I would do it slightly differently, using month (1-12) and year (2002,2003,...) as numerical variables. First the quarter is computed based solely on the month. Then 4 quarters are added for each year after 2002.

This is the (untested) syntax - I don't see pitfalls, but I am counting on the listfor extra eyes:

DO IF RANGE (MONTH,1,3) . compute quarter= 1 . ELSE IF RANGE (MONTH,4,6). compute quarter= 2. ELSE IF RANGE (MONTH,7,9). compute quarter= 3. ELSE IF RANGE (MONTH,10,12). compute quarter= 4. ELSE . compute quarter = 0. END IF.

COMPUTE newquar= (YEAR - 2002)*4 + quarter.

HTH -

-----Original Message----- From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Paul Dickson Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 3:57 PM To: SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: date coding syntax (self-updating)

Hi servers,

I am importing dates from excel that need to be coded into 4 lots of 3-monthly quarters. The periods are Jan1 to 31 March etc for four periods each year. The data is ongoing and needs to be updated on a regular basis. I have set up recoding that looks like the following but as soon an new dates come in, the recoding syntax needs to be re-adjusted because the most recent data from a new period are getting coded into the previous dates.

COMPUTE quarters=CTIME.DAYS(DATE.DMY(30,6,2004) - received)/365.25. IF (quarters >=2.2587268993 & quarters <= 2.5 ) newquare = 1. IF (quarters >= 2.0068446269 & quarters <= 2.2587) newquare = 2. IF (quarters >=1.749 & quarters <= 2.00) newquare = 3. IF (quarters >=1.497604 & quarters <= 1.746749) newquare = 4. IF (quarters >=1.2511978096 & quarters <=1.4976039) newquare = 5. IF (quarters >= 1.0020 & quarters <= 1.248460) newquare = 6. IF (quarters >=.750 & quarters <= .999316) newquare = 7. IF (quarters >= .49828 & quarters <= .747434) newquare = 8. IF (quarters >= .0 & quarters <= .492814) newquare = 9. execute. VARIABLE LABELS newquare 'new quarters'. value labels newquare 1 'Jan-March(2002)' 2 'Apr-Jun(2002)' 3 'Jul-Sep(2002)' 4 'Oct-Dec(2002)' 5 'Jan-March(2003)' 6 'Apr-Jun(2003)' 7 'Jul-Sep(2003)' 8 'Oct-Dec2003' 9 'Jan-Mar(2004)'. execute.

Since the data is ongoingly coming in, any advice on how to develop syntax that will contine to update irrespective of the year would be much appreciated.

Regards Paul