SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

CASESTOVARS
Overview
CASESTOVARS
[/ID = varlist]
[/FIXED = varlist]
[/AUTOFIX = {YES**}]
{NO }
[/VIND [ROOT = rootname]]
[/COUNT = new variable ["label"]]
[/RENAME varname=rootname varname=rootname ...]
[/SEPARATOR = {"." }]
{“string”}]
[/INDEX = varlist]
[/GROUPBY = {VARIABLE**}]
{INDEX }]
[/DROP = varlist]
**Default if the subcommand is omitted.
Example
CASESTOVARS /ID idvar /INDEX var1.
A variable contains information that you want to analyze, such as a measurement or a test
score. A case is an observation, such as an individual or an institution.
In a simple data file, each variable is a single column in your data, and each case is a
single row in your data. So, if you were recording the score on a test for all students in a
class, the scores would appear in only one column and there would be only one row for each
student.
Complex data files store data in more than one column or row. For example, in a
complex data file, information about a case could be stored in more than one row. So, if you
were recording monthly test scores for all students in a class, there would be multiple rows
for each student—one for each month.
CASESTOVARS restructures complex data that has multiple rows for a case. You can use
it to restructure data in which repeated measurements of a single case were recorded in
multiple rows (row groups) into a new data file in which each case appears as separate
variables (variable groups) in a single row. It replaces the working data file.
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