Examples (COMMENT command)

Comment As a Separate Command

* Create a new variable as a combination of two old variables;
  the new variable is a scratch variable used later in the 
  session;  it will not be saved with the data file. 

COMPUTE #XYVAR=0.
IF (XVAR EQ 1 AND YVAR EQ 1) #XYVAR=1.

The three-line comment will be included in the display file but will not be part of the data file if the active dataset is saved.

Comments within Commands

IF (RACE EQ 1 AND GENDER EQ 1) GENDERRACE = 1.  /*White males.

The comment is entered on a command line. The closing */ is not needed because the comment is at the end of the line.

Comment on Separate Line within a Command

FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=Var1 to Var5
  /*this will cause an error*/
  /FORMAT=NOTABLE
  /BARCHART.

A comment on a separate line within a command will cause an error. The comment is interpreted as a blank line, and a blank line is interpreted as a command terminator. So /FORMAT=NOTABLE will be intrepreted as the start of a different command, resulting in an error.