What I have done log

[Ole Rohwer]

Dear Listers,
I´ve got a large datafile and I have to do a lot of transforming like
sums, averages a.s.o.
My question is, is there any way to follow what I did, something like a
"what I have done" log?

Thanks in advance,
Ole

[Hector Maletta]

SPSS automatically produces a log file. It is by default located in the
WINDOWS/TEMP folder. Its actual location in your computer can be found (or
changed) in Edit/Options. It is by default preserved and new commands
accumulated from session to session, although you may set it to be
reinitialized and overwritten at every session (not advisable). The file is
by default called SPSS.JNL, and is a plain text file that can be read as a
syntax file or by any text editor. All your previous commands are there (but
not the results thereof, which go to the output window.
If you ordinarily work with the SPSS menu, you may generate a syntax file by
clicking on PASTE in the menu dialog box after finishing your menu choices,
and then executing the resulting syntax instead of clicking OK in the menu
dialog box. This way you will generate a syntax file and, by inspecting it,
you may learn how to work by syntax. Syntax files for each sequence of
related commands (all for the same file and the same purpose) are better
than an all purpose log where all your commands for all your files are
dumped together, and in the process you may become more proficient at
writing your own syntax and taking advantage of features not available in
the menu dialog boxes.
Hector


-----Mensaje original-----
De: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] En nombre de Ole
Rohwer
Enviado el: Saturday, August 05, 2006 5:03 PM
Para: [hidden email]
Asunto: What I have done log

Dear Listers,
I´ve got a large datafile and I have to do a lot of transforming like
sums, averages a.s.o.
My question is, is there any way to follow what I did, something like a
"what I have done" log?

Thanks in advance,
Ole

[F. Gabarrot]

On Sat, 5 Aug 2006 22:03:17 +0200, Ole Rohwer <[hidden email]> wrote:

>Dear Listers,
>I´ve got a large datafile and I have to do a lot of transforming like
>sums, averages a.s.o.
>My question is, is there any way to follow what I did, something like a
>"what I have done" log?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Ole


Dear Ole,

There is different ways to record what you were doing. First of all, SPSS
automatically records every actions (transformations, recoding, analyses,
and so on) in a "spss.jnl" file. You can open this file in MS Notepad. This
.jnl file is updated every times you use SPSS. So, you will theoretically be
able to retrieve every transformation you made on every data files you used.

An alternative is to set SPSS options so that it will record every actions
within the output file. You will have to open the "Options" menu (Edit >
Options), click on the "viewer" tab, and check the "display command in the
log" tab. You can also choose wether log contents will be shown or hidden.

A third option is to click on "Paste" instead of "ok" at every steps of your
analysis and transformations. This action will open a new window, named
"Syntax", and will display each step in a "command line" form. To actually
perform your analysis or transformation, you will have to select the command
lines and click on Run (Run > Current) or press CTRL + R. You will also have
to save your Syntax file. An advantage is that you will be able to re-do
every analyses and transformation very easily. You will only have to select
the command lines corresponding to the analysis you want to re-perform, and
click on run (or CTRL + R).

I hope this helped.

Have a Nice Day.

Fabrice Gabarrot
Research Assistant - Social Psychology
University of Geneva -  Switzerland.

[Ole Rohwer]

Thank you so far for your help

Ole