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The syntax below creates a new string variable in our test data. Its most basic use isĪs explained earlier, A10 means that the new variable can hold values of up to 10 bytes. However, they can't be used for new string variables you must first create one or more new, empty string variables before you can pass values into them. SPSS String CommandĬommands that pass values into variables, most notably COMPUTE and IF, can be used for both existing and new numeric variables.
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If you don't want to go into details, just choose string lengths that are twice the number of characters they need to contain to stay on the safe side. Starting from SPSS version 16, some characters may consist of two bytes. The numeric suffixes (3 and 8 here) are the numbers of bytes that the values can hold. The result, shown in the screenshot below, confirms that we have two string variables having A3 and A8 formats. This can be seen by running the following line of syntax display dictionary.Īfter opening the data. String variables in SPSS usually have an “A” format, where “A” denotes “Alphanumeric”. Some surprising consequences of this are shown towards the end of this tutorial. String values are always treated as text, even if they contain only numbers. A simpler definition is that string variables are variables that hold zero or more text characters. We won't go into this technical matter here but those who really want to know may consult our Unicode tutorial. What really defines a string variable is the way its values are stored internally. String variables are one of SPSS' two variable types. The syntax we use can be copy-pasted or downloaded here. We encourage you along by downloading and opening string_basics.sav. This tutorial explains what SPSS string variables are and demonstrates their main properties. SPSS String Variables Basics By Ruben Geert van den Berg under SPSS String Variablesįor working proficiently with SPSS string variables, it greatly helps to understand some string basics.