Journal File

IBM® SPSS® Statistics keeps a journal file to record all commands either run from a syntax window or generated from a dialog box during a session. You can retrieve this file with any text editor and review it to learn how the session went. You can also edit the file to build a new command file and use it in another run. An edited and tested journal file can be saved and used later for repeated tasks. The journal file also records any error or warning messages generated by commands. You can rerun these commands after making corrections and removing the messages.

The journal file is controlled by the File Locations tab of the Options dialog box, available from the Edit menu. You can turn journaling off and on, append or overwrite the journal file, and select the journal filename and location. By default, commands from subsequent sessions are appended to the journal.

The following example is a journal file for a short session with a warning message.

Figure 1. Records from a journal file

DATA LIST /ID 1-3 Gender 4 (A) Age 5-6 Opinion1 TO Opinion5 7-11.
BEGIN DATA
001F2621221
002M5611122
003F3422212
004F45112L2
>Warning # 1102
>An invalid numeric field has been found.  The result has been set to the
>system-missing value.
END DATA.
LIST.

The warning message, marked by the > symbol, tells you that an invalid numeric field has been found. Checking the last data line, you will notice that column 10 is L, which is probably a typographic error. You can correct the typo (for example, by changing the L to 1), delete the warning message, and submit the file again.