FORMAT Specification (MATRIX-END MATRIX command)
FORMAT
specifies
how the matrix processor should interpret the input data. The format
descriptor can be any valid IBM® SPSS® Statistics data format, such as F6
, E12.2
, or A6
, or it can be a type code; for example, F
, E
, or A
.
- If you omit the
FORMAT
specification, the default isF
. - You can specify the width of fixed-size data fields
with either a
FORMAT
specification or aBY
clause on aFIELD
specification. You can include it in both places only if you specify the same value. - If you do not include either a
FORMAT
or aBY
clause onFIELD
,READ
expects values separated by blanks or commas. - An additional way of specifying the width is to supply
a repetition factor without a width (for example,
10F
,5COMMA
, or3E
). The field width is then calculated by dividing the width of the whole input area on theFIELD
specification by the repetition factor. A format with a digit for the repetition factor must be enclosed in quotes. - Only one format can be specified. A specification
such as
FORMAT='5F2.0 3F3.0 F2.0'
is invalid.