Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 12:59:28 -0500
Reply-To: "Marks, Jim" <Jim.Marks@lodgenet.com>
Sender: "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From: "Marks, Jim" <Jim.Marks@lodgenet.com>
Subject: Re: Reading a data set
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Lou:
Have you tried the wizard to open your data? (It has worked for me, using delimited files).
It will generate GET DATA syntax, similar to this (not tested):
GET DATA /TYPE = TXT
/FILE = 'C:\temp\file.dat'
/FIXCASE = 1
/ARRANGEMENT = FIXED
/FIRSTCASE = 2
/IMPORTCASE = ALL
/VARIABLES =
/1 V1 0-6 F7.2
V2 7-18 A12
V3 19-27 A9
V4 28-31 F4.2
V5 32-33 A2
V6 34-37 A4
V7 38-48 A11
V8 49-71 A23
.
CACHE.
EXECUTE.
(The help file notes that GET DATA counts from column 0, while DATA LIST counts from column 1 !)
For the DATA LIST command, you might try:
1) changing the first variable definition to 1 (rather than 1 - 1)
2) changing all variable definitions to Ax (where x is the width-->
DATA LIST FILE='C:\ALARF03.dat'
/f00001 (A1) f00002 (A5) f00003 (A5) f00004 (A20) f00005 (A4)
.
(I don't know if #2 makes a difference, but the first one is called out in the syntax manual.)
Good luck
Jim Marks
Senior Market Analyst
LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation
-----Original Message-----
From: Cohen, Lou [mailto:Lou.Cohen@bhsala.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 10:15 AM
To: SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Reading a data set
I am having trouble reading a very large data set (many,many variables) and hoping someone could assist me.
According to the vendor, the data set is not a fixed record format. It has 3225 records with a record length of 31871. It is on CD in ASCII format. I have data documentation, i.e., layout field position, etc. Below is an example of syntax written to read the file. The problem is that I am unable to read all the data. More than half the fields come up empty (missing). The vendor verified that data exists in those fields.
Is there something in the DATA LIST statement that should be changed? Thanks in advance for your assistance.
DATA LIST FILE='C:\ALARF03.dat' /
f00001 1 - 1 (A)
f00002 2 - 6 (A)
f00003 7 - 11 (A)
f00004 12 - 31 (A)
f00005 32 - 35 (A)
Lou Cohen
Director, Strategic Planning & Research
Baptist Health System
3500 Blue Lake Drive
Birmingham, Alabama 35283-0605
(205) 715-5736
