List members,

I recently wrote the following syntax segment. Note that M1DLQ13 is an already defined variable in the dataset.

DO REPEAT STEM=M1DLQA1 M1DLQB1 M1DLQC1 M1DLQD1. + DO IF (M1DLQ13 EQ 2). + COMPUTE STEM=8. + ELSE IF (M1DLQ13 EQ 9). + COMPUTE STEM=9. + END IF. END REPEAT. EXECUTE.

My question is this. As i read the explanation of this command in the syntax reference, it seems as if this command structure shouldn't work. However, there is no execution error and it executes correctly when pre and post-transformation values are compared. Have i just plainly misread the documentation? Or, is there something more subtle that i'm missing? Have others used this structure and had problems? I'd be interested to know.

More generally, I'd be interested if anywone knows whether the syntax reference defines just the minimum elements that have to be present (here, at least one stand in variable and an associated replacement variable list for each stand in variable) or whether it defines the elements that must be exclusively present (here, at least one stand in variable and an associated variable list for each stand in variable, and no other variables). Stated another way, what is the true relationship between the syntax reference and the subroutines that check the syntax for errors?

Thanks, Gene Maguin