SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

MATCH FILES
MATCH FILES FILE={file} [TABLE={file}]
{* } {* }
[/RENAME=(old varnames=new varnames)...]
[/IN=varname]
/FILE==... [TABLE= ...]
[/BY varlist]
[/MAP]
[/KEEP={ALL** }] [/DROP=varlist]
{varlist}
[/FIRST=varname] [/LAST=varname]
**Default if the subcommand is omitted.
Example
MATCH FILES FILE=PART1 /FILE=PART2 /FILE=*.
Overview
Options
MATCH FILES combines variables from 2 up to 50 SPSS-format data files. MATCH FILES
can make parallel or nonparallel matches between different files or perform table lookups.
Parallel matches combine files sequentially by case (they are sometimes referred to as
sequential matches). Nonparallel matches combine files according to the values of one
or more key variables. In a table lookup, MATCH FILES looks up variables in one file and
transfers those variables to a case file.
The files specified on MATCH FILES can be SPSS-format data files created with SAVE or
XSAVE or the working data file. The combined file becomes the new working data file.
Statistical procedures following MATCH FILES use this combined file unless you replace it
by building another working file. You must use the SAVE or XSAVE commands if you want
to save the combined file as an SPSS-format data file.
In general, MATCH FILES is used to combine files containing the same cases but different
variables. To combine files containing the same variables but different cases, use ADD
FILES. To update existing SPSS-format data files, use UPDATE.
MATCH FILES is often used with the AGGREGATE command to add variables with
summary measures (sum, mean, and so forth) to the data. For an example, see p. 92.
Variable Selection. You can specify which variables from each input file are included in the
new working file using the DROP and KEEP subcommands.
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