File: pspp-convert.texi

package info (click to toggle)
pspp 2.0.1-1
  • links: PTS, VCS
  • area: main
  • in suites: forky, sid, trixie
  • size: 66,676 kB
  • sloc: ansic: 267,210; xml: 18,446; sh: 5,534; python: 2,881; makefile: 125; perl: 64
file content (195 lines) | stat: -rw-r--r-- 7,048 bytes parent folder | download | duplicates (2)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
@c PSPP - a program for statistical analysis.
@c Copyright (C) 2017, 2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
@c under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
@c or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
@c with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
@c A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
@c Free Documentation License".
@c
@node Invoking pspp-convert
@chapter Invoking @command{pspp-convert}
@cindex Invocation
@cindex @command{pspp-convert}

@command{pspp-convert} is a command-line utility accompanying
@pspp{}. It reads an SPSS or SPSS/PC+ system file or SPSS portable
file or encrypted SPSS syntax file @var{input} and
writes a copy of it to another @var{output} in a different format.
Synopsis:

@display
@t{pspp-convert} [@var{options}] @var{input} @var{output}

@t{pspp-convert -@w{-}help}

@t{pspp-convert -@w{-}version}
@end display

The format of @var{input} is automatically detected, when possible.
The character encoding of old SPSS system files cannot always be
guessed correctly, and SPSS/PC+ system files do not include any
indication of their encoding.  Use @code{-e @var{encoding}} to specify
the encoding in this case.

By default, the intended format for @var{output} is inferred based on its
extension:

@table @code
@item csv
@itemx txt
Comma-separated value.  Each value is formatted according to its
variable's print format.  The first line in the file contains variable
names.

@item sav
@item sys
SPSS system file.

@item por
SPSS portable file.

@item sps
SPSS syntax file.  (Only encrypted syntax files may be converted to
this format.)
@end table

@command{pspp-convert} can convert most input formats to most output
formats.  Encrypted SPSS file formats are exceptions: if the input
file is in an encrypted format, then the output file will be the same
format (decrypted).  To decrypt such a file, specify the encrypted
file as @var{input}.  The output will be the equivalent plaintext
file.  Options for the output format are ignored in this case.

The password for encrypted files can be specified a few different
ways.  If the password is known, use the @option{-p} option
(documented below) or allow @command{pspp-convert} to prompt for it.
If the password is unknown, use the @option{-a} and @option{-l}
options to specify how to search for it, or @option{--password-list}
to specify a file of passwords to try.

Use @code{-O @var{format}} to override the inferred format or to
specify the format for unrecognized extensions.

@command{pspp-convert} accepts the following general options:

@table @option
@item @option{-O @var{format}}
@itemx @option{--output-format=@var{format}}
Sets the output format, where @var{format} is one of the extensions
listed above, @i{e.g.}: @option{-O csv}.  Use @option{--help} to list
the supported output formats.

@item -c @var{maxcases}
@itemx --cases=@var{maxcases}
By default, all cases are copied from @var{input} to @var{output}.
Specifying this option to limit the number of cases written to
@var{output} to @var{maxcases}.

@item -e @var{charset}
@itemx --encoding=@var{charset}
Overrides the encoding in which character strings in @var{input} are
interpreted.  This option is necessary because old SPSS system files,
and SPSS/PC+ system files, do not self-identify their encoding.

@item -k @var{variable}@dots{}
@itemx --keep=@var{variable}@dots{}
By default, @command{pspp-convert} includes all the variables from the
input file.  Use this option to list specific variables to include;
any variables not listed will be dropped.  The variables in the output
file will also be reordered into the given order.  The variable list
may use @code{TO} in the same way as in PSPP syntax, @i{e.g.}@: if the
dictionary contains consecutive variables @code{a}, @code{b},
@code{c}, and @code{d}, then @option{--keep='a to d'} will include all
of them (and no others).

@item -d @var{variable}@dots{}
@itemx --drop=@var{variable}@dots{}
Drops the specified variables from the output.

When @option{--keep} and @option{--drop} are used together,
@option{--keep} is processed first.

@item -h
@itemx --help
Prints a usage message on stdout and exits.

@item -v
@itemx --version
Prints version information on stdout and exits.
@end table

The following options affect CSV output:

@table @option
@item --recode
By default, @command{pspp-convert} writes user-missing values to CSV
output files as their regular values.  With this option,
@command{pspp-convert} recodes them to system-missing values (which
are written as a single space).

@item --no-var-names
By default, @command{pspp-convert} writes the variable names as the
first line of output.  With this option, @command{pspp-convert} omits
this line.

@item --labels
By default, @command{pspp-convert} writes variables' values to CSV
output files.  With this option, @command{pspp-convert} writes value
labels.

@item --print-formats
By default, @command{pspp-convert} writes numeric variables as plain
numbers.  This option makes @command{pspp-convert} honor variables'
print formats.

@item --decimal=@var{decimal}
This option sets the character used as a decimal point in output.  The
default is @samp{.}.

@item --delimiter=@var{delimiter}
This option sets the character used to separate fields in output.  The
default is @samp{,}, unless the decimal point is @samp{,}, in which
case @samp{;} is used.

@item --qualifier=@var{qualifier}
The option sets the character used to quote fields that contain the
delimiter.  The default is @samp{"}.
@end table

The following options specify how to obtain the password for encrypted
files:

@table @option
@item -p @var{password}
@item --password=@var{password}
Specifies the password to use to decrypt an encrypted SPSS system file
or syntax file.  If this option is not specified,
@command{pspp-convert} will prompt interactively for the password as
necessary.

Be aware that command-line options, including passwords, may be
visible to other users on multiuser systems.

When used with @option{-a} (or @option{--password-alphabet}) and
@option{-l} (or @option{--password-length}), this option specifies the
starting point for the search.  This can be used to restart a search
that was interrupted.

@item -a @var{alphabet}
@item --password-alphabet=@var{alphabet}
Specifies the alphabet of symbols over which to search for an
encrypted file's password.  @var{alphabet} may include individual
characters and ranges delimited by @samp{-}.  For example, @option{-a
a-z} searches lowercase letters, @option{-a A-Z0-9} searches uppercase
letters and digits, and @option{-a ' -~'} searches all printable ASCII
characters.

@item -l @var{max-length}
@item --password-length=@var{max-length}
Specifies the maximum length of the passwords to try.

@item --password-list=@var{file}
Specifies a file to read containing a list of passwords to try, one
per line.  If @var{file} is @file{-}, reads from stdin.
@end table