save an SPSS output file automatically using today's date

[Mary-54]

Hi,

I'm trying to save an output file and have spss automatically name the file
using today's date.  Does anyone know how to do that?  I tried running a
macro to call the system variable $DATE, but it only calls the string
"$DATE", vs the actual date, like 2/4/09.  I know this can be done in SAS
with symget, I'm just trying to find a way to do it in SPSS.

This is the code I was running:
DEFINE TEST(var1 = !TOKENS(1))
OUTPUT SAVE OUTFILE=!QUOTE(!CONCAT("c:\work\",!var1,".SPS")).
!ENDDEFINE.

TEST var1 = $DATE.

and this is what I was getting:

OUTPUT SAVE OUTFILE=c:\work\$DATE.SPS".

Thanks,
Francine

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[Jason Burke]

This should achieve what you want, however if you have PYTHON and the
programmability plug-in, there are even more elegant ways that you
could takle this:

HTH,

Jason



DEFINE SAVE_VIEWER() .

DATA LIST
 /COMMAND (A255) .
BEGIN DATA
OUTPUT SAVE OUTFILE = 'R:\Report @@.spv' .
END DATA .
DATASET NAME SaveViewer WINDOW=FRONT.

COMPUTE command = REPLACE(command, "@@", $DATE) .
EXECUTE .

DATASET CLOSE SaveViewer .

!ENDDEFINE .

FREQUENCIES gender  jobcat .

* Now save the viewer document .
SAVE_VIEWER .



On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 9:01 AM, Francine <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm trying to save an output file and have spss automatically name the file
> using today's date.  Does anyone know how to do that?  I tried running a
> macro to call the system variable $DATE, but it only calls the string
> "$DATE", vs the actual date, like 2/4/09.  I know this can be done in SAS
> with symget, I'm just trying to find a way to do it in SPSS.
>
> This is the code I was running:
> DEFINE TEST(var1 = !TOKENS(1))
> OUTPUT SAVE OUTFILE=!QUOTE(!CONCAT("c:\work\",!var1,".SPS")).
> !ENDDEFINE.
>
> TEST var1 = $DATE.
>
> and this is what I was getting:
>
> OUTPUT SAVE OUTFILE=c:\work\$DATE.SPS".
>
> Thanks,
> Francine
>
> =====================
> 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
>

=====================
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command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
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[Albert-Jan Roskam]

Hi,

The Python code below will save the file using a date in ISO format, e.g. 20090205 for today.

import time, spss
now = time.strftime("%Y%m%d")
spss.Submit("save outfile = 'd:/temp/somename_%s.sav'." % now)

Cheers!!
Albert-Jan



----- Original Message ----
From: Jason Burke <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Thursday, February 5, 2009 8:17:04 AM
Subject: Re: save an SPSS output file automatically using today's date

This should achieve what you want, however if you have PYTHON and the
programmability plug-in, there are even more elegant ways that you
could takle this:

HTH,

Jason



DEFINE SAVE_VIEWER() .

DATA LIST
/COMMAND (A255) .
BEGIN DATA
OUTPUT SAVE OUTFILE = 'R:\Report @@.spv' .
END DATA .
DATASET NAME SaveViewer WINDOW=FRONT.

COMPUTE command = REPLACE(command, "@@", $DATE) .
EXECUTE .

DATASET CLOSE SaveViewer .

!ENDDEFINE .

FREQUENCIES gender  jobcat .

* Now save the viewer document .
SAVE_VIEWER .



On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 9:01 AM, Francine <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm trying to save an output file and have spss automatically name the file
> using today's date.  Does anyone know how to do that?  I tried running a
> macro to call the system variable $DATE, but it only calls the string
> "$DATE", vs the actual date, like 2/4/09.  I know this can be done in SAS
> with symget, I'm just trying to find a way to do it in SPSS.
>
> This is the code I was running:
> DEFINE TEST(var1 = !TOKENS(1))
> OUTPUT SAVE OUTFILE=!QUOTE(!CONCAT("c:\work\",!var1,".SPS")).
> !ENDDEFINE.
>
> TEST var1 = $DATE.
>
> and this is what I was getting:
>
> OUTPUT SAVE OUTFILE=c:\work\$DATE.SPS".
>
> Thanks,
> Francine
>
> =====================
> 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
>

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

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