I'm trying to read a portable file created on a mac and read by a pc. The mac is using a new version (not sure which on) and I'm running v8.0 SPSS. On the same file I sometimes get the following error:

>Error # 5714 >An error or a premature end-of-file was encountered on the IMPORT portable >file while reading the missing-value input. >This command not executed.

>Error # 105. Command name: EXECUTE >This command is not valid before a working file has been defined. >This command not executed.

At other times, reading the same file, I get a different error:

>Error # 5735 >The "SPSSPORT" phrase was not found on the IMPORT portable file. Check >that the correct file was used. There may be an error in the translation >table on the portable file, or else the file does not not have the standard >form of a 200-character header followed by a 256-character translation >table followed by "SPSSPORT". >This command not executed.

>Error # 105. Command name: EXECUTE >This command is not valid before a working file has been defined. >This command not executed.

Any ideas, BTW, just to complicate things, I'm reading from a macZip drive in a pc with MacDrive 98. But it seems to read the zip drive ok.

Also, previously, on the mac I would, when creating a portable file, see on the task bar the number of cases increasing. This time the file was created almost instantly with no cases read message on the task bar. However, the mac is a new imac (or whatever they call it).

Please help if you can and e-mail also to:

jpjohn@earthlink.net

Thanks,

J. Patrick Johnson