RENAME Subcommand (ADD FILES command)

RENAME renames variables in input files before they are processed by ADD FILES. RENAME follows the FILE subcommand that specifies the file containing the variables to be renamed.

  • RENAME applies only to the FILE subcommand immediately preceding it. To rename variables from more than one input file, enter a RENAME subcommand after each FILE subcommand that specifies a file with variables to be renamed.
  • Specifications for RENAME consist of a left parenthesis, a list of old variable names, an equals sign, a list of new variable names, and a right parenthesis. The two variable lists must name or imply the same number of variables. If only one variable is renamed, the parentheses are optional.
  • More than one such specification can be entered on a single RENAME subcommand, each enclosed in parentheses.
  • The TO keyword can be used to refer to consecutive variables in the file and to generate new variable names.
  • RENAME takes effect immediately. KEEP and DROP subcommands entered prior to RENAME must use the old names, while those entered after RENAME must use the new names.
  • All specifications within a single set of parentheses take effect simultaneously. For example, the specification RENAME (A,B = B,A) swaps the names of the two variables.
  • Variables cannot be renamed to scratch variables.
  • Input data files are not changed on disk; only the copy of the file being combined is affected.

Example

ADD FILES FILE="/data/clients.sav" /RENAME=(TEL_NO, ID_NO = PHONE, ID)
 /FILE="/data/primary.sav" /BY ID.
  • ADD FILES adds new client cases from the file clients.sav to existing client cases in the file primary.sav.
  • Two variables on clients.sav are renamed prior to the match. TEL_NO is renamed PHONE to match the name used for phone numbers in the primary file. ID_NO is renamed ID so that it will have the same name as the identification variable in the primary file and can be used on the BY subcommand.
  • The BY subcommand orders the resulting file according to client ID number.