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How can I change several variable types at once

  • 1.  How can I change several variable types at once

    Posted Tue June 01, 2021 01:02 PM

    I was wondering if it was possibe to change several variable types at one time since it is very mindnumbing to do it one by one since there are 43 variables






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  • 2.  RE: How can I change several variable types at once

    Posted Tue June 01, 2021 01:14 PM

    You can change any number of variable types with the ALTER TYPE command. It can even select variables based on the current type. For example,

    ALTER TYPE ALL (A=AMIN) would change all string variables to the minimum possible width. (A=F8.2( would change all strings to numeric.

    If you just want to change the display format, you can just use the FORMATS command. E.g., FORMATS v1 to v10 (F8.0).

    For more complex variable selections, the SPSSINC SELECT VARIABLES extension command can construct a macro listing variables based on patterns in the name. E.g.,

    SPSSINC SELECT VARIABLES MACRONAME="!svars"

    /PROPERTIES PATTERN = "s.*".

    would create a macro listing all variables that start with s, and you could use this in other commands. E.g.,

    FORMATS !s (F8.0).






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