CIRCLE SYSTEMS SINGLE USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND LIMITED WARRANTY FOR STAT/TRANSFER

ã Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved Circle Systems, Inc The Stat/Transfer program is licensed for use on a single computer system or network node Use by multiple users on more than one computer is prohibited If in doubt, please call and ask about our very economical site licenses Stat/Transfer is a trademark of Circle Systems, Inc This manual refers to numerous products by their trade names In most, if not all, cases these designations are claimed as trademarks or registered trademarks by their respective companies CIRCLE SYSTEMS SINGLE USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND LIMITED WARRANTY FOR STAT/TRANSFER IMPORTANT – READ CAREFULLY BEFORE INSTALLING THE STAT/TRANSFER SOFTWARE By clicking the “Next” button, opening the sealed packet(s) containing the software, or using any portion of the software, you accept all of the following Circle Systems License Agreement THIS IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN CIRCLE SYSTEMS, INC AND YOU, THE END USER CAREFULLY READ THIS AGREEMENT BEFORE OPENING, INSTALLING, OR USING THE STAT/TRANSFER SOFTWARE (the “software”) CIRCLE SYSTEMS WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY PURCHASE ORDER OR SELL YOU A LICENSE TO INSTALL AND USE THE SOFTWARE UNLESS YOU AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, DO NOT OPEN THE DISK PACKAGE, OR INSTALL OR USE THE SOFTWARE ON YOUR COMPUTER; REMOVE ALL COPIES FROM YOUR COMPUTER AND RETURN THE SOFTWARE AND ANY ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS WITHIN 30 DAYS OF PURCHASE, WITH PROOF OF PURCHASE, FOR A FULL REFUND OF THE AMOUNT YOU ORIGINALLY PAID FOR THE SOFTWARE SOFTWARE LICENSE Circle Systems grants you the right to load and use one copy of the software on a single computer (your “Dedicated Computer”) You may transfer the software to another single Dedicated Computer provided you remove all copies of the software from the first computer when you install it on the other computer If one individual uses the Dedicated Computer more than 80% of the time that it is in use, then that individual may also load and 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cost of recovering software or data, the cost of substitute software, claims by third parties, or similar costs In no event will the liability of Circle Systems exceed the amount paid for the software NOTICE TO U.S GOVERNMENT END USERS The software and manual are “Commercial Items,” as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R §2.101, consisting of “Commercial Computer Software” and “Commercial Computer Software Documentation,” as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R §12.212 or 48 C.F.R §227.7202, as applicable Consistent with 48 C.F.R §12.212 or 48 C.F.R §§227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the Commercial Computer Software and Commercial Computer Software Documentation are being licensed to U.S Government end users only as Commercial Items and with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions herein Unpublished-rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States Circle Systems, Inc., 1001 Fourth Avenue, Suite 3200, Seattle, WA 98154 USA GENERAL This is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between you and Circle Systems It supersedes any prior agreement or understanding, oral or written, between you and Circle Systems, its agents and employees, with respect to this subject No Circle Systems distributor, dealer, or agent is authorized to make any modification, extension, or addition to this Agreement and the limited warranty and limitation of liability The laws of the State of Washington, USA govern this agreement Table of Contents Introduction What Stat/Transfer does File Types Supported by Stat/Transfer What’s New in Stat/Transfer Formats Other New Features Installation Installing Stat/Transfer The READ.ME File Demo Files Web Update Uninstall Program 1 3 4 5 Technical Support Using the Stat/Transfer Menus 8 8 9 11 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 20 20 20 24 24 26 27 29 30 30 Using Windows Stat/Transfer Online Help Starting Stat/Transfer Transfer Dialog Box Selecting the Input File Format Selecting the Input Data File View Input Data Variable Selection Indicator Naming the Output File Running the Program Stopping a Transfer Resetting Stat/Transfer Variables Dialog Box Variable Selection Controlling the Types of Output Variables Observations Dialog Box Selecting Cases from the Input File Case-Selection Expressions Options(1) Dialog Box General Options User Missing Values Date/Time Formats Restoring and Saving Options Options(2) Dialog Box ASCII File Read ASCII File Write Restoring and Saving Options Options(3) Dialog Box Reading SAS Value Labels Writing SAS Value Labels Input Worksheets Restoring and Saving Options Options(4) Dialog Box Output Options Options for Generated Programs and Schemas Convert R and S-Plus factors to JMP Options Restoring and Saving Options Log Dialog Box Stat/Transfer log Data Settings Save Log File Clear Log Send Error Report to Support The Command Processor Using the Command Processor The Copy Command Transfers from the Command Processor Wildcard Transfers Transfers from the DOS Prompt Combining Files Specifying the File Type Standard Extensions File-Type Tags Special Cases when Specifying Files Selecting Cases with the Command Processor Selecting Variables with the Command Processor Keep and Drop Commands Changing Output Types Options Set by Parameters after the COPY Command Options for Data Sets Options for Variables Options for Messages Options Selected with the SET Command Available Options Other Available Commands DOS- Like Commands DOS Programs and Commands Quit Command Processor Help Logging Stat/Transfer Sessions Command Files Constructing Command Files 32 32 33 33 35 35 36 37 37 38 38 39 39 40 40 40 41 41 41 42 42 43 43 43 44 44 46 46 46 47 49 50 50 51 54 54 56 57 58 58 63 63 63 63 63 64 65 65 Command File Name Extensions Executing Command Files Running DOS Programs and Commands Special Considerations for ODBC Data Sources The DBR and DBW Commands Running Batch Jobs with ODBC Variable Naming and Limits Variable Names Limitations on the Number of Variables Limitations on Strings with Value Labels Internal Limitations Return Transfers to the Original Format Supported Programs Input and Output Variable Types READ.ME File 1-2-3 Worksheet Files Access Delimited ASCII Files Fixed Format ASCII Files SCHEMA Files for ASCII Input dBASE Files and Compatibles Epi Info Excel Worksheets FoxPro Files Gauss Files HTML Tables JMP Files LIMDEP Files Matlab Files Mineset Files Minitab Worksheets NLOGIT Files ODBC Data Sources OSIRIS Files Paradox Tables Quattro Pro Worksheet Files R SAS Data Files SAS Value Labels SAS CPORT SAS Transport Files S-PLUS Files SPSS Data Files SPSS Portable Files 65 65 66 67 67 68 69 69 69 69 69 70 71 71 71 72 75 77 79 83 90 92 93 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 107 108 109 112 114 116 120 121 123 125 127 Stata Files Statistica Files SYSTAT Files Frequently Asked Questions General Questions Command Processor Licenses ODBC Data Sources SAS Data Files SAS Transport Files S-PLUS Files Stata Files Worksheet Files 129 131 132 133 133 134 135 135 136 137 137 137 137 Introduction What Stat/Transfer does Stat/Transfer is designed to simplify the transfer of statistical data between different programs Data generated by one program is often needed in another context, either for analysis, for cleaning and correction, or for presentation However, not only must the data be transferred, but in addition, the variables generally must be re-described for each program with additional information, such as variable names, missing values and value and variable labels This process is not only time-consuming, it is error-prone For those in possession of data sets with many variables, it represents a serious impediment to the use of more than one program Stat/Transfer removes this barrier by providing an extremely fast, reliable and automatic way to move data Stat/Transfer will automatically read statistical data in the internal format of one of the supported programs and will then transfer as much of the information as is present and appropriate to the internal format of another Stat/Transfer preserves all of the precision in your data by storing it internally in double precision format However, on output, it will, where possible, automatically minimize the size of your output data set by intelligently choosing data storage types that are only as large as necessary to preserve the input precision Stat/Transfer also allows precise and easy manual control over the storage format of your output variables, in case this is necessary In addition to converting the formats of variables, Stat/Transfer also processes missing values automatically Stat/Transfer can save hours and even days of manual labor, while at the same time eliminating error Furthermore, you gain this speed and accuracy without losing flexibility, since Stat/Transfer allows you to select just the variables and cases you want to transfer In addition to the standard Windows interface, a command processor allows you to run a transfer in batch mode, using a command file This makes it straightforward to set up fully automatic batch procedures for repetitive tasks File Types Supported by Stat/Transfer Version of Stat/Transfer will support the following file types: · 1-2-3 · Access · ASCII - Delimited · ASCII - Fixed Format · dBASE and compatible formats · Epi Info · Excel · FoxPro · Gauss · HTML tables Introduction · JMP · LIMDEP · Matlab · Mineset · Minitab · NLOGIT · ODBC · OSIRIS (read-only) · Paradox · Quattro Pro · R · SAS for Windows and OS/2 · SAS for Unix · SAS CPORT (read only) · SAS Transport · S-PLUS · SPSS Data · SPSS Portable · Stata · Statistica · SYSTAT See the “Supported Programs” section of this manual for more information on supported versions of each specific file type Introduction Output to SPSS Portable Files from Stat/Transfer 128 Supported Programs Target Type byte int long float double string Output Type Number date time date/time Date Character (written according to the ASCII format options currently in effect) SPSS Portable Files String Stata Files Stat/Transfer will read and write data for any version of Stata including versions running on Unix and the Macintosh Standard Extension: DTA Reading Stata Files Stat/Transfer can read data from any version of Stata Character variables and dates are fully supported Variable and value labels are transferred out of Stata Writing Stata Files Versions of Stata higher than Version come in two flavors (Standard or “intercooled” Stata and Stata SE or Special Edition).These differ in their limits for the number of output variables and the maximum permitted length of string variables You can choose the “flavor” of the Stata output file from the list given in the Output File Type box in the Transfer dialog box You use the option Stata Version in the Options(4) dialog box to choose the version of the Stata files written by Stat/Transfer The default is Stata Version 10 Change this option if a different version will be used to read the file Stata holds the entire data set in memory Stat/Transfer will therefore attempt to conserve as much space as is possible When Stat/Transfer is transferring from a format in which the width and number of decimal places are known (such as SPSS, dBASE, and worksheet formats), or when it is optimizing the output variables (the default), it will use the available information to minimize the size of your Stata data set You can, of course, fine-tune this process by selecting types for output variables yourself Any variable and value labels present in the input data set will be written to Stata files Dates are written to Stata’s internal date format Missing Data Stata supports missing values Versions and above of Stata support SAS-style extended missing values The missing values '.A' '.Z' and '.' are supported The missing value '._ ' found in SAS is not used in Stata Stat/Transfer supports these extended missing values When an Stata file with extended missing values is transferred to a SAS or ASCII file, the input missing values will transfer to the equivalent SAS or ASCII ones When a SAS file or ASCII file is transferred to an Stata file with extended missing values specified, missing values will transfer to equivalent ones, except that '._' in input SAS files is written out as '.' in the output For input files that support user missing values (SPSS and OSIRIS), the options User Missing Value and Map to extended (a-z) missing in the Options(1) dialog box can be used to map selected user missing values to extended missing values in the Stata output file Stata Files Supported Programs 129 Output Variable Types The output variable types that result from each of the target variable types are given in the following table Output to Stata from Stat/Transfer Target Type Output Type byte Byte int long float double date time date/time Int Long Float Double Stata Date Float (fractional part of a day) Double (Stata date and fractional part of a day) Character string 130 Supported Programs Stata Files Statistica Files Stat/Transfer supports Statistica Version Standard Extension STA Reading Statistica Stat/Transfer will read and use Statistica variable and value labels Each column has a single missing value, which will be applied Writing Statistica Statistica does not have a string type, so character variables cannot be exported Missing Values Statistica has one missing value for each variable Stat/Transfer uses this when it reads a Statistica file When writing a Statistica file, Stat/Transfer will use a value of -9999 for missing Output Variable Types The output variable types that result from each of the target variable types are given in the following table Output to Statistica from Stat/Transfer Target Type byte int long float double date time date/time String Output Type Number Date Time Date/time Not exported Statistica Files Supported Programs 131 SYSTAT Files Stat/Transfer writes double precision SYSTAT files It will read either double or single precision SYSTAT files Standard Extension: SYS Reading SYSTAT Files When Stat/Transfer reads SYSTAT data sets, it processes the variable names by 1) dropping the dollar signs on character variables and 2) removing the parentheses before and after subscripts For example, SCALE(1) becomes SCALE1 Writing SYSTAT Files Any variable name in the source data set which contains a left parentheses followed by a number will be transferred into a SYSTAT subscripted variable Users should note that the SYSTAT error message, “You are trying to read an empty file,” will occur when SYSTAT cannot find a data file Your SYSTAT files should be in the default drive or directory Missing Data SYSTAT supports missing values Output Variable Types The output variable types that result from each of the target variable types are given in the following table Output to SYSTAT from Stat/Transfer 132 Supported Programs Target Type Output Type byte int long float double string date time date/time Number SYSTAT Files Character Date Character (written according to the ASCII format options currently in effect) Frequently Asked Questions General Questions Q How big a data set can Stat/Transfer handle A There is no limit on the number of cases that can be handled Q How the date formatting functions know how to write out the proper weekday and month names for languages other than English? A Stat/Transfer retrieves the localized day and month names from the Windows registry If they are correct for your locality, they will be correct in Stat/Transfer Q I have a large number of files to transfer I don't want to spend my day pointing and clicking What should I do? A Use the Stat/Transfer Command Processor It is documented in your manual (and in a separate chapter in the online help for the menu system) It will let you some extremely powerful things such as extract all of the tables from an Access database in a single command or copy a whole directory full of Excel spreadsheets to Stata files Q A It’s the middle of the night before a crucial deadline and my transfer won’t work What should I do? Q A What is the best way to pass data to my colleagues It’s like airplane travel If you can’t get a direct flight between Chicago and Los Angeles, try to get one that stops in Dallas Consider what formats your destination program will read and the formats Stat/Transfer will write Or, if you are having trouble reading a file from another program, consider any different file formats that it is capable of saving There is usually more than one route between your source and your destination For use with general purpose software, probably delimited ASCII is the best It is the closest thing to a lingua franca of data transport Stat/Transfer writes delimited data in accordance with the “standard” set by Excel, and that is followed by most software packages Worksheet files, such as Excel ‘97 and 123 release are widely supported as well and have the advantage of storing numbers in double precision As a general purpose transport format between statistical packages, SPSS binary sav files and Stata files will maintain your value and variable labels and missing values They are also platform independent Q A I want to save my data for use in the future, what should I If you are saving your statistical for use in the indefinite future, the best thing to is pick the ASCII files + All Programs option Even if the particular program is no longer available in many years, you can be assured that some statistical package will be able to read your plain ASCII data and you will have the information that is necessary to re-construct your dataset The worst thing to is to store your data in a binary format Also, pick your storage media carefully Those who stored data on nine track tapes and decks of cards can no longer read them We recommend ISO-standard compact disks for archival storage Q I have a file in which numeric variables are stored as strings How can I get Stat/Transfer to convert these variables to numbers in my output file? Frequently Asked Questions 133 A Stat/Transfer will let you change strings to numbers when reading worksheets and ASCII files, but it will generally not let you so when reading other file types You can work around this limitation by first setting the ASCII File Write option String Quote Character to ‘blank’ Then transfer your file to delimited ASCII When you read the ASCII file and transfer it to your final destination format, your numeric variables, which were formally stored as strings, will be numeric Q A I have a file in which I want some numbers to be transferred as strings How can I that? Q A What’s the best way to get support for Stat/Transfer? Write it to an ASCII file with a Stat/Transfer Schema Then edit the Schema and change the variables you want to convert to a string type Then read the file back in Send us e-mail at support@circlesys.com Command Processor Q When I go to the Start menu in Windows and click on Stat/Transfer, I see something called Stat/Transfer Command Processor What is it? A The Stat/Transfer Command Processor is a separate program that lets you transfer files without using the menu system, but rather through simple commands It can be invaluable if you have a large number of repetitive transfers or if you wish to batch transfers Check the manual for complete details Q I have an Access database with over one hundred tables I want to convert these all to Stata files What is the easiest way to this A First create a directory for your output files (OUT, for example) Then enter the Command Processor from the Start menu or your applications folder If your input file is C:\DATA\MY.MDB (assuming a Windows machine) and your new output directory was C:\DATA\OUT, you could use the command copy c:\data\my.mdb c:\data\out\*.dta /t* The ‘/t*’ modifier in this command tells Stat/Transfer to copy all of the tables from MY.MDB to the destination OUT The output files will be automatically named with the name of the table and the extension DTA Q I have fifty dBASE files I would like to move to SAS, what is the easiest way t this? A Assuming your dBASE files are in C:\DATA\DBASE and you would like your output in C:\DATA\SAS, you can this in a single command: copy c:\data\sas\*.dbf c:\data\sas\*.sas7bdat Q The menu system has lots of options The command processor just has that blank prompt How I set some options in there? A You can anything in the command processor that you can in the menus You’ll have to read the manual to find out just how to it To set options, you use the SET command Other commands are available to select variables and control their types Q How I set my options permanently so that I don't have to enter SET commands every time I start up the command processor A Put your SET commands in a file called PROFILE.STCMD, located in the same directory as Stat/Transfer 134 Frequently Asked Questions Licenses Q Can I install Stat/Transfer on a network server? A There is no technical reason why you cannot, but there is a legal one Your license allows you to use the software only on a single, dedicated computer If you want to share the use of Stat/Transfer, please obtain our economical site license Q A Can I share the use of Stat/Transfer with my colleagues? Q How I re-install Stat/Tranfer after a disk crash? Only if the use occurs on a single machine Please encourage the future development and support of Stat/Transfer by complying with our license agreement A If you are using Stat/Transfer Version or below, and you have a physical Stat/Transfer CD, just re-install the software; It will generate a new license for you If you received your copy over the internet, you can download a new demo copy from our Downloads page If you have the e-mail we sent you with your license, you can re-activate your copy by installing your license file Otherwise, send us an e-mail giving us as much detail as possible about your version, and how, where and when you purchased Stat/Transfer and we will see if we can send you a new license If you are using Stat/Transfer Version 9, and you have a physical Stat/Transfer CD, just re-install the software If you received your copy over the internet, you can download a new demo copy from our Downloads page If you have the e-mail we sent you with your activation code, you can re-activate your copy by going through the activation process Otherwise, send us an e-mail giving us as much detail as possible about your version, and how, where and when you purchased Stat/Transfer and we will see if we can send you an activation code Q A How I move my copy of Stat/Transfer from one computer to another? For Version or below, on Windows, the file "license.dat" is what distinguishes a demo copy from a licensed copy You can use your disk or download a demo from our Downloads page, install it and then copy the LICENSE.DAT file from your old computer to your new computer For Version 9, re-install the software, either from your disk or from our website Then use your activation code to activate the program Q A Why can't I buy a "simultaneous use" license for Stat/Transfer? Q A Can I use Stat/Transfer in my office and also on my laptop at home? The problem is that it takes so little time to so much work with Stat/Transfer If we allowed simultaneous use, one copy could cover a very large workgroup and we would not make enough to develop the next version To figure out how many users you have in your workgroup, count the number of people who are likely to use Stat/Transfer in a one year period and buy enough licenses to cover that number On unix, for those who not want to bother with this, we have "single machine" licenses, that will cover an unlimited number of users on a single machine Yes, that is explicitly permitted by our license If you are the primary user of the software you can install it on multiple machines However more than one user can not use the software on more than one machine ODBC Data Sources Q Why can’t I find my database in the list of ODBC sources Frequently Asked Questions 135 A In order for a data source to appear in the list, you must first have installed a driver for the particular database system and, then you must have configured the driver to point to your database Drivers are usually supplied by your database vendor, and, particularly if you are using a client-server database, you must make sure that you have installed proper components for your particular workstation and network A data source, in ODBC parlance, is a driver configured to point to a particular database For instance, you might have a driver for Oracle data and two Oracle data sources, one for each of two clinical trials you are analyzing You can configure an ODBC driver to connect to a particular database by running the ODBC driver manager from the Windows Control Panel Only properly configured data sources will appear in Stat/Transfers lists of available data sources Q A I can see my data source on Stat/Transfer’s list, but I encounter errors when I try to connect to it There are many possible causes for this problem Your ODBC driver may not be properly installed or configured for your network Your database server and/or network may be down You might not have proper access rights or the proper password for your database We suggest you try to connect to your database with another tool, particularly one that is supplied by your database vendor or a general tool such as Microsoft Excel If you still encounter difficulties, you should first seek support from your local database administrator and/or the vendor who supplied your database or driver Q A How can I join two tables in a relational database Many database systems allow you to define a “view”, that will appear to Stat/Transfer as a single table If you database allows this, it is the simplest and most robust way of joining tables for Stat/Transfer If this option is not available, the Stat/Transfer command processor allows you to submit an SQL select statement It is simply passed through to your ODBC driver, so it must be legal SQL for your particular database driver SAS Data Files Q Will the feature that reads SAS value labels work with Unix SAS files? A Stat/Transfer only reads Windows catalogs, but it will read SAS formats converted to Unix datasets using Proc Format with the ‘cntrlout’ option See Page 116 Q A Stat/Transfer won’t read my SAS data file What’s wrong? First, we don’t support every platform Check Pages 114, 120 and 121 If your SAS data are not in one of these formats, we cannot read it, and you should use SAS to create a SAS Transport file Further, we cannot read data that have been encrypted If your data have been written with encryption, you must use SAS to copy the file to an unencrypted format Finally, if you are moving the file from another platform, make sure that you use a binary, error-correcting, file transfer protocol If your file is in the proper format and you still cannot read it, please check our Web site to see problems that have been fixed If your problem is not there, send us e-mail for technical support The SAS file format has not been publicly documented and there may be aspects of it that we are not supporting properly Please let us know about any problems you are having so that we can fix them for you and others Before you contact technical support, please try to read the file either with SAS or the free SAS Viewer: http://tinyurl.com/hcu4 Since we have found that large SAS files are sometimes truncated, make sure you can scroll to the bottom of the file 136 Frequently Asked Questions Q A SAS refuses to read the SAS data file created by Stat/Transfer What should I do? First, make sure that you are writing the proper kind of file for the flavor of SAS you are using and that you are transporting the file properly Then check our Web site to see if there is a problem that has already been fixed If you think you have discovered a new problem, please let us know about it so we can fix it In the meantime, you can always use the Transport format to get your data into SAS SAS Transport Files Q Stat/Transfer reports a “dictionary error” or otherwise refuses to read my SAS file What is the matter? A Most commonly, particularly when the file is received from others, the problem is that the file is not really a transport file, but, rather, is another kind of system file You should examine the first part of the file, either in an editor or by simply typing it to the screen The text “HEADER RECORD*********LIBRARY HEADER RECORD” should appear at the beginning of the file If it does not, it is not a transport file You should refer to the Stat/Transfer manual or SAS’s documentation to find out how to create a Transport file in SAS S-PLUS Files Q Stat/Transfer will not read my S-PLUS file What is wrong? A Remember, some S-PLUS file have very little structure and parts of the data are only meaningful to S-PLUS Make sure that your data are in the form of a two-dimensional matrix, a list or a dataframe Stata Files Q When I transfer a 10 digit identifier to Stata, the it seems to be transferred inaccurately What is going on? A You probably have the Automatically optimize target types option in the Options(1) dialog box set to Off (See Page 17 ) The solution is to one of the following: Manually change the output type of the id number to long or double Press the Optimize button in the Variables dialog box so that Stat/Transfer will automatically put each variable in the smallest type that will maintain its precision Check the Automatically optimize target types option in the Options(1) dialog box or use the SET command AUTO-OPTIMIZE, so that optimization is performed automatically every time you transfer This final option is probably the best solution if you don’t want to worry about these issues at all Q A Why all of my labels and variable names come out in lower case when I transfer a file to Stata That’s not a bug — it’s a feature We respect the “style” of the package to which we are transferring and packages such as S-Plus and Stata favor lower case letters If you would like to maintain the case of your variable names and labels, check the Preserve Label and Case option in the Options(1) dialog box Worksheet Files Q I have some blank rows in my worksheet Stat/Transfer stops reading the data as soon as it encounters a blank row Is there any way to work around this? Frequently Asked Questions 137 A The reason Stat/Transfer behaves that way is that sometimes users like to put comments or notes at the bottom of their data block If they put at least one blank line between the data and the comments, then by default, Stat/Transfer will read their data and skip the comments with no special actions on their part However if you can change the behavior in one of two ways In the Options(3) dialog box, you can either set the Blank Rows option to control reading of blank lines, or you can explicitly set a data range by using the Data Range option In the later case, Stat/Transfer will return all of the rows in the range you specify In other words, it assumes that you know what you are doing and will return blank rows if that is what you want Q When I read my Excel spreadsheet, sometimes a whole column of numbers get transferred as an integer variable instead of as a float, or date variables not get recognized as such What should I do? A You can fix the problem in one of two ways First, you can simply change the target type in Stat/Transfer Second, Stat/Transfer uses the format of the first non-blank cell in a column to determine the type of each column Make sure that these are set correctly For date variables, you will have to make sure that you have formatted the first cell in the column with a date format Q When I read my Excel spreadsheet, sometimes a whole column of numbers gets transferred as a string variable, even though it contains lots of numbers A Stat/Transfer examines all of the cells in a column to determine the type If there are any strings, the column will be transferred into a string variable and the numbers and dates that are in the column will be converted to their string representation This scheme is, in general, what people expect, particularly for columns of mixed numeric and string indentifiers, where the alternative strategy would make the strings into missing values If you have a column that you want to force to numeric, you can check it to make sure that there are not any strings or numbers formatted with a “text” format Alternativly, you can force a type conversion by using the controls on the Variables dialog box Q A How should I represent missing values in my worksheet? Q A Stat/Transfer just won’t read my Excel worksheet? Q A It seems to take a long time to read Quattro Pro worksheets, What’s the problem? Q A I want to read the second sheet of a three dimensional worksheet file How I it? In general, you should just leave missing cells blank You can also represent numeric missing data with a period Missing data for strings can be represented by an empty string (entered with a single quote) However, blanks work just as well as any of these alternatives Microsoft has chosen to leave some crucial tidbits out of its file format documentation If you are having trouble with Excel, please two things First, use the “Save As” menu option in Excel to save your data into Lotus 1-2-3 or a version of Excel older than Excel ‘97 These files will be read by a different module within Stat/Transfer Second, make us aware of your problem, so that we can correct Stat/Transfer Quattro Pro is stored in columnwise order Stat/Transfer must therefore transpose the entire file before it can read any of it If your file is large, you would better to save it out in Lotus 1-2-3 format Stat/Transfer will try and read the first non-blank page and make some sense of it If you file has more than one page, Stat/Transfer will put up a selection box which displays the name of each page You can then select the appropriate page and Stat/Transfer will read the variable names and other dictionary information from that page 138 Frequently Asked Questions Index A Access appending to tables variable labels Access files selecting table specifying table with wildcards Alphanumeric variables, width Arithmetic operations in WHERE ASCII files date/time format options Delimited Delimited Schema file extended missing values Fixed format Fixed format SCHEMA file programs for read options write options ASCII input SAS, SPSS, Stata SCHEMA file ASCII read combine adjacent blanks Automatic optimizing of output command processor menus Automatic output variable types Automatic variable selection 37, 60, 75 75 75-76 11, 13, 54 54 69 21 27 77-78 83-89 31-32 79 83 79 30 32 79 83 30 56 17 16 15 B Batch jobs command files for Beginning a transfer Blank rows in worksheets ’byte’ target type 42 65 13 36 17 C Canceling a transfer Case selection command processor Observasions dialog box Case selection expressions arithmetic operators in missing values relational operators in strings in wildcards in Catalog files, SAS Century changeover year Combining input files Command files constructing executing from DOS executing from Stat/Transfer extensions running from Explorer Command processor Access data source tables changing directory changing drive changing output variable types 14 49 20 20-21 21 22 21 21 21 59 29 44 65-66 65 65 65 65 66 42-67 48 63 63 51, 53 combining files 44 COPY command 43-45 doubles option 56 dropping constants 57 file-type tags 46 help 63 logging a session 64 ODBC data sources 67 ODBC data sources, specifying 48 optimizing output variable types 56 options for input data sets 54 options set with parameters 54-57 options set with SET commands58 overwrite output file warning 57 QUIT command 63 SAS file members 48 selecting cases 49 selecting variables 50 selecting worksheet ranges 50, 55, 60 setting options 54-62 specifying file types 46-48 S-PLUS files, specifying 47 transfers from DOS prompt 44 transfers from ST prompt 42-43 wildcard transfers 43 worksheet pages 48 Comments in command files 65 Concatenating worksheet pages 11, 36 Constants, dropping from output 18, 57 COPY command 43-45 D Data viewer Data, passing to others Database format ’date’ target type Date and time format options ’date/time’ target type Date transfers Dates in ASCII files century changeover year format options dBASE files Decimal point option Default output file specification Default output variable types Delimited ASCII files Delimiters in ASCII files Demo files Demo version of Stat/Transfer Directory, changing in command processor with menus DOS commands in command files executing command files programs in command files show messages ’double’ target type Doubles option DROP command Dropping constants 11 133 93 17 27 17 70 29 27 90-91 31 13 16 77-78 30, 32 63 13 66 65 66 57 17 18, 56 50 18, 57 E Epi Info files Error reporting Examples case-selection expressions command file demo files Excel worksheets troubleshooting Explorer running command files Extended missing values Extensions command files standard K 92 41 21 66 93-95 136 66 26 65 10 F File format selecting input selecting output with command processor File lists in command processor File name extensions command files standard File specification input file output file Files input specifying output name File-type tags Fixed format ASCII ’float’ target type FoxPro files Frequently asked questions 12 46-48 63 65 10 13 13 46 79 17 96 133 G Gauss files Generated programs, options 97 38 63 98 I Input data file options in command processor Input data viewer Input file format Input widths, preserve Installation ’int’ target type Intermediate storage Internal variable in WHERE 54 11 38 4-6 17 16 21 J JMP files JMP options 50 50 61 L LIMDEP files Limitations internal on strings with value lables on numbers of variables Log dialog box Log file, menus Logging Stat/Transfer sessions ’long’ target type Lotus 1-2-3 worksheet files troubleshooting 100, 104 69 69 69 40-41 41 64 17 72-74 136 M Matlab files Member, SAS Transport files Messages at DOS prompt at ST prompt Messages, log Microsoft Access files Mineset files Minitab worksheets _missing variable Missing values _missing variable options for multiple setting string for testing for Missing values mapping Most-recently-used directory list Most-recently-used file list Multiple page worksheets 101 11, 13, 55 57 57 40 75-76 102 103 22 22 26 31-32 22 26, 59 13 11 10, 48 N H Help in command processor online HTML tables KEEP using a file to specify KEEP command options 99 39 Naming output file Network, running on NLOGIT files Numeric variable names, assigning Numerical precision 13 133 104 24 16 O Observations dialog box ODBC appending to tables ODBC data sources DBR and DBW commands running batch jobs selecting table troubleshooting using CONNSTR to connect with command processor Older file versions, writing Optimzing variable types with command processor with menus Options ASCII date/time formats 20 37, 60, 105 105-106 67 68 11, 13 134 67 48, 67 61 56 17 27 ASCII files, read ASCII files, write automatic optimization DROP command file overwrite permission generated programs in command processor KEEP command keep variable name,label case numeric variable names PROFILE.STC restoring and saving sampling seed SAS value labels Schemas setting in command processor startup options file use doubles user missing values worksheets, input OSIRIS files missing values Output file default file specification naming overwriting selecting format Output variables adjusting types default types optimizing types target types Overwrite warning with command processor with menus 30 32 25 61 24 38 54, 58-62 61 24 24 58 29 24 33 38 54-62 58 25 26 35 107 26 13 13 24, 57 12 18-19, 53 16 18 16 57 24 P Page, selecting worksheet Paradox tables Precision, numerical Preserving WHERE statements Preview input data PROFILE.STC file Programs for ASCII files options 10, 48 108 16 22 11 58 38 Q Quattro Pro worksheet files 109-111 troubleshooting 136 QUIT command, command processor 63 R R factors R files Ranges, specifying for worksheets READ.ME file Relational operators in WHERE Reproducible samples Resetting Stat/Transfer Restoring options Return transfers _rownum variable Running a transfer 38 112-113 35, 55, 60 21 23, 25 14 29 70 21 13 S Sample files Sample reproducible 23 Sampling functions random fixed-size sample random number generator for random sample systematic sample Sampling seed SAS catalog files SAS CPORT SAS data files troubleshooting value labels for strings SAS data representation options SAS files formats from catalog files mapping to missing values SAS output representations SAS PC/DOS 6.04 SAS Transport files naming member selecting member troubleshooting wildcards to specify members SAS user formats SAS value labels SAS, ASCII input for Saving options SCHEMA files Schemas options Selecting cases Selecting variables Selection conditions examples wildcards in Show messages at DOS prompt S-PLUS files setting byte order troubleshooting variable name option with command processor S-Plus factors SPSS data files setting byte order value labels for strings SPSS Export files SPSS mapping to missing values SPSS missing values SPSS Portable Files SPSS, ASCII input for Standard extensions Starting the program Startup options file Stat/Transfer Web updates Stata mapping to missing values Stata files troubleshooting variable name option write older version Stata version option Stata version, option Stata, ASCII input for Statistica files Stop button Stopping a transfer ’string’ target type 22 22 23 22 23 23, 25 59 120 114-115 135 19 37, 60, 115 59 26 37, 60 114-115 121-122 13 11, 13, 55 135 56 114 33, 116-119 79 29 83 38 20 15, 50 20 21 21 57 123-124 62 136 24 47 38 125-126 62 19 127-128 26 26 127-128 79 10 58 26 129-130 136 24 61 37, 58 37 79 131 14 14 17 Strings value labels for width limitations Suppress messages 19, 69 69 57 T Table Access, appending option Access, selecting ODBC, appending option ODBC, selecting Target types, output variables Thousands separator option ’time’ target type Transfer button Transferring back to original format between worksheet formats dates Trial mode software Troubleshooting TYPES CLEAR command TYPES command 37, 75 11, 13, 54 37, 105 11, 13 16 31 17 13 70 12 70 133 51 51 U Uninstall program Unsupported transfers xBase file types Updates for Stat/Transfer User formats, SAS User missing values 12 114 26, 59 V Value labels preserve tags amd sets Value labels for strings Value labels, SAS Variable names Variable selection command processor menu system Variables dialog box Variable selection indicator Variables adjusting output types assigning numeric names automatic selection controlling the output type default output types dropping constant limitations on numbers maximum width names number of output optimizing output output target types selecting use doubles option VARS command with KEEP|DROP with TYPES Version, writing older View button 25 19, 69 114 69 50 16 15 12 18-19, 53 24 15 16 16 18, 57 69 69 69 69 17 16 15 18 50 51 61 11 W Web site Web updates for Stat/Transfer WHERE statements 20 _missing variable in 22 arithmetic operatiors in 21 examples 21 preserving 22 remainder operator in 21 sampling functions 22 wildcards in 21 Wildcards for Access tables 54 for SAS members 56 for worksheet pages 55 in file names 10 in selection conditions 21 in the COPY command 43 in variable selection 16 in WHERE statements 21 transfers with the COPY command 43 Worksheet files 1-2-3 72 database format 93 Excel 93 Quattro Pro 109 reading blank rows 36 specifying pages 10, 48, 55 specifying pages with wildcards55 specifying ranges 35, 55, 60 troubleshooting 136 variable name determination 36 Worksheet pages, concatenating 11, 36 ... by their respective 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