Overview (OUTPUT ACTIVATE command)

The OUTPUT commands (OUTPUT NEW, OUTPUT NAME, OUTPUT ACTIVATE, OUTPUT OPEN, OUTPUT SAVE, OUTPUT CLOSE) provide the ability to programmatically manage one or many output documents. These functions allow you to:

  • Save an output document through syntax.
  • Programmatically partition output into separate output documents (for example, results for males in one output document and results for females in a separate one).
  • Work with multiple open output documents in a given session, selectively appending new results to the appropriate document.

The OUTPUT ACTIVATE command activates an open output document, making it the designated output document. Subsequent procedure output is directed to this output document until the document is closed or another output document is created, opened, or activated.

Basic Specification

The basic specification for OUTPUT ACTIVATE is the command name followed by the name of an open output document. This is the name assigned by a previous OUTPUT NAME, OUTPUT OPEN, OUTPUT NEW command, or automatically assigned when the document is created or opened in the current session; it is not the file name associated with a saved output document. In the Viewer window title bar, the name is enclosed in square brackets. The NAME keyword is optional, but if it is used it must be followed by an equals sign.

Operations

  • The window containing the activated document becomes the designated output window in the user interface.
  • An error occurs, but processing continues, if the named output document does not exist. Output continues to be directed to the last designated output document.

Example

GET FILE='/examples/data/SurveyData.sav'.

TEMPORARY.
SELECT IF (Sex='Male').
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=ALL.
OUTPUT NAME males.
 
TEMPORARY.
SELECT IF (Sex='Female').
OUTPUT NEW NAME=females.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=ALL.

GET FILE='/examples/data/Preference.sav'.

TEMPORARY.
SELECT IF (Sex='Female').
DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=product1 product2 product3.

TEMPORARY.
SELECT IF (Sex='Male').
OUTPUT ACTIVATE males.
DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=product1 product2 product3.

OUTPUT SAVE NAME=males OUTFILE='/examples/output/Males.spv'.
OUTPUT SAVE NAME=females OUTFILE='/examples/output/Females.spv'.
  • The first GET command loads survey data for males and females.
  • FREQUENCIES output for male respondents is written to the designated output document. The OUTPUT NAME command is used to assign the name males to the designated output document.
  • FREQUENCIES output for females is written to a new output document named females.
  • The second GET command loads preferences data for males and females.
  • After the second GET command, the output document named females is still the designated output document. Descriptive statistics for females are appended to this output document.
  • OUTPUT ACTIVATE males activates the output document named males. Descriptive statistics for males are appended to this output document.
  • The two open output documents are saved to separate files. Because the operation of saving an output document does not close it, both documents remain open. The output document named males remains the designated output document.