SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

Variable Names
DATA LIST 423
• Variable names must conform to SPSS variable naming rules. System variables (beginning
with a $) cannot be defined on DATA LIST. For more information on variable naming
rules, see “Variable Names” on p. 21.
• The keyword TO can be used to generate names for consecutive variables in the data.
Leading zeros in the number are preserved in the name. X1 TO X100 and X001 TO X100
both generate 100 variable names, but the first 99 names are not the same in the two lists.
X01 TO X9 is not a valid specification. For more information on the TO keyword and other
variable-naming rules, see “Variable Names” on p. 21.
• The order in which variables are named on DATA LIST determines their order in the
working data file. If the working file is saved as an SPSS-format data file, the variables
are saved in this order unless they are explicitly reordered on the SAVE or XSAVE
command.
Example
DATA LIST FREE / ID SALARY #V1 TO #V4.
• The FREE keyword indicates that the data are in freefield format. Six variables are
defined: ID, SALARY, #V1, #V2, #V3, and #V4. #V1 to #V4 are scratch variables that are not
stored in the working data file. Their values can be used in transformations but not in
procedure commands.
Variable Location
For fixed-format data, variable locations are specified either explicitly using column locations
or implicitly using FORTRAN-like formats. For freefield data, variable locations are
not specified. Values are read sequentially in the order in which variables are named on the
variable list.
Fixed-Format Data
• If column-style formats are used, you must specify the column location of each variable
after the variable name. If the variable is one column wide, specify the column number.
Otherwise, specify the first column number followed by a dash (–) and the last column
number.
• If several adjacent variables on the same record have the same width and format type, you
can use one column specification after the last variable name. Specify the beginning
column location of the first variable, a dash, and the ending column location of the last
variable. the program divides the total number of columns specified equally among the
variables. If the number of columns does not divide equally, an error message is issued.
• The same column locations can be used to define multiple variables.
• For FORTRAN-like formats, column locations are implied by the width specified on the
formats (see “Variable Formats” on p. 425). To skip columns, use the Tn or nX format
specifications.