Gloria Edwards <gsedward@HAMLET.UNCG.EDU> writes: >I have a client who wants to merge three datasets. The problem is that >the datasets have duplicate variable names (e.g., v1-v225) that represent >different things in each dataset. Therefore, the variables need to be >renamed before merging. >Is there a way to rename multiple variables in SPSS without specifying >each variable individually? The datasets are so large that individual >renames would be extremely cumbersome, but the menu options in SPSS Win >7.0 didn't appear to provide a work around. Can we do this with syntax?

MATCH FILES FILE= handle1 / RENAME= (V1 TO V225 = A1 TO A225) / IN = INA /

FILE= handle2 / RENAME= (V1 TO V225 = B1 TO B225) / IN = INB /

BY varlist /

SELECT IF (INA AND INB) /* Select only "matching" cases. */

QED.