Date and Time Wizard

The Date and Time Wizard simplifies a number of common tasks associated with date and time variables.

To Use the Date and Time Wizard

  1. From the menus choose:

    Transform > Date and Time Wizard...

  2. Select the task you want to accomplish and follow the steps to define the task.
  • Learn how dates and times are represented. This choice leads to a screen that provides a brief overview of date/time variables in IBM® SPSS® Statistics. By clicking on the Help button, it also provides a link to more detailed information.
  • Create a date/time variable from a string containing a date or time. Use this option to create a date/time variable from a string variable. For example, you have a string variable representing dates in the form mm/dd/yyyy and want to create a date/time variable from this.
  • Create a date/time variable from variables holding parts of dates or times. This choice allows you to construct a date/time variable from a set of existing variables. For example, you have a variable that represents the month (as an integer), a second that represents the day of the month, and a third that represents the year. You can combine these three variables into a single date/time variable.
  • Calculate with dates and times. Use this option to add or subtract values from date/time variables. For example, you can calculate the duration of a process by subtracting a variable representing the start time of the process from another variable representing the end time of the process.
  • Extract a part of a date or time variable. This option allows you to extract part of a date/time variable, such as the day of the month from a date/time variable, which has the form mm/dd/yyyy.
  • Assign periodicity to a dataset. This choice takes you to the Define Dates dialog box, used to create date/time variables that consist of a set of sequential dates. This feature is typically used to associate dates with time series data.

Note: Tasks are disabled when the dataset lacks the types of variables required to accomplish the task. For instance, if the dataset contains no string variables, then the task to create a date/time variable from a string does not apply and is disabled.