FILE Subcommand (UPDATE command)

FILE identifies each input file. At least two FILE subcommands are required on UPDATE: one specifies the primary file and the other a transaction file. A separate FILE subcommand must be used to specify each transaction file.

  • The first FILE subcommand must specify the primary file.
  • An asterisk on FILE refers to the active dataset.
  • The files must be IBM® SPSS® Statistics data files or datasets available in the current session. File specifications should be enclosed in quotes.
  • All files must be sorted in ascending order according to the variables specified on BY.
  • The primary file cannot contain duplicate values for the key variables. However, transaction files can and often do contain cases with duplicate keys (see Operations).

PASSWORD Keyword

The PASSWORD keyword specifies the password required to open an encrypted IBM SPSS Statistics data file. The specified value must be enclosed in quotation marks and can be provided as encrypted or as plain text. Encrypted passwords are created when pasting command syntax from the Save Data As dialog. The PASSWORD keyword is ignored if the file is not encrypted.