SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

34 Universals
• The output format for a string variable is always A. The width is determined by the input
format or the format assigned on the STRING command. String formats can be displayed
with DISPLAY VARIABLES but cannot be changed.
Aw (Standard Characters)
The A format is used to read standard characters. Characters can include letters, numbers,
punctuation marks, blanks, and most other characters on your keyboard. Numbers entered as
values for string variables cannot be used in calculations unless you convert them to numeric
format with the NUMBER function (see “String Functions” on p. 45).
Fixed data:
With fixed-format input data, any punctuation—including leading, trailing, and embedded
blanks—within the column specifications is included in the string value. For example, a string
value of “Mr. Ed” (with one embedded blank) is distinguished from a value of “Mr. Ed”
(with two embedded blanks). It is also distinguished from a string value of “MR. ED” (all
upper case), and all three are treated as separate values. These can be important considerations
for any procedures, transformations, or data selection commands involving string variables.
Consider the following example:
DATA LIST FIXED /ALPHAVAR 1-10 (A).
BEGIN DATA
Mr. Ed
Mr. Ed
MR. ED
Mr. Ed
Mr. Ed
END DATA.
AUTORECODE ALPHAVAR /INTO NUMVAR.
LIST.
AUTORECODE recodes the values into consecutive integers. Figure 12 shows the recoded
values.
Figure 12 Different string values illustrated
ALPHAVAR NUMVAR
Mr. Ed 4
Mr. Ed 4
MR. ED 2
Mr. Ed 3
Mr. Ed 1
Freefield data:
With freefield data, blanks and commas are treated as delimiters for A format variables unless
the value is enclosed in apostrophes or quotation marks. For example,
Ed, Mr.