User's Manual

146
Chapter 8
Function
Result
Description
unicode_char(NUM)
CHAR
Returns the character with Unicode v al ue
NUM.
unicode_value(CHAR)
NUM
Returns the Unico de value of CHAR
uppertolower(CHAR)
uppertolower (STRING)
CHAR or
String
Input can be ei
ther a string or character and is
used in this function to ret urn a new item of
the same type with any uppercase characters
converted to
their lowercase equivalents.
Note: Remember to specify string s with
double quotes and characters with single
backquotes.
Simple field names should be
specified wi t hout qu otes.
SoundEx Functions
SoundEx is a met hod used to find strings when the sound is kno wn but the precise spelling is not.
Developed in 1918, it searches out words with similar sounds based on phonetic assumptions
about how certain letters are pronounced. It ca n be used to sea r ch names in a database, for
example, where spellings and pronunciations for similar names may vary. The bas ic SoundEx
algorithm is document ed in a number of sources and, despite known limitatio ns (for example,
leading letter combinations such as ph and f will not match even though they sound the same), is
supported in some form by most data bases.
Function
Result
Description
soundex(STRING)
Integer
Returns the four-character SoundEx code for
the specified STRING.
soundex_difference(STRING1, STRING2)
Integer
Returns an integer between 0 and 4 that
indicates the numb er of characters that are
the same in the SoundEx encoding for the
two strings, where 0 indicates no si milarity
and 4 indicates strong similarity or identical
strings.
Date and Time Functions
CLEM includes a family of functions for handling fields with datetime storage of string variables
representing dates and times . The formats of date and time used are s pecific to each s tream and
are specified in the stream properties dialog box. The date and time functions parse date and time
strings according to the currently selected format.
When you specify a year in a date that uses only two d igits (th at is, the century is not specified),
IBM® SPSS® Modeler uses the de f ault century tha t is specified in the stream properties dialog
box.