Commands
Commands are the instructions that you give the program to initiate an action. For the program to interpret your commands correctly, you must follow certain rules.
Syntax Diagrams
Each command described in this manual includes a syntax diagram that shows all of the subcommands, keywords, and specifications allowed for that command. By recognizing symbols and different type fonts, you can use the syntax diagram as a quick reference for any command.
- Lines of text in italics indicate limitation or operation mode of the command.
- Elements shown in upper case are keywords to identify
commands, subcommands, functions, operators, and other specifications.
In the sample syntax diagram below,
T-TEST
is the command andGROUPS
is a subcommand. - Elements in lower case describe specifications that
you supply. For example,
varlist
indicates that you need to supply a list of variables. - Elements in bold are defaults. There are two types
of defaults. When the default is followed by **, as
ANALYSIS**
is in the sample syntax diagram below, the default (ANALYSIS
) is in effect if the subcommand (MISSING
) is not specified. If a default is not followed by **, it is in effect when the subcommand (or keyword) is specified by itself. - Parentheses, apostrophes, and quotation marks are required where indicated.
- Unless otherwise noted, elements enclosed in square
brackets (
[ ]
) are optional. For some commands, square brackets are part of the required syntax. The command description explains which specifications are required and which are optional. - Braces (
{ }
) indicate a choice between elements. You can specify any one of the elements enclosed within the aligned braces. - Ellipses indicate that you can repeat an element
in the specification. The specification
T-TEST PAIRS=varlist [WITH varlist [(PAIRED)]] [/varlist ...]
means that you can specify multiple variable lists with optional
WITH
variables and the keywordPAIRED
in parentheses. - Most abbreviations are obvious; for example,
varname
stands for variable name andvarlist
stands for a variable list. - The command terminator is not shown in the syntax diagram.
Command Specification
The following rules apply to all commands:
- Commands begin with a keyword that is the name of the command and often have additional specifications, such as subcommands and user specifications. Refer to the discussion of each command to see which subcommands and additional specifications are required.
- Commands and any command specifications can be entered in upper and lower case. Commands, subcommands, keywords, and variable names are translated to upper case before processing. All user specifications, including variable names, labels, and data values, preserve upper and lower case.
- Spaces can be added between specifications at any
point where a single blank is allowed. In addition, lines can be broken
at any point where a single blank is allowed. There are two exceptions:
the
END DATA
command can have only one space between words, and string specifications on commands such asTITLE
,SUBTITLE
,VARIABLE LABELS
, andVALUE LABELS
can be broken across two lines only by specifying a plus sign (+) between string segments. See the topic String Values in Command Specifications for more information. - Many command names and keywords can be abbreviated
to the first three or more characters that can be resolved without
ambiguity. For example,
COMPUTE
can be abbreviated toCOMP
but notCOM
because the latter does not adequately distinguish it fromCOMMENT
. Some commands, however, require that all specifications be spelled out completely. This restriction is noted in the syntax chart for those commands.