Hello Adrian

Have you tried this?

GET DATA /TYPE = TXT /FILE = 'R:\prov.txt' /FIXCASE = 1 /ARRANGEMENT = FIXED /FIRSTCASE = 1 /IMPORTCASE = ALL /VARIABLES = /1 ID 0-9 A10 Var1 2615-2621 COMMA5.8 Var2 2622-2628 COMMA5.8. CACHE. EXECUTE.

You can adjust the numbers following the comma statement to the desired length.

Untested but certainly solves the truncation problem when dealing with monetary values over £9999.

Thanks Ian Maddrell PgDipM Campaign Planner ext. 113647

-----Original Message----- From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf Of Adrian Musters Sent: 16 December 2005 16:28 To: SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: formats for importing

Hi everyone,

I have data in a text file which has over 3000 characters per line in a fixed-width format. I need to import 3 variables in a very specific way. The ID variable is a string (this works fine) and is imported from characters 0-9. The variables I'm having trouble with are numeric variables called Var1 and Var2. In the text file Var1 is found in characters 2615-2621. If I were to import it using F7.0 I can see that they are always 4 digits or less (i.e. less than or equal to 9999). What I would like to do is import the numbers with the decimal place before the last two digits. I tried to import them using F5.2, but this truncates everything right of the decimal. For example when I import 566 with F5.2 I was hoping that it would result in 5.66, but instead I get 5.00. Does anyone know of a way to import these variables so that I would see 5.66 or 99.99 without having to import them and then divide by 100?

Here is the syntax I'm using...

GET DATA /TYPE = TXT /FILE = 'R:\prov.txt' /FIXCASE = 1 /ARRANGEMENT = FIXED /FIRSTCASE = 1 /IMPORTCASE = ALL /VARIABLES = /1 ID 0-9 A10 Var1 2615-2621 F5.2 Var2 2622-2628 F5.2. CACHE. EXECUTE.

Thanks in advance, Adrian

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