug 11 2011 12:05PM

I tried to pull out the date only, by using substr() function in SPSS. Thus, my syntax is as below:

COMPUTE timedate=substr(var00001, 1, 11).
EXECUTE.

But I kept on having warning like this:

>Error # 4309 in column 1024.  Text: (End of Command) 
>Invalid combination of data types in an assignment.  Character strings may 
>only be assigned to string variables.  Numeric and logical quantities may only 
>be assigned to numeric variables.  Consider using the STRING or NUMBER 
>function. 
>Execution of this command stops.

However, in the variable view, it is a string variable. How can I solve this problem?

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Jialin 

[huang jialin]

Hi,

The same variable is as following. But I want to calculate the different between time. I have difficult transforming time format into military time.

Jun 22 2010  6:23AM

Apr 11 2011  3:16PM

Nov  1 2010 10:52PM

Aug 11 2011 12:05PM

I tried the CTIME.MINUTES () function, like compute time_diff=CTIME.MINUTES(SUBSTR(var0001,12,7)-SUBSTR(var0002,12,7)). 

How can I fix the problem of time difference?

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Jialin 

 

On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 12:00 PM, huang jialin <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi,

Thanks all for your quick responses. The Declare line works. 

To Gene, I do want the date reformatted. Thanks for the tips.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Jialin 

On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 11:15 AM, Rick Oliver <[hidden email]> wrote:

You have to declare the new string variable first:

string timedate (a11).

But there are relatively simple ways to convert the original string to a real date.

Rick Oliver
Senior Information Developer
Business Analytics (SPSS)
E-mail: [hidden email] | Phone: <a href="tel:[phone]" value="[phone]" target="_blank">312.893.4922 | T/L: 206-4922



From:        huang jialin <[hidden email]>
To:        [hidden email]
Date:        12/01/2011 10:50 AM

Subject:        SPSS cannot treat string variables as string variables?

Sent by:        "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>

---

Hi,

I imported data from SQL sever by ODBC. There is a string variable, formatted as following:

Jun 22 2010  6:23AM
Apr 11 2011  3:16PM
Nov  1 2010 10:52PM
Aug 11 2011 12:05PM

I tried to pull out the date only, by using substr() function in SPSS. Thus, my syntax is as below:

COMPUTE timedate=substr(var00001, 1, 11).
EXECUTE.

But I kept on having warning like this:

>Error # 4309 in column 1024.  Text: (End of Command) 
>Invalid combination of data types in an assignment.  Character strings may 
>only be assigned to string variables.  Numeric and logical quantities may only 
>be assigned to numeric variables.  Consider using the STRING or NUMBER 
>function. 
>Execution of this command stops.

However, in the variable view, it is a string variable. How can I solve this problem?

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Jialin 

[David Marso]

"I have difficult transforming time format into military time.".....

DATA LIST / strDate (A19).
BEGIN DATA
Jun 22 2010  6:23AM
Apr 11 2011  3:16PM
Nov  1 2010 10:52PM
Aug 11 2011 12:05PM
END DATA.
COMPUTE DatePart=NUMBER(CONCAT(
                           SUBSTR(strDate,5,2),"-",
                           SUBSTR(strDate,1,3),"-",
                           SUBSTR(strDate,8,4)),DATE11).
COMPUTE TIMEPart=NUMBER(SUBSTR(strDate,13,5),TIME).
IF ( SUBSTR(strDate,18,2)="PM" AND XDATE.HOUR(TimePart) < 12 ) TimePart = TimePart+12*60*60.
COMPUTE DateTime=DatePart+TimePart.
FORMATS DATEPart (DATE11).
FORMATS TimePart (Time5).
FORMATS DateTime (DateTime).

LIST.


STRDATE                DATEPART TIMEPART             DATETIME
Jun 22 2010  6:23AM 22-JUN-2010    6:23  22-JUN-2010 06:23:00
Apr 11 2011  3:16PM 11-APR-2011   15:16  11-APR-2011 15:16:00
Nov  1 2010 10:52PM 01-NOV-2010   22:52  01-NOV-2010 22:52:00
Aug 11 2011 12:05PM 11-AUG-2011   12:05  11-AUG-2011 12:05:00


Number of cases read:  4    Number of cases listed:  4

-----

huang jialin wrote

Hi,

The same variable is as following. But I want to calculate the different
between time. I have difficult transforming time format into military time.

Jun 22 2010  6:23AM
Apr 11 2011  3:16PM
Nov  1 2010 10:52PM
Aug 11 2011 12:05PM

I tried the CTIME.MINUTES () function, like compute time_diff=
CTIME.MINUTES(SUBSTR(var0001,12,7)-SUBSTR(var0002,12,7)).

How can I fix the problem of time difference?

Thanks.

Sincerely,
Jialin


On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 12:00 PM, huang jialin <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Thanks all for your quick responses. The Declare line works.
>
> To Gene, I do want the date reformatted. Thanks for the tips.
>
> Thank you again.
>
> Sincerely,
> Jialin
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 11:15 AM, Rick Oliver <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> You have to declare the new string variable first:
>>
>> string timedate (a11).
>>
>> But there are relatively simple ways to convert the original string to a
>> real date.
>>
>> Rick Oliver
>> Senior Information Developer
>> Business Analytics (SPSS)
>> E-mail: [hidden email] | Phone: [phone] | T/L: 206-4922
>>
>>
>>
>> From:        huang jialin <[hidden email]>
>> To:        [hidden email]
>> Date:        12/01/2011 10:50 AM
>> Subject:        SPSS cannot treat string variables as string variables?
>> Sent by:        "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I imported data from SQL sever by ODBC. There is a string variable,
>> formatted as following:
>>
>> Jun 22 2010  6:23AM
>> Apr 11 2011  3:16PM
>> Nov  1 2010 10:52PM
>> Aug 11 2011 12:05PM
>>
>> I tried to pull out the date only, by using substr() function in SPSS.
>> Thus, my syntax is as below:
>>
>> COMPUTE timedate=substr(var00001, 1, 11).
>> EXECUTE.
>>
>> But I kept on having warning like this:
>>
>> >Error # 4309 in column 1024.  Text: (End of Command)
>> >Invalid combination of data types in an assignment.  Character strings
>> may
>> >only be assigned to string variables.  Numeric and logical quantities
>> may only
>> >be assigned to numeric variables.  Consider using the STRING or NUMBER
>> >function.
>> >Execution of this command stops.
>>
>> However, in the variable view, it is a string variable. How can I solve
>> this problem?
>>
>> Thank you very much.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Jialin
>>
>
>

[Rick Oliver-3]

The simple answer is that the CTIME functions work on time variables (or values expressed as a number of seconds), not strings.

Rick Oliver
Senior Information Developer
Business Analytics (SPSS)
E-mail: [hidden email] | Phone: [phone] | T/L: 206-4922



From:        huang jialin <[hidden email]>
To:        [hidden email]
Date:        12/01/2011 02:51 PM
Subject:        Re: SPSS cannot treat string variables as string variables?
Sent by:        "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>

---

Hi,

The same variable is as following. But I want to calculate the different between time. I have difficult transforming time format into military time.

Jun 22 2010  6:23AM
Apr 11 2011  3:16PM
Nov  1 2010 10:52PM
Aug 11 2011 12:05PM

I tried the CTIME.MINUTES () function, like compute time_diff=CTIME.MINUTES(SUBSTR(var0001,12,7)-SUBSTR(var0002,12,7)). 

How can I fix the problem of time difference?

Thanks.

Sincerely,
Jialin 
 

On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 12:00 PM, huang jialin <huangpsych@...> wrote:
Hi,

Thanks all for your quick responses. The Declare line works. 

To Gene, I do want the date reformatted. Thanks for the tips.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,
Jialin 



On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 11:15 AM, Rick Oliver <oliverr@...> wrote:
You have to declare the new string variable first:

string timedate (a11).

But there are relatively simple ways to convert the original string to a real date.

Rick Oliver
Senior Information Developer
Business Analytics (SPSS)
E-mail: oliverr@... | Phone: <a href=tel:[phone] target=_blank>312.893.4922 | T/L: 206-4922



From:        huang jialin <huangpsych@...>
To:        [hidden email]
Date:        12/01/2011 10:50 AM
Subject:        SPSS cannot treat string variables as string variables?
Sent by:        "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>

---

Hi,

I imported data from SQL sever by ODBC. There is a string variable, formatted as following:

Jun 22 2010  6:23AM
Apr 11 2011  3:16PM
Nov  1 2010 10:52PM
Aug 11 2011 12:05PM

I tried to pull out the date only, by using substr() function in SPSS. Thus, my syntax is as below:

COMPUTE timedate=substr(var00001, 1, 11).
EXECUTE.

But I kept on having warning like this:

>Error # 4309 in column 1024.  Text: (End of Command) 
>Invalid combination of data types in an assignment.  Character strings may 
>only be assigned to string variables.  Numeric and logical quantities may only 
>be assigned to numeric variables.  Consider using the STRING or NUMBER 
>function. 
>Execution of this command stops.

However, in the variable view, it is a string variable. How can I solve this problem?

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Jialin