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SPSS Trainer Tip: SPSS®13.0 for Windows®

Instructor profile

Name: Jason F.S. Seiler

Home office: New York City

About Jason: Jason recently joined SPSS as an Education Consultant. He holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from Dartmouth College. Jason previously worked for the University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban Research, where he specialized in data technologies used in survey research and statistical analysis. In Jason's spare time, he enjoys tai chi, woodworking, and playing in his band, “The Frets.”



Using the Microsoft® Windows® "Run" command for shortcuts to files in syntax

How often do you locate a file buried in a folder on your computer or server, and then painstakingly type the file location in your SPSS syntax, only to run the syntax and find that you missed a character and your syntax can’t find the file? You could use the File->Open->Paste Syntax path from within SPSS to find the file location, but there’s an even faster way. Use this tip to quickly find the file location.

  • First, open SPSS and create a new syntax window
  • Next, browse to the location of your file (see Figure 1)

Browsing to the location of the file
Figure 1: Browsing to the location of the file

  • Next, click the Start Menu-> Run

The Start Menu and Run Menu item
Figure 2: The Start Menu and "Run…" Menu item

  • The resulting dialog box will either be blank or contain the last command used (see Figure 2a)
  • If there is text in the Open field, select and clear this text

The Run dialog box
Figure 2a: The Run dialog box

  • Now click on your file, drag it to the Run dialog box, and drop it into the Open field

Dropping your file into the Run dialog box
Figure 3: Dropping your file into the Run dialog box

  • Then simply copy the address that appears in the dialog box and paste it into your syntax (see Figure 4).

Copying the file source path
Figure 4: Copying the file source path

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