Using variable sets to show and hide variables

Use Variable Sets restricts the variables displayed in the Data Editor and in dialog box variable lists to the variables in the selected (checked) sets.

  • The set of variables displayed in the Data Editor and in dialog box variable lists is the union of all selected sets.
  • A variable can be included in multiple selected sets.
  • The order of variables in the selected sets and the order of selected sets have no effect on the display order of variables in the Data Editor or in dialog box variable lists.
  • Although the defined variable sets are saved with IBM® SPSS® Statistics data files, the list of currently selected sets is reset to the default, built-in sets each time you open the data file.

The list of available variable sets includes any variable sets defined for the active dataset, plus two built-in sets:

  • ALLVARIABLES. This set contains all variables in the data file, including new variables created during a session.
  • NEWVARIABLES. This set contains only new variables created during the session.

    Note: Even if you save the data file after creating new variables, the new variables are still included in the NEWVARIABLES set until you close and reopen the data file.

At least one variable set must be selected. If ALLVARIABLES is selected, any other selected sets will not have any visible effect, since this set contains all variables.

To define variable sets, use Define Variable Sets on the Utilities menu.

  1. From the menus choose:

    Utilities > Use Variable Sets...

  2. Select the defined variable sets that contain the variables that you want to appear in the Data Editor and in dialog box variable lists.

To display all variables

  1. From the menus choose:

    Utilities > Show All Variables