Overview (EXTENSION command)

EXTENSION allows you to add user-created "extension" commands to the command table, enabling the use of "native" command syntax to drive functions written in an external programming language.

Basic Specification

The minimum specification is the SPECIFICATION subcommand with a COMMAND file specified.

ACTION Keyword

The ACTION keyword specifies the action to be taken on the command table.

ADD. Add command name to command table. This is the default. Note that ADD will replace a built-in command of the same name as well as an existing extension command of the same name, regardless of the languages in which the extension commands are written. It will not replace an abbreviated form of a built-in command unless the name matches the abbreviation. For example, an extension command named FREQUENCIES will replace the built-in FREQUENCIES command but the abbreviation FREQ will still run the built-in command.

REMOVE. Remove command name from command table. Any built-in command replaced by the specified extension command will be restored when the extension command is removed.

For information on creating extension commands, see the article "Writing IBM® SPSS® Statistics Extension Commands", available from the IBM SPSS Predictive Analytics community at https://www.ibm.com/community/spss-statistics . You may also want to consult the chapter on Extension Commands in Programming and Data Management for IBM SPSS Statistics , which is also available from the IBM SPSS Predictive Analytics community.