Weird: SPSS 18 requires old syntax!

[John F Hall]



Just been working on an old portable file which I imported to 18.  None of the following worked.

cro var545 by var544 .

cros var545 by var544 .

CROSSTABS var545 by var544 .

Warnings

Text: by Command: cro

Unrecognized text was found where a variable list was expected.

Execution of this command stops.

A variable on the CROSSTABS command is missing a range specification. Perhaps a range is present for some of the variables and not others. Ranges must be provided for all of the variables (integer mode) or none of the variables (general mode).Text found:

The CROSSTABS command does not specify any tables to be produced. The TABLES subcommand is either missing or invalid.

Thought all this integer mode stuff was dumped years ago, but I skipped the var = bit and stuck /tab in:

CROSSTABS /tab var545 by var544 .

This worked, and now so does this:

cro sex by var544 .

This was a weird experience: thought I'd gone back to SPSS-X 3 for a minute.

　

 

[Alex Reutter]

Hi John,

It looks like what's happening is that the "var" in var545 is being interpreted as a shortening of the VARIABLES subcommand, because (1) the slash is not required before the VARIABLES subcommand on CROSSTABS, and (2) support for three-letter abbreviations made everything that comes after the first three letters irrelevant.  This was part of the reason why new commands do not support abbreviations.

Alex

From:	John F Hall <[hidden email]>
To:	[hidden email]
Date:	08/02/2010 05:26 AM
Subject:	Weird: SPSS 18 requires old syntax!
Sent by:	"SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>

---

Just been working on an old portable file which I imported to 18.  None of the following worked.

cro var545 by var544 .

cros var545 by var544 .

CROSSTABS var545 by var544 .

Warnings

Text: by Command: cro

Unrecognized text was found where a variable list was expected.

Execution of this command stops.

A variable on the CROSSTABS command is missing a range specification. Perhaps a range is present for some of the variables and not others. Ranges must be provided for all of the variables (integer mode) or none of the variables (general mode).Text found:

The CROSSTABS command does not specify any tables to be produced. The TABLES subcommand is either missing or invalid.

Thought all this integer mode stuff was dumped years ago, but I skipped the var = bit and stuck /tab in:

CROSSTABS /tab var545 by var544 .

This worked, and now so does this:

cro sex by var544 .

This was a weird experience: thought I'd gone back to SPSS-X 3 for a minute.

$B!! (B

 

[bruce phillips-2]

I did not know this because I got used to always typing in Crosstabs /tables=.  It's like muscle memory for batters in baseball. I never gave away my old LPS and I understand that vinyl is now very hip.  I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere.  I am very pleased, however, not to have type punch IBM cards to run SPSS anymore.

Bruce Phillips
Hebrew Union College/University of Southern California

----- Original Message -----
From: Alex Reutter <[hidden email]>
Date: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 8:45 am
Subject: Re: Weird: SPSS 18 requires old syntax!
To: [hidden email]

> Hi John,
>
> It looks like what's happening is that the "var" in var545 is being
> interpreted as a shortening of the VARIABLES subcommand, because
> (1) the
> slash is not required before the VARIABLES subcommand on CROSSTABS,
> and(2) support for three-letter abbreviations made everything that
> comesafter the first three letters irrelevant.  This was part of
> the reason why
> new commands do not support abbreviations.
>
> Alex
>
>
>
>
> From:
> John F Hall <[hidden email]>
> To:
> [hidden email]
> Date:
> 08/02/2010 05:26 AM
> Subject:
> Weird: SPSS 18 requires old syntax!
> Sent by:
> "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>
>
>
>
> Just been working on an old portable file which I imported to 18.
> None of
> the following worked.
> cro var545 by var544 .
> cros var545 by var544 .
> CROSSTABS var545 by var544 .
>
> Warnings
> Text: by Command: cro
> Unrecognized text was found where a variable list was expected.
> Execution of this command stops.
> A variable on the CROSSTABS command is missing a range specification.
> Perhaps a range is present for some of the variables and not others.
> Ranges must be provided for all of the variables (integer mode) or
> none of
> the variables (general mode).Text found:
> The CROSSTABS command does not specify any tables to be produced. The
> TABLES subcommand is either missing or invalid.
> Thought all this integer mode stuff was dumped years ago, but I
> skippedthe var = bit and stuck /tab in:
> CROSSTABS /tab var545 by var544 .
> This worked, and now so does this:
> cro sex by var544 .
> This was a weird experience: thought I'd gone back to SPSS-X 3 for a
> minute.
> $B!! (B
>
>
>

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[John F Hall]

Bruce

 

IBM cards?  You should try 8-hole paper tape (circa 1965, input and output)!  Go to my Old Dog, Old Tricks page and have a look at the first slideshow Survey processing before SPSS (content not covered in main paper).  It's quite fun.

 

John

----- Original Message -----

From: [hidden email]

To: [hidden email]

Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2010 6:11 PM

Subject: Re: Weird: SPSS 18 requires old syntax!

I did not know this because I got used to always typing in Crosstabs /tables=.  It's like muscle memory for batters in baseball. I never gave away my old LPS and I understand that vinyl is now very hip.  I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere.  I am very pleased, however, not to have type punch IBM cards to run SPSS anymore.

Bruce Phillips
Hebrew Union College/University of Southern California

----- Original Message -----
From: Alex Reutter <[hidden email]>
Date: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 8:45 am
Subject: Re: Weird: SPSS 18 requires old syntax!
To: [hidden email]

> Hi John,
>
> It looks like what's happening is that the "var" in var545 is being
> interpreted as a shortening of the VARIABLES subcommand, because
> (1) the
> slash is not required before the VARIABLES subcommand on CROSSTABS,
> and(2) support for three-letter abbreviations made everything that
> comesafter the first three letters irrelevant.  This was part of
> the reason why
> new commands do not support abbreviations.
>
> Alex
>
>
>
>
> From:
> John F Hall <[hidden email]>
> To:
> [hidden email]
> Date:
> 08/02/2010 05:26 AM
> Subject:
> Weird: SPSS 18 requires old syntax!
> Sent by:
> "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <[hidden email]>
>
>
>
> Just been working on an old portable file which I imported to 18.
> None of
> the following worked.
> cro var545 by var544 .
> cros var545 by var544 .
> CROSSTABS var545 by var544 .
>
> Warnings
> Text: by Command: cro
> Unrecognized text was found where a variable list was expected.
> Execution of this command stops.
> A variable on the CROSSTABS command is missing a range specification.
> Perhaps a range is present for some of the variables and not others.
> Ranges must be provided for all of the variables (integer mode) or
> none of
> the variables (general mode).Text found:
> The CROSSTABS command does not specify any tables to be produced. The
> TABLES subcommand is either missing or invalid.
> Thought all this integer mode stuff was dumped years ago, but I
> skippedthe var = bit and stuck /tab in:
> CROSSTABS /tab var545 by var544 .
> This worked, and now so does this:
> cro sex by var544 .
> This was a weird experience: thought I'd gone back to SPSS-X 3 for a
> minute.
> $B!! (B
>
>
>

=====================
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
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD