SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

FLIP 591
Example
Using the untransposed file from the previous example, the command
FLIP VARIABLES=A TO C.
transposes only variables A through C. Variable D is not transposed and is discarded from the
working data file. The LIST output for the transposed file is as follows:
CASE_LBL VAR001 VAR002 VAR003
A . . .
B 22.00 34.00 1970.00
C 31.00 29.00 1971.00
NEWNAMES Subcommand
NEWNAMES specifies a variable whose values are used as the new variable names.
• The NEWNAMES subcommand is optional. If it is not used, the new variable names are
either VAR001 to VARn, or the values of CASE_LBL if it exists.
• Only one variable can be specified on NEWNAMES.
• The variable specified on NEWNAMES does not become an observation (case) in the new
working data file, regardless of whether it is specified on the VARIABLES subcommand.
• If the variable specified is numeric, its values become a character string beginning with
the letter V.
• If the variable specified is a long string, only the first eight characters are used.
• Lowercase character values of a string variable are converted to upper case, and any bad
character values, such as blank spaces, are replaced with underscore (_) characters.
• If the variable’s values are not unique, a numeric extension n is added to the end of a value
after its first occurrence, with n increasing by 1 at each subsequent occurrence.
Example
Using the untransposed file from the first example, the command
FLIP NEWNAMES=A.
uses the values for variable A as variable names in the new file. The LIST output for the transposed
file is as follows:
CASE_LBL INCOME PRICE YEAR
B 22.00 34.00 1970.00
C 31.00 29.00 1971.00
D 43.00 50.00 1972.00
• Variable A does not become an observation in the new file. The string values for A are
converted to upper case.
The following command transposes this file back to a form resembling its original structure:
FLIP.