SPSS .sav data is missing new variables?

[Rene Kopietz]

Blair,

thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, the altered syntax does not work. Like I said earlier, we've have that problem for a long while know, using all kinds of SPSS and ML versions. I believe that SPSS supports longer varnames since Version 12. Anyway, I used the original syntax, I altered it, I tried to vary the string variable length and it simple won't work (using data generated by the latest ML and using actual (14 or 15) version of SPSS).

The result (which basically looks the same every time) is attached. What I don't get is why it works if it is run by ML or whatever you do that generates the data files. The ML generated sav-files all look perfectly fine (despite the embedded space; the only consequence is a spss generated varname var0001 or so...). BUT if I try to do it myself (after I merged txt-files from different PCs), it won't work.

As a result I have to add data/cases via SPSS. It would be much more comfortable, if it was possible just to read in the (already merged) raw data!

You see, the read in/syntax and the string variable problems are independant...

Thanks again,
Rene

[jarvis24]

The sytnax file I sent you does not eliminate this error you were getting?

Error # 4135 in column 13. Text: 1
You must not specify the column location for variables read in FREE or LIST format. This command not executed.

There are two issues I see here, one is getting the SPSS syntax to work on reading in the data. The other issue is getting it to read the data in properly when these big strings are involved. The syntax file I sent is only addressing the first issue. The "Text: 1" that it's referring to is your variable "rel_imp 1" which, when changed to "rel_imp1" fixed this error and allowed the data to be read in. However, the problems to the string data remain. Are we on the same page with that?