VARIABLES Specification (MATRIX-END MATRIX command)

You can provide variable names for the IBM® SPSS® Statistics data file with the VARIABLES specification. The variable list is a list of valid variable names separated by commas.

  • You can use the TO convention, as shown in the example below.
  • You can also use the NAMES specification, discussed below, to provide variable names.
  • Long variable names (up to 64 bytes) are supported when explicitly specified on the /VARIABLES subcommand.

Example

SAVE {A,B,X,Y} /OUTFILE=*
  /VARIABLES = A,B,X1 TO X50,Y1,Y2.
  • The matrix expression on the SAVE statement constructs a matrix from two column vectors A and B and two matrices X and Y. All four matrix variables must have the same number of rows so that this matrix construction will be valid.
  • The VARIABLES specification provides descriptive names so that the variable names in the new active dataset will resemble the names used in the matrix program.