SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

Example
DEFINE sesvars ()
age sex educ religion.
!ENDDEFINE.
Overview
Options
DEFINE—!ENDDEFINE 441
DEFINE—!ENDDEFINE defines a program macro, which can then be used within a command
sequence. A macro can be useful in several different contexts. For example, it can be used to:
• Issue a series of the same or similar commands repeatedly, using looping constructs rather
than redundant specifications.
• Specify a set of variables.
• Produce output from several program procedures with a single command.
• Create complex input programs, procedure specifications, or whole sessions that can then
be executed.
A macro is defined by specifying any part of a valid command and giving it a macro name.
This name is then specified in a macro call within a command sequence. When the program
encounters the macro name, it expands the macro.
In the examples of macro definition throughout this reference, the macro name, body, and
arguments are shown in lower case for readability. Macro keywords, which are always preceded
by an exclamation point (!), are shown in upper case. For additional examples of the
macro facility, see Appendix D.
Macro Arguments. You can declare and use arguments in the macro definition and then assign
specific values to these arguments in the macro call. You can define defaults for the arguments
and indicate whether an argument should be expanded when the macro is called. (See
pp. 444–451.)
Macro Directives. You can turn macro expansion on and off (see p. 451).
String Manipulation Functions. You can process one or more character strings and produce
either a new character string or a character representation of a numeric result (see pp.
451–453).
Conditional Processing. You can build conditional and looping constructs (see p. 455).
Macro Variables. You can directly assign values to macro variables (see p. 458).
Basic Specification
All macros must start with the DEFINE command and end with the macro command
!ENDDEFINE. These commands identify the beginning and end of a macro definition and are
used to separate the macro definition from the rest of the command sequence.