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What language locales can be used for IBM SPSS Statistics on a Macintosh operating system and why you can get warning # 853

Troubleshooting


Problem

I have installed IBM SPSS Statistics release 23.x on an Apple Macintosh OSX, for example on version 10.10.5 Yosemite. I use non-English regional settings (for example Dutch language settings) on this computer and also would like to use Dutch (Netherlands) as locale for syntax in data in SPSS. However, when I open a new syntax editor and run below commands I get warning # 853 SET LOCALE = nl_nl. SHOW LOCALE. >Warning # 853 in column14. Text: nl_nl >The Locale subcommand of the SET command specifies a locale >for which collation and translation are not available. However, when I use the same command on a Microsoft windows computer with Statistics 23 installed, I do not get this warning and the locale is changed. Why is this not working on a Macintosh operating system?

Symptom

On Macintosh OSX you get:

Whereas on Windows this works without error:

[{"Product":{"code":"SSLVMB","label":"IBM SPSS Statistics"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU048","label":"IBM Software"},"Component":"Not Applicable","Platform":[{"code":"PF014","label":"iOS"}],"Version":"22.0;23.0","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB76","label":"Data Platform"}}]

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Document Information

Modified date:
19 June 2026

UID

swg21975240

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