Saving data: Data file types

You can save data in the following formats:

SPSS Statistics (*.sav). IBM® SPSS® Statistics format.

• Data files saved in IBM SPSS Statistics format cannot be read by versions of the software prior to version 7.5. Data files saved in Unicode encoding cannot be read by releases of IBM SPSS Statistics prior to version 16.0
• When using data files with variable names longer than eight bytes in version 10.x or 11.x, unique, eight-byte versions of variable names are used—but the original variable names are preserved for use in release 12.0 or later. In releases prior to 10.0, the original long variable names are lost if you save the data file.
• When using data files with string variables longer than 255 bytes in versions prior to release 13.0, those string variables are broken up into multiple 255-byte string variables.

SPSS Statistics Compressed (*.zsav). Compressed IBM SPSS Statistics format.

• ZSAV files have the same features as SAV files, but they take up less disk space.
• ZSAV files may take more or less time to open and save, depending on the file size and system configuration. Extra time is needed to de-compress and compress ZSAV files. However, because ZSAV files are smaller on disk, they reduce the time needed to read and write from disk. As the file size gets larger, this time savings surpasses the extra time needed to de-compress and compress the files.
• Only IBM SPSS Statistics version 21 or higher can open ZSAV files.
• The option to save the data file with your local code page encoding is not available for ZSAV files. These files are always saved in UTF-8 encoding.

SPSS Statistics Local Encoding (*.sav). In Unicode mode, this option saves the data file in the current locale code page character encoding. This option is not available in code page mode.

SPSS 7.0 (*.sav). Version 7.0 format. Data files saved in version 7.0 format can be read by version 7.0 and earlier versions but do not include defined multiple response sets or Data Entry for Windows information.

SPSS/PC+ (*.sys). SPSS/PC+ format. If the data file contains more than 500 variables, only the first 500 will be saved. For variables with more than one defined user-missing value, additional user-missing values will be recoded into the first defined user-missing value. This format is available only on Windows operating systems.

Portable (*.por). Portable format that can be read by other versions of IBM SPSS Statistics and versions on other operating systems. Variable names are limited to eight bytes and are automatically converted to unique eight-byte names if necessary. In most cases, saving data in portable format is no longer necessary, since IBM SPSS Statistics data files should be platform/operating system independent. You cannot save data files in portable file in Unicode mode. See the topic General options for more information.

Tab-delimited (*.dat). Text files with values separated by tabs. (Note: Tab characters embedded in string values are preserved as tab characters in the tab-delimited file. No distinction is made between tab characters embedded in values and tab characters that separate values.) You can save files in Unicode encoding or local code page encoding.

Comma-delimited (*.csv). Text files with values separated by commas or semicolons. If the current IBM SPSS Statistics decimal indicator is a period, values are separated by commas. If the current decimal indicator is a comma, values are separated by semicolons. You can save files in Unicode encoding or local code page encoding.

Fixed ASCII (*.dat). Text file in fixed format, using the default write formats for all variables. There are no tabs or spaces between variable fields. You can save files in Unicode encoding or local code page encoding.

Excel 2007 (*.xlsx). Microsoft Excel 2007 XLSX-format workbook. The maximum number of variables is 16,000; any additional variables beyond the first 16,000 are dropped. If the dataset contains more than one million cases, multiple sheets are created in the workbook.

Excel 97 through 2003 (*.xls). Microsoft Excel 97 workbook. The maximum number of variables is 256; any additional variables beyond the first 256 are dropped. If the dataset contains more than 65,356 cases, multiple sheets are created in the workbook.

Excel 2.1 (*.xls). Microsoft Excel 2.1 spreadsheet file. The maximum number of variables is 256, and the maximum number of rows is 16,384.

1-2-3 Release 3.0 (*.wk3). Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet file, release 3.0. The maximum number of variables that you can save is 256.

1-2-3 Release 2.0 (*.wk1). Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet file, release 2.0. The maximum number of variables that you can save is 256.

1-2-3 Release 1.0 (*.wks). Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet file, release 1A. The maximum number of variables that you can save is 256.

SYLK (*.slk). Symbolic link format for Microsoft Excel and Multiplan spreadsheet files. The maximum number of variables that you can save is 256.

dBASE IV (*.dbf). dBASE IV format.

dBASE III (*.dbf). dBASE III format.

dBASE II (*.dbf). dBASE II format.

SAS v9+ Windows (*.sas7bdat). SAS versions 9 for Windows. You can save files in Unicode (UTF-8) or local code page encoding.

SAS v9+ UNIX (*.sas7bdat). SAS versions 9 for UNIX. You can save files in Unicode (UTF-8) or local code page encoding.

SAS v7-8 Windows short extension (*.sd7). SAS versions 7–8 for Windows short filename format.

SAS v7-8 Windows long extension (*.sas7bdat). SAS versions 7–8 for Windows long filename format.

SAS v7-8 for UNIX (*.sas7bdat). SAS v8 for UNIX.

SAS v6 for Windows (*.sd2). SAS v6 file format for Windows/OS2.

SAS v6 for UNIX (*.ssd01). SAS v6 file format for UNIX (Sun, HP, IBM).

SAS v6 for Alpha/OSF (*.ssd04). SAS v6 file format for Alpha/OSF (DEC UNIX).

SAS Transport (*.xpt). SAS transport file.

Stata Version 14 Intercooled (*.dta). Stata 14 supports Unicode data

Stata Version 14 SE (*.dta). Stata 14 supports Unicode data

Stata Version 13 Intercooled (*.dta).

Stata Version 13 SE (*.dta).

Stata Version 12 Intercooled (*.dta).

Stata Version 12 SE (*.dta).

Stata Version 11 Intercooled (*.dta).

Stata Version 11 SE (*.dta).

Stata Version 10 Intercooled (*.dta).

Stata Version 10 SE (*.dta).

Stata Version 9 Intercooled (*.dta).

Stata Version 9 SE (*.dta).

Stata Version 8 Intercooled (*.dta).

Stata Version 8 SE (*.dta).

Stata Version 7 Intercooled (*.dta).

Stata Version 7 SE (*.dta).

Stata Version 6 (*.dta).

Stata Versions 4–5 (*.dta).

Note: SAS data file names can be up to 32 characters in length. Blank spaces and non-alphanumeric characters other than the underscore ("_") are not allowed and names have to start with a letter or an underscore, numbers can follow.