SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

450 DEFINE—!ENDDEFINE
Example
* Incorrect order for !CMDEND.
DEFINE macname (!POSITIONAL !CMDEND
/!POSITIONAL !tokens(2))
frequencies variables = !1.
correlations variables= !2.
!ENDDEFINE.
macname A B C D E.
• When the macro is called, all five tokens, A, B, C, D, and E, are assigned to the first positional
argument. No variables are included on the variable list for CORRELATIONS,
causing the program to generate an error message. The previous example declares the
arguments in the correct order.
Example
* Using !CMDEND.
SUBTITLE ’CHANGING DEFAULTS ON A COMMAND’.
DEFINE myfreq (!POSITIONAL !CMDEND )
frequencies !1
/statistics=default skewness /* Modify default statistics.
!ENDDEFINE.
myfreq VARIABLES = A B /HIST.
• The macro myfreq contains options for the FREQUENCIES command. When the macro is
called, myfreq is expanded to perform a FREQUENCIES analysis on the variables A and B.
The analysis produces default statistics and the skewness statistic, plus a histogram, as
requested on the macro call.
Example
* Keyword arguments: Using a combination of token keywords.
DATA LIST FREE / A B C D E.
DEFINE macdef3 (arg1 = !TOKENS(1)
/arg2 = !ENCLOSE (’(’,’)’)
/arg3 = !CHAREND(’%’))
frequencies variables = !arg1 !arg2 !arg3.
!ENDDEFINE.
macdef arg1 = A arg2=(B C) arg3=D E %.
• Because arg1 is defined with the !TOKENS keyword, the value for arg1 is simply specified
as A. The value for arg2 is specified in parentheses, as indicated by !ENCLOSE. The value
for arg3 is followed by a percent sign, as indicated by !CHAREND.
Defining Defaults
The optional !DEFAULT keyword in the macro definition establishes default settings for
arguments.