User Guide

49
Data Files
Variable name. You can overwrite the default variable names with your own
variable names. If you read variable names from the data file, the Text Wizard will
automatica
lly modify variable names that don’t conform to variable naming rules.
Select a variable in the preview window and then enter a variable name.
Data format. Select a variable in the preview window and then select a format from the
drop-down l
ist. Shift-click to select multiple contiguous variables or Ctrl-click to
select multiple noncontiguous variables.
Text Wizard Formatting Options
Formatting options for reading variables with the Text Wizard include:
Do not impo
rt.
Omit the selected variable(s) from the imported data file.
Numeric. Valid values include numbers, a leading plus or minus sign, and a decimal
indicator.
String. Va
lid values include virtually any keyboard characters and embedded blanks.
For delimited files, you can specify the number of characters in the value, up to a
maximum of 32,767. By default, the Text Wizard sets the number of characters to the
longest s
tring value encountered for the selected variable(s). For fixed-width files,
the number of characters in string values is defined by the placement of variable
break lines in step 4.
Date/Tim
e.
Valid values include dates of the general format dd-mm-yyyy, mm/dd/yyyy,
dd.mm.yyyy, yyyy/mm/dd, hh:mm:ss, and a variety of other date and time formats.
Months can be represented in digits, Roman numerals, or three-letter abbreviations,
or they c
an be fully spelled out. Select a date format from the list.
Dollar. Valid values are numbers with an optional leading dollar sign and optional
commas as thousands separators.
Comma. V
alid values include numbers that use a period as a decimal indicator and
commas as thousands separators.
Dot. Valid values include numbers that use a comma as a decimal indicator and
period
s as thousands separators.