SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

FILE TYPE—END FILE TYPE 577
• The format of the case identification variable must be the same on all records. If the case
identification variable is defined as a string on the FILE TYPE command, it cannot be
defined as a numeric variable on the RECORD TYPE command, and vice versa.
WILD Subcommand
WILD determines whether the program issues a warning when it encounters undefined record
types in the data file. Regardless of whether the warning is issued, undefined records are not
included in the working data file.
• The only specification on WILD is keyword WARN or NOWARN.
• WARN cannot be specified if keyword OTHER is specified on the last RECORD TYPE
command to indicate all other record types (see RECORD TYPE).
WARN Issue warning messages. The program displays a warning message and the
first 80 characters of the record for each record type that is not mentioned on
a RECORD TYPE command. This is the default for grouped file types.
NOWARN Suppress warning messages. The program simply skips all record types not
mentioned on a RECORD TYPE command and does not display warning messages.
This is the default for mixed and nested file types.
Example
FILE TYPE MIXED FILE=TREATMNT RECORD=RECID 1-2 WILD=WARN.
• WARN is specified on the WILD subcommand. The program displays a warning message
and the first 80 characters of the record for each record type that is not mentioned on a
RECORD TYPE command.
DUPLICATE Subcommand
DUPLICATE determines how the program responds when it encounters more than one record
of each type for a single case. DUPLICATE is optional for grouped and nested files. DUPLICATE
cannot be used with mixed files.
• The only specification on DUPLICATE is keyword WARN, NOWARN, or CASE.
WARN Issue warning messages. The program displays a warning message and the
first 80 characters of the last record of the duplicate set of record types. Only
the last record from a set of duplicates is included in the working data file.
This is the default for grouped files.
NOWARN Suppress warning messages. The program does not display warning messages
when it encounters duplicate record types. Only the last record from a set of
duplicates is included in the working data file. This is the default for nested
files.
CASE Build a case in the working data file for each duplicate record. The program
builds one case in the working file for each duplicate record, spreading
information from any higher-level records and assigning system-missing
values to the variables defined on lower-level records. This option is available
only for nested files.