SPSS® 12.0 Command Syntax Reference

MATCH FILES 911
• DROP cannot be used with variables created by the IN, FIRST, or LAST subcommands.
• KEEP can be used to change the order of variables in the resulting file. By default, MATCH
FILES first copies the variables in order from the first file, then copies the variables in
order from the second file, and so on. With KEEP, variables are kept in the order in which
they are listed on the subcommand. If a variable is named more than once on KEEP, only
the first mention of the variable is in effect; all subsequent references to that variable
name are ignored.
Example
MATCH FILES FILE=PARTICLE /RENAME=(PARTIC=POLLUTE1)
/FILE=GAS /RENAME=(OZONE TO SULFUR=POLLUTE2 TO POLLUTE4)
/DROP=POLLUTE4.
• The renamed variable POLLUTE4 is dropped from the resulting file. DROP is specified
after all of the FILE and RENAME subcommands, and it refers to the dropped variable by
its new name.
IN Subcommand
IN creates a new variable in the resulting file that indicates whether a case came from the input
file named on the preceding FILE subcommand. IN applies only to the file specified on
the immediately preceding FILE subcommand.
• IN can be used only for a nonparallel match or table lookup.
• IN has only one specification—the name of the flag variable.
• The variable created by IN has the value 1 for every case that came from the associated
input file and the value 0 if the case came from a different input file.
• Variables created by IN are automatically attached to the end of the resulting file and
cannot be dropped. If FIRST or LAST is used, the variable created by IN precedes the variables
created by FIRST or LAST.
Example
MATCH FILES FILE=WEEK10 /FILE=WEEK11 /IN=INWEEK11 /BY=EMPID.
• IN creates the variable INWEEK11, which has the value 1 for all cases in the resulting file
that had values in the input file WEEK11 and the value 0 for those cases that were not in
file WEEK11.
FIRST and LAST Subcommands
FIRST and LAST create logical variables that flag the first or last case of a group of cases with
the same value for the BY variables.
• FIRST and LAST must follow all TABLE and FILE subcommands and any associated
RENAME and IN subcommands.
• FIRST and LAST have only one specification—the name of the flag variable.