What You Need to Know

Operating systems. The IBM® SPSS® Statistics Batch Facility is currently available with all IBM SPSS Statistics Servers, UNIX and Windows.

Installation. The IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility is automatically installed in the IBM SPSS Statistics Server installation directory on Windows and the /bin subdirectory of the installation directory on UNIX.

Invoking. The IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility is run from the command line using the statisticsb executable file. It runs independently of IBM SPSS Statistics Server—IBM SPSS Statistics Server does not have to be started for it to run. It can also be run concurrently with IBM SPSS Statistics Server.

Modes of operation. Commands are submitted tothe IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility in either batch or interactive mode. In batch mode, the analyst or IT professional submits a command syntax file to the IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility for execution—the commands in the file are read and acted upon as a batch, and output is directed to a file. The IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility runs unattended and terminates after executing the last command. This is the typical way to use the IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility. In interactive mode, the analyst types commands one at a time at a command prompt. The commands are executed immediately, and output is displayed in the window. The IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility waits for the next command.

Documentation. The user’s guide, written for the analysts and IT professionals at a site who will be using the IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility, is on the IBM SPSS Statistics Server ISO file in /Documentation/<language>/Manuals. The command syntax reference guide that analysts will need in order to create command syntax files for the IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility is on the IBM SPSS Statistics Server ISO file in /Documentation/<language>/Manuals. The IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility for UNIX is also distributed with a manual page, statisticsb.1, which is in the /bin subdirectory of the IBM SPSS Statistics Server installation directory. If you are administering a UNIX system, copy it to the location where you keep your manual pages.

Additional documentation. The IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility user’s guide contains sufficient information for an analyst who is experienced with the IBM SPSS Statistics command syntax language to build command syntax files for the IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility. If the analysts at your site are new to IBM SPSS Statistics, they may require additional documentation. If they do, direct them to our Web site at http://www.ibm.com/software/analytics/spss/, or ask them to contact your sales representative.