Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS

Statistics

IBM
 Note
Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on page 261.

Product Information
This edition applies to version 24, release 0, modification 0 of IBM SPSS Statistics and to all subsequent releases and
modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.
Contents
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1 spss.HasCursor Function . . . . . . . .. 80
spss.IsActive Function . . . . . . . . .. 80
Python Integration Package . . . . .. 3 spss.IsDistributedMode Function . . . . .. 80
spss.IsOutputOn Function . . . . . . .. 81
Introduction to Python Programs . . . . . .. 3
spss.Procedure Class . . . . . . . . .. 81
Working with Python Program Blocks . . . .. 4
spss.PyInvokeSpss.IsUTF8mode Function . .. 81
Python Syntax Rules. . . . . . . . . .. 7
spss.PyInvokeSpss.IsXDriven Function . . .. 82
Working with Multiple Versions of IBM SPSS
spss.SetActive Function . . . . . . . .. 82
Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8
spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion Function . . .. 82
Python and IBM SPSS Statistics Working
spss.SetMacroValue Function . . . . . .. 82
Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9
spss.SetOutput Function . . . . . . . .. 83
Running IBM SPSS Statistics from an External
spss.SetOutputLanguage Function . . . . .. 83
Python Process . . . . . . . . . . .. 9
spss.ShowInstalledPlugInVersions Function . .. 83
Localizing Output from Python Programs . .. 11
spss.SplitChange Function . . . . . . .. 84
Python Functions and Classes . . . . . . .. 15
spss.StartDataStep Function . . . . . . .. 85
spss.ActiveDataset Function . . . . . . .. 16
spss.StartProcedure Function . . . . . .. 85
spss.AddProcedureFootnotes Function . . .. 16
spss.StartSPSS Function . . . . . . . .. 88
spss.BasePivotTable Class. . . . . . . .. 16
spss.StopSPSS Function . . . . . . . .. 88
spss.BaseProcedure Class . . . . . . . .. 37
spss.Submit Function . . . . . . . . .. 89
spss.CreateXPathDictionary Function . . . .. 39
spss.TextBlock Class . . . . . . . . .. 90
spss.Cursor Class . . . . . . . . . .. 39
spss.Dataset Class . . . . . . . . . .. 55
spss.DataStep Class. . . . . . . . . .. 71 Scripting Guide . . . . . . . . . .. 93
spss.DeleteXPathHandle Function . . . . .. 71 Introduction to Python Scripts . . . . . . .. 93
spss.EndDataStep Function . . . . . . .. 71 Script Editor for the Python Programming
spss.EndProcedure Function . . . . . . .. 71 Language . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 94
spss.EvaluateXPath Function . . . . . .. 71 Working with Multiple Versions of IBM SPSS
spss.GetCaseCount Function. . . . . . .. 72 Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 94
spss.GetDataFileAttributeNames Function . .. 72 Class Hierarchy for Scripting Facility . . . .. 95
spss.GetDataFileAttributes Function . . . .. 72 Getting Started with Python Scripts . . . .. 96
spss.GetDatasets Function . . . . . . .. 73 SpssClient Class . . . . . . . . . . . .. 99
spss.GetDefaultPlugInVersion Function . . .. 73 CreateNewServer Method . . . . . . .. 100
spss.GetFileHandles Function . . . . . .. 73 Exit Method . . . . . . . . . . . .. 100
spss.GetHandleList Function. . . . . . .. 73 GetActiveDataDoc Method . . . . . . .. 100
spss.GetImage Function . . . . . . . .. 73 GetConfiguredServers Method. . . . . .. 100
spss.GetLastErrorLevel and GetCurrentDirectory Method . . . . . .. 100
spss.GetLastErrorMessage Functions . . . .. 74 GetCurrentServer Method . . . . . . .. 101
spss.GetMultiResponseSetNames Function . .. 75 GetDataDocuments Method . . . . . .. 101
spss.GetMultiResponseSet Function . . . .. 75 GetDefaultJCVersion Method . . . . . .. 101
spss.GetOMSTagList Function . . . . . .. 76 GetDefaultServer Method . . . . . . .. 101
spss.GetSetting Function . . . . . . . .. 76 GetDesignatedOutputDoc Method . . . .. 101
spss.GetSplitVariableNames Function . . . .. 76 GetDesignatedSyntaxDoc Method . . . .. 102
spss.GetSPSSLocale Function . . . . . .. 76 GetExportOption Method . . . . . . .. 102
spss.GetSPSSLowHigh Function . . . . .. 76 GetLocale Method . . . . . . . . . .. 102
spss.GetVarAttributeNames Function . . . .. 76 GetLocalServer Method . . . . . . . .. 102
spss.GetVarAttributes Function . . . . . .. 77 GetOutputDocuments Method. . . . . .. 102
spss.GetVariableCount Function . . . . .. 77 GetPreference Method . . . . . . . .. 102
spss.GetVariableFormat Function . . . . .. 77 GetScriptContext Method . . . . . . .. 103
spss.GetVariableLabel Function . . . . . .. 78 GetSPSSOptions Method . . . . . . .. 103
spss.GetVariableMeasurementLevel Function .. 78 GetSPSSPath Method . . . . . . . . .. 104
spss.GetVariableName Function . . . . .. 78 GetSPSSVersion Method . . . . . . . .. 104
spss.GetVariableRole Function . . . . . .. 79 GetSyntaxDocuments Method . . . . . .. 104
spss.GetVariableType Function . . . . . .. 79 GetUIAlerts Method . . . . . . . . .. 104
spss.GetVarMissingValues Function . . . .. 79 IsDataDocInUse Method. . . . . . . .. 104
spss.GetWeightVar Function . . . . . . .. 80 IsDistributedMode. . . . . . . . . .. 104
spss.GetXmlUtf16 Function . . . . . . .. 80 IsOptionAvailable Method . . . . . . .. 105

iii
 LogToViewer Method. . . . . . . . .. 105 MenuTableList Class . . . . . . . . .. 160
NewDataDoc Method . . . . . . . .. 106 SpssMenuItem Class . . . . . . . . .. 160
NewOutputDoc Method . . . . . . . .. 106 Pivot Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 160
NewSyntaxDoc Method . . . . . . . .. 106 Pivot Tables . . . . . . . . . . . .. 160
OpenDataDoc Method . . . . . . . .. 106 SpssPivotTable Class . . . . . . . . .. 162
OpenOutputDoc Method . . . . . . .. 106 SpssDataCells Class . . . . . . . . .. 178
OpenSyntaxDoc Method. . . . . . . .. 107 SpssDimension Class . . . . . . . . .. 193
RunSyntax Method . . . . . . . . .. 107 SpssFootnotes Class . . . . . . . . .. 196
SaveServers Method . . . . . . . . .. 108 SpssLabels Class . . . . . . . . . .. 207
ScriptParameter Method . . . . . . . .. 108 SpssLayerLabels Class . . . . . . . .. 227
SetCurrentDirectory Method . . . . . .. 108 SpssPivotMgr Class . . . . . . . . .. 238
SetDefaultJCVersion Method . . . . . .. 109 Managing Remote Servers . . . . . . . .. 239
SetExportOption Method . . . . . . .. 109 SpssServerConf Class. . . . . . . . .. 239
SetPreference Method . . . . . . . .. 109 SpssServerConfList Class . . . . . . .. 244
SetUIAlerts Method . . . . . . . . .. 109 SpssScriptContext Class . . . . . . . . .. 246
StartClient Method . . . . . . . . .. 110 GetOutputDoc Method . . . . . . . .. 246
StopClient Method . . . . . . . . .. 110 GetOutputItem Method . . . . . . . .. 246
_heartBeat Method . . . . . . . . .. 110 GetOutputItemIndex Method . . . . . .. 246
Datasets and Data Editor Windows . . . . .. 111
SpssDataDoc Class. . . . . . . . . .. 111 Appendix A. Variable Format Types 247
DataDocsList Class . . . . . . . . .. 114
SpssDataUI Class . . . . . . . . . .. 114
Appendix B. Setting Color Values. .. 249
Output Documents and Viewer Windows . . .. 118
SpssOutputDoc Class . . . . . . . . .. 118
OutputDocsList Class . . . . . . . .. 134 Appendix C. Export Options . . . .. 251
OutputItemList Class . . . . . . . . .. 135
SpssOutputUI Class . . . . . . . . .. 135 Appendix D. String Description of
Syntax Documents and Syntax Editor Windows 139 Numeric Formats . . . . . . . . .. 253
SpssSyntaxDoc Class . . . . . . . . .. 139
SyntaxDocsList Class . . . . . . . . .. 143
Appendix E. Preference Options . .. 255
SpssSyntaxUI Class . . . . . . . . .. 143
Output Items . . . . . . . . . . . .. 146
SpssOutputItem Class . . . . . . . .. 146 Appendix F. Python Extension
SpssChartItem Class . . . . . . . . .. 154 Commands for SPSS Statistics. . .. 259
SpssModelItem Class . . . . . . . . .. 155
SpssHeaderItem Class . . . . . . . .. 156 Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 261
SpssLogItem Class. . . . . . . . . .. 158 Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 263
SpssTextItem Class . . . . . . . . .. 158
SpssTitleItem Class . . . . . . . . .. 159
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 265
Menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 160

iv Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Overview
The IBM® SPSS® Statistics - Integration Plug-in for Python provides two interfaces for programming with
the Python language within IBM SPSS Statistics on Windows, Linux, Mac OS, and for IBM SPSS Statistics
Server.
Python Integration Package
The Python Integration Package provides functions that operate on the IBM SPSS Statistics
processor, extending IBM SPSS Statistics command syntax with the full capabilities of the Python
programming language. With this interface, you can access IBM SPSS Statistics variable dictionary
information, case data, and procedure output. You can submit command syntax to IBM SPSS
Statistics for processing, create new variables and new cases in the active dataset, or create new
datasets. You can also create output in the form of pivot tables and text blocks, all from within
Python code.
Scripting Facility
The Scripting Facility provides Python functions that operate on user interface and output objects.
With this interface, you can customize pivot tables, and export items such as charts and tables in
various formats. You can also start IBM SPSS Statistics dialog boxes, and manage connections to
instances of IBM SPSS Statistics Server, all from within Python code.

The IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration Plug-in for Python is included with IBM SPSS Statistics - Essentials
for Python, which is installed by default with your IBM SPSS Statistics product. Essentials for Python also
includes Python versions 2.7 and 3.4 on all supported operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac OS, and
UNIX for IBM SPSS Statistics Server) and a set of extension commands that are implemented in Python
that provide capabilities beyond what is available with built-in SPSS Statistics procedures.

By default, the Integration Plug-in for Python uses the distributions of Python 2.7 and Python 3.4 that are
installed with your IBM SPSS Statistics product (as part of Essentials for Python). They are in the Python
(contains Python 2.7) and Python3 directories under the directory where SPSS Statistics is installed. You
can specify to use a different installation of Python 2.7 or Python 3.4 on the File Locations tab on the
Options dialog (Edit>Options). In distributed analysis mode (requires IBM SPSS Statistics Server), the
Python location on the remote server is set from the IBM SPSS Statistics Administration Console. Contact
your system administrator for assistance.

Note: The locations for extension commands that are listed in the output from the SHOW EXTPATHS
command are added to the Python search path when you are accessing Python from within IBM SPSS
Statistics. If you develop your own Python modules for use with IBM SPSS Statistics on your computer
then you can store your modules in one of those locations.
Related information:
Appendix F, “Python Extension Commands for SPSS Statistics,” on page 259
Running Python Code with Python 2 or Python 3

© Copyright IBM Corporation 1989, 2016 1

2 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics
Python Integration Package
Introduction to Python Programs
®
The Python Integration Package for IBM SPSS Statistics allows you to create Python programs that
control the flow of command syntax jobs, read and write data, and create custom procedures that
generate their own pivot table output. This feature requires the IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration Plug-in
for Python, which is installed by default with your IBM SPSS Statistics product.

A companion interface is available for creating Python scripts that operate on the IBM SPSS Statistics
user interface and manipulate output objects. See the topic “Introduction to Python Scripts” on page 93
for more information.

Python programming features described here are available inside BEGIN PROGRAM-END PROGRAM program
blocks in command syntax. A program block provides access to all the functionality of the Python
programming language, including the functions specific to IBM SPSS Statistics and provided in the
Python Integration Package for IBM SPSS Statistics. You can use program blocks to combine the
programmability features of Python with all the capabilities of IBM SPSS Statistics by building strings of
command syntax that are then executed by IBM SPSS Statistics.

You can also run IBM SPSS Statistics from an external Python process, such as a Python IDE or the
Python interpreter. See the topic “Running IBM SPSS Statistics from an External Python Process” on page
9 for more information.

Within a program block, Python is in control, and it knows nothing about IBM SPSS Statistics commands.
When the Python Integration Package for IBM SPSS Statistics is loaded, Python knows about the
functions provided in the package, but standard IBM SPSS Statistics commands are basically invalid
within a program block. For example:
BEGIN PROGRAM PYTHON.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=var1, var2, var3.
END PROGRAM.

will generate an error, because FREQUENCIES is not recognized by Python. But since the goal of a program
block is typically to generate some command syntax that IBM SPSS Statistics can understand, there must
be a way to specify command syntax within a program block. This is done by expressing syntax
commands, or parts of commands, as character strings, as in:
spss.Submit("FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=var1, var2, var3.")

The real power of program blocks comes from the ability to dynamically build strings of command
syntax, as in:
BEGIN PROGRAM PYTHON.
import spss
string1="DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES="
N=spss.GetVariableCount()
scaleVarList=[]
for i in xrange(N):
if spss.GetVariableMeasurementLevel(i)==’scale’:
scaleVarList.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))
string2="."
spss.Submit([string1, ’ ’.join(scaleVarList), string2])
END PROGRAM.
v spss.GetVariableCount returns the number of variables in the active dataset.
v if spss.GetVariableMeasurementLevel(i)=="scale" is true only for variables with a scale
measurement level.
v scaleVarList.append(spss.GetVariableName(i)) builds a list of variable names that includes only
those variables with a scale measurement level.

3
v spss.Submit submits a DESCRIPTIVES command to IBM SPSS Statistics that looks something like this:
DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=
scalevar1 scalevar2 scalevar3...etc.
.

Working with Python Program Blocks

Use SET PRINTBACK ON MPRINT ON to display the syntax generated by program blocks.

Example
SET PRINTBACK ON MPRINT ON.
GET FILE=’/examples/data/Employee data.sav’.
BEGIN PROGRAM PYTHON.
import spss
scaleVarList=[]
catVarList=[]
varcount=spss.GetVariableCount()
for i in xrange(varcount):
if spss.GetVariableMeasurementLevel(i)==’scale’:
scaleVarList.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))
else:
catVarList.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))
spss.Submit("""
FREQUENCIES
/VARIABLES=%s.
DESCRIPTIVES
/VARIABLES=%s.
""" %(’ ’.join(catVarList), ’ ’.join(scaleVarList)))
END PROGRAM.

The generated command syntax is displayed in the log in the IBM SPSS Statistics Viewer:
225 M> FREQUENCIES
226 M> /VARIABLES=gender educ jobcat minority.
227 M> DESCRIPTIVES
228 M> /VARIABLES=id bdate salary salbegin jobtime prevexp.

Basic Specification for a Python Program Block

The basic specification for a Python program block is BEGIN PROGRAM PYTHON (the keyword PYTHON can be
omitted) followed by one or more Python statements, followed by END PROGRAM.

Note: The Python function sys.exit() is not supported for use within a program block.
v The first program block in a session should start with the Python function import spss, which imports
the spss module, providing access to the functions in the Python Integration Package for IBM SPSS
Statistics. See the topic “Python Functions and Classes” on page 15 for more information.
v Subsequent program blocks in the same session do not require import spss, and it is silently ignored if
the module has already been imported.

Example
DATA LIST FREE /var1.
BEGIN DATA
1
END DATA.
DATASET NAME File1.
BEGIN PROGRAM PYTHON.
import spss
File1N=spss.GetVariableCount()
END PROGRAM.
DATA LIST FREE /var1 var2 var3.
BEGIN DATA
1 2 3
END DATA.
DATASET NAME File2.
BEGIN PROGRAM PYTHON.
File2N=spss.GetVariableCount()
if File2N > File1N:
message="File2 has more variables than File1."
elif File1N > File2N:
message="File1 has more variables than File2."

4 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

else:
message="Both files have the same number of variables."
print message
END PROGRAM.
v The first program block contains the import spss statement. This statement is not required in the
second program block.
v The first program block defines a programmatic variable, File1N, with a value set to the number of
variables in the active dataset.
v Prior to the second program block, a different dataset becomes the active dataset, and the second
program block defines a programmatic variable, File2N, with a value set to the number of variables in
that dataset.
v Since the value of File1N persists from the first program block, the two variable counts can be
compared in the second program block.

Syntax Rules
v Within a program block, only statements recognized by the specified programming language are
allowed.
v Command syntax generated within a program block must follow interactive syntax rules. See the topic
for more information.
v Within a program block, each line should not exceed 251 bytes (although syntax generated by those
lines can be longer).
v With the IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility (available only with IBM SPSS Statistics Server), use the -i
switch when submitting command files that contain program blocks. All command syntax (not just the
program blocks) in the file must adhere to interactive syntax rules.

Within a program block, the programming language is in control, and the syntax rules for that
programming language apply. Command syntax generated from within program blocks must always
follow interactive syntax rules. For most practical purposes this means command strings you build in a
programming block must contain a period (.) at the end of each command.

Scope and Limitations

v Programmatic variables created in a program block cannot be used outside of program blocks.
v Program blocks cannot be contained within DEFINE-!ENDDEFINE macro definitions.
v Program blocks can be contained in command syntax files run via the INSERT command, with the
default SYNTAX=INTERACTIVE setting.
v Program blocks cannot be contained within command syntax files run via the INCLUDE command.
v Python variables specified in a given program block persist to subsequent program blocks.
v Python programs (.py, .pyc) utilizing the spss module cannot be run as autoscripts, nor are they
intended to be run from Utilities>Run Script.

More information about Python programs and Python scripts is available from the IBM SPSS Statistics
Help system, and accessed from Core System>Scripting Facility.

Nested Program Blocks

From within Python, you can submit command syntax containing a BEGIN PROGRAM block, thus allowing
you to nest program blocks. This can be done by including the nested program block in a separate
command syntax file and submitting an INSERT command to read in the block. It can also be done by
submitting the nested program block from within a user-defined Python function.

Example: Nesting Program Blocks Using the INSERT Command

import spss
spss.Submit("INSERT FILE=’/myprograms/nested_block.sps’.")

The file /myprograms/nested_block.sps would contain a BEGIN PROGRAM block, as in:

Python Integration Package 5

BEGIN PROGRAM PYTHON.
import spss
<Python code>
END PROGRAM.

Note: You cannot import a Python module containing code that nests a program block, such as the above
code that uses the INSERT command to insert a file containing a program block. If you wish to
encapsulate nested program blocks in a Python module that can be imported, then embed the nesting
code in a user-defined function as shown in the following example.

Example: Nesting Program Blocks With a User-Defined Python Function

import spss, myfuncs
myfuncs.demo()
v myfuncs is a user-defined Python module containing the function (demo) that will submit the nested
program block.
A Python module is simply a text file containing Python definitions and statements. You can create a
module with a Python IDE, or with any text editor, by saving a file with an extension of .py. The name
of the file, without the .py extension, is then the name of the module.
v The import statement includes myfuncs so that it is loaded along with the spss module. To be sure that
Python can find your module, you may want to save it to your Python "site-packages" directory,
typically /Python27/Lib/site-packages.
v The code myfuncs.demo() calls the function demo in the myfuncs module.

Following is a sample of the contents of myfuncs.

import spss
def demo():
spss.Submit("""
BEGIN PROGRAM PYTHON.
<Python code>
END PROGRAM.""")
v The sample myfuncs module includes an import spss statement. This is necessary since a function in
the module makes use of a function from the spss module--specifically, the Submit function.
v The nested program block is contained within a Python triple-quoted string. Triple-quoted strings
allow you to specify a block of commands on multiple lines, resembling the way you might normally
write command syntax.
v Notice that spss.Submit is indented but the BEGIN PROGRAM block is not. Python statements that form
the body of a user-defined Python function must be indented. The level of indentation is arbitrary but
must be the same for all statements in the function body. The BEGIN PROGRAM block is passed as a string
argument to the Submit function and is processed by IBM SPSS Statistics as a block of Python
statements. Python statements are not indented unless they are part of a group of statements, as in a
function or class definition, a conditional expression, or a looping structure.

Notes
v You can have up to five levels of nesting.
v Python variables specified in a nested program block are local to that block unless they are specified as
global variables. In addition, Python variables specified in a program block that invokes a nested block
can be read, but not modified, in the nested block.
v Nested program blocks can be Python program blocks or R program blocks.
v If a Submit function containing a triple quoted string nests a Python program block containing another
triple quoted string, use a different type of triple quotes in the nested block. For example, if the outer
block uses triple double quotes, then use triple single quotes in the nested block.

Unicode Mode
When IBM SPSS Statistics is in Unicode mode (controlled by the UNICODE subcommand of the SET
command) the following conversions are automatically done when passing and receiving strings through
the functions available with the spss module:

6 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v Strings received by Python from IBM SPSS Statistics are converted from UTF-8 to Python Unicode,
which is UTF-16.
v Strings passed from Python to IBM SPSS Statistics are converted from UTF-16 to UTF-8.

Note: Changing the locale and/or the unicode setting during an OMS request may result in incorrectly
transcoded text.

Command Syntax Files

Special care must be taken when working in Unicode mode with command syntax files. Specifically,
Python string literals used in command syntax files need to be explicitly expressed as UTF-16 strings.
This is best done by using the u() function from the spssaux module (installed with IBM SPSS Statistics -
Essentials for Python). The function has the following behavior:
v If IBM SPSS Statistics is in Unicode mode, the input string is converted to UTF-16.
v If IBM SPSS Statistics is not in Unicode mode, the input string is returned unchanged.

Note: If the string literals in a command syntax file only consist of plain roman characters (7-bit ascii), the
u() function is not needed.

The following example demonstrates some of this behavior and the usage of the u() function.
set unicode on locale=english.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss, spssaux
from spssaux import u
literal = "âbc"
try:
print "literal without conversion:", literal
except:
print "can’t print literal"
try:
print "literal converted to utf-16:", u(literal)
except:
print "can’t print literal"
END PROGRAM.

Following are the results:

literal without conversion: can’t print literal
literal converted to utf-16: âbc

Truncating Unicode Strings

When working in Unicode mode, use the truncatestring function from the spssaux module (installed
with IBM SPSS Statistics - Essentials for Python) to correctly truncate a string to a specified maximum
length in bytes. This is especially useful for truncating strings to be used as IBM SPSS Statistics variable
names, which have a maximum allowed length of 64 bytes.

The truncatestring function takes two arguments--the string to truncate, and the maximum number of
bytes, which is optional and defaults to 64. For example:
import spss, spssaux
newstring = spssaux.truncatestring(string,8)

Python Syntax Rules

Within a Python program block, only statements and functions recognized by Python are allowed. Python
syntax rules differ from IBM SPSS Statistics command syntax rules in a number of ways:

Python is case-sensitive. This includes variable names, function names, and pretty much anything else
you can think of. A variable name of myvariable is not the same as MyVariable, and the function
spss.GetVariableCount cannot be written as SPSS.getvariablecount.

Python Integration Package 7

Python uses UNIX-style path specifications, with forward slashes. This applies even for IBM SPSS
Statistics command syntax generated within a Python program block. For example:
spss.Submit("GET FILE ’/data/somedata.sav’.")

Alternatively, you can escape each backslash with another backslash, as in:
spss.Submit("GET FILE ’\\data\\somedata.sav’.")

There is no command terminator in Python, and continuation lines come in two flavors:
v Implicit. Expressions enclosed in parentheses, square brackets, or curly braces can continue across
multiple lines without any continuation character. The expression continues implicitly until the closing
character for the expression.
v Explicit. All other expression require a backslash at the end of each line to explicitly denote
continuation.

Line indentation indicates grouping of statements. Groups of statements contained in conditional

processing and looping structures are identified by indentation, as is the body of a user-defined Python
function. There is no statement or character that indicates the end of the structure. Instead, the
indentation level of the statements defines the structure, as in:
for i in xrange(varcount):
if spss.GetVariableMeasurementLevel(i)=="scale":
ScaleVarList=ScaleVarList + " " + spss.GetVariableName(i)
else:
CatVarList=CatVarList + " " + spss.GetVariableName(i)
print CatVarList

Note: You should avoid the use of tab characters in Python code within BEGIN PROGRAM-END PROGRAM
blocks. For line indentation, use spaces.

Working with Multiple Versions of IBM SPSS Statistics

For versions 16.0 to 21.0, special considerations apply when multiple versions of the IBM SPSS Statistics -
Integration Plug-in for Python (each associated with a major version of IBM SPSS Statistics, such as 20 or
21) are installed on your computer.

Running Python Programs from Within IBM SPSS Statistics

Important: This section only applies to versions 16.0 to 21.0.

By default, Python programs run from within the last installed version of IBM SPSS Statistics will
automatically use the appropriate version of the plug-in. To run Python programs from within a different
version of IBM SPSS Statistics, use the spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion function to set the default to a
different version (the setting persists across sessions). You can then run Python programs from within the
other version. If you are attempting to change the default version from 16.0 to 17.0, additional
configuration is required; please see the Notes below.

Running Python Programs from an External Python Process

Important: This section only applies to versions 16.0 to 21.0. For version 22 and higher, see “Running
IBM SPSS Statistics from an External Python Process” on page 9.

When you are driving the IBM SPSS Statistics backend from a separate Python process, such as the
Python interpreter or a Python IDE, the plug-in will drive the version of the IBM SPSS Statistics backend
that matches the default plug-in version specified for that version of Python. Unless you change it, the
default plug-in version for a given version of Python (such as Python 2.6) is the last one installed. You
can view the default version using the spss.GetDefaultPlugInVersion function and you can change the
default version using the spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion function. The setting persists across sessions. If
you are attempting to change the default version from 16.0 to 17.0 please see the Notes below.

8 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Note:
v If you are using the spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion function to change the default from version 16.0 to
version 17.0, you should also manually modify the file SpssClient.pth located in the Python 2.5
site-packages directory. Change the order of entries in the file so that the first line is SpssClient170.
Windows. The site-packages directory is located in the Lib directory under the Python 2.5 installation
directory—for example, C:\Python25\Lib\site-packages.
Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). The site-packages directory is located at /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/
Versions/2.5/lib/python2.5/site-packages.
Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). The site-packages directory is typically located at /Library/Python/2.5/site-
packages.
Linux and UNIX Server. The site-packages directory is located in the /lib/python2.5/ directory under the
Python 2.5 installation directory—for example, /usr/local/python25/lib/python2.5/site-packages.
v Beginning with version 15.0, a restructuring of the IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration Plug-in for Python
installation directory and changes to some class structures may affect Python code written for an
earlier version and used with a 15.0 or higher version. Specifically, the type of an object, as given by
the Python type function, may return a different result. For example:
cur=spss.Cursor()
print type(cur)
will return spss.cursors.Cursor when run with version 14.0, spss.spss150.cursors.ReadCursor when
run with version 15.0, and spss.cursors.ReadCursor when run with a version higher than 15.0.

Python and IBM SPSS Statistics Working Directories

When running Python code that is within a BEGIN PROGRAM-END PROGRAM block and that contains relative
paths in file specifications, you will need to understand the notions of working directories, both for
Python and IBM SPSS Statistics. You may want to avoid the subtleties involved with working directories
by avoiding the use of relative paths and using full paths for file specifications.
v Relative paths used for file specifications in command syntax submitted from Python (with
spss.Submit) are relative to the IBM SPSS Statistics backend working directory. The IBM SPSS Statistics
backend working directory determines the full path used for file specifications in command syntax in
the case where only a relative path is provided. It can be changed with the CD command, but is not
affected by actions involving the file open dialogs, and it is private to the IBM SPSS Statistics backend.
v Relative paths used when reading and writing files with built-in Python functions--such as open--are
relative to the Python current working directory. You can get the Python current working directory
from the getcwd function in the os module.

Running IBM SPSS Statistics from an External Python Process

You can run Python programs utilizing the spss module from any external Python process, such as a
Python IDE or the Python interpreter. In this mode, the Python program starts up a new instance of the
IBM SPSS Statistics processor without an associated instance of the IBM SPSS Statistics client. You can use
this mode to debug your Python programs using the Python IDE of your choice.

To drive the IBM SPSS Statistics processor from a Python IDE, simply include an import spss statement
in the IDE's code window, followed by a call to the spss.StartSPSS function. You can then call any of the
functions in the spss module, just like with program blocks in command syntax jobs, but you do not
need to wrap your Python code in BEGIN PROGRAM-END PROGRAM statements. Some initial configuration
may be required as described in the following sections.

Windows Users

You can start IDLE (the default IDE provided with Python) for Python 2.7 or Python 3.4 from All
Programs > IBM SPSS Statistics > Python 2.7 for IBM SPSS Statistics 24 > Python 2.7 IDLE(PythonGUI) or
All Programs > IBM SPSS Statistics > Python 3.4 for IBM SPSS Statistics 24 > Python 3.4

Python Integration Package 9

IDLE(PythonGUI). This action starts IDLE from the Python location that is specified on the File Locations
tab in the Options dialog. You can then use import spss to start driving the IBM SPSS Statistics processor.

If you do not use IDLE to drive IBM SPSS Statistics, then you must modify the Python search path to
add the path to the spss module. You can add to the Python search path by modifying (or creating) the
sitecustomize.py module for the installation of Python 2.7 or Python 3.4 that you want to use. The
sitecustomize.py module, if it exists, is in the <PYTHON_HOME>\Lib\site-packages directory, where
<PYTHON_HOME> is the installation location of Python 2.7 or Python 3.4; for example, C:\Python27\Lib\
site-packages. If it does not exist then create it in that location.

For Python 2.7, add the following lines to sitecustomize.py:

import sys
sys.path.insert(0,r’<SPSS_HOME>\Python\Lib\site-packages’)

For Python 3.4, add the following lines to sitecustomize.py:

import sys
sys.path.insert(0,r’<SPSS_HOME>\Python3\Lib\site-packages’)

In the preceding expressions, <SPSS_HOME> is the installation location of IBM SPSS Statistics; for example,
C:\Program Files\IBM\SPSS\Statistics\24.

Linux Users

The statisticspython script (for Python 2) or the statisticspython3 script (for Python 3), in the bin
directory under the location where IBM SPSS Statistics is installed, starts the Python interpreter from the
Python location that is specified on the File Locations tab in the Options dialog. You can then use import
spss to start driving the IBM SPSS Statistics processor.

If you choose not to use this script, then you must modify the Python search path to add the path to the
spss module. You can add to the Python search path by modifying (or creating) the sitecustomize.py
module for the installation of Python 2.7 or Python 3.4 that you want to use. The sitecustomize.py
module, if it exists, is in the <PYTHON_HOME>/lib/python2.7/site-packages or <PYTHON_HOME>/lib/
python3.4/site-packages directory, where <PYTHON_HOME> is the installation location of Python 2.7 or
Python 3.4. If it does not exist then create it in that location.

For Python 2.7, add the following lines to sitecustomize.py:

import sys
sys.path.insert(0,’<SPSS_HOME>/Python/lib/python2.7/site-packages’)

For Python 3.4, add the following lines to sitecustomize.py:

import sys
sys.path.insert(0,’<SPSS_HOME>/Python3/lib/python3.4/site-packages’)

In the preceding expression, <SPSS_HOME> is the installation location of IBM SPSS Statistics; for example,
/opt/IBM/SPSS/Statistics/24.

You must also modify the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable as follows:

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=<PYTHON_HOME>/lib:<SPSS_HOME>/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

In the preceding expression, <PYTHON_HOME> is the location of the installation of Python 2.7 or Python 3.4
that you want to use. For reference, for the version of Python 2.7 that is installed with IBM SPSS
Statistics, <PYTHON_HOME> is <SPSS_HOME>/Python. And, for Python 3.4, <PYTHON_HOME> is
<SPSS_HOME>/Python3.

10 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Mac Users

To drive the IBM SPSS Statistics processor from an external Python 2 or Python 3 process on Mac, start
the Python2 for SPSS Statistics or Python3 for SPSS Statistics application, which are in the directory where
IBM SPSS Statistics is installed. The applications start IDLE from the Python location that is specified on
the File Locations tab in the Options dialog. You can then use import spss to start driving the IBM SPSS
Statistics processor.

If you choose not to use the Python2 for SPSS Statistics or Python3 for SPSS Statistics application, then you
must modify the Python search path to add the path to the spss module. You can add to the Python
search path by modifying (or creating) the sitecustomize.py module for the installation of Python 2.7 or
Python 3.4 that you want to use. The sitecustomize.py module, if it exists, is in the <PYTHON_HOME>/lib/
python2.7/site-packages or <PYTHON_HOME>/lib/python3.4/site-packages directory, where <PYTHON_HOME>
is the installation location of Python 2.7 or Python 3.4. If it does not exist then create it in that location.

For Python 2.7, add the following lines to sitecustomize.py:

import sys
sys.path.insert(0,’<INSTALLDIR>/Python/lib/python2.7/site-packages’)

For Python 3.4, add the following lines to sitecustomize.py:

import sys
sys.path.insert(0,’<INSTALLDIR>/Python3/lib/python3.4/site-packages’)

In the preceding expression, <INSTALLDIR> is the location of the IBM SPSS Statistics application bundle;
for example, /Applications/IBM/SPSS/Statistics/24.

You must also modify environment variables as follows:

export
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=<SPSS_HOME>/lib:<SPSS_HOME>/Library/Frameworks/Sentinel.framework/Versions/A:
<SPSS_HOME>/Library/Frameworks/SuperPro.framework/Versions/A
export PYTHONHOME=<PYTHON_HOME>

In the preceding expression, <SPSS_HOME> is the location of the Contents folder in the IBM SPSS Statistics
application bundle, and is given by <INSTALLDIR>/SPSSStatistics.app/Contents. <PYTHON_HOME> is the
location of the installation of Python 2.7 or Python 3.4 that you want to use. For reference, for the version
of Python 2.7 that is installed with IBM SPSS Statistics, <PYTHON_HOME> is <INSTALLDIR>/Python. And, for
Python 3.4, <PYTHON_HOME> is <INSTALLDIR>/Python3.
Related information:
“spss.StartSPSS Function” on page 88

Localizing Output from Python Programs

You can localize output, such as messages and pivot table strings, from extension commands
implemented in Python. The localization process consists of the following steps:
1. Modifying the Python implementation code to identify translatable strings
2. Extracting translatable text from the implementation code using standard Python tools
3. Preparing a translated file of strings for each target language
4. Installing the translation files along with the extension command

The process described here assumes use of the Python extension module, which is installed with IBM
SPSS Statistics - Essentials for Python.

Notes
v When running an extension command from within IBM SPSS Statistics, the language for extension
command output will be automatically synchronized with the IBM SPSS Statistics output language

Python Integration Package 11

 (OLANG). When running an extension command from an external Python process, such as a Python IDE,
you can set the output language by submitting a SET OLANG command when IBM SPSS Statistics is
started. If no translation for an item is available for the output language, the untranslated string will be
used.
v Messages produced by the extension module, such as error messages for violation of the specifications
in the Syntax definition, are automatically produced in the current output language. Exceptions raised
in the extension command implementation code are automatically converted to a Warnings pivot table.
v Translation of dialog boxes built with the Custom Dialog Builder is a separate process, but translators
should ensure that the dialog and extension command translations are consistent.

Additional Resources

Examples of extension commands implemented in Python with localized output are included with IBM
SPSS Statistics - Essentials for Python. The Python modules for these examples can be found in the
location where extension commands are installed on your computer. To view the location, run the SHOW
EXTPATHS syntax command. The output displays a list of locations under the heading "Locations for
extension commands". The files are installed to the first writable location in the list.

Information on creating extension commands is also available from the following sources:
v The article "Writing IBM SPSS Statistics Extension Commands", available from the IBM SPSS Predictive
Analytics community at https://developer.ibm.com/predictiveanalytics/.
v The chapter on Extension Commands in Programming and Data Management for IBM SPSS Statistics,
which is also available from the IBM SPSS Predictive Analytics community.

Modifying the Python code

First, ensure that the text to be translated is in a reasonable form for translation.
v Do not build up text by combining fragments of text in code. This makes it impossible to rearrange the
text according to the grammar of the target languages and makes it difficult for translators to
understand the context of the strings.
v Avoid using multiple parameters in a string. Translators may need to change the parameter order.
v Avoid the use of abbreviations and colloquialisms that are difficult to translate.

Enclose each translatable string in a call to the underscore function "_". For example:

_("File not found: %s") % filespec

The _ function will fetch the translation, if available, when the statement containing the string is
executed. The following limitations apply:
v Never pass an empty string as the argument to _, i.e., _(""). This will damage the translation
mechanism.
v Do not use the underscore function in static text such as class variables. The _ function is defined
dynamically.
v The _ function, as defined in the extension module, always returns Unicode text even if IBM SPSS
Statistics is running in code page mode. If there are text parameters in the string as in the example
above, the parameter should be in Unicode. The automatic conversion used in the parameter
substitution logic will fail if the parameter text contains any extended characters. One way to resolve
this is as follows, assuming that the locale module has been imported.
if not isinstance(filespec, unicode):
filespec = unicode(filespec, locale.getlocale()[1])
_("File not found: %s") % filespec

12 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Note: There is a conflict between the definition of the _ function as used by the Python modules
(pygettext and gettext) that handle translations, and the automatic assignment of interactively generated
expression values to the variable _. In order to resolve this, the translation initialization code in the
extension module disables this assignment.

Calls to the spss.StartProcedure function (or the spss.Procedure class) should use the form
spss.StartProcedure(procedureName,omsIdentifier) where procedureName is the translatable name
associated with output from the procedure and omsIdentifier is the language invariant OMS command
identifier associated with the procedure. For example:
spss.StartProcedure(_("Demo"),"demoId")

Extracting translatable text

The Python implementation code is never modified by the translators. Translation is accomplished by
extracting the translatable text from the code files and then creating separate files containing the
translated text, one file for each language. The _ function uses compiled versions of these files.

The standard Python distribution includes pygettext.py, which is a command line script that extracts
strings marked as translatable (i.e., strings wrapped in the _ function) and saves them to a .pot file. Run
pygettext.py on the implementation code, and specify the name of the implementing Python module
(the module containing the Run function) as the name of the output file, but with the extension .pot. If the
implementation uses multiple Python files, the .pot files for each should be combined into one under the
name of the main implementing module (the module containing the Run function).
v Change the charset value, in the msgstr field corresponding to msgid "", to utf-8.
v A pot file includes one msgid field with the value "", with an associated msgstr field containing
metadata. There must be only one of these.
v Optionally, update the generated title and organization comments.

Documentation for pygettext.py is available from the topic on the gettext module in the Python help
system.

Translating the pot file

Translators enter the translation of each msgid into the corresponding msgstr field and save the result as a
file with the same name as the pot file but with the extension .po. There will be one po file for each target
language.
v po files should be saved in Unicode utf-8 encoding.
v po files should not have a BOM (Byte Order Mark) at the start of the file.
v If a msgstr contains an embedded double quote character (x22), precede it with a backslash (\). as in:
msgstr "He said, \"Wow\", when he saw the R-squared"
v msgid and msgstr entries can have multiple lines. Enclose each line in double quotes.

Each translated po file is compiled into a binary format by running msgfmt.py from the standard Python
distribution, giving the output the same name as the po file but with an extension of .mo.

Installing the mo files

When installed, the mo files should reside in the following directory structure:

lang/<language-identifier>/LC_MESSAGES/<command name>.mo
v <command name> is the name of the extension command in upper case with any spaces replaced with
underscores, and is the same as the name of the Python implementation module. Note that the mo files
have the same name for all languages.
v <language-identifier> is the identifier for a particular language. Identifiers for the languages supported
by IBM SPSS Statistics are shown in the section on Language Identifiers at the end of this topic.

Python Integration Package 13

For example, if the extension command is named MYORG MYSTAT then an mo file for French should be
stored in lang/fr/LC_MESSAGES/MYORG_MYSTAT.mo.

Manually installing translation files

If you are manually installing an extension command and associated translation files, then the lang
directory containing the translation files should be installed in the <command name> directory under the
directory where the Python implementation module is installed.

For example, if the extension command is named MYORG MYSTAT and the associated Python
implementation module (MYORG_MYSTAT.py) is located in the extensions directory (under the location
where IBM SPSS Statistics is installed), then the lang directory should reside under extensions/
MYORG_MYSTAT.

Using the example of a French translation discussed above, an mo file for French would be stored in
extensions/MYORG_MYSTAT/lang/fr/LC_MESSAGES/MYORG_MYSTAT.mo.

Deploying translation files to other users

If you are localizing output for a custom dialog or extension command that you intend to distribute to
other users, then you should create an extension bundle (requires IBM SPSS Statistics version 18 or
higher) to package your translation files with your custom components. Specifically, you add the lang
directory containing your compiled translation files (mo files) to the extension bundle during the creation
of the bundle (from the Translation Catalogues Folder field on the Optional tab of the Create Extension
Bundle dialog). When an end user installs the extension bundle, the directory containing the translation
files is installed in the extensions/<extension bundle name> directory under the IBM SPSS Statistics
installation location, and where <extension bundle name> is the name of the extension bundle with spaces
replaced by underscores. Note: An extension bundle that includes translation files for an extension
command should have the same name as the extension command.
v If the SPSS_EXTENSIONS_PATH environment variable has been set, then the extensions directory (in
extensions/<extension bundle name>) is replaced by the first writable directory in the environment
variable.
v Information on creating extension bundles is available from the Help system, under Core
System>Utilities>Working with Extension Bundles.

Language Identifiers

de. German

en. English

es. Spanish

fr. French

it. Italian

ja. Japanese

ko. Korean

pl. Polish

pt_BR. Brazilian Portuguese

14 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

ru. Russian

zh_CN. Simplified Chinese

zh_TW. Traditional Chinese

Python Functions and Classes

The Python Integration Package for IBM SPSS Statistics contains functions and classes that facilitate the
process of using Python programming features with IBM SPSS Statistics, including those that:

Build and run command syntax

v spss.Submit

Get information about data files in the current IBM SPSS Statistics session
v spss.GetCaseCount
v spss.GetDataFileAttributes
v spss.GetFileHandles
v spss.GetMultiResponseSet
v spss.GetSplitVariableNames
v spss.GetVarAttributes
v spss.GetVariableCount
v spss.GetVariableFormat
v spss.GetVariableLabel
v spss.GetVariableMeasurementLevel
v spss.GetVariableName
v spss.GetVariableType
v spss.GetVarMissingValues
v spss.GetWeightVar

Get data, add new variables, and append cases to the active dataset
v spss.Cursor

Access and manage multiple datasets

v spss.ActiveDataset
v spss.Dataset
v spss.GetDatasets
v spss.GetFileHandles
v spss.IsActive
v spss.SetActive

Get output results

v spss.EvaluateXPath
v spss.GetXmlUtf16

Create custom pivot tables and text blocks

v spss.BasePivotTable
v spss.TextBlock

Python Integration Package 15

Create macro variables
v spss.SetMacroValue

Get error information

v spss.GetLastErrorLevel
v spss.GetLastErrorMessage

Manage multiple versions of the IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration Plug-in for Python
v spss.GetDefaultPlugInVersion
v spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion
v spss.ShowInstalledPlugInVersions

Locale and Output Language Settings

v spss.GetSPSSLocale
v spss.SetOutputLanguage

Brief descriptions of each function are available using the Python help function, as in:
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
help(spss.Submit)
END PROGRAM.

spss.ActiveDataset Function
spss.ActiveDataset(). Returns the name of the active dataset.
v If the active dataset is unnamed, '*' is returned.

Example
import spss
name = spss.ActiveDataset()

spss.AddProcedureFootnotes Function
spss.AddProcedureFootnotes(footnote). Adds a footnote to all tables generated by a procedure. The argument
footnote is a string specifying the footnote.
v The AddProcedureFootnotes function can only be used within a StartProcedure-EndProcedure block or
within a custom procedure class based on the spss.BaseProcedure class.

Example
import spss
spss.StartProcedure("mycompany.com.demoProc")
spss.AddProcedureFootnotes("A footnote")
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
table.SimplePivotTable(cells = [1,2,3,4])
spss.EndProcedure()

spss.BasePivotTable Class
spss.BasePivotTable(title,templateName,outline,isSplit,caption). Provides the ability to create custom pivot
tables that can be displayed in the IBM SPSS Statistics Viewer or written to an external file using the IBM SPSS
Statistics Output Management System.
v The argument title is a string that specifies the title that appears with the table. Each table associated
with a set of output (as specified in a StartProcedure-EndProcedure block) should have a unique title.
Multiple tables within a given procedure can, however, have the same value of the title argument as
long as they have different values of the outline argument.
v The argument templateName is a string that specifies the OMS (Output Management System) table
subtype for this table. It must begin with a letter and have a maximum of 64 characters. Unless you are

16 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

 routing this pivot table with OMS, you will not need to keep track of this value, although you do have
to provide a value that meets the stated requirements.
Note: Specifying "Warnings" for templateName will generate an IBM SPSS Statistics Warnings table.
Unless you want to generate an IBM SPSS Statistics Warnings table, you should avoid specifying
"Warnings" for templateName. See the topic “Creating a Warnings Table” on page 36 for more
information.
v The optional argument outline is a string that specifies a title, for the pivot table, that appears in the
outline pane of the Viewer. The item for the table itself will be placed one level deeper than the item
for the outline title. If omitted, the Viewer item for the table will be placed one level deeper than the
root item for the output containing the table.
v The optional Boolean argument isSplit specifies whether to enable split processing when creating pivot
tables from data that have splits. By default, split processing is enabled. To disable split processing for
pivot tables, specify isSplit=False. If you are creating a pivot table from data that has splits and you
want separate results displayed for each split group, you will want to make use of the
spss.SplitChange function. In the absence of calls to spss.SplitChange, isSplit has no effect.
v The optional argument caption is a string that specifies a table caption.

An instance of the BasePivotTable class can only be used within a StartProcedure-EndProcedure block or
within a custom procedure class based on the spss.BaseProcedure class. For an example of creating a
pivot table using spss.StartProcedure-spss.EndProcedure, see “Creating Pivot Tables with the
SimplePivotTable Method” on page 18. For an example of creating a pivot table using a class based on
the spss.BaseProcedure class, see “spss.BaseProcedure Class” on page 37.

The figure below shows the basic structural components of a pivot table. Pivot tables consists of one or
more dimensions, each of which can be of the type row, column, or layer. In this example, there is one
dimension of each type. Each dimension contains a set of categories that label the elements of the
dimension--for instance, row labels for a row dimension. A layer dimension allows you to display a
separate two-dimensional table for each category in the layered dimension--for example, a separate table
for each value of minority classification, as shown here. When layers are present, the pivot table can be
thought of as stacked in layers, with only the top layer visible.

Each cell in the table can be specified by a combination of category values. In the example shown here,
the indicated cell is specified by a category value of Male for the Gender dimension, Custodial for the
Employment Category dimension, and No for the Minority Classification dimension.

Figure 1. Pivot table structure

Python Integration Package 17

Creating Pivot Tables with the SimplePivotTable Method
For creating a pivot table with a single row dimension and a single column dimension, the
BasePivotTable class provides the SimplePivotTable method. The arguments to the method provide the
dimensions, categories, and cell values. No other methods are necessary in order to create the table
structure and populate the cells. If you require more functionality than the SimplePivotTable method
provides, there are a variety of methods to create the table structure and populate the cells. See the topic
“General Approach to Creating Pivot Tables” on page 19 for more information.

Example
import spss
spss.StartProcedure("mycompany.com.demoProc")
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.SimplePivotTable(rowdim = "row dimension",

rowlabels = ["first row","second row"],
coldim = "column dimension",
collabels = ["first column","second column"],
cells = [11,12,21,22])
spss.EndProcedure()

Result

Figure 2. Simple pivot table

v This example shows how to generate a pivot table within a spss.StartProcedure-spss.EndProcedure

block. The argument to the StartProcedure function specifies a name to associate with the output. This
is the name that appears in the outline pane of the Viewer associated with the output--in this case,
mycompany.com.demoProc. It is also the command name associated with this output when routing output
with OMS.
Note: In order that names associated with output do not conflict with names of existing IBM SPSS
Statistics commands (when working with OMS), it is recommended that they have the form
yourcompanyname.com.procedurename. See the topic “spss.StartProcedure Function” on page 85 for more
information.
v You create a pivot table by first creating an instance of the BasePivotTable class and storing it to a
variable--in this case, the variable table.
v The SimplePivotTable method of the BasePivotTable instance is called to create the structure of the
table and populate its cells. Row and column labels and cell values can be specified as character strings
or numeric values. They can also be specified as a CellText object. CellText objects allow you to
specify that category labels be treated as variable names or variable values, or that cell values be
displayed in one of the numeric formats used in IBM SPSS Statistics pivot tables, such as the format for
a mean. When you specify a category as a variable name or variable value, pivot table display options
such as display variable labels or display value labels are honored.
v Numeric values specified for cell values, row labels, or column labels, are displayed using the default
format for the pivot table. Instances of the BasePivotTable class have an implicit default format of
GeneralStat. You can change the default format using the SetDefaultFormatSpec method.
v spss.EndProcedure marks the end of output creation.

18 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

General Approach to Creating Pivot Tables
The BasePivotTable class provides a variety of methods for creating pivot tables that cannot be created
with the SimplePivotTable method. The basic steps for creating a pivot table are:
1. Create an instance of the BasePivotTable class.
2. Add dimensions.
3. Define categories.
4. Set cell values.

Once a cell value has been set, you can access its value. This is convenient for cell values that depend on
the value of another cell. See the topic “Using Cell Values in Expressions” on page 23 for more
information.
Related information:
“Step 1: Adding Dimensions”
“Step 2: Defining Categories” on page 20
“Step 3: Setting Cell Values” on page 21

Step 1: Adding Dimensions: You add dimensions to a pivot table with the Append or Insert method.

Example: Using the Append Method

table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
coldim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")
rowdim1=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-1")
rowdim2=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-2")
v The first argument to the Append method specifies the type of dimension, using one member from a set
of built-in object properties: spss.Dimension.Place.row for a row dimension,
spss.Dimension.Place.column for a column dimension, and spss.Dimension.Place.layer for a layer
dimension.
v The second argument to Append is a string that specifies the name used to label this dimension in the
displayed table.
v Although not required to append a dimension, it's good practice to store a reference to the newly
created dimension object in a variable. For instance, the variable rowdim1 holds a reference to the object
for the row dimension named rowdim-1. Depending on which approach you use for setting categories,
you may need this object reference.

Figure 3. Resulting table structure

The order in which the dimensions are appended determines how they are displayed in the table. Each
newly appended dimension of a particular type (row, column, or layer) becomes the current innermost
dimension in the displayed table. In the example above, rowdim-2 is the innermost row dimension since it
is the last one to be appended. Had rowdim-2 been appended first, followed by rowdim-1, rowdim-1 would
be the innermost dimension.

Note: Generation of the resulting table requires more code than is shown here.

Example: Using the Insert Method

Python Integration Package 19

table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
rowdim1=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-1")
rowdim2=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-2")
rowdim3=table.Insert(2,spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-3")
coldim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")
v The first argument to the Insert method specifies the position within the dimensions of that type (row,
column, or layer). The first position has index 1 (unlike typical Python indexing that starts with 0) and
defines the innermost dimension of that type in the displayed table. Successive integers specify the
next innermost dimension and so on. In the current example, rowdim-3 is inserted at position 2 and
rowdim-1 is moved from position 2 to position 3.
v The second argument to Insert specifies the type of dimension, using one member from a set of
built-in object properties: spss.Dimension.Place.row for a row dimension,
spss.Dimension.Place.column for a column dimension, and spss.Dimension.Place.layer for a layer
dimension.
v The third argument to Insert is a string that specifies the name used to label this dimension in the
displayed table.
v Although not required to insert a dimension, it is good practice to store a reference to the newly
created dimension object to a variable. For instance, the variable rowdim3 holds a reference to the object
for the row dimension named rowdim-3. Depending on which approach you use for setting categories,
you may need this object reference.

Figure 4. Resulting table structure

Note: Generation of the resulting table requires more code than is shown here.

Step 2: Defining Categories: There are two ways to define categories for each dimension: explicitly,
using the SetCategories method, or implicitly when setting values. The explicit method is shown here.
The implicit method is shown in “Step 3: Setting Cell Values” on page 21.

Example
from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

coldim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")
rowdim1=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-1")
rowdim2=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-2")

cat1=CellText.String("A1")
cat2=CellText.String("B1")
cat3=CellText.String("A2")
cat4=CellText.String("B2")
cat5=CellText.String("C")
cat6=CellText.String("D")
cat7=CellText.String("E")

table.SetCategories(rowdim1,[cat1,cat2])
table.SetCategories(rowdim2,[cat3,cat4])
table.SetCategories(coldim,[cat5,cat6,cat7])
v The statement from spss import CellText allows you to omit the spss prefix when specifying
CellText objects (discussed below), once you have imported the spss module.
v You set categories after you add dimensions, so the SetCategories method calls follow the Append or
Insert method calls.

20 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v The first argument to SetCategories is an object reference to the dimension for which the categories
are being defined. This underscores the need to save references to the dimensions you create with
Append or Insert, as discussed in the previous topic.
v The second argument to SetCategories is a single category or a sequence of unique category values,
each expressed as a CellText object (one of CellText.Number, CellText.String, CellText.VarName, or
CellText.VarValue). When you specify a category as a variable name or variable value, pivot table
display options such as display variable labels or display value labels are honored. In the present
example, we use string objects whose single argument is the string specifying the category.
v It is a good practice to assign variables to the CellText objects representing the category names, since
each category will often need to be referenced more than once when setting cell values.

Figure 5. Resulting table structure

Note: Generation of the resulting table requires more code than is shown here.

Step 3: Setting Cell Values: There are two primary methods for setting cell values: setting values one
cell at a time by specifying the categories that define the cell, or using the SetCellsByRow or
SetCellsByColumn method.

Example: Specifying Cells by Their Category Values

This example reproduces the table created in the SimplePivotTable example.

from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"row dimension")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"column dimension")

row_cat1 = CellText.String("first row")

row_cat2 = CellText.String("second row")
col_cat1 = CellText.String("first column")
col_cat2 = CellText.String("second column")

table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)] = CellText.Number(11)
table[(row_cat1,col_cat2)] = CellText.Number(12)
table[(row_cat2,col_cat1)] = CellText.Number(21)
table[(row_cat2,col_cat2)] = CellText.Number(22)
v The Append method is used to add a row dimension and then a column dimension to the structure of
the table. The table specified in this example has one row dimension and one column dimension.
Notice that references to the dimension objects created by the Append method are not saved to
variables, contrary to the recommendations in the topic on adding dimensions. When setting cells
using the current approach, these object references are not needed.
v For convenience, variables consisting of CellText objects are created for each of the categories in the
two dimensions.
v Cells are specified by their category values in each dimension. In the tuple (or list) that specifies the
category values--for example, (row_cat1,col_cat1)--the first element corresponds to the first appended
dimension (what we have named "row dimension") and the second element to the second appended

Python Integration Package 21

 dimension (what we have named "column dimension"). The tuple (row_cat1,col_cat1) then specifies
the cell whose "row dimension" category is "first row" and "column dimension" category is "first
column."
v You may notice that the example does not make use of the SetCategories method to define the row
and column dimension category values. When you assign cell values in the manner done
here--table[(category1,category2)]--the values provided to specify the categories for a given cell are
used by the BasePivotTable object to build the set of categories for the table. Values provided in the
first element of the tuple (or list) become the categories in the dimension created by the first method
call to Append or Insert. Values in the second element become the categories in the dimension created
by the second method call to Append or Insert, and so on. Within a given dimension, the specified
category values must be unique. The order of the categories, as displayed in the table, is the order in
which they are created from table[(category1,category2)]. In the example shown above, the row
categories will be displayed in the order "first row," "second row."
v Cell values must be specified as CellText objects (one of CellText.Number, CellText.String,
CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue).
v In this example, Number objects are used to specify numeric values for the cells. Values will be
formatted using the table's default format. Instances of the BasePivotTable class have an implicit
default format of GeneralStat. You can change the default format using the SetDefaultFormatSpec
method, or you can override the default by explicitly specifying the format, as in:
CellText.Number(22,spss.FormatSpec.Correlation). See the topic “Number Class” on page 33 for
more information.

Example: Setting Cell Values by Row or Column

The SetCellsByRow and SetCellsByColumn methods allow you to set cell values for entire rows or
columns with one method call. To illustrate the approach, we will use the SetCellsByRow method to
reproduce the table created in the SimplePivotTable example. It is a simple matter to rewrite the example
to set cells by column.

Note: You can only use the SetCellsByRow method with pivot tables that have one column dimension and
you can only use the SetCellsByColumn method with pivot tables that have one row dimension.
from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

rowdim = table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"row dimension")

coldim = table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"column dimension")

row_cat1 = CellText.String("first row")

row_cat2 = CellText.String("second row")
col_cat1 = CellText.String("first column")
col_cat2 = CellText.String("second column")

table.SetCategories(rowdim,[row_cat1,row_cat2])
table.SetCategories(coldim,[col_cat1,col_cat2])

table.SetCellsByRow(row_cat1,[CellText.Number(11),
CellText.Number(12)])
table.SetCellsByRow(row_cat2,[CellText.Number(21),
CellText.Number(22)])
v The SetCellsByRow method is called for each of the two categories in the row dimension.
v The first argument to the SetCellsByRow method is the row category for which values are to be set. The
argument must be specified as a CellText object (one of CellText.Number, CellText.String,
CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue). When setting row values for a pivot table with multiple row
dimensions, you specify a list of category values for the first argument to SetCellsByRow, where each
element in the list is a category value for a different row dimension.
v The second argument to the SetCellsByRow method is a list or tuple of CellText objects (one of
CellText.Number, CellText.String, CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue) that specify the elements

22 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

 of the row, one element for each column category in the single column dimension. The first element in
the list or tuple will populate the first column category (in this case, col_cat1), the second will populate
the second column category, and so on.
v In this example, Number objects are used to specify numeric values for the cells. Values will be
formatted using the table's default format. Instances of the BasePivotTable class have an implicit
default format of GeneralStat. You can change the default format using the SetDefaultFormatSpec
method, or you can override the default by explicitly specifying the format, as in:
CellText.Number(22,spss.FormatSpec.Correlation). See the topic “Number Class” on page 33 for
more information.

Using Cell Values in Expressions: Once a cell's value has been set, it can be accessed and used to
specify the value for another cell. Cell values are stored as CellText.Number or CellText.String objects.
To use a cell value in an expression, you obtain a string or numeric representation of the value using the
toString or toNumber method.

Example: Numeric Representations of Cell Values

from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"row dimension")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"column dimension")

row_cat1 = CellText.String("first row")

row_cat2 = CellText.String("second row")
col_cat1 = CellText.String("first column")
col_cat2 = CellText.String("second column")

table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)] = CellText.Number(11)
cellValue = table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)].toNumber()
table[(row_cat2,col_cat2)] = CellText.Number(2*cellValue)
v The toNumber method is used to obtain a numeric representation of the cell with category values
("first row","first column"). The numeric value is stored in the variable cellValue and used to
specify the value of another cell.
v Character representations of numeric values stored as CellText.String objects, such as
CellText.String("11"), are converted to a numeric value by the toNumber method.

Example: String Representations of Cell Values

from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"row dimension")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"column dimension")

row_cat1 = CellText.String("first row")

row_cat2 = CellText.String("second row")
col_cat1 = CellText.String("first column")
col_cat2 = CellText.String("second column")

table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)] = CellText.String("abc")
cellValue = table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)].toString()
table[(row_cat2,col_cat2)] = CellText.String(cellValue + "d")
v The toString method is used to obtain a string representation of the cell with category values ("first
row","first column"). The string value is stored in the variable cellValue and used to specify the value
of another cell.
v Numeric values stored as CellText.Number objects are converted to a string value by the toString
method.

spss.BasePivotTable Methods
The BasePivotTable class has methods that allow you to build complex pivot tables. If you only need to
create a pivot table with a single row and a single column dimension then consider using the
SimplePivotTable method.

Python Integration Package 23

Append Method: .Append(place,dimName,hideName, hideLabels). Appends row, column, and layer
dimensions to a pivot table. You use this method, or the Insert method, to create the dimensions associated
with a custom pivot table. The argument place specifies the type of dimension: spss.Dimension.Place.row
for a row dimension, spss.Dimension.Place.column for a column dimension, and
spss.Dimension.Place.layer for a layer dimension. The argument dimName is a string that specifies the
name used to label this dimension in the displayed table. Each dimension must have a unique name. The
argument hideName specifies whether the dimension name is hidden--by default, it is displayed. Use
hideName=True to hide the name. The argument hideLabels specifies whether category labels for this
dimension are hidden--by default, they are displayed. Use hideLabels=True to hide category labels.
v The order in which dimensions are appended affects how they are displayed in the resulting table.
Each newly appended dimension of a particular type (row, column, or layer) becomes the current
innermost dimension in the displayed table, as shown in the example below.
v The order in which dimensions are created (with the Append or Insert method) determines the order in
which categories should be specified when providing the dimension coordinates for a particular cell
(used when Setting Cell Values or adding Footnotes). For example, when specifying coordinates using
an expression such as (category1,category2), category1 refers to the dimension created by the first call
to Append or Insert, and category2 refers to the dimension created by the second call to Append or
Insert.

Example
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
coldim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")
rowdim1=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-1")
rowdim2=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-2")

Figure 6. Resulting table structure

Examples of using the Append method are most easily understood in the context of going through the
steps to create a pivot table. See the topic “General Approach to Creating Pivot Tables” on page 19 for
more information.

Caption Method: .Caption(caption). Adds a caption to the pivot table. The argument caption is a string
specifying the caption.

Example
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
table.Caption("A sample caption")

CategoryFootnotes Method: .CategoryFootnotes(dimPlace,dimName,category,footnote). Used to add a

footnote to a specified category.
v The argument dimPlace specifies the dimension type associated with the category, using one member
from a set of built-in object properties: spss.Dimension.Place.row for a row dimension,
spss.Dimension.Place.column for a column dimension, and spss.Dimension.Place.layer for a layer
dimension.
v The argument dimName is the string that specifies the dimension name associated with the category.
This is the name specified when the dimension was created by the Append or Insert method.
v The argument category specifies the category and must be a CellText object (one of CellText.Number,
CellText.String, CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue).

24 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v The argument footnote is a string specifying the footnote.

Example
from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"row dimension")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"column dimension")

row_cat1 = CellText.String("first row")

row_cat2 = CellText.String("second row")
col_cat1 = CellText.String("first column")
col_cat2 = CellText.String("second column")

table.CategoryFootnotes(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"row dimension",
row_cat1,"A category footnote")

DimensionFootnotes Method: .DimensionFootnotes(dimPlace,dimName,footnote). Used to add a

footnote to a dimension.
v The argument dimPlace specifies the type of dimension, using one member from a set of built-in object
properties: spss.Dimension.Place.row for a row dimension, spss.Dimension.Place.column for a column
dimension, and spss.Dimension.Place.layer for a layer dimension.
v The argument dimName is the string that specifies the name given to this dimension when it was
created by the Append or Insert method.
v The argument footnote is a string specifying the footnote.

Example
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"row dimension")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"column dimension")
table.DimensionFootnotes(spss.Dimension.Place.column,
"column dimension","A dimension footnote")

Footnotes Method: .Footnotes(categories,footnote). Used to add a footnote to a table cell. The argument
categories is a list or tuple of categories specifying the cell for which a footnote is to be added. Each
element in the list or tuple must be a CellText object (one of CellText.Number, CellText.String,
CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue). The argument footnote is a string specifying the footnote.

Example
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

rowdim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim")
coldim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")

table.SetCategories(rowdim,spss.CellText.String("row1"))
table.SetCategories(coldim,spss.CellText.String("column1"))

table[(spss.CellText.String("row1"),spss.CellText.String("column1"))] = \
spss.CellText.String("cell value")
table.Footnotes((spss.CellText.String("row1"),
spss.CellText.String("column1")),
"Footnote for the cell specified by the categories row1 and column1")
v The order in which dimensions are added to the table, either through a call to Append or to Insert,
determines the order in which categories should be specified when providing the dimension
coordinates for a particular cell. In the present example, the dimension rowdim is added first and coldim
second, so the first element of (spss.CellText.String("row1"),spss.CellText.String("column1"))
specifies a category of rowdim and the second element specifies a category of coldim.

GetDefaultFormatSpec Method: .GetDefaultFormatSpec(). Returns the default format for CellText.Number

objects. The returned value is a list with two elements. The first element is the integer code associated
with the format. Codes and associated formats are listed in Table 1 on page 34. For formats with codes 5
(Mean), 12 (Variable), 13 (StdDev), 14 (Difference), and 15 (Sum), the second element of the returned value

Python Integration Package 25

is the index of the variable in the active dataset whose format is used to determine details of the resulting
format. For all other formats, the second element is the Python data type None. You can set the default
format with the SetDefaultFormatSpec method.
v Instances of the BasePivotTable class have an implicit default format of GeneralStat.

Example
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
print "Default format: ", table.GetDefaultFormatSpec()

HideTitle Method: .HideTitle(). Used to hide the title of a pivot table. By default, the title is shown.

Example
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
table.HideTitle()

Insert Method: .Insert(i,place,dimName,hideName, hideLabels). Inserts row, column, and layer dimensions
into a pivot table. You use this method, or the Append method, to create the dimensions associated with a
custom pivot table. The argument i specifies the position within the dimensions of that type (row,
column, or layer). The first position has index 1 and defines the innermost dimension of that type in the
displayed table. Successive integers specify the next innermost dimension and so on. The argument place
specifies the type of dimension: spss.Dimension.Place.row for a row dimension,
spss.Dimension.Place.column for a column dimension, and spss.Dimension.Place.layer for a layer
dimension. The argument dimName is a string that specifies the name used to label this dimension in the
displayed table. Each dimension must have a unique name. The argument hideName specifies whether the
dimension name is hidden--by default, it is displayed. Use hideName=True to hide the name. The
argument hideLabels specifies whether category labels for this dimension are hidden--by default, they are
displayed. Use hideLabels=True to hide category labels.
v The argument i can take on the values 1, 2, ... , n+1 where n is the position of the outermost dimension
(of the type specified by place) created by any previous calls to Append or Insert. For example, after
appending two row dimensions, you can insert a row dimension at positions 1, 2, or 3. You cannot,
however, insert a row dimension at position 3 if only one row dimension has been created.
v The order in which dimensions are created (with the Append or Insert method) determines the order in
which categories should be specified when providing the dimension coordinates for a particular cell
(used when Setting Cell Values or adding Footnotes). For example, when specifying coordinates using
an expression such as (category1,category2), category1 refers to the dimension created by the first call
to Append or Insert, and category2 refers to the dimension created by the second call to Append or
Insert.
Note: The order in which categories should be specified is not determined by dimension positions as
specified by the argument i.

Example
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
rowdim1=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-1")
rowdim2=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-2")
rowdim3=table.Insert(2,spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-3")
coldim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")

26 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Figure 7. Resulting table structure

Examples of using the Insert method are most easily understood in the context of going through the
steps to create a pivot table. See the topic “General Approach to Creating Pivot Tables” on page 19 for
more information.

SetCategories Method: .SetCategories(dim,categories). Sets categories for the specified dimension. The
argument dim is a reference to the dimension object for which categories are to be set. Dimensions are
created with the Append or Insert method. The argument categories is a single value or a sequence of
unique values, each of which is a CellText object (one of CellText.Number, CellText.String,
CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue).
v In addition to defining category values for a specified dimension, SetCategories sets the pivot table
object's value of the currently selected category for the specified dimension. In other words, calling
SetCategories also sets a pointer to a category in the pivot table. When a sequence of values is
provided, the currently selected category (for the specified dimension) is the last value in the sequence.
For an example of using currently selected dimension categories to specify a cell, see the SetCell
method.
v Once a category has been defined, a subsequent call to SetCategories (for that category) will set that
category as the currently selected one for the specified dimension.

Example
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

rowdim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim")
coldim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")

table.SetCategories(rowdim,[spss.CellText.String("row1"),
spss.CellText.String("row2")])
table.SetCategories(coldim,[spss.CellText.String("column1"),
spss.CellText.String("column2")])

Examples of using the SetCategories method are most easily understood in the context of going through
the steps to create a pivot table. See the topic “General Approach to Creating Pivot Tables” on page 19 for
more information.

SetCell Method: .SetCell(cell). Sets the value for the cell specified by the currently selected set of category
values. The argument cell is the value, specified as a CellText object (one of CellText.Number,
CellText.String, CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue). Category values are selected using the
SetCategories method as shown in the following example.

Example
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

rowdim = table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim")
coldim = table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")

# Define category values and set the currently selected set of

# category values to "row1" for rowdim and "column1" for coldim.
table.SetCategories(rowdim,spss.CellText.String("row1"))
table.SetCategories(coldim,spss.CellText.String("column1"))

# Set the value for the current cell specified by the currently
# selected set of category values.
table.SetCell(spss.CellText.Number(11))

table.SetCategories(rowdim,spss.CellText.String("row2"))

Python Integration Package 27

table.SetCategories(coldim,spss.CellText.String("column2"))

# Set the value for the current cell. Its category values are "row2"
# for rowdim and "column2" for coldim.
table.SetCell(spss.CellText.Number(22))

# Set the currently selected category to "row1" for rowdim.

table.SetCategories(rowdim,spss.CellText.String("row1"))

# Set the value for the current cell. Its category values are "row1"
# for rowdim and "column2" for coldim.

table.SetCell(spss.CellText.Number(12))
v In this example, Number objects are used to specify numeric values for the cells. Values will be
formatted using the table's default format. Instances of the BasePivotTable class have an implicit
default format of GeneralStat. You can change the default format using the SetDefaultFormatSpec
method, or you can override the default by explicitly specifying the format, as in:
CellText.Number(22,spss.FormatSpec.Correlation). See the topic “Number Class” on page 33 for
more information.

Figure 8. Resulting table

SetCellsByColumn Method: .SetCellsByColumn(collabels,cells). Sets cell values for the column specified by
a set of categories, one for each column dimension. The argument collabels specifies the set of categories that
defines the column--a single value, or a list or tuple. The argument cells is a tuple or list of cell values.
Column categories and cell values must be specified as CellText objects (one of CellText.Number,
CellText.String, CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue).
v For tables with multiple column dimensions, the order of categories in the collabels argument is the
order in which their respective dimensions were added (appended or inserted) to the table. For
example, given two column dimensions coldim1 and coldim2 added in the order coldim1 and coldim2, the
first element in collabels should be the category for coldim1 and the second the category for coldim2.
v You can only use the SetCellsByColumn method with pivot tables that have one row dimension.

Example
from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
rowdim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim")
coldim1=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim-1")
coldim2=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim-2")

cat1=CellText.String("coldim1:A")
cat2=CellText.String("coldim1:B")
cat3=CellText.String("coldim2:A")
cat4=CellText.String("coldim2:B")
cat5=CellText.String("C")
cat6=CellText.String("D")

table.SetCategories(coldim1,[cat1,cat2])
table.SetCategories(coldim2,[cat3,cat4])
table.SetCategories(rowdim,[cat5,cat6])

table.SetCellsByColumn((cat1,cat3),
[CellText.Number(11),
CellText.Number(21)])
table.SetCellsByColumn((cat1,cat4),
[CellText.Number(12),
CellText.Number(22)])
table.SetCellsByColumn((cat2,cat3),
[CellText.Number(13),

28 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

 CellText.Number(23)])
table.SetCellsByColumn((cat2,cat4),
[CellText.Number(14),
CellText.Number(24)])
v In this example, Number objects are used to specify numeric values for the cells. Values will be
formatted using the table's default format. Instances of the BasePivotTable class have an implicit
default format of GeneralStat. You can change the default format using the SetDefaultFormatSpec
method, or you can override the default by explicitly specifying the format, as in:
CellText.Number(22,spss.FormatSpec.Correlation). See the topic “Number Class” on page 33 for
more information.

Figure 9. Resulting table structure

Examples of using the SetCellsByColumn method are most easily understood in the context of going
through the steps to create a pivot table. See the topic “General Approach to Creating Pivot Tables” on
page 19 for more information.

SetCellsByRow Method: .SetCellsByRow(rowlabels,cells). Sets cell values for the row specified by a set of
categories, one for each row dimension. The argument rowlabels specifies the set of categories that defines the
row--a single value, or a list or tuple. The argument cells is a tuple or list of cell values. Row categories
and cell values must be specified as CellText objects (one of CellText.Number, CellText.String,
CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue).
v For tables with multiple row dimensions, the order of categories in the rowlabels argument is the order
in which their respective dimensions were added (appended or inserted) to the table. For example,
given two row dimensions rowdim1 and rowdim2 added in the order rowdim1 and rowdim2, the first
element in rowlabels should be the category for rowdim1 and the second the category for rowdim2.
v You can only use the SetCellsByRow method with pivot tables that have one column dimension.

Example
from spss import CellText

table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",

"OMS table subtype")

coldim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")
rowdim1=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-1")
rowdim2=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim-2")

cat1=CellText.String("rowdim1:A")
cat2=CellText.String("rowdim1:B")
cat3=CellText.String("rowdim2:A")
cat4=CellText.String("rowdim2:B")
cat5=CellText.String("C")
cat6=CellText.String("D")

table.SetCategories(rowdim1,[cat1,cat2])
table.SetCategories(rowdim2,[cat3,cat4])
table.SetCategories(coldim,[cat5,cat6])

table.SetCellsByRow((cat1,cat3),
[CellText.Number(11),
CellText.Number(12)])
table.SetCellsByRow((cat1,cat4),
[CellText.Number(21),

Python Integration Package 29

 CellText.Number(22)])
table.SetCellsByRow((cat2,cat3),
[CellText.Number(31),
CellText.Number(32)])
table.SetCellsByRow((cat2,cat4),
[CellText.Number(41),
CellText.Number(42)])
v In this example, Number objects are used to specify numeric values for the cells. Values will be
formatted using the table's default format. Instances of the BasePivotTable class have an implicit
default format of GeneralStat. You can change the default format using the SetDefaultFormatSpec
method, or you can override the default by explicitly specifying the format, as in:
CellText.Number(22,spss.FormatSpec.Correlation). See the topic “Number Class” on page 33 for
more information.

Figure 10. Resulting table

Examples of using the SetCellsByRow method are most easily understood in the context of going through
the steps to create a pivot table. See the topic “General Approach to Creating Pivot Tables” on page 19 for
more information.

SetDefaultFormatSpec Method: .SetDefaultFormatSpec(formatSpec,varIndex). Sets the default format for

CellText.Number objects. The argument formatspec is of the form spss.FormatSpec.format where format is
one of those listed in Table 1 on page 34--for example, spss.FormatSpec.Mean. The argument varIndex is
the index of a variable in the active dataset whose format is used to determine details of the resulting
format. varIndex is only used for, and required by, the following subset of formats: Mean, Variable, StdDev,
Difference, and Sum. Index values represent position in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first
variable in file order. The default format can be retrieved with the GetDefaultFormatSpec method.
v Instances of the BasePivotTable class have an implicit default format of GeneralStat.

Example
from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
table.SetDefaultFormatSpec(spss.FormatSpec.Mean,2)
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")

table[(CellText.String("row1"),CellText.String("col1"))] = \
CellText.Number(2.37)
table[(CellText.String("row2"),CellText.String("col1"))] = \
CellText.Number(4.34)
v The call to SetDefaultFormatSpec specifies that the format for mean values is to be used as the default,
and that it will be based on the format for the variable with index value 2 in the active dataset.
Subsequent instances of CellText.Number will use this default, so the cell values 2.37 and 4.34 will be
formatted as mean values.

SimplePivotTable Method: .SimplePivotTable(rowdim,rowlabels,coldim,collabels,cells). Creates a pivot

table with one row dimension and one column dimension.
v rowdim. An optional label for the row dimension, given as a string. If empty, the row dimension label
is hidden. If specified, it must be distinct from the value, if any, of the coldim argument.

30 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v rowlabels. An optional list of items to label the rows. Each item must be unique and can be a
character string, a numeric value, or a CellText object (one of CellText.Number, CellText.String,
CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue). If provided, the length of this list determines the number of
rows in the table. If omitted, the number of rows is equal to the number of elements in the argument
cells.
v coldim. An optional label for the column dimension, given as a string. If empty, the column
dimension label is hidden. If specified, it must be distinct from the value, if any, of the rowdim
argument.
v collabels. An optional list of items to label the columns. Each item must be unique and can be a
character string, a numeric value, or a CellText object (one of CellText.Number, CellText.String,
CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue). If provided, the length of this list determines the number of
columns in the table. If omitted, the number of columns is equal to the length of the first element of
cells. If cells is one-dimensional, this implies a table with one column and as many rows as there are
elements in cells. See the examples below for the case where cells is two-dimensional and collabels is
omitted.
v cells. This argument specifies the values for the cells of the pivot table. It consists of a one- or
two-dimensional sequence of items that can be indexed as cells[i] or cells[i][j]. For example,
[1,2,3,4] is a one-dimensional sequence, and [[1,2],[3,4]] is a two-dimensional sequence. Each
element in cells can be a character string, a numeric value, a CellText object (one of CellText.Number,
CellText.String, CellText.VarName, or CellText.VarValue), a Python time.struct_time object, or a
Python datetime.datetime object. Examples showing how the rows and columns of the pivot table are
populated from cells are provided below.
v The number of elements in cells must equal the product of the number of rows and the number of
columns.
v Elements in the pivot table are populated in row-wise fashion from the elements of cells. For example,
if you specify a table with two rows and two columns and provide cells=[1,2,3,4], the first row will
consist of the first two elements and the second row will consist of the last two elements.
v Numeric values specified in cells, rowlabels, or collabels will be converted to CellText.Number objects
with a format given by the default. The default format can be set with the SetDefaultFormatSpec
method and retrieved with the GetDefaultFormatSpec method. Instances of the BasePivotTable class
have an implicit default format of GeneralStat.
v String values specified in cells, rowlabels, or collabels will be converted to CellText.String objects.
v When specifying cell values with Python time.struct_time or datetime.datetime objects, the value
will be displayed in seconds--specifically, the number of seconds from October 14, 1582. You can
change the format of a cell to a datetime format using the SetNumericFormatAt Python Scripting
method. This requires embedding Python Scripting code within your Python program. For more
information, see the Scripting Guide under Integration Plug-in for Python in the Help system.

Example: Creating a Table with One Column

import spss
spss.StartProcedure("mycompany.com.demoProc")

table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",

"OMS table subtype")
table.SimplePivotTable(rowdim="row dimension",
rowlabels=["row 1","row 2","row 3","row 4"],
collabels=["column 1"],
cells = [1,2,3,4])
spss.EndProcedure()

Result

Python Integration Package 31

Figure 11. Pivot table with a single column

Example: Using a Two-Dimensional Sequence for Cells

import spss
spss.StartProcedure("mycompany.com.demoProc")

table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",

"OMS table subtype")
table.SimplePivotTable(rowdim="row dimension",
coldim="column dimension",
rowlabels=["row 1","row 2","row 3","row 4"],
collabels=["column 1","column 2"],
cells = [[1,2],[3,4],[5,6],[7,8]])
spss.EndProcedure()

Result

Figure 12. Table populated from two-dimensional sequence

Example: Using a Two-Dimensional Sequence for Cells and Omitting Column Labels
import spss
spss.StartProcedure("mycompany.com.demoProc")

table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",

"OMS table subtype")
table.SimplePivotTable(rowdim="row dimension",
coldim="column dimension",
rowlabels=["row 1","row 2","row 3","row 4"],
cells = [[1,2,3],[4,5,6],[7,8,9],[10,11,12]])
spss.EndProcedure()

Result

32 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Figure 13. Table populated from two-dimensional sequence without specifying column labels

TitleFootnotes Method: .TitleFootnotes(footnote). Used to add a footnote to the table title. The argument
footnote is a string specifying the footnote.

Example
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.TitleFootnotes("A title footnote")

spss.CellText Class
spss.CellText. A class of objects used to create a dimension category or a cell in a pivot table. This class is only
for use with the spss.BasePivotTable class. The CellText class is used to create the following object
types:
v CellText.Number: Used to specify a numeric value.
v CellText.String: Used to specify a string value.
v CellText.VarName: Used to specify a variable name. Use of this object means that settings for the
display of variable names in pivot tables (names, labels, or both) are honored.
v CellText.VarValue: Used to specify a variable value. Use of this object means that settings for the
display of variable values in pivot tables (values, labels, or both) are honored.

Number Class: spss.CellText.Number(value,formatspec,varIndex). Used to specify a numeric value for a

category or a cell in a pivot table. The argument value specifies the numeric value. You can also pass a string
representation of a numeric value, a Python time.struct_time object, or a Python datetime.datetime
object to this argument. The optional argument formatspec is of the form spss.FormatSpec.format where
format is one of those listed in the table below--for example, spss.FormatSpec.Mean. You can also specify
an integer code for formatspec, as in the value 5 for Mean. The argument varIndex is the index of a variable
in the active dataset whose format is used to determine details of the resulting format. varIndex is only
used in conjunction with formatspec and is required when specifying one of the following formats: Mean,
Variable, StdDev, Difference, and Sum. Index values represent position in the active dataset, starting with
0 for the first variable in file order.
v When formatspec is omitted, the default format is used. You can set the default format with the
SetDefaultFormatSpec method and retrieve the default with the GetDefaultFormatSpec method.
Instances of the BasePivotTable class have an implicit default format of GeneralStat.
v You can obtain a numeric representation of a CellText.Number object using the toNumber method, and
you can use the toString method to obtain a string representation.
v When specifying cell values with Python time.struct_time or datetime.datetime objects, the value
will be displayed in seconds--specifically, the number of seconds from October 14, 1582. You can
change the format of a cell to a datetime format using the SetNumericFormatAt Python Scripting
method. This requires embedding Python Scripting code within your Python program. For more
information, see the Scripting Guide under Integration Plug-in for Python in the Help system.

Example

Python Integration Package 33

from spss import CellText
from spss import FormatSpec
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")

table[(CellText.String("row1"),CellText.String("col1"))] = \
CellText.Number(25.632,FormatSpec.Mean,2)
table[(CellText.String("row2"),CellText.String("col1"))] = \
CellText.Number(23.785,FormatSpec.Mean,2)

In this example, cell values are displayed in the format used for mean values. The format of the variable
with index 2 in the active dataset is used to determine the details of the resulting format.
Table 1. Numeric formats for use with FormatSpec.
Format name Code
Coefficient 0
CoefficientSE 1
CoefficientVar 2
Correlation 3
GeneralStat 4
Mean 5
Count 6
Percent 7
PercentNoSign 8
Proportion 9
Significance 10
Residual 11
Variable 12
StdDev 13
Difference 14
Sum 15

Suggestions for Choosing a Format

v Consider using Coefficient for unbounded, unstandardized statistics; for instance, beta coefficients in
regression.
v Correlation is appropriate for statistics bounded by –1 and 1 (typically correlations or measures of
association).
v Consider using GeneralStat for unbounded, scale-free statistics; for instance, beta coefficients in
regression.
v Mean is appropriate for the mean of a single variable, or the mean across multiple variables.
v Count is appropriate for counts and other integers such as integer degrees of freedom.
v Percent and PercentNoSign are both appropriate for percentages. PercentNoSign results in a value
without a percentage symbol (%).
v Significance is appropriate for statistics bounded by 0 and 1 (for example, significance levels).
v Consider using Residual for residuals from cell counts.
v Variable refers to a variable’s print format as given in the data dictionary and is appropriate for
statistics whose values are taken directly from the observed data (for instance, minimum, maximum,
and mode).

34 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v StdDev is appropriate for the standard deviation of a single variable, or the standard deviation across
multiple variables.
v Sum is appropriate for sums of single variables. Results are displayed using the specified variable’s
print format.

String Class: spss.CellText.String(value). Used to specify a string value for a category or a cell in a pivot
table. The argument is the string value. You can also pass a numeric value, and it will be converted to a
string.
v You can obtain a string representation of a CellText.String object using the toString method. For
character representations of numeric values stored as CellText.String objects, such as
CellText.String("11"), you can obtain the numeric value using the toNumber method.

Example
from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")

table[(CellText.String("row1"),CellText.String("col1"))] = \
CellText.String("1")
table[(CellText.String("row2"),CellText.String("col1"))] = \
CellText.String("2")

VarName Class: spss.CellText.VarName(index). Used to specify that a category or cell in a pivot table is to be
treated as a variable name. CellText.VarName objects honor display settings for variable names in pivot
tables (names, labels, or both). The argument is the index value of the variable. Index values represent
position in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order.

Example
from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
coldim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")
rowdim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim")
table.SetCategories(rowdim,[CellText.VarName(0),CellText.VarName(1)])
table.SetCategories(coldim,CellText.String("Column Heading"))

In this example, row categories are specified as the names of the variables with index values 0 and 1 in
the active dataset. Depending on the setting of pivot table labeling for variables in labels, the variable
names, labels, or both will be displayed.

VarValue Class: spss.CellText.VarValue(index,value). Used to specify that a category or cell in a pivot table
is to be treated as a variable value. CellText.VarValue objects honor display settings for variable values in
pivot tables (values, labels, or both). The argument index is the index value of the variable. Index values
represent position in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order. The argument
value is a number (for a numeric variable) or string (for a string variable) representing the value of the
CellText object.

Example
from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")
coldim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim")
rowdim=table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim")
table.SetCategories(rowdim,[CellText.VarValue(0,1),CellText.VarValue(0,2)])
table.SetCategories(coldim,CellText.String("Column Heading"))

In this example, row categories are specified as the values 1 and 2 of the variable with index value 0 in
the active dataset. Depending on the setting of pivot table labeling for variable values in labels, the
values, value labels, or both will be displayed.

Python Integration Package 35

toNumber Method: This method is used to obtain a numeric representation of a CellText.Number object
or a CellText.String object that stores a character representation of a numeric value, as in
CellText.String("123"). Values obtained from this method can be used in arithmetic expressions. You
call this method on a CellText.Number or CellText.String object.

Example
from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"row dimension")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"column dimension")

row_cat1 = CellText.String("first row")

row_cat2 = CellText.String("second row")
col_cat1 = CellText.String("first column")
col_cat2 = CellText.String("second column")

table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)] = CellText.Number(11)
cellValue = table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)].toNumber()
table[(row_cat2,col_cat2)] = CellText.Number(2*cellValue)
v table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)].toNumber() returns a numeric representation of the CellText object (recall
that table cells are stored as CellText objects) for the cell with category values ("first row","first
column").

toString Method: This method is used to obtain a string representation of a CellText.String or

CellText.Number object. Values obtained from this method can be used in string expressions. You call this
method on a CellText.String or CellText.Number object.

Example
from spss import CellText
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"row dimension")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"column dimension")

row_cat1 = CellText.String("first row")

row_cat2 = CellText.String("second row")
col_cat1 = CellText.String("first column")
col_cat2 = CellText.String("second column")

table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)] = CellText.String("abc")
cellValue = table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)].toString()
table[(row_cat2,col_cat2)] = CellText.String(cellValue + "d")
v table[(row_cat1,col_cat1)].toString() returns a string representation of the CellText object (recall
that table cells are stored as CellText objects) for the cell with category values ("first row","first
column").

Creating a Warnings Table

You can create an IBM SPSS Statistics Warnings table using the BasePivotTable class by specifying
"Warnings" for the templateName argument. Note that an IBM SPSS Statistics Warnings table has a very
specific structure, so unless you actually want a Warnings table you should avoid using "Warnings" for
templateName.

Example
import spss
spss.StartProcedure("demo")
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Warnings ","Warnings")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"rowdim",hideLabels=True)
rowLabel = spss.CellText.String("1")
table[(rowLabel,)] = spss.CellText.String("""First line of Warnings table content
Second line of Warnings table content""")
v The title argument is set to the string "Warnings ", It can be set to an arbitrary value but it cannot be
identical to the templateName value, hence the space at the end of the string.

36 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v The templateName argument must be set to the string "Warnings", independent of the IBM SPSS
Statistics output language.
v A Warnings table has a single row dimension with all labels hidden and can consist of one or more
rows. In this example, the table has a single multi-line row, formatted with a Python triple-quoted
string.

Result

Figure 14. Warnings table

spss.BaseProcedure Class
The spss.BaseProcedure class is used to create classes that encapsulate procedures. Procedures can read
the data, perform computations, add new variables and/or new cases to the active dataset, and produce
pivot table output and text blocks in the IBM SPSS Statistics Viewer. Procedures have almost the same
capabilities as built-in IBM SPSS Statistics procedures, such as DESCRIPTIVES and REGRESSION, but they are
written in Python by users. Use of the spss.BaseProcedure class provides an alternative to encapsulating
procedure code within a Python function and explicitly using an spss.StartProcedure-
spss.EndProcedure block for the procedure output. All classes that encapsulate procedures must inherit
from the BaseProcedure class.

The spss.BaseProcedure class has three methods: __init__, execProcedure, and execUserProcedure.
When creating procedure classes you always override the execUserProcedure method, replacing it with
the body of your procedure. You override the __init__ method if you need to provide arguments other
than the procedure name and the optional OMS identifier. You never override the execProcedure method.
It is responsible for calling execUserProcedure to run your procedure as well as automatically making the
necessary calls to spss.StartProcedure and spss.EndProcedure.

The rules governing procedure code contained within the execUserProcedure method are the same as
those for StartProcedure-EndProcedure blocks. See the topic “spss.StartProcedure Function” on page 85
for more information.

Example

As an example, we will create a procedure class that calculates group means for a selected variable using
a specified categorical variable to define the groups. The output of the procedure is a pivot table
displaying the group means. For an alternative approach to creating the same procedure, but making
explicit use of spss.StartProcedure-spss.EndProcedure and without the use of the BaseProcedure class,
see the example for the spss.StartProcedure function.
class groupMeans(spss.BaseProcedure):

#Overrides __init__ method to pass arguments

def __init__(self, procName, groupVar, sumVar):
self.procName = procName
self.omsIdentifier = ""
self.groupVar = groupVar
self.sumVar = sumVar

#Overrides execUserProcedure method of BaseProcedure

def execUserProcedure(self):
#Determine variable indexes from variable names
varCount = spss.GetVariableCount()
groupIndex = 0
sumIndex = 0
for i in range(varCount):

Python Integration Package 37

 varName = spss.GetVariableName(i)
if varName == self.groupVar:
groupIndex = i
continue
elif varName == self.sumVar:
sumIndex = i
continue

varIndex = [groupIndex,sumIndex]
cur = spss.Cursor(varIndex)
Counts={};Totals={}

#Calculate group sums

for i in range(cur.GetCaseCount()):
row = cur.fetchone()
cat=int(row[0])
Counts[cat]=Counts.get(cat,0) + 1
Totals[cat]=Totals.get(cat,0) + row[1]

cur.close()

#Create a pivot table

table = spss.BasePivotTable("Group Means",
"OMS table subtype")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,
spss.GetVariableLabel(groupIndex))
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,
spss.GetVariableLabel(sumIndex))

category2 = spss.CellText.String("Mean")
for cat in sorted(Counts):
category1 = spss.CellText.Number(cat)
table[(category1,category2)] = \
spss.CellText.Number(Totals[cat]/Counts[cat])
v groupMeans is a class based on the spss.BaseProcedure class.
v The procedure defined by the class requires two arguments, the name of the grouping variable
(groupVar) and the name of the variable for which group means are desired (sumVar). Passing these
values requires overriding the __init__ method of spss.BaseProcedure. The values of the parameters
are stored to the properties groupVar and sumVar of the class instance.
v The value passed in as the procedure name is stored to the procName property. The spss.BaseProcedure
class allows for an optional omsIdentifier property that specifies the command name associated with
output from this procedure when routing the output with OMS (Output Management System), as used
in the COMMANDS keyword of the OMS command. If omsIdentifier is an empty string then the value of
procName is used as the OMS identifier. Although specifying a non-blank value of the omsIdentifier
property is optional, the property itself must be included.
Note:
v The body of the procedure is contained within the execUserProcedure method, which overrides that
method in spss.BaseProcedure. The procedure reads the data to calculate group sums and group case
counts and creates a pivot table populated with the group means.
v The necessary calls to spss.StartProcedure and spss.EndProcedure are handled by
spss.BaseProcedure.

Saving and Running Procedure Classes

Once you have written a procedure class, you will want to save it in a Python module on the Python
search path so that you can call it. A Python module is simply a text file containing Python definitions
and statements. You can create a module with a Python IDE, or with any text editor, by saving a file with
an extension of .py. The name of the file, without the .py extension, is then the name of the module. You
can have many classes in a single module. To be sure that Python can find your new module, you may
want to save it to your Python "site-packages" directory, typically /Python27/Lib/site-packages.

For the example procedure class described above, you might choose to save the class definition to a
Python module named myprocs.py. And be sure to include an import spss statement in the module.
Sample command syntax to instantiate this class and run the procedure is:

38 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

import spss, myprocs
spss.Submit("GET FILE=’/examples/data/Employee data.sav’.")
proc = myprocs.groupMeans("mycompany.com.groupMeans","educ","salary")
proc.execProcedure()
v The import statement containing myprocs makes the contents of the Python module myprocs.py
available to the current session (assuming that the module is on the Python search path).
v The call to myprocs.groupMeans creates an instance of the groupMeans class. The variables educ and
salary in /examples/data/Employee data.sav are used as the grouping variable and the variable for which
means are calculated.
v Output from the procedure is associated with the name mycompany.com.groupMeans. This is the name
that appears in the outline pane of the Viewer associated with output produced by the procedure. It is
also the command name associated with this procedure when routing output from this procedure with
OMS (Output Management System). In order that names associated with procedure output not conflict
with names of existing IBM SPSS Statistics commands (when working with OMS), it is recommended
that they have the form yourcompanyname.com.procedurename. See the topic “spss.StartProcedure
Function” on page 85 for more information.

Result

Figure 15. Output from the groupMeans procedure

spss.CreateXPathDictionary Function
spss.CreateXPathDictionary(handle). Creates an XPath dictionary DOM for the active dataset that can be
accessed with XPath expressions. The argument is a handle name, used to identify this DOM in subsequent
spss.EvaluateXPath and spss.DeleteXPathHandle functions.

Example
handle=’demo’
spss.CreateXPathDictionary(handle)
v The XPath dictionary DOM for the current active dataset is assigned the handle name demo. Any
subsequent spss.EvaluateXPath or spss.DeleteXPathHandle functions that reference this dictionary
DOM must use this handle name.

spss.Cursor Class
spss.Cursor(var, accessType, cvtDates, isBinary). Provides the ability to read cases, append cases, and add new
variables to the active dataset.
Python Integration Package 39
v The optional argument var specifies a tuple or a list of variable index values representing position in
the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order. This argument is used in read or
write mode to specify a subset of variables to return when reading case data from the active dataset. If
the argument is omitted, all variables are returned. The argument has no effect if used in append
mode.
v The optional argument accessType specifies one of three usage modes: read ('r'), write ('w'), and append
('a'). The default is read mode.
v The optional argument cvtDates specifies a set of IBM SPSS Statistics variables with date or datetime
formats to convert to Python datetime.datetime objects when reading data from IBM SPSS Statistics.
The argument is a sequence of variable index values representing position in the active dataset, starting
with 0 for the first variable in file order. If the optional argument var is specified, then cvtDates must be
a subset of the index values specified for var. You can specify to convert all date or datetime format
variables with cvtDates=’ALL’, or by setting cvtDates to a list or tuple with the single element ’ALL’, as
in cvtDates=[’ALL’]. When ’ALL’ is specified in conjunction with var, it refers to all variables specified
in var. If cvtDates is omitted, then no conversions are performed. Variables included in cvtDates that do
not have a date or datetime format are ignored in terms of the conversion. cvtDates applies to read and
write mode and cannot be used in append mode.
Note: Values of variables with date or datetime formats that are not converted with cvtDates are
returned as integers representing the number of seconds from October 14, 1582.
v The optional Boolean argument isBinary (introduced in version 22) specifies the method that is used by
the Cursor class to work with the data in the active dataset. It has no effect on Cursor functionality. By
default isBinary is set to True, which typically provides the best performance but might require more
temporary disk space. When isBinary is set to False, the Cursor class uses the same method for
working with the data as in versions before version 22.
v You cannot use the spss.Submit function while a data cursor is open. You must close or delete the
cursor first.
v Only one data cursor can be open at any point in the program block. To define a new data cursor, you
must first close or delete the previous one. If you need to concurrently work with the data from
multiple datasets, consider using the Dataset class.
v Instances of the Cursor class are implicitly deleted at the end of a BEGIN PROGRAM-END PROGRAM block,
and therefore they do not persist across BEGIN PROGRAM-END PROGRAM blocks.
v The Cursor class honors case filters specified with the FILTER or USE commands.

Read Mode
This is the default for the Cursor class and provides the ability to read case data from the active dataset.
Read mode is specified with spss.Cursor(accessType=’r’) or simply spss.Cursor().

Note: For users of a 14.0.x version of the plug-in who are upgrading to a newer version, this mode is
equivalent to spss.Cursor(n) in 14.0.x versions. No changes to your 14.0.x code for the Cursor class are
required to run the code with a newer version.

The Cursor methods fetchone, fetchmany, and fetchall are used to retrieve cases from the active dataset.
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2 (A2) var3 (F).
BEGIN DATA
11 ab 13
21 cd 23
31 ef 33
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
dataCursor=spss.Cursor()
oneRow=dataCursor.fetchone()
dataCursor.close()
i=[0]
dataCursor=spss.Cursor(i)
oneVar=dataCursor.fetchall()
dataCursor.close()
print "One row (case): ", oneRow
print "One column (variable): ", oneVar
END PROGRAM.

40 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Result
One row (case): (11.0, ’ab’, 13.0)
One column (variable): ((11.0,), (21.0,), (31.0,))
v Cases from the active dataset are returned as a single tuple for fetchone and a list of tuples for
fetchall.
v Each tuple represents the data for one case. For fetchall the tuples are arranged in the same order as
the cases in the active dataset.
v Each element in a tuple contains the data value for a specific variable. The order of variable values
within a tuple is the order specified by the optional argument var to the Cursor class, or file order if
var is omittted.
*System- and user-missing values.
DATA LIST LIST (’,’) /numVar (f) stringVar (a4).
BEGIN DATA
1,a
,b
3,,
4,d
END DATA.
MISSING VALUES stringVar (’ ’).
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
dataCursor=spss.Cursor()
print dataCursor.fetchall()
dataCursor.close()
END PROGRAM.

Result
((1.0, ’a ’), (None, ’b ’), (3.0, None), (4.0, ’d ’))
v String values are right-padded to the defined width of the string variable.
v System-missing values are always converted to the Python data type None.
v By default, user-missing values are converted to the Python data type None. You can use the
SetUserMissingInclude method to specify that user-missing values be treated as valid.

Write Mode
This mode is used to add new variables, along with their case values, to an existing dataset. It cannot be
used to append cases to the active dataset. Write mode is specified with spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’).
v All of the methods available in read mode are also available in write mode.
v When adding new variables, the CommitDictionary method must be called after the statements defining
the new variables and prior to setting case values for those variables. You cannot add new variables to
an empty dataset.
v When setting case values for new variables, the CommitCase method must be called for each case that is
modified. The fetchone method is used to advance the record pointer by one case, or you can use the
fetchmany method to advance the record pointer by a specified number of cases.

Note: If a case filter (specified with the FILTER or USE command) is in effect,fetchone and fetchmany
advance the record pointer through the set of cases that have not been filtered out.
v Changes to the active dataset do not take effect until the cursor is closed.
v Write mode supports multiple data passes and allows you to add new variables on each pass. In the
case of multiple data passes where you need to add variables on a data pass other than the first, you
must call the AllocNewVarsBuffer method to allocate the buffer size for the new variables. When used,
AllocNewVarsBuffer must be called before reading any data with fetchone, fetchmany, or fetchall.
v The Cursor methods SetVarNameAndType and SetOneVarNameAndType are used to add new
variables to the active dataset, and the methods SetValueChar and SetValueNumeric are used to set
case values.

Example

Python Integration Package 41

In this example, we create a new numeric variable and a new string variable and set their values for all
cases.
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2 (A2) var3 (F).
BEGIN DATA
11 ab 13
21 cd 23
31 ef 33
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’var4’,’strvar’],[0,8])
cur.SetVarFormat(’var4’,5,2,0)
cur.CommitDictionary()
for i in range(cur.GetCaseCount()):
cur.fetchone()
cur.SetValueNumeric(’var4’,4+10*(i+1))
cur.SetValueChar(’strvar’,’row’ + str(i+1))
cur.CommitCase()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.
v An instance of the Cursor class in write mode is created and assigned to the variable cur.
v The SetVarNameAndType method is used to add two new variables to the active dataset. var4 is a
numeric variable and strvar is a string variable of width 8.
v SetVarFormat sets the display format for var4. The integers 5, 2, and 0 specify the format type (5 is
standard numeric), the defined width, and the number of decimal digits respectively.
v The CommitDictionary method is called to commit the new variables to the cursor before populating
their case values.
v The SetValueNumeric and SetValueChar methods are used to set the case values of the new variables.
The CommitCase method is called to commit the changes for each modified case.
v fetchone advances the record pointer to the next case.

Example: Setting Values for Specific Cases

In this example, we create new variables and set their values for specific cases. The fetchone method is
used to advance the record pointer to the desired cases.
DATA LIST FREE /code (A1) loc (A3) emp (F) dtop (F) ltop (F).
BEGIN DATA
H NY 151 127 24
W CHI 17 4 0
S CHI 9 3 6
W ATL 12 3 0
W SDG 13 4 0
S ATL 10 3 7
S SDG 11 3 8
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’emp_est’,’dtop_est’,’ltop_est’],[0,0,0])
cur.SetVarFormat(’emp_est’,5,2,0)
cur.SetVarFormat(’dtop_est’,5,2,0)
cur.SetVarFormat(’ltop_est’,5,2,0)
cur.CommitDictionary()
for i in range(cur.GetCaseCount()):
row=cur.fetchone()
if (row[0].lower()==’s’):
cur.SetValueNumeric(’emp_est’,1.2*row[2])
cur.SetValueNumeric(’dtop_est’,1.2*row[3])
cur.SetValueNumeric(’ltop_est’,1.2*row[4])
cur.CommitCase()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.

Example: Multiple Data Passes

In this example, we read the data, calculate a summary statistic, and use a second data pass to add a
summary variable to the active dataset.

42 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

DATA LIST FREE /var (F).
BEGIN DATA
57000
40200
21450
21900
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.AllocNewVarsBuffer(8)
total=0
for i in range(spss.GetCaseCount()):
total+=cur.fetchone()[0]
meanVal=total/spss.GetCaseCount()
cur.reset()
cur.SetOneVarNameAndType(’mean’,0)
cur.CommitDictionary()
for i in range(spss.GetCaseCount()):
row=cur.fetchone()
cur.SetValueNumeric(’mean’,meanVal)
cur.CommitCase()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.
v Because we will be adding a new variable on the second data pass, the AllocNewVarsBuffer method is
called to allocate the required space. In the current example, we are creating a single numeric variable,
which requires eight bytes.
v The first for loop is used to read the data and total the case values.
v After the data pass, the reset method must be called prior to defining new variables.
v The second data pass (second for loop) is used to add the mean value of the data as a new variable.

Append Mode
This mode is used to append new cases to the active dataset. It cannot be used to add new variables or
read case data from the active dataset. A dataset must contain at least one variable in order to append
cases to it, but it need not contain any cases. Append mode is specified with
spss.Cursor(accessType=’a’).
v The CommitCase method must be called for each case that is added.
v The EndChanges method must be called before the cursor is closed.
v Changes to the active dataset do not take effect until the cursor is closed.
v A numeric variable whose value is not specified (for a new case) is set to the system-missing value.
v A string variable whose value is not specified (for a new case) will have a blank value. The value will
be valid unless you explicitly define the blank value to be missing for that variable.
v The Cursor methods SetValueChar and SetValueNumeric are used to set variable values for new cases.

Example
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2 (A2) var3 (F).
BEGIN DATA
11 ab 13
21 cd 23
31 ef 33
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’a’)
ncases=cur.GetCaseCount()
newcases=2
for i in range(newcases):
cur.SetValueNumeric(’var1’,1+10*(ncases+i+1))
cur.SetValueNumeric(’var3’,3+10*(ncases+i+1))
cur.CommitCase()
cur.EndChanges()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.
v An instance of the Cursor class in append mode is created and assigned to the variable cur.
v The SetValueNumeric method is used to set the case values of var1 and var3 for two new cases. No
value is specified for var2. The CommitCase method is called to commit the values for each case.

Python Integration Package 43

v The EndChanges method is called to commit the new cases to the cursor.

spss.Cursor Methods
Each usage mode of the Cursor class supports its own set of methods, as shown in the table below.
Descriptions of each method follow.
Table 2. Usage modes for Cursor class methods
Method Read mode Write mode Append mode
AllocNewVarsBuffer X
close X X X
CommitCase X X
CommitDictionary X
EndChanges X
fetchall X X**
fetchmany X X**
fetchone X X
GetCaseCount X X X
GetDataFileAttributeNames X X X
GetDataFileAttributes X X X
GetMultiResponseSetNames X X X
GetMultiResponseSet X X X
GetVarAttributeNames X X X
GetVarAttributes X X X
GetVariableCount X X X
GetVariableFormat X X X
GetVariableLabel X X X
GetVariableMeasurementLevel X X X
GetVariableName X X X
GetVariableRole X X X
GetVariableType X X X
GetVarMissingValues X X X
IsEndSplit X X
reset X X X
SetFetchVarList X X
SetOneVarNameAndType X
SetUserMissingInclude X X
SetValueChar X X
SetValueNumeric X X
SetVarAlignment X
SetVarAttributes X
SetVarCMissingValues X
SetVarCValueLabel X
SetVarFormat X
SetVarLabel X

44 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Table 2. Usage modes for Cursor class methods (continued)
Method Read mode Write mode Append mode
SetVarMeasureLevel X
SetVarNameAndType X
SetVarNMissingValues X
SetVarNValueLabel X
SetVarRole X

** This method is primarily for use in read mode.

Note

The Cursor class Get methods (for instance, GetCaseCount, GetVariableCount, and so on) listed above
have the same specifications as the functions in the spss module of the same name. For example, the
specifications for the Cursor method GetCaseCount are the same as those for the spss.GetCaseCount
function. While a cursor is open, both sets of functions return information about the current cursor and
give identical results. In the absence of a cursor, the spss module functions retrieve information about the
active dataset. Refer to the entries for the corresponding spss module functions for specifications of these
Cursor methods.

AllocNewVarsBuffer Method: .AllocNewVarsBuffer(bufSize). Specifies the buffer size, in bytes, to use

when adding new variables in the context of multiple data passes. The argument bufSize is a positive integer
large enough to accommodate all new variables to be created by a given write cursor. Each numeric
variable requires eight bytes. For each string variable, you should allocate a size that is an integer
multiple of eight bytes, and large enough to store the defined length of the string (one byte per
character). For example, you would allocate eight bytes for strings of length 1–8 and 16 bytes for strings
of length 9–16.
v This method is only available in write mode.
v AllocNewVarsBuffer is required in the case of multiple data passes when you need to add variables on
a data pass other than the first. When used, it must be called before reading any data with fetchone,
fetchmany, or fetchall.
v AllocNewVarsBuffer can only be called once for a given write cursor instance.
v Specifying a larger buffer size than is required has no effect on the result.

For an example of the AllocNewVarsBuffer method, see the example on multiple data passes in the topic
on “Write Mode” on page 41.

close Method: .close(). Closes the cursor. You cannot use the spss.Submit function while a data cursor is
open. You must close or delete the cursor first.
v This method is available in read, write, or append mode.
v When appending cases, you must call the EndChanges method before the close method.
v Cursors are implicitly closed at the end of a BEGIN PROGRAM-END PROGRAM block.

Example
cur=spss.Cursor()
data=cur.fetchall()
cur.close()

CommitCase Method: .CommitCase(). Commits changes to the current case in the current cursor. This
method must be called for each case that is modified, including existing cases modified in write mode
and new cases created in append mode.
v This method is available in write or append mode.

Python Integration Package 45

v When working in write mode, you advance the record pointer by calling the fetchone method. To
modify the first case, you must first call fetchone.
v When working in append mode, the cursor is ready to accept values for a new record (using
SetValueNumeric and SetValueChar) once CommitCase has been called for the previous record.
v Changes to the active dataset take effect when the cursor is closed.

For an example of using CommitCase in write mode, see the topic on write mode “Write Mode” on page
41. For an example of using CommitCase in append mode, see the topic on append mode “Append Mode”
on page 43.

CommitDictionary Method: .CommitDictionary(). Commits new variables to the current cursor.

v This method is only available in write mode.
v When adding new variables, you must call this method before setting case values for the new
variables.
v Changes to the active dataset take effect when the cursor is closed.

Example
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2 (A2) var3 (F).
BEGIN DATA
11 ab 13
21 cd 23
31 ef 33
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’numvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarLabel(’numvar’,’New numeric variable’)
cur.SetVarFormat(’numvar’,5,2,0)
cur.CommitDictionary()
for i in range(cur.GetCaseCount()):
cur.fetchone()
cur.SetValueNumeric(’numvar’,4+10*(i+1))
cur.CommitCase()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.

EndChanges Method: .EndChanges(). Specifies the end of appending new cases. This method must be called
before the cursor is closed.
v This method can only be called once for a given Cursor instance and is only available in append mode.
v Changes to the active dataset take effect when the cursor is closed.

For an example of using EndChanges, see the topic on append mode “Append Mode” on page 43.

fetchall Method: .fetchall(). Fetches all (remaining) cases from the active dataset, or if there are splits, the
remaining cases in the current split. If there are no remaining rows, the result is an empty tuple.
v This method is available in read or write mode.
v When used in write mode, calling fetchall will position the record pointer at the last case of the active
dataset, or if there are splits, the last case of the current split.
v Cases from the active dataset are returned as a list of tuples. Each tuple represents the data for one
case, and the tuples are arranged in the same order as the cases in the active dataset. Each element in a
tuple contains the data value for a specific variable. The order of variable values within a tuple is the
order specified by the variable index values in the optional argument n to the Cursor class, or file order
if n is omitted. For example, if n=[5,2,7] the first tuple element is the value of the variable with index
value 5, the second is the variable with index value 2, and the third is the variable with index value 7.
v String values are right-padded to the defined width of the string variable.
v System-missing values are always converted to the Python data type None.
v By default, user-missing values are converted to the Python data type None. You can use the
SetUserMissingInclude method to specify that user-missing values be treated as valid.

46 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v Values of variables with time formats are returned as integers representing the number of seconds from
midnight.
v By default, values of variables with date or datetime formats are returned as integers representing the
number of seconds from October 14, 1582. You can specify to convert values of those variables to
Python datetime.datetime objects with the cvtDates argument to the spss.Cursor function. See the
topic “spss.Cursor Class” on page 39 for more information.
v If a weight variable has been defined for the active dataset, then cases with zero, negative, or missing
values for the weighting variable are skipped when fetching data with fetchone, fetchall, or
fetchmany. If you need to retrieve all cases when weighting is in effect, then you can use the Dataset
class.
v The fetchone, fetchall, and fetchmany methods honor case filters specified with the FILTER or USE
commands.
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2 (A2) var3 (F).
BEGIN DATA
11 ab 13
21 cd 23
31 ef 33
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
dataCursor=spss.Cursor()
dataFile=dataCursor.fetchall()
for i in enumerate(dataFile):
print i
print dataCursor.fetchall()
dataCursor.close()
END PROGRAM.

Result
(0, (11.0, ’ab’, 13.0))
(1, (21.0, ’cd’, 23.0))
(2, (31.0, ’ef’, 33.0))
()

fetchall with Variable Index

DATA LIST FREE /var1 var2 var3.
BEGIN DATA
1 2 3
1 4 5
2 5 7
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
i=[0]
dataCursor=spss.Cursor(i)
oneVar=dataCursor.fetchall()
uniqueCount=len(set(oneVar))
print oneVar
print spss.GetVariableName(0), " has ", uniqueCount, " unique values."
dataCursor.close()
END PROGRAM.

Result
((1.0,), (1.0,), (2.0,))
var1 has 2 unique values.

fetchmany Method: .fetchmany(n). Fetches the next n cases from the active dataset, where n is a positive
integer. If the value of n is greater than the number of remaining cases (and the dataset does not contain
splits), it returns the value of all the remaining cases. In the case that the active dataset has splits, if n is
greater than the number of remaining cases in the current split, it returns the value of the remaining
cases in the split. If there are no remaining cases, the result is an empty tuple.
v This method is available in read or write mode.
v When used in write mode, calling fetchmany(n) will position the record pointer at case n of the active
dataset. In the case that the dataset has splits and n is greater than the number of remaining cases in
the current split, fetchmany(n) will position the record pointer at the end of the current split.

Python Integration Package 47

v Cases from the active dataset are returned as a list of tuples. Each tuple represents the data for one
case, and the tuples are arranged in the same order as the cases in the active dataset. Each element in a
tuple contains the data value for a specific variable. The order of variable values within a tuple is the
order specified by the variable index values in the optional argument n to the Cursor class, or file order
if n is omitted. For example, if n=[5,2,7] the first tuple element is the value of the variable with index
value 5, the second is the variable with index value 2, and the third is the variable with index value 7.
v String values are right-padded to the defined width of the string variable.
v System-missing values are always converted to the Python data type None.
v By default, user-missing values are converted to the Python data type None. You can use the
SetUserMissingInclude method to specify that user-missing values be treated as valid.
v Values of variables with time formats are returned as integers representing the number of seconds from
midnight.
v By default, values of variables with date or datetime formats are returned as integers representing the
number of seconds from October 14, 1582. You can specify to convert values of those variables to
Python datetime.datetime objects with the cvtDates argument to the spss.Cursor function. See the
topic “spss.Cursor Class” on page 39 for more information.
v If a weight variable has been defined for the active dataset, then cases with zero, negative, or missing
values for the weighting variable are skipped when fetching data with fetchone, fetchall, or
fetchmany. If you need to retrieve all cases when weighting is in effect, then you can use the Dataset
class.
v The fetchone, fetchall, and fetchmany methods honor case filters specified with the FILTER or USE
commands.
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2 (A2) var3 (F).
BEGIN DATA
11 ab 13
21 cd 23
31 ef 33
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
dataCursor=spss.Cursor()
n=2
print dataCursor.fetchmany(n)
print dataCursor.fetchmany(n)
print dataCursor.fetchmany(n)
dataCursor.close()
END PROGRAM.

Result
((11.0, ’ab’, 13.0), (21.0, ’cd’, 23.0))
((31.0, ’ef’, 33.0),)
()

fetchone Method: .fetchone(). Fetches the next row (case) from the active dataset. The result is a single tuple
or the Python data type None after the last row has been read. A value of None is also returned at a split
boundary. In this case, a subsequent call to fetchone will retrieve the first case of the next split group.
v This method is available in read or write mode.
v Each element in the returned tuple contains the data value for a specific variable. The order of variable
values in the tuple is the order specified by the variable index values in the optional argument n to the
Cursor class, or file order if n is omitted. For example, if n=[5,2,7] the first tuple element is the value of
the variable with index value 5, the second is the variable with index value 2, and the third is the
variable with index value 7.
v String values are right-padded to the defined width of the string variable.
v System-missing values are always converted to the Python data type None.
v By default, user-missing values are converted to the Python data type None. You can use the
SetUserMissingInclude method to specify that user-missing values be treated as valid.
v Values of variables with time formats are returned as integers representing the number of seconds from
midnight.

48 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v By default, values of variables with date or datetime formats are returned as integers representing the
number of seconds from October 14, 1582. You can specify to convert values of those variables to
Python datetime.datetime objects with the cvtDates argument to the spss.Cursor function. See the
topic “spss.Cursor Class” on page 39 for more information.
v If a weight variable has been defined for the active dataset, then cases with zero, negative, or missing
values for the weighting variable are skipped when fetching data with fetchone, fetchall, or
fetchmany. If you need to retrieve all cases when weighting is in effect, then you can use the Dataset
class.
v The fetchone, fetchall, and fetchmany methods honor case filters specified with the FILTER or USE
commands.
DATA LIST FREE /var1 var2 var3.
BEGIN DATA
1 2 3
4 5 6
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
dataCursor=spss.Cursor()
firstRow=dataCursor.fetchone()
secondRow=dataCursor.fetchone()
thirdRow=dataCursor.fetchone()
print "First row: ",firstRow
print "Second row ",secondRow
print "Third row...there is NO third row: ",thirdRow
dataCursor.close()
END PROGRAM.

Result
First row: (1.0, 2.0, 3.0)
Second row (4.0, 5.0, 6.0)
Third row...there is NO third row: None

IsEndSplit Method: .IsEndSplit(). Indicates if the cursor position has crossed a split boundary. The result is
Boolean—True if a split boundary has been crossed, otherwise False. This method is used in conjunction
with the SplitChange function when creating custom pivot tables from data with splits.
v This method is available in read or write mode.
v The value returned from the fetchone method is None at a split boundary. Once a split has been
detected, you will need to call fetchone again to retrieve the first case of the next split group.
v IsEndSplit returns True when the end of the dataset has been reached. Although a split boundary and
the end of the dataset both result in a return value of True from IsEndSplit, the end of the dataset is
identified by a return value of None from a subsequent call to fetchone, as shown in the following
example.

Example
GET FILE=’/examples/data/employee data.sav’.
SORT CASES BY GENDER.
SPLIT FILE LAYERED BY GENDER.

BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
i=0
cur=spss.Cursor()
while True:
cur.fetchone()
i+=1
if cur.IsEndSplit():
# Try to fetch the first case of the next split group
if not None==cur.fetchone():
print "Found split end. New split begins at case: ", i
else:
#There are no more cases, so quit
break
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.

reset Method: .reset(). Resets the cursor.

Python Integration Package 49

v This method is available in read, write, or append mode.
v In read and write modes, reset moves the record pointer to the first case, allowing multiple data
passes. In append mode, it deletes the current cursor instance and creates a new one.
v When executing multiple data passes, the reset method must be called prior to defining new variables
on subsequent passes. For an example, see the topic on write mode.

Example
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor()
data=cur.fetchall()
cur.reset()
data10=cur.fetchmany(10)
cur.close()

SetFetchVarList: .SetFetchVarList(var). Resets the list of variables to return when reading case data from the
active dataset. The argument var is a list or tuple of variable index values representing position in the
active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order.
v This method is available in read or write mode.

Example
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2 (A2) var3 (F).
BEGIN DATA
11 ab 13
21 cd 23
31 ef 33
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor()
oneRow=cur.fetchone()
cur.SetFetchVarList([0])
cur.reset()
oneVar=cur.fetchall()
cur.close()
print "One row (case): ", oneRow
print "One column (variable): ", oneVar
END PROGRAM.

SetOneVarNameAndType Method: .SetOneVarNameAndType(varName,varType). Creates one new

variable in the active dataset. The argument varName is a string that specifies the name of the new variable.
The argument varType is an integer specifying the variable type of the new variable. You can create
multiple variables with a single call using the SetVarNameAndType method.
v This method is only available in write mode.
v Numeric variables are specified by a value of 0 for the variable type. String variables are specified with
a type equal to the defined length of the string (maximum of 32767).
v Use of the SetOneVarNameAndType method requires the AllocNewVarsBuffer method to allocate space for
the variable.

Example
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2 (A2) var3 (F).
BEGIN DATA
11 ab 13
21 cd 23
31 ef 33
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.AllocNewVarsBuffer(8)
cur.SetOneVarNameAndType(’var4’,0)
cur.SetVarFormat(’var4’,5,2,0)
cur.CommitDictionary()
for i in range(cur.GetCaseCount()):
cur.fetchone()

50 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

 cur.SetValueNumeric(’var4’,4+10*(i+1))
cur.CommitCase()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.

SetUserMissingInclude Method: .SetUserMissingInclude(incMissing). Specifies the treatment of

user-missing values read from the active dataset. The argument is a Boolean with True specifying that
user-missing values be treated as valid. A value of False specifies that user-missing values should be
converted to the Python data type None.
v By default, user-missing values are converted to the Python data type None.
v System-missing values are always converted to None.
v This method is available in read or write mode.

In this example, we will use the following data to demonstrate both the default behavior and the
behavior when user missing values are treated as valid.
DATA LIST LIST (’,’) /numVar (f) stringVar (a4).
BEGIN DATA
1,a
,b
3,,
0,d
END DATA.
MISSING VALUES stringVar (’ ’) numVar(0).

This first BEGIN PROGRAM block demonstrates the default behavior.

BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor()
print cur.fetchall()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.

Result
((1.0, ’a ’), (None, ’b ’), (3.0, None), (None, ’d ’))

This second BEGIN PROGRAM block demonstrates the behavior when user-missing values are treated as
valid.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor()
cur.SetUserMissingInclude(True)
print cur.fetchall()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.

Result
((1.0, ’a ’), (None, ’b ’), (3.0, ’ ’), (0.0, ’d ’))

SetValueChar Method: .SetValueChar(varName,varValue). Sets the value for the current case for a string
variable. The argument varName is a string specifying the name of a string variable. The argument
varValue is a string specifying the value of this variable for the current case.
v This method is available in write or append mode.
v The CommitCase method must called for each case that is modified. This includes new cases created in
append mode.

Example
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2(F).
BEGIN DATA
11 12
21 22
31 32
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)

Python Integration Package 51

cur.SetVarNameAndType([’strvar’],[8])
cur.CommitDictionary()
for i in range(cur.GetCaseCount()):
cur.fetchone()
cur.SetValueChar(’strvar’,’row’ + str(i+1))
cur.CommitCase()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.

SetValueNumeric Method: .SetValueNumeric(varName,varValue). Sets the value for the current case for a
numeric variable. The argument varName is a string specifying the name of a numeric variable. The
argument varValue specifies the numeric value of this variable for the current case.
v This method is available in write or append mode.
v The CommitCase method must be called for each case that is modified. This includes new cases created
in append mode.
v The Python data type None specifies a missing value for a numeric variable.
v Values of numeric variables with a date or datetime format should be specified as Python
time.struct_time or datetime.datetime objects, which are then converted to the appropriate IBM SPSS
Statistics value. Values of variables with TIME and DTIME formats should be specified as the number of
seconds in the time interval.

Example
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2 (F).
BEGIN DATA
11 12
21 22
31 32
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’var3’],[0])
cur.SetVarFormat(’var3’,5,2,0)
cur.CommitDictionary()
for i in range(cur.GetCaseCount()):
cur.fetchone()
cur.SetValueNumeric(’var3’,3+10*(i+1))
cur.CommitCase()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.

SetVarAlignment Method: .SetVarAlignment(varName,alignment). Sets the alignment of data values in the

Data Editor for a new variable. It has no effect on the format of the variables or the display of the variables
or values in other windows or printed results. The argument varName is a string specifying the name of a
new variable. The argument alignment is an integer and can take on one of the following values: 0 (left), 1
(right), 2 (center).
v This method is only available in write mode.

Example
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’numvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarAlignment(’numvar’,0)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

SetVarAttributes Method: .SetVarAttributes(varName,attrName,attrValue,index). Sets a value in an

attribute array for a new variable. The argument varName is a string specifying the name of a new variable.
The argument attrName is a string specifying the name of the attribute array. The argument attrValue is a
string specifying the attribute value, and index is the index position in the array, starting with the index 0
for the first element in the array.
v This method is only available in write mode.
v An attribute array with one element is equivalent to an attribute that is not specified as an array.

Example

52 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’numvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarAttributes(’numvar’,’myattribute’,’first element’,0)
cur.SetVarAttributes(’numvar’,’myattribute’,’second element’,1)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

SetVarCMissingValues Method:
.SetVarCMissingValues(varName,missingVal1,missingVal2,missingVal3). Sets user-missing values for a
new string variable. The argument varName is a string specifying the name of a new string variable. The
optional arguments missingVal1, missingVal2, and missingVal3 are strings, each of which can specify one
user-missing value. Use the SetVarNMissingValues method to set missing values for new numeric
variables.
v This method is only available in write mode.

Example
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’strvar’],[8])
cur.SetVarCMissingValues(’strvar’,’ ’,’NA’)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

SetVarCValueLabel Method: .SetVarCValueLabel(varName,value,label). Sets the value label of a single

value for a new string variable. The argument varName is a string specifying the name of a new string
variable. The arguments value and label are strings specifying the value and the associated label. Use the
SetVarNValueLabel method to set value labels for new numeric variables.
v This method is only available in write mode.

Example
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’strvar’],[8])
cur.SetVarCValueLabel(’strvar’,’f’,’female’)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

SetVarFormat Method: .SetVarFormat(varName,type,width,decimals). Sets the display format for a new

variable. The argument varName is a string specifying the name of a new variable. The argument type is an
integer that specifies one of the available format types (see Appendix A, “Variable Format Types,” on
page 247). The argument width is an integer specifying the defined width, which must include enough
positions to accommodate any punctuation characters such as decimal points, commas, dollar signs, or
date and time delimiters. The optional argument decimals is an integer specifying the number of decimal
digits for numeric formats.

Allowable settings for decimal and width depend on the specified type. For a list of the minimum and
maximum widths and maximum decimal places for commonly used format types, see Variable Types and
Formats in the Universals section of the Command Syntax Reference, available in PDF from the Help menu
and also integrated into the overall Help system.
v This method is only available in write mode.
v Setting the argument width for a string variable will not change the defined length of the string. If the
specified value does not match the defined length, it is forced to be the defined length.

Example
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’numvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarFormat(’numvar’,5,2,0)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

SetVarLabel Method: .SetVarLabel(varName,varLabel). Sets the variable label for a new variable. The
argument varName is a string specifying the name of a new variable. The argument varLabel is a string
specifying the label.

Python Integration Package 53

v This method is only available in write mode.

Example
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’numvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarLabel(’numvar’,’New numeric variable’)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

SetVarMeasureLevel Method: .SetVarMeasureLevel(varName,measureLevel). Sets the measurement level

for a new variable. The argument varName is a string specifying the name of a new variable. The argument
measureLevel is an integer specifying the measurement level: 2 (nominal), 3 (ordinal), 4 (scale).
v This method is only available in write mode.

Example
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’numvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarMeasureLevel(’numvar’,3)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

SetVarNameAndType Method: .SetVarNameAndType(varName,varType). Creates one or more new

variables in the active dataset. The argument varName is a list or tuple of strings that specifies the name of
each new variable. The argument varType is a list or tuple of integers specifying the variable type of each
variable named in varName. varName and varType must be the same length. For creating a single variable
you can also use the SetOneVarNameAndType method.
v This method is only available in write mode.
v Numeric variables are specified by a value of 0 for the variable type. String variables are specified with
a type equal to the defined length of the string (maximum of 32767).

Example
DATA LIST FREE /var1 (F) var2 (A2) var3 (F).
BEGIN DATA
11 ab 13
21 cd 23
31 ef 33
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’var4’,’strvar’],[0,8])
cur.SetVarFormat(’var4’,5,2,0)
cur.CommitDictionary()
for i in range(cur.GetCaseCount()):
cur.fetchone()
cur.SetValueNumeric(’var4’,4+10*(i+1))
cur.SetValueChar(’strvar’,’row’ + str(i+1))
cur.CommitCase()
cur.close()
END PROGRAM.

SetVarNMissingValues Method:
.SetVarNMissingValues(varName,missingFormat,missingVal1,missingVal2,missingVal3). Sets
user-missing values for a new numeric variable. The argument varName is a string specifying the name of a
new numeric variable. The argument missingFormat has the value 0 for a discrete list of missing values
(for example, 0, 9, 99), the value 1 for a range of missing values (for example, 9–99), and the value 2 for a
combination of a discrete value and a range (for example, 0 and 9–99). Use the SetVarCMissingValues
method to set missing values for new string variables.
v This method is only available in write mode.
v To specify LO and HI in missing value ranges, use the values returned by the spss.GetSPSSLowHigh
function.

54 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Table 3. Specifications for arguments to SetVarNMissingValues
missingFormat missingVal1 missingVal2 missingVal3
0 Discrete value (optional) Discrete value (optional) Discrete value (optional)
1 Start point of range End point of range Not applicable
2 Start point of range End point of range Discrete value

Examples

Specify the three discrete missing values 0, 9, and 99 for a new variable.
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’numvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarNMissingValues(’numvar’,0,0,9,99)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

Specify the range of missing values 9–99 for a new variable.

cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’numvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarNMissingValues(’numvar’,1,9,99)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

Specify the range of missing values 9–99 and the discrete missing value 0 for a new variable.
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’numvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarNMissingValues(’numvar’,2,9,99,0)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

SetVarNValueLabel Method: .SetVarNValueLabel(varName,value,label). Sets the value label of a single

value for a new variable. The argument varName is a string specifying the name of a new numeric variable.
The argument value is a numeric value and label is the string specifying the label for this value. Use the
SetVarCValueLabel method to set value labels for new string variables.
v This method is only available in write mode.

Example
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’numvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarNValueLabel(’numvar’,1,’female’)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

SetVarRole Method: .SetVarRole(varName,varRole). Sets the role for a new variable. The argument
varName is a string specifying the name of a new variable. The argument varRole is a string specifying the
role: "Input", "Target", "Both", "None", "Partition" or "Split".
v This method is only available in write mode.

Example
cur=spss.Cursor(accessType=’w’)
cur.SetVarNameAndType([’targetvar’],[0])
cur.SetVarRole(’targetvar’,’Target’)
cur.CommitDictionary()
cur.close()

spss.Dataset Class
spss.Dataset(name,hidden,cvtDates). Provides the ability to create new datasets, read from existing datasets,
and modify existing datasets. A Dataset object provides access to the case data and variable information
contained in a dataset, and allows you to read from the dataset, add new cases, modify existing cases,
add new variables, and modify properties of existing variables.

Python Integration Package 55

An instance of the Dataset class can only be created within a data step or StartProcedure-EndProcedure
block, and cannot be used outside of the data step or procedure block in which it was created. Data steps
are initiated with the spss.StartDataStep function. You can also use the spss.DataStep class to implicitly
start and end a data step without the need to check for pending transformations. See the topic
“spss.DataStep Class” on page 71 for more information.
v The argument name is optional and specifies the name of an open dataset for which a Dataset object
will be created. Note that this is the name as assigned by IBM SPSS Statistics or as specified with
DATASET NAME. Specifying name="*" or omitting the argument will create a Dataset object for the active
dataset. If the active dataset is unnamed, then a name will be automatically generated for it in the case
that the Dataset object is created for the active dataset.
v If the Python data type None or the empty string ’’ is specified for name, then a new empty dataset is
created. The name of the dataset is automatically generated and can be retrieved from the name
property of the resulting Dataset object. The name cannot be changed from within the data step. To
change the name, use the DATASET NAME command following spss.EndDataStep.
A new dataset created with the Dataset class is not set to be the active dataset. To make the dataset the
active one, use the spss.SetActive function.
v The optional argument hidden specifies whether the Data Editor window associated with the dataset is
hidden--by default, it is displayed. Use hidden=True to hide the associated Data Editor window.
v The optional argument cvtDates specifies whether IBM SPSS Statistics variables with date or datetime
formats are converted to Python datetime.datetime objects when reading data from IBM SPSS
Statistics. The argument is a boolean--True to convert all variables with date or datetime formats, False
otherwise. If cvtDates is omitted, then no conversions are performed.
Note: Values of variables with date or datetime formats that are not converted with cvtDates are
returned as integers representing the number of seconds from October 14, 1582.
v Instances of the Dataset class created within StartProcedure-EndProcedure blocks cannot be set as the
active dataset.
v The Dataset class does not honor case filters specified with the FILTER or USE commands. If you need
case filters to be honored, then consider using the Cursor class.
v For release 22 Fix Pack 1 and higher, the Dataset class supports caching. Caching typically improves
performance when cases are modified in a random manner, and is specified with the cache property of
a Dataset object.

The number of variables in the dataset associated with a Dataset instance is available using the len
function, as in:
len(datasetObj)

Note: Datasets that are not required outside of the data step or procedure in which they were accessed or
created should be closed prior to ending the data step or procedure in order to free the resources
allocated to the dataset. This is accomplished by calling the close method of the Dataset object.

Example: Creating a New Dataset

BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset(name=None)
datasetObj.varlist.append(’numvar’,0)
datasetObj.varlist.append(’strvar’,1)
datasetObj.varlist[’numvar’].label = ’Sample numeric variable’
datasetObj.varlist[’strvar’].label = ’Sample string variable’
datasetObj.cases.append([1,’a’])
datasetObj.cases.append([2,’b’])
spss.EndDataStep()
END PROGRAM.
v You add variables to a dataset using the append (or insert) method of the VariableList object
associated with the dataset. The VariableList object is accessed from the varlist property of the
Dataset object, as in datasetObj.varlist. See the topic “VariableList Class” on page 65 for more
information.

56 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v Variable properties, such as the variable label and measurement level, are set through properties of the
associated Variable object, accessible from the VariableList object. For example,
datasetObj.varlist[’numvar’] accesses the Variable object associated with the variable numvar. See
the topic “Variable Class” on page 66 for more information.
v You add cases to a dataset using the append (or insert) method of the CaseList object associated with
the dataset. The CaseList object is accessed from the cases property of the Dataset object, as in
datasetObj.cases. See the topic “CaseList Class” on page 62 for more information.

Example: Saving New Datasets

When creating new datasets that you intend to save, you'll want to keep track of the dataset names since
the save operation is done outside of the associated data step.
DATA LIST FREE /dept (F2) empid (F4) salary (F6).
BEGIN DATA
7 57 57000
5 23 40200
3 62 21450
3 18 21900
5 21 45000
5 29 32100
7 38 36000
3 42 21900
7 11 27900
END DATA.
DATASET NAME saldata.
SORT CASES BY dept.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
with spss.DataStep():
ds = spss.Dataset()
# Create a new dataset for each value of the variable ’dept’
newds = spss.Dataset(name=None)
newds.varlist.append(’dept’)
newds.varlist.append(’empid’)
newds.varlist.append(’salary’)
dept = ds.cases[0,0][0]
dsNames = {newds.name:dept}
for row in ds.cases:
if (row[0] != dept):
newds = spss.Dataset(name=None)
newds.varlist.append(’dept’)
newds.varlist.append(’empid’)
newds.varlist.append(’salary’)
dept = row[0]
dsNames[newds.name] = dept
newds.cases.append(row)
# Save the new datasets
for name,dept in dsNames.iteritems():
strdept = str(dept)
spss.Submit(r"""
DATASET ACTIVATE %(name)s.
SAVE OUTFILE=’/mydata/saldata_%(strdept)s.sav’.
""" %locals())
spss.Submit(r"""
DATASET ACTIVATE saldata.
DATASET CLOSE ALL.
""" %locals())
END PROGRAM.
v The code newdsObj = spss.Dataset(name=None) creates a new dataset. The name of the dataset is
available from the name property, as in newdsObj.name. In this example, the names of the new datasets
are stored to the Python dictionary dsNames.
v To save new datasets created with the Dataset class, use the SAVE command after calling
spss.EndDataStep. In this example, DATASET ACTIVATE is used to activate each new dataset, using the
dataset names stored in dsNames.

Example: Modifying Case Values

DATA LIST FREE /cust (F2) amt (F5).
BEGIN DATA
210 4500
242 6900
370 32500
END DATA.

Python Integration Package 57

BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset()
for i in range(len(datasetObj.cases)):
# Multiply the value of amt by 1.05 for each case
datasetObj.cases[i,1] = 1.05*datasetObj.cases[i,1][0]
spss.EndDataStep()
END PROGRAM.
v The CaseList object, accessed from the cases property of a Dataset object, allows you to read or
modify case data. To access the value for a given variable within a particular case you specify the case
number and the index of the variable (index values represent position in the active dataset, starting
with 0 for the first variable in file order, and case numbers start from 0). For example,
datasetObj.cases[i,1] specifies the value of the variable with index 1 for case number i.
v When reading case values, results are returned as a list. In the present example we're accessing a single
value within each case so the list has one element.

See the topic “CaseList Class” on page 62 for more information.

Example: Comparing Datasets

Dataset objects allow you to concurrently work with the case data from multiple datasets. As a simple
example, we'll compare the cases in two datasets and indicate identical cases with a new variable added
to one of the datasets.
DATA LIST FREE /id (F2) salary (DOLLAR8) jobcat (F1).
BEGIN DATA
1 57000 3
3 40200 1
2 21450 1
END DATA.
SORT CASES BY id.
DATASET NAME empdata1.
DATA LIST FREE /id (F2) salary (DOLLAR8) jobcat (F1).
BEGIN DATA
3 41000 1
1 59280 3
2 21450 1
END DATA.
SORT CASES BY id.
DATASET NAME empdata2.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj1 = spss.Dataset(name="empdata1")
datasetObj2 = spss.Dataset(name="empdata2")
nvars = len(datasetObj1)
datasetObj2.varlist.append(’match’)
for i in range(len(datasetObj1.cases)):
if datasetObj1.cases[i] == datasetObj2.cases[i,0:nvars]:
datasetObj2.cases[i,nvars] = 1
else:
datasetObj2.cases[i,nvars] = 0
spss.EndDataStep()
END PROGRAM.
v The two datasets are first sorted by the variable id which is common to both datasets.
v Since DATA LIST creates unnamed datasets (the same is true for GET), the datasets are named using
DATASET NAME so that you can refer to them when calling spss.Dataset.
v datasetObj1 and datasetObj2 are Dataset objects associated with the two datasets empdata1 and
empdata2 to be compared.
v The code datasetObj1.cases[i] returns case number i from empdata1. The code
datasetObj2.cases[i,0:nvars] returns the slice of case number i from empdata2 that includes the
variables with indexes 0,1,...,nvars-1.
v The new variable match, added to empdata2, is set to 1 for cases that are identical and 0 otherwise.

58 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

cases Property
The cases property of a Dataset object returns an instance of the CaseList class. The CaseList class
provides access to the cases in the associated dataset, allowing you to read existing cases, modify case
values, and add new cases. See the topic “CaseList Class” on page 62 for more information.

Example
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset(’data1’)
caseListObj = datasetObj.cases
spss.EndDataStep()

name Property
The name property of a Dataset object gets the name of the associated dataset. The name cannot be
changed from within the data step. To change the name, use the DATASET NAME command following
spss.EndDataStep.

Example
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset(’data1’)
datasetName = datasetObj.name
spss.EndDataStep()

varlist Property
The varlist property of a Dataset object returns an instance of the VariableList class. The VariableList
class provides access to the variables in the associated dataset, allowing you to retrieve the properties of
existing variables, modify variable properties, and add new variables to the dataset. See the topic
“VariableList Class” on page 65 for more information.

Example
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset(’data1’)
varListObj = datasetObj.varlist
spss.EndDataStep()

dataFileAttributes Property
The dataFileAttributes property of a Dataset object gets or sets datafile attributes for the dataset. The
dataFileAttributes property behaves like a Python dictionary in terms of getting, setting, and deleting
values. A Python dictionary consists of a set of keys, each of which has an associated value that can be
accessed simply by specifying the key. In the case of datafile attributes, each key is the name of an
attribute and the associated value is the value of the attribute, which can be a single value or a list or
tuple of values. A list or tuple of values specifies an attribute array.
v When setting attributes, attribute names and values must be given as quoted strings.

Retrieving Datafile Attributes. You retrieve datafile attributes for a dataset from the dataFileAttributes
property of the associated Dataset object. You can retrieve the value of a particular attribute by specifying
the attribute name, as in:
dsObj = spss.Dataset()
attr = dsObj.dataFileAttributes[’attrName’]

Attribute values are always returned as a tuple.

You can iterate through the set of datafile attributes using the data property, as in:
dsObj = spss.Dataset()
for attrName, attrValue in dsObj.dataFileAttributes.data.iteritems():
print attrName, attrValue

Adding and Modifying Datafile Attributes. You can add new datafile attributes and modify existing
ones. For example:

Python Integration Package 59

dsObj.dataFileAttributes[’attrName’] = ’value’
v If the attribute attrName exists, it is updated with the specified value. If the attribute attrName doesn't
exist, it is added to any existing ones for the dataset.

Resetting Datafile Attributes. You can reset the datafile attributes associated with a dataset. For example:
dsObj.dataFileAttributes = {’attr1’:’value’,’attr2’:[’val1’,’val2’]}
v You reset the datafile attributes by setting the dataFileAttributes property to a new Python dictionary.
Any existing datafile attributes are cleared and replaced with the specified ones.

Deleting Datafile Attributes. You can delete a particular datafile attribute or all of them. For example:
#Delete a specified attribute
del dsObj.dataFileAttributes[’attrName’]
#Delete all attributes
del dsObj.dataFileAttributes

multiResponseSet Property
The multiResponseSet property of a Dataset object gets or sets multiple response sets for the dataset. The
multiResponseSet property behaves like a Python dictionary in terms of getting, setting, and deleting
values. A Python dictionary consists of a set of keys, each of which has an associated value that can be
accessed simply by specifying the key. In the case of multiple response sets, each key is the name of a set
and the associated value specifies the details of the set.
v The multiple response set name is a string of maximum length 63 bytes that must follow IBM SPSS
Statistics variable naming conventions. If the specified name does not begin with a dollar sign ($), then
one is added. If the name refers to an existing set, the set definition is overwritten.
v When setting a multiple response set, the details of the set are specified as a list or tuple with the
following elements in the presented order.
mrsetLabel. A string specifying a label for the set. The value cannot be wider than the limit for IBM
SPSS Statistics variable labels.
mrsetCodeAs. An integer or string specifying the variable coding: 1 or "Categories" for multiple
category sets, 2 or "Dichotomies" for multiple dichotomy sets.
mrsetCountedValue. A string specifying the value that indicates the presence of a response for a
multiple dichotomy set. This is also referred to as the “counted” value. If the set type is numeric, the
value must be a string representation of an integer. If the set type is string, the counted value, after
trimming trailing blanks, cannot be wider than the narrowest elementary variable.
varNames. A tuple or list of strings specifying the names of the elementary variables that define the set
(the list must include at least two variables).
v When getting a multiple response set, the result is a tuple of 5 elements. The first element is the label,
if any, for the set. The second element specifies the variable coding--'Categories' or 'Dichotomies'. The
third element specifies the counted value and only applies to multiple dichotomy sets. The fourth
element specifies the data type--'Numeric' or 'String'. The fifth element is a list of the elementary
variables that define the set.

Retrieving Multiple Response Sets. You retrieve multiple response sets for a dataset from the
multiResponseSet property of the associated Dataset object. You retrieve the value of a particular set by
specifying the set name, as in:
dsObj = spss.Dataset()
mrset = dsObj.multiResponseSet[’setName’]

You can iterate through the multiple response sets using the data property, as in:
dsObj = spss.Dataset()
for name, set in dsObj.multiResponseSet.data.iteritems():
print name, set

Adding and Modifying Multiple Response Sets. You can add new multiple response sets and modify
details of existing ones. For example:

60 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

dsObj.multiResponseSet[’$mltnews’] = \
["News Sources",2,"1",["Newspaper","TV","Web"]]
v If the set $mltnews exists, it is updated with the specified values. If the set $mltnews doesn't exist, it is
added to any existing ones for the dataset.

Resetting Multiple Response Sets. You can reset the multiple response sets associated with a dataset. For
example:
dsObj.multiResponseSet = \
{’$mltnews’:["News Sources",2,"1",["Newspaper","TV","Web"]],
’$mltent’:["Entertainment Sources",2,"1",["TV","Movies","Theatre","Music"]]}
v You reset the multiple response sets by setting the multiResponseSet property to a new Python
dictionary. Any existing multiple response sets are cleared and replaced with the specified ones.

Deleting Multiple Response Sets. You can delete a particular multiple response set or all sets. For
example:
#Delete a specified set
del dsObj.multiResponseSet[’setName’]
#Delete all sets
del dsObj.multiResponseSet

cache Property
The cache property of a Dataset object specifies whether caching is used when cases in the associated
dataset are read or modified. Caching typically improves performance when cases are modified in a
random manner. It is not recommended when cases are read or modified sequentially.
v The cache property is Boolean, where True specifies that caching is used. The default is False.
v When cache=True, you cannot make the following changes: append or insert cases, add or delete
variables, change the variable type.
v The value of the cache property can be modified over the life of a Dataset object. Setting cache=False
commits any changes that were specified while cache was set to True.
v The cache property is available for release 22 Fix Pack 1 and higher.

Example
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset(’data1’)
datasetObj.cache = True
spss.EndDataStep()

optimized Property
Note: This property is deprecated for release 22 Fix Pack 1 and higher. Please use the cache property
instead.

close Method
.close(). Closes the dataset. This method closes a dataset accessed through or created by the Dataset class.
It cannot be used to close an arbitrary open dataset. When used, it must be called prior to EndDataStep or
EndProcedure.
v If the associated dataset is not the active dataset, that dataset is closed and no longer available in the
session. The associated dataset will, however, remain open outside of the data step or procedure in
which it was created if the close method is not called.
v If the associated dataset is the active dataset, the association with the dataset's name is broken. The
active dataset remains active but has no name.

Note: Datasets that are not required outside of the data step or procedure in which they were accessed or
created should be closed prior to ending the data step or procedure in order to free the resources
allocated to the dataset.

Example

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import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj1 = spss.Dataset()
datasetObj2 = datasetObj1.deepCopy(name="copy1")
datasetObj1.close()
spss.EndDataStep()

deepCopy Method
.deepCopy(name). Creates a copy of the Dataset instance as well as a copy of the dataset associated with the
instance. The argument is required and specifies the name of the new dataset, as a quoted string. The
name cannot be the name of the dataset being copied or a blank string. If ’*’ is specified the copy
becomes the active dataset with a name that is automatically generated. You can retrieve the dataset
name from the name property of the new Dataset instance.

Example
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj1 = spss.Dataset()
# Make a copy of the active dataset and assign it the name "copy1"
datasetObj2 = datasetObj1.deepCopy(name="copy1")
spss.EndDataStep()

CaseList Class
The CaseList class provides access to the cases in a dataset, allowing you to read existing cases, modify
case values, and add new cases. You get an instance of the CaseList class from the cases property of the
Dataset class, as in:
datasetObj = spss.Dataset(’data1’)
caseListObj = datasetObj.cases

The number of cases in a CaseList instance, which is also the number of cases in the associated dataset,
is available using the len function, as in:
len(caseListObj)

Note: An instance of the CaseList class can only be created within a data step, and cannot be used
outside of the data step in which it was created. Data steps are initiated with the spss.StartDataStep
function.

Looping through the cases in an instance of CaseList. You can loop through the cases in an instance of
the CaseList class. For example:
for row in datasetObj.cases:
print row
v On each iteration of the loop, row is a case from the associated dataset.

Note: The CaseList class does not provide any special handling for datasets with split groups--it simply
returns all cases in the dataset. If you need to differentiate the data in separate split groups, consider
using the Cursor class to read your data, or you may want to use the spss.GetSplitVariableNames
function to manually process the split groups.

Accessing specific cases and case values. You can access a specific case or a range of cases, and you can
specify a variable or a range of variables within those cases. The result is a list, even if accessing the
value of a single variable within a single case.
v System-missing values are returned as the Python data type None.
v Values of variables with TIME and DTIME formats are returned as integers representing the number of
seconds in the time interval.
v By default, values of variables with date or datetime formats are returned as integers representing the
number of seconds from October 14, 1582. You can specify to convert values of those variables to
Python datetime.datetime objects with the cvtDates argument to the Dataset class. See the topic
“spss.Dataset Class” on page 55 for more information.

62 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Example: Accessing a Single Case

Case values are accessed by specifying the case number, starting with 0, as in:
oneCase = datasetObj.cases[0]

Case values are returned as a list where each element of the list is the value of the associated variable.

Example: Accessing a Single Value Within a Case

You can access the value for a single variable within a case by specifying the case number and the index
of the variable (index values represent position in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable
in file order). The following gets the value of the variable with index 1 for case number 0.
oneValue = datasetObj.cases[0,1]

Note that oneValue is a list with a single element.

Example: Accessing a Range of Values

You can use the Python slice notation to specify ranges of cases and ranges of variables within a case.
Values for multiple cases are returned as a list of elements, each of which is a list of values for a single
case.
# Get the values for cases 0,1, and 2
data = datasetObj.cases[0:3]
# Get the values for variables with index values 0,1, and 2
# for case number 0
data = datasetObj.cases[0,0:3]
# Get the value for the variable with index 1 for case numbers 0,1, and 2
data = datasetObj.cases[0:3,1]
# Get the values for the variables with index values 1,2 and 3
# for case numbers 4,5, and 6
data = datasetObj.cases[4:7,1:4]

Example: Negative Index Values

Case indexing supports the use of negative indices, both for the case number and the variable index. The
following gets the value of the second to last variable (in file order) for the last case.
value = datasetObj.cases[-1,-2]

Modifying case values. You can modify the values for a specific case or a range of cases, and you can set
the value of a particular variable or a range of variables within those cases.
v Values of None are converted to system-missing for numeric variables and blanks for string variables.
v Values of numeric variables with a date or datetime format should be specified as Python
time.struct_time or datetime.datetime objects, which are then converted to the appropriate IBM SPSS
Statistics value. Values of variables with TIME and DTIME formats should be specified as the number of
seconds in the time interval.

Example: Setting Values for a Single Case

Values for a single case are provided as a list or tuple of values. The first element corresponds to the first
variable in file order, the second element corresponds to the second variable in file order, and so on. Case
numbers start from 0.
datasetObj.cases[1] = [35,150,100,2110,19,2006,3,4]

Example: Setting a Single Value Within a Case

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You can set the value for a single variable within a case by specifying the case number and the index of
the variable (index values represent position in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in
file order). The following sets the value of the variable with index 0 for case number 12 (case numbers
start from 0).
datasetObj.cases[12,0] = 14

Example: Setting Ranges of Values

You can use the Python slice notation to specify ranges of cases and ranges of variables within a case.
Values for multiple cases are specified as a list or tuple of elements, each of which is a list or tuple of
values for a single case.
# Set the values for cases 0,1, and 2
datasetObj.cases[0:3] = ([172,’m’,27,34500],[67,’f’,32,32500],
[121,’f’,37,23000])
# Set the values for variables with index values 5,6, and 7 for
# case number 34
datasetObj.cases[34,5:8] = [70,1,4]
# Set the value for the variable with index 5 for case numbers 0,1, and 2
datasetObj.cases[0:3,5] = [70,72,71]
# Set the values for the variables with index values 5 and 6 for
# case numbers 4,5, and 6
datasetObj.cases[4:7,5:7] = ([70,1],[71,2],[72,2])

Example: Negative Index Values

Case indexing supports the use of negative indices, both for the case number and the variable index. The
following specifies the value of the second to last variable (in file order) for the last case.
datasetObj.cases[-1,-2] = 8

Deleting cases. You can delete a specified case from the CaseList object, which results in deleting that
case from the associated dataset. For example:
del datasetObj.cases[0]

append Method: .append(case). Appends a new case to the associated dataset and appends an element
representing the case to the corresponding CaseList instance. The argument case is a tuple or list specifying the
case values. The first element in the tuple or list is the value for the first variable in file order, the second
is the value of the second variable in file order and so on.
v The elements of case can be numeric or string values and must match the variable type of the
associated variable. Values of None are converted to system-missing for numeric variables and blanks
for string variables.
v Values of numeric variables with a date or datetime format should be specified as Python
time.struct_time or datetime.datetime objects, which are then converted to the appropriate IBM SPSS
Statistics value. Values of variables with TIME and DTIME formats should be specified as the number of
seconds in the time interval.

Example
DATA LIST FREE/numvar (F2) strvar (A1).
BEGIN DATA.
1 a
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset()
# Append a single case to the active dataset
datasetObj.cases.append([2,’b’])
spss.EndDataStep()
END PROGRAM.

insert Method: .insert(case, caseNumber). Inserts a new case into the associated dataset and inserts an
element representing the case into the corresponding CaseList instance. The argument case is a tuple or list

64 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

specifying the case values. The first element in the tuple or list is the value for the first variable in file
order, the second is the value of the second variable in file order and so on. The optional argument
caseNumber specifies the location at which the case is inserted (case numbers start from 0) and can take on
the values 0,1,...,n where n is the number of cases in the dataset. If caseNumber is omitted or equal to n,
the case is appended.
v The elements of case can be numeric or string values and must match the variable type of the
associated variable. Values of None are converted to system-missing for numeric variables and blanks
for string variables.
v Values of numeric variables with a date or datetime format should be specified as Python
time.struct_time or datetime.datetime objects, which are then converted to the appropriate IBM SPSS
Statistics value. Values of variables with TIME and DTIME formats should be specified as the number of
seconds in the time interval.

Example
DATA LIST FREE/numvar (F2) strvar (A1).
BEGIN DATA.
1 a
3 c
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset()
# Insert a single case into the active dataset at case number 1
datasetObj.cases.insert([2,’b’],1)
spss.EndDataStep()
END PROGRAM.

VariableList Class
The VariableList class provides access to the variables in a dataset, allowing you to get and set
properties of existing variables, as well as add new variables to the dataset. You get an instance of the
VariableList class from the varlist property of the Dataset class, as in:
datasetObj = spss.Dataset(’data1’)
varListObj = datasetObj.varlist

The number of variables in a VariableList instance, which is also the number of variables in the
associated dataset, is available using the len function, as in:
len(varListObj)

Note: An instance of the VariableList class can only be created within a data step, and cannot be used
outside of the data step in which it was created. Data steps are initiated with the spss.StartDataStep
function.

Looping through the variables in an instance of VariableList. You can loop through the variables in an
instance of the VariableList class, obtaining a Variable object (representing the properties of a single
variable) on each iteration. For example:
for var in datasetObj.varlist:
print var.name
v On each iteration of the loop, var is an instance of the Variable class, representing a particular variable
in the VariableList instance. The Variable class allows you to get and set variable properties, like the
measurement level and missing values. See the topic “Variable Class” on page 66 for more information.

Accessing a variable by name or index. You can obtain a Variable object for a specified variable in the
VariableList instance. The desired variable can be specified by name or index. For example:
#Get variable by name
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’salary’]
#Get variable by index
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[5]

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Deleting a variable. You can delete a specified variable from the VariableList instance, which results in
deleting it from the associated dataset. The variable to be deleted can be specified by name or index. For
example:
#Delete variable by name
del datasetObj.varlist[’salary’]
#Delete variable by index
del datasetObj.varlist[5]

append Method: .append(name,type). Appends a new variable to the associated dataset and appends a
corresponding Variable object to the associated VariableList instance. The argument name specifies the variable
name. The argument type is optional and specifies the variable type--numeric or string. The default is
numeric.
v Numeric variables are specified by a value of 0 for the variable type. String variables are specified with
a type equal to the defined length of the string (maximum of 32767).
v The properties of the new variable are set using the Variable object created by the append method. See
the topic “Variable Class” for more information.

Example
DATA LIST FREE/numvar (F2).
BEGIN DATA.
1
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset()
# Append a string variable of length 1 to the active dataset
datasetObj.varlist.append(’strvar’,1)
spss.EndDataStep()
END PROGRAM.

insert Method: .insert(name,type,index). Inserts a new variable into the associated dataset and inserts a
corresponding Variable object into the associated VariableList instance. The argument name specifies the variable
name. The optional argument type specifies the variable type--numeric or string. If type is omitted, the
variable is numeric. The optional argument index specifies the position for the inserted variable and
Variable object (the first position has an index value of 0) and can take on the values 0,1,...,n where n is
the number of variables in the dataset. If index is omitted or equal to n, the variable is appended to the
end of the list.
v Numeric variables are specified by a value of 0 for the variable type. String variables are specified with
a type equal to the defined length of the string (maximum of 32767).
v The properties of the new variable are set using the Variable object created by the insert method. See
the topic “Variable Class” for more information.

Example
DATA LIST FREE/var1 (F2) var3 (A1).
BEGIN DATA.
1 a
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset()
# Insert a numeric variable at index position 1 in the active dataset
datasetObj.varlist.insert(’var2’,0,1)
spss.EndDataStep()
END PROGRAM.

Variable Class
The Variable class allows you to get and set the properties of a variable. Instances of the Variable class
for each variable in the associated dataset are generated when the VariableList class is instantiated. In
addition, the append and insert methods of a VariableList object create associated instances of the
Variable class for appended and inserted variables. Specific variables can be accessed by name or index
(index values represent position in the dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order).

66 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

datasetObj = spss.Dataset(’data1’)
# Create a Variable object, specifying the variable by name
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’bdate’]
# Create a Variable object, specifying the variable by index
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[3]

Note: An instance of the Variable class can only be created within a data step, and cannot be used
outside of the data step in which it was created. Data steps are initiated with the spss.StartDataStep
function.

alignment Property: The alignment property of a Variable object gets or sets the alignment of data
values displayed in the Data Editor. It has no effect on the format of the variables or the display of the
variables or values in other windows or printed results. The variable alignment is specified as an integer
with one of the following values: 0 (left), 1 (right), 2 (center).

Example
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’gender’]
#Get the variable alignment
align = varObj.alignment
#Set the variable alignment
varObj.alignment = 1

attributes Property: The attributes property of a Variable object gets or sets custom variable attributes.
It can also be used to clear any custom attributes. The attributes property behaves like a Python
dictionary in terms of getting, setting, and deleting values. A Python dictionary consists of a set of keys,
each of which has an associated value that can be accessed simply by specifying the key. In the case of
variable attributes, each key is the name of an attribute and the associated value is the value of the
attribute, which can be a single value or a list or tuple of values. A list or tuple of values specifies an
attribute array.
v When setting attributes, attribute names and values must be given as quoted strings.

Retrieving Variable Attributes. You retrieve custom variable attributes for a specified variable from the
attributes property of the associated Variable object. You retrieve the value of a particular attribute by
specifying the attribute name, as in:
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’gender’]
attrValue = varObj.attributes[’attrName’]

Attribute values are always returned as a tuple.

You can iterate through the set of variable attributes using the data property, as in:
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’gender’]
for attrName, attrValue in varObj.attributes.data.iteritems():
print attrName, attrValue

Adding and Modifying Attributes. You can add new attributes and modify values of existing ones. For
example:
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’age’]
varObj.attributes[’AnswerFormat’] = ’Fill-in’
v If the attribute AnswerFormat exists, its value is updated to 'Fill-in'. If the attribute AnswerFormat doesn't
exist, it is added to any existing ones for the variable age.

Resetting Attributes. You can reset the attributes to a new specified set. For example:
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’gender’]
varObj.attributes = {’DemographicVars’:’1’,’Binary’:’Yes’}
v You reset the attributes by setting the attributes property to a new Python dictionary. Any existing
attributes for the variable are cleared and replaced with the specified set.

Deleting Attributes. You can delete a particular attribute or the entire set of attributes for a specified
variable. For example:

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varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’gender’]
#Delete the attribute Binary
del varObj.attributes[’Binary’]
#Delete all attributes
del varObj.attributes

columnWidth Property: The columnWidth property of a Variable object gets or sets the column width of
data values displayed in the Data Editor. Changing the column width does not change the defined width
of a variable. When setting the column width, the specified value must be a positive integer.

Example
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’prevexp’]
#Get the column width
width = varObj.columnWidth
#Set the column width
varObj.columnWidth = 3

format Property: The format property of a Variable object gets or sets the display format of a variable.

Example
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’id’]
#Get the variable format
format = varObj.format
#Set the variable format
varObj.format = (5,5,0)
v When getting the format, the returned value is a string consisting of a character portion (in upper case)
that specifies the format type, followed by a numeric component that indicates the defined width,
followed by a component that specifies the number of decimal positions and is only included for
numeric formats. For example, A4 is a string format with a maximum width of four, and F8.2 is a
standard numeric format with a display format of eight digits, including two decimal positions and a
decimal indicator.
v When setting the format, you provide a tuple or list of three integers specifying the format type, width,
and the number of decimal digits (for numeric formats) in that order. The width must include enough
positions to accommodate any punctuation characters such as decimal points, commas, dollar signs, or
date and time delimiters. If decimal digits do not apply, use 0 for the third element of the list or tuple.
The available format types are listed in Appendix A, “Variable Format Types,” on page 247.

Notes
v Allowable settings for decimal and width depend on the specified type. For a list of the minimum and
maximum widths and maximum decimal places for commonly used format types, see Variable Types
and Formats in the Universals section of the Command Syntax Reference, available in PDF from the Help
menu and also integrated into the overall Help system.
v Setting the width for a string variable will not change the defined length of the string. If the specified
value does not match the defined length, it is forced to be the defined length.

index Property: The index property of a Variable object gets the variable index. The index value
represents position in the dataset starting with 0 for the first variable in file order.

Example
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’bdate’]
index = varObj.index

label Property: The label property of a Variable object gets or sets the variable label.

Example
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’bdate’]
#Get the variable label
label = varObj.label
#Set the variable label
varObj.label = ’Birth Date’

68 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

measurementLevel Property: The measurementLevel property of a Variable object gets or sets the
measurement level of a variable. The measurement level is specified as a string. When setting the
measurement level the allowed values are: "NOMINAL", "ORDINAL", and "SCALE". When getting the
measurement level the additional value "UNKNOWN" may be returned for numeric variables prior to the
first data pass when the measurement level has not been explicitly set, such as data read from an external
source or newly created variables. The measurement level for string variables is always known.

Example
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’minority’]
#Get the measurement level
level = varObj.measurementLevel
#Set the measurement level
varObj.measurementLevel = "NOMINAL"

missingValues Property: The missingValues property of a Variable object gets or sets user-missing
values. The missing values are specified as a tuple or list of four elements where the first element
specifies the missing value type: 0,1,2, or 3 for that number of discrete values, -2 for a range of values,
and -3 for a range of values and a single discrete value. The remaining three elements specify the missing
values. When getting missing values, the result is returned as a tuple with this same structure.
v For string variables, returned values are right-padded to the defined width of the string variable.
v To specify LO and HI in missing value ranges, use the values returned by the spss.GetSPSSLowHigh
function.
Table 4. Specifications for missing values
missingVals[0] missingVals[1] missingVals[2] missingVals[3]
-3 Start point of range End point of range Discrete value
-2 Start point of range End point of range None
0 None None None
1 Discrete value None None
2 Discrete value Discrete value None
3 Discrete value Discrete value Discrete value

Examples

In the following examples, varObj is an instance of the Variable class.

Get the user-missing values.

missingVals = varObj.missingValues

Specify the discrete missing values 0 and 9 for a numeric variable.

varObj.missingValues = [2,0,9,None]

Specify the range of missing values 9–99 for a numeric variable.

varObj.missingValues = [-2,9,99,None]

Specify the range of missing values 9–99 and the discrete missing value 0 for a numeric variable.
varObj.missingValues = [-3,9,99,0]

Specify two missing values for a string variable.

varObj.missingValues = [2,’ ’,’NA’,None]

Clear all missing values

varObj.missingValues = [0,None,None,None]

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name Property: The name property of a Variable object gets or sets the variable name.

Example
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’bdate’]
#Get the variable name
name = varObj.name
#Set the variable name
varObj.name = ’birthdate’

role Property: The role property of a Variable object gets or sets the variable role. Valid values for
getting and setting are the following strings: "Input", "Target", "Both", "None", "Partition" or "Split".

Example
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’var1’]
#Get the variable role
role = varObj.role
#Set the variable role
varObj.role = ’Target’

type Property: The type property of a Variable object gets or sets the variable type--numeric or string.
The variable type for numeric variables is 0. The variable type for string variables is an integer equal to
the defined length of the string (maximum of 32767).

Example
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’strvar’]
#Get the variable type
type = varObj.type
#Set the variable type to a string of length 10
varObj.type = 10

valueLabels Property: The valueLabels property of a Variable object gets or sets value labels. It can
also be used to clear any value labels. The valueLabels property behaves like a Python dictionary in
terms of getting, setting, and deleting values. A Python dictionary consists of a set of keys, each of which
has an associated value that can be accessed simply by specifying the key. In the case of value labels,
each key is a value and the associated value is the label.
v When setting value labels for string variables, values must be specified as quoted strings.

Retrieving Value Labels. You retrieve value labels for a specified variable from the valueLabels property
of the associated Variable object. You retrieve the label for a particular value by specifying the value, as
in the following, which retrieves the label for the value 1:
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’origin’]
valLab = varObj.valueLabels[1]

You can iterate through the set of value labels for a variable using the data property, as in:
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’origin’]
for val, valLab in varObj.valueLabels.data.iteritems():
print val, valLab

Adding and Modifying Value Labels. You can add new value labels and modify existing ones. For
example:
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’origin’]
varObj.valueLabels[4] = ’Korean’
v If a label for the value 4 exists, its value is updated to 'Korean'. If a label for the value 4 doesn't exist, it
is added to any existing value labels for the variable origin.

Resetting Value Labels. You can reset the value labels to a new specified set. For example:
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’origin’]
varObj.valueLabels = {1:’American’,2:’Japanese’,3:’European’,
4:’Korean’,5:’Chinese’}
v You reset the value labels by setting the valueLabels property to a new Python dictionary. Any existing
value labels for the variable are cleared and replaced with the specified set.

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Deleting Value Labels. You can delete a particular value label or the entire set of value labels for a
specified variable. For example:
varObj = datasetObj.varlist[’origin’]
#Delete the value label for the value 1
del varObj.valueLabels[1]
#Delete all value labels
del varObj.valueLabels

spss.DataStep Class
The DataStep class implicitly starts and ends a data step without the need to explicitly call StartDataStep
and EndDataStep. In addition, it executes any pending transformations, eliminating the need to check for
them prior to starting a data step. The DataStep class is designed to be used with the Python with
statement as shown in the following example.

Example
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
with spss.DataStep():
datasetObj = spss.Dataset(name=None)
datasetObj.varlist.append(’numvar’)
datasetObj.varlist.append(’strvar’,1)
datasetObj.varlist[’numvar’].label = ’Sample numeric variable’
datasetObj.varlist[’strvar’].label = ’Sample string variable’
datasetObj.cases.append([1,’a’])
datasetObj.cases.append([2,’b’])
END PROGRAM.
v with spss.DataStep(): initiates a block of code associated with a data step. The data step is implicitly
started after executing any pending transformations. All code associated with the data step should
reside in the block as shown here. When the block completes, the data step is implicitly ended.

spss.DeleteXPathHandle Function
spss.DeleteXPathHandle(handle). Deletes the XPath dictionary DOM or output DOM with the specified handle
name. The argument is a handle name that was defined with a previous spss.CreateXPathDictionary
function or an IBM SPSS Statistics OMS command.

Example
handle = ’demo’
spss.DeleteXPathHandle(handle)

spss.EndDataStep Function
spss.EndDataStep(). Signals the end of a data step.
v EndDataStep must be called to end a data step initiated with StartDataStep.

For an example that uses EndDataStep, see the topic on the Dataset class.

spss.EndProcedure Function
spss.EndProcedure(). Signals the end of pivot table or text block output.
v spss.EndProcedure must be called to end output initiated with spss.StartProcedure.

spss.EvaluateXPath Function
spss.EvaluateXPath(handle,context,xpath). Evaluates an XPath expression against a specified XPath DOM and
returns the result as a list. The argument handle specifies the particular XPath DOM and must be a valid
handle name defined by a previous spss.CreateXPathDictionary function or IBM SPSS Statistics OMS
command. The argument context defines the XPath context for the expression and should be set to
"/dictionary" for a dictionary DOM or "/outputTree" for an output XML DOM created by the OMS
command. The argument xpath specifies the remainder of the XPath expression and must be quoted.

Example

Python Integration Package 71

#retrieve a list of all variable names for the active dataset.
handle=’demo’
spss.CreateXPathDictionary(handle)
context = "/dictionary"
xpath = "variable/@name"
varnames = spss.EvaluateXPath(handle,context,xpath)

Example
*Use OMS and a Python program to determine the number of uniques values
for a specific variable.
OMS SELECT TABLES
/IF COMMANDs=[’Frequencies’] SUBTYPES=[’Frequencies’]
/DESTINATION FORMAT=OXML XMLWORKSPACE=’freq_table’.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=var1.
OMSEND.

BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
handle=’freq_table’
context="/outputTree"
#get rows that are totals by looking for varName attribute
#use the group element to skip split file category text attributes
xpath="//group/category[@varName]/@text"
values=spss.EvaluateXPath(handle,context,xpath)
#the "set" of values is the list of unique values
#and the length of that set is the number of unique values
uniqueValuesCount=len(set(values))
END PROGRAM.

Note: In the IBM SPSS Statistics documentation, XPath examples for the OMS command use a namespace
prefix in front of each element name (the prefix oms: is used in the OMS examples). Namespace prefixes
are not valid for EvaluateXPath.

Documentation for the output schema and the dictionary schema is available from the Help system.

spss.GetCaseCount Function
spss.GetCaseCount(). Returns the number of cases (rows) in the active dataset. Returns a value of -1 if the
case count is not known.

Example
#build SAMPLE syntax of the general form:
#SAMPLE [NCases] FROM [TotalCases]
#Where Ncases = 10% truncated to integer
TotalCases=spss.GetCaseCount()
NCases=int(TotalCases/10)
command1="SAMPLE " + str(NCases) + " FROM " + str(TotalCases) + "."
command2="Execute."
spss.Submit([command1, command2])

spss.GetDataFileAttributeNames Function
spss.GetDataFileAttributeNames(). Returns the names of any datafile attributes, as a tuple, for the active
dataset.

Example
import spss
fileattrs = spss.GetDataFileAttributeNames()

spss.GetDataFileAttributes Function
spss.GetDataFileAttributes(attrName). Returns the attribute values, as a tuple, for the specified datafile
attribute. The argument attrName is a string that specifies the name of the attribute--for instance, a name
returned by GetDataFileAttributeNames.

Example

72 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

# Build a Python dictionary of the datafile attributes
import spss
attrDict = {}
for name in spss.GetDataFileAttributeNames():
attrDict[name] = spss.GetDataFileAttributes(name)

spss.GetDatasets Function
spss.GetDatasets(). Returns a list of the available Dataset objects. Each object in the list is an instance of the
Dataset class. The GetDatasets function is intended for use within a data step or a StartProcedure-
EndProcedure block and will return an empty list if used elsewhere. Data steps are initiated with the
spss.StartDataStep function and are used to create and manage multiple datasets.

Example
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
# Create a Dataset object for the active dataset
datasetObj1 = spss.Dataset()
# Create a new and empty dataset
datasetObj2 = spss.Dataset(name=None)
datasetNames = [item.name for item in spss.GetDatasets()]
spss.EndDataStep()

spss.GetDefaultPlugInVersion Function
spss.GetDefaultPlugInVersion(). Returns the default version of the IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration Plug-in
for Python used for Python programs. The result is a string specifying a version--for example, "spss170" for
version 17.0--and is useful when working with multiple versions of the plug-in on a given machine (see
Note below). You can change the default using the spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion function.

Note: For version 22 and higher, this function always returns the version of IBM SPSS Statistics from
which it was called.

Example
import spss
version = spss.GetDefaultPlugInVersion()

Note: The functions for managing multiple versions of the plug-in (spss.GetDefaultPlugInVersion,
spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion, and spss.ShowInstalledPlugInVersions) operate within a given Python
version, not across Python versions. For example, if you are driving IBM SPSS Statistics from a Python
IDE installed for Python 2.6 then you can view and control the versions of the plug-in installed for
Python 2.6.

spss.GetFileHandles Function
spss.GetFileHandles(). Returns a list of currently defined file handles. Each item in the list consists of the
following three elements: the name of the file handle; the path associated with the file handle; and the
encoding, if any, specified for the file handle. File handles are created with the FILE HANDLE command.

spss.GetHandleList Function
spss.GetHandleList(). Returns a list of currently defined dictionary and output XPath DOMs available for use
with spss.EvaluateXpath.

spss.GetImage Function
spss.GetImage(handle,imagename). Retrieves an image associated with an output XPath DOM. The argument
handle specifies the particular XPath DOM and must be a valid handle name defined by a previous IBM
SPSS Statistics OMS command. The argument imagename is the filename associated with the image in the
OXML output--specifically, the value of the imageFile attribute of the chart, modelView or treeView
element associated with the image.

Python Integration Package 73

The returned value is a tuple with 3 elements. The first element is the binary image. The second element
is the amount of memory required for the image. The third element is a string specifying the image type:
“PNG”, “JPG”, “BMP”.

Example
OMS
/SELECT CHARTS
/IF COMMANDS=[’Frequencies’]
/DESTINATION FORMAT=OXML IMAGES=YES
CHARTFORMAT=IMAGE IMAGEROOT=’myimages’ IMAGEFORMAT=JPG XMLWORKSPACE=’demo’.

FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=jobcat
/BARCHART PERCENT
/ORDER=ANALYSIS.

OMSEND.

BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
imagename=spss.EvaluateXPath(’demo’,’/outputTree’,
’//command[@command="Frequencies"]/chartTitle[@text="Bar Chart"]/chart/@imageFile’)[0]
image = spss.GetImage(’demo’,imagename)
f = file(’/temp/myimage.jpg’,’wb’)
f.truncate(image[1])
f.write(image[0])
f.close()
spss.DeleteXPathHandle(’demo’)
END PROGRAM.
v The OMS command routes output from the FREQUENCIES command to an output XPath DOM with the
handle name of demo.
v To route images along with the OXML output, the IMAGES keyword on the DESTINATION subcommand
(of the OMS command) must be set to YES, and the CHARTFORMAT, MODELFORMAT, or TREEFORMAT keyword
must be set to IMAGE.
v The spss.EvaluateXPath function is used to retrieve the name of the image associated with the bar
chart output from the FREQUENCIES command. In the present example, the value returned by
spss.EvaluateXPath is a list with a single element, which is then stored to the variable imagename.
v The spss.GetImage function retrieves the image, which is then written to an external file.

spss.GetLastErrorLevel and spss.GetLastErrorMessage Functions

spss.GetLastErrorLevel(). Returns a number corresponding to an error in the preceding Python Integration
Package for IBM SPSS Statistics function.
v For the spss.Submit function, it returns the maximum IBM SPSS Statistics error level for the submitted
command syntax. IBM SPSS Statistics error levels range from 1 to 5. An error level of 3 or higher
causes an exception in Python.
v For other functions, it returns an error code with a value greater than 5.
v Error codes from 6 to 99 are from the IBM SPSS Statistics XD API.
v Error codes from 1000 to 1064 are from the Python Integration Package.

IBM SPSS Statistics error levels (return codes), their meanings, and any associated behaviors are shown in
the following table.
Table 5. IBM SPSS Statistics error levels.
Value Definition Behavior
0 None Command runs
1 Comment Command runs
2 Warning Command runs
3 Serious error Command does not run, subsequent commands are processed
Command does not run, subsequent commands are not processed,
4 Fatal error
and the current job terminates

74 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Table 5. IBM SPSS Statistics error levels (continued).
Value Definition Behavior
Command does not run, subsequent commands are not processed,
5 Catastrophic error
and the IBM SPSS Statistics processor terminates

spss.GetLastErrorMessage(). Returns a text message corresponding to an error in the preceding Python

Integration Package for IBM SPSS Statistics function.
v For the spss.Submit function, it returns text associated with the highest level error for the submitted
command syntax.
v For other functions in the Python Integration Package, it returns the error message text from the IBM
SPSS Statistics XD API or from Python.

Example
DATA LIST FREE/var1 var2.
BEGIN DATA
1 2 3 4
END DATA.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
try:
spss.Submit("""
COMPUTE newvar=var1*10.
COMPUTE badvar=nonvar/4.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=ALL.
""")
except:
errorLevel=str(spss.GetLastErrorLevel())
errorMsg=spss.GetLastErrorMessage()
print("Error level " + errorLevel + ": " + errorMsg)
print("At least one command did not run.")
END PROGRAM.
v The first COMPUTE command and the FREQUENCIES command will run without errors, generating error
values of 0.
v The second COMPUTE command will generate a level 3 error, triggering the exception handling in the
except clause.

spss.GetMultiResponseSetNames Function
spss.GetMultiResponseSetNames(). Returns the names of any multiple response sets for the active dataset.

Example
import spss
names = spss.GetMultiResponseSetNames()

spss.GetMultiResponseSet Function
spss.GetMultiResponseSet(mrsetName). Returns the details of the specified multiple response set. The
argument mrsetName is a string that specifies the name of the multiple response set--for instance, a name
returned by GetMultiResponseSetNames.
v The result is a tuple of 5 elements. The first element is the label, if any, for the set. The second element
specifies the variable coding--'Categories' or 'Dichotomies'. The third element specifies the counted
value and only applies to multiple dichotomy sets. The fourth element specifies the data
type--'Numeric' or 'String'. The fifth element is a list of the elementary variables that define the set.

Example
# Build a Python dictionary of the multiple response sets
import spss
dict = {}
for name in spss.GetMultiResponseSetNames():
dict[name]=spss.GetMultiResponseSet(name)

Python Integration Package 75

spss.GetOMSTagList Function
spss.GetOMSTagList(). Returns a list of tags associated with any active OMS requests. Each OMS request has a
tag which identifies the request. The tag is specified with the TAG subcommand of the OMS command, or
automatically generated if not specified.

spss.GetSetting Function
spss.GetSetting(setting,option). Returns the value of an options setting. Specifically, this function returns
values for options that can be set with the SET command.
v The argument setting is a string specifying the name of the subcommand (of the SET command), whose
value is desired--for example "OLANG". The case of the specified string is ignored.
Note: GetSetting does not support retrieving the value of the MTINDEX subcommand of the SET
command.
v The argument option is a string specifying an option associated with the value of the setting argument.
It only applies to the MIOUTPUT subcommand of SET, for which there is a separate setting for each of the
keywords "OBSERVED", "IMPUTED", "POOLED", and "DIAGNOSTICS". When setting equals "MIOUTPUT", option
can be set to any of those four keywords to obtain the associated value of the keyword--’Yes’ or ’No’.
The case of the string specified for option is ignored.

spss.GetSplitVariableNames Function
spss.GetSplitVariableNames(). Returns the names of the split variables, if any, in the active dataset.

Example
import spss
splitvars = spss.GetSplitVariableNames()

spss.GetSPSSLocale Function
spss.GetSPSSLocale(). . Returns the current IBM SPSS Statistics locale.

Example
import spss
locale = spss.GetSPSSLocale()

spss.GetSPSSLowHigh Function
spss.GetSPSSLowHigh(). Returns the values IBM SPSS Statistics uses for LO and HI as a tuple of two values.
The first element in the tuple is the value for LO and the second is the value for HI. These values can
used to specify missing value ranges for new numeric variables with the SetVarNMissingValues method.

Example
import spss
spsslow, spsshigh = spss.GetSPSSLowHigh()

spss.GetVarAttributeNames Function
spss.GetVarAttributeNames(index). Returns the names of any variable attributes, as a tuple, for the variable in
the active dataset indicated by the index value. The argument is the index value. Index values represent
position in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order.

Example
#Create a list of variables that have a specified attribute
import spss
varList=[]
attribute=’demographicvars’
for i in range(spss.GetVariableCount()):
if (attribute in spss.GetVarAttributeNames(i)):
varList.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))
if varList:

76 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

 print "Variables with attribute " + attribute + ":"
print ’\n’.join(varList)
else:
print "No variables have the attribute " + attribute

spss.GetVarAttributes Function
spss.GetVarAttributes(index,attrName). Returns the attribute values, as a tuple, for the specified attribute of
the variable in the active dataset indicated by the index value. The argument index is the index value. Index
values represent position in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order. The
argument attrName is a string that specifies the name of the attribute--for instance, a name returned by
GetVarAttributeNames.

Example
#Create a list of variables whose attribute array contains
#a specified value
import spss
varList=[]
attrName=’demographicvartypes’
attrVal=’2’
for i in range(spss.GetVariableCount()):
try:
if(attrVal in spss.GetVarAttributes(i,attrName)):
varList.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))
except:
pass
if varList:
print "Variables with attribute value " + attrVal + \
" for attribute " + attrName + ":"
print ’\n’.join(varList)
else:
print "No variables have the attribute value " + attrVal + \
" for attribute " + attrName

spss.GetVariableCount Function
spss.GetVariableCount(). Returns the number of variables in the active dataset.

Example
#build a list of all variables by using the value of
#spssGetVariableCount to set the number of for loop interations
varcount=spss.GetVariableCount()
varlist=[]
for i in xrange(varcount):
varlist.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))

spss.GetVariableFormat Function
GetVariableFormat(index). Returns a string containing the display format for the variable in the active dataset
indicated by the index value. The argument is the index value. Index values represent position in the active
dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order.
v The character portion of the format string is always returned in all upper case.
v Each format string contains a numeric component after the format name that indicates the defined
width, and optionally, the number of decimal positions for numeric formats. For example, A4 is a
string format with a maximum width of four bytes, and F8.2 is a standard numeric format with a
display format of eight digits, including two decimal positions and a decimal indicator. The supported
format types are listed in Variable Format Types (the type code shown in the table does not apply to
the GetVariableFormat function).

Example
DATA LIST FREE
/numvar (F4) timevar1 (TIME5) stringvar (A2) timevar2 (TIME12.2).
BEGIN DATA
1 10:05 a 11:15:33.27
END DATA.

BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss

Python Integration Package 77

#create a list of all formats and a list of time format variables
varcount=spss.GetVariableCount()
formatList=[]
timeVarList=[]
for i in xrange(varcount):
formatList.append(spss.GetVariableFormat(i))
#check to see if it’s a time format
if spss.GetVariableFormat(i).find("TIME")==0:
timeVarList.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))
print formatList
print timeVarList
END PROGRAM.

spss.GetVariableLabel Function
spss.GetVariableLabel(index). Returns a character string containing the variable label for the variable in the
active dataset indicated by the index value. The argument is the index value. Index values represent position
in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order. If the variable does not have a
defined variable label, a null string is returned.

Example
#create a list of all variable labels
varcount=spss.GetVariableCount()
labellist=[]
for i in xrange(varcount):
labellist.append(spss.GetVariableLabel(i))

spss.GetVariableMeasurementLevel Function
spss.GetVariableMeasurementLevel(index). Returns a string value that indicates the measurement level for the
variable in the active dataset indicated by the index value. The argument is the index value. Index values
represent position in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order. The value
returned can be: "nominal", "ordinal", "scale", or "unknown".
v "Unknown" occurs only for numeric variables prior to the first data pass when the measurement level
has not been explicitly set, such as data read from an external source or newly created variables. The
measurement level for string variables is always known.

Example
#build a string containing scale variable names
varcount=spss.GetVariableCount()
ScaleVarList=’’
for i in xrange(varcount):
if spss.GetVariableMeasurementLevel(i)=="scale":
ScaleVarList=ScaleVarList + " " + spss.GetVariableName(i)

spss.GetVariableName Function
spss.GetVariableName(index). Returns a character string containing the variable name for the variable in the
active dataset indicated by the index value. The argument is the index value. Index values represent position
in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order.

Example
#get names of first and last variables in the file
#last variable is index value N-1 because index values start at 0
firstVar=spss.GetVariableName(0)
lastVar=spss.GetVariableName(spss.GetVariableCount()-1)
print firstVar, lastVar
#sort the data file in alphabetic order of variable names
varlist=[]
varcount=spss.GetVariableCount()
for i in xrange(varcount):
varlist.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))
sortedlist=’ ’.join(sorted(varlist))
spss.Submit(
["ADD FILES FILE=* /KEEP ",sortedlist, ".", "EXECUTE."])

78 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

spss.GetVariableRole Function
spss.GetVariableRole(index). Returns a character string containing the role for the variable in the active dataset
indicated by the index value. The argument is the index value. Index values represent position in the active
dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order. The value returned is one of the following
strings: "Input", "Target", "Both", "None", "Partition" or "Split".

Example
#Find the variable(s) with the role of "Target"
targets=[]
for i in range(spss.GetVariableCount()):
if spss.GetVariableRole(i)=="Target":
targets.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))
if len(targets):
print "Target variables:"
for i in range(len(targets)):
print targets[i]
else:
print "No target variables found"

spss.GetVariableType Function
spss.GetVariableType(index). Returns 0 for numeric variables or the defined length for string variables for the
variable in the active dataset indicated by the index value. The argument is the index value. Index values
represent position in the active dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order.

Example
#create separate strings of numeric and string variables
numericvars=’’
stringvars=’’
varcount=spss.GetVariableCount()
for i in xrange(varcount):
if spss.GetVariableType(i) > 0:
stringvars=stringvars + " " + spss.GetVariableName(i)
else:
numericvars=numericvars + " " + spss.GetVariableName(i)

spss.GetVarMissingValues Function
spss.GetVarMissingValues(index). Returns the user-missing values for the variable in the active dataset
indicated by the index value. The argument is the index value. Index values represent position in the active
dataset, starting with 0 for the first variable in file order.
v The result is a tuple of four elements where the first element specifies the missing value type: 0 for
discrete values, 1 for a range of values, and 2 for a range of values and a single discrete value. The
remaining three elements in the result specify the missing values.
v For string variables, the missing value type is always 0 since only discrete missing values are allowed.
Returned values are right-padded to the defined width of the string variable.
v If there are no missing values, the result is (0,None,None,None).
Table 6. Structure of the result
tuple[0] tuple[1] tuple[2] tuple[3]
0 Discrete value or None Discrete value or None Discrete value or None
1 Start point of range End point of range None
2 Start point of range End point of range Discrete value

Example
#List all variables without user-missing values
nomissList=[]
for i in range(spss.GetVariableCount()):
missing=spss.GetVarMissingValues(i)
if (missing[0]==0 and missing[1]==None):
nomissList.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))
if nomissList:

Python Integration Package 79

 print "Variables without user-missing values:"
print ’\n’.join(nomissList)
else:
print "All variables have user-missing values"

spss.GetWeightVar Function
spss.GetWeightVar(). Returns the name of the weight variable, or None if unweighted.

Example
import spss
weightVar = spss.GetWeightVar()

spss.GetXmlUtf16 Function
spss.GetXmlUtf16(handle, filespec). Writes the XML for the specified handle (dictionary or output XML) to a
file or returns the XML if no filename is specified. When writing and debugging XPath expressions, it is often
useful to have a sample file that shows the XML structure. This function is particularly useful for
dictionary DOMs, since there are not any alternative methods for writing and viewing the XML structure.
(For output XML, the OMS command can also write XML to a file.) You can also use this function to
retrieve the XML for a specified handle, enabling you to process it with third-party utilities like XML
parsers.

Example
handle = "activedataset"
spss.CreateXPathDictionary(handle)
spss.GetXmlUtf16(handle,’/temp/temp.xml’)

spss.HasCursor Function
spss.HasCursor(). Returns an integer indicating whether there is an open cursor. A value of 0 indicates there is
no open cursor, and a value of 1 indicates there is an open cursor. Cursors allow you to read data from
the active dataset, create new variables in the active dataset, and append cases to the active dataset. For
information on working with cursors, see the topic on the Cursor class .

spss.IsActive Function
spss.IsActive(datasetObj). Indicates whether the specified dataset is the active one. The result is Boolean—True
if the specified dataset is active, False otherwise. The argument must be an instance of the Dataset class.
The IsActive function is intended for use within a data step. Data steps are initiated with the
spss.StartDataStep function and are used to create and manage multiple datasets.

Example
import spss
spss.StartDataStep()
datasetObj = spss.Dataset(name="file1")
if not spss.IsActive(datasetObj):
spss.SetActive(datasetObj)
spss.EndDataStep()

spss.IsDistributedMode Function
spss.IsDistributedMode(). Indicates whether IBM SPSS Statistics is in distributed mode. The result is
Boolean—True if SPSS Statistics is in distributed mode, False otherwise. The IsDistributedMode function
always returns False when an external Python process is controlling the SPSS Statistics backend.

Example
import spss
if spss.IsDistributedMode():
print "SPSS Statistics is in distributed mode"
else:
print "SPSS Statistics is not in distributed mode"

80 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

spss.IsOutputOn Function
spss.IsOutputOn(). Returns the status of IBM SPSS Statistics output display in Python. The result is
Boolean—True if output display is on in Python, False if it is off. See the topic “spss.SetOutput Function”
on page 83 for more information.

Example
import spss
spss.SetOutput("on")
if spss.IsOutputOn():
print "The current IBM SPSS Statistics output setting is ’on’."
else:
print "The current IBM SPSS Statistics output setting is ’off’."

spss.Procedure Class
spss.Procedure(procName,omsIdentifier). The Procedure class implicitly starts and ends a user procedure
without the need to explicitly call StartProcedure and EndProcedure.
v The argument procName is a string and is the name that appears in the outline pane of the Viewer
associated with the output from the procedure. It has the same specifications as the procedureName
argument to the StartProcedure function.
v The optional argument omsIdentifier specifies the OMS identifier for output from this procedure and has
the same specifications as the omsIdentifier argument to the StartProcedure function. omsIdentifier is
only necessary when creating procedures with localized output so that the procedure name can be
localized but not the OMS identifier. See the topic “Localizing Output from Python Programs” on page
11 for more information.

The Procedure class is designed to be used with the Python with statement as shown in the following
example.

Example
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
with spss.Procedure("demoProc"):
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title",
"OMS table subtype")

table.SimplePivotTable(rowdim = "row dimension",

rowlabels = ["first row","second row"],
coldim = "column dimension",
collabels = ["first column","second column"],
cells = [11,12,21,22])
END PROGRAM.
v with spss.Procedure("demoProc"): initiates a block of code associated with a procedure named
demoProc and implicitly starts the procedure. All code associated with the procedure should reside in
the block as shown here. When the block completes, the procedure is implicitly ended.

spss.PyInvokeSpss.IsUTF8mode Function
spss.PyInvokeSpss.IsUTF8mode(). Indicates whether IBM SPSS Statistics is running in Unicode mode or code
page mode. The result is 1 if IBM SPSS Statistics is in Unicode mode, 0 if IBM SPSS Statistics is in code
page mode.

Example
import spss
isUTF8 = spss.PyInvokeSpss.IsUTF8mode()
if isUTF8==1:
print "IBM SPSS Statistics is running in Unicode mode."
else:
print "IBM SPSS Statistics is running in code page mode."

Python Integration Package 81

spss.PyInvokeSpss.IsXDriven Function
spss.PyInvokeSpss.IsXDriven(). Checks to see how the IBM SPSS Statistics backend is being run. The result is
1 if Python is controlling the IBM SPSS Statistics backend or 0 if IBM SPSS Statistics is controlling the
backend.

Example
import spss
spss.Submit("""
GET FILE
’/examples/data/employee data.sav’.
""")
isxd = spss.PyInvokeSpss.IsXDriven()
if isxd==1:
print "Python is driving IBM SPSS Statistics."
else:
print "IBM SPSS Statistics is driving Python."

spss.SetActive Function
spss.SetActive(datasetObj). Sets the specified dataset as the active one. The argument must be an instance of
the Dataset class. The SetActive function can only be used within a data step. Data steps are initiated
with the spss.StartDataStep function and are used to create and manage multiple datasets.

Example
# Set a newly created dataset to be active
spss.StartDataStep()
ds1 = spss.Dataset(name=None)
spss.SetActive(ds1)
spss.EndDataStep()

spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion Function
Note: This function is deprecated in release 22. See the topic “Working with Multiple Versions of IBM
SPSS Statistics” on page 8 for more information.

spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion(value). Sets the default version of the IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration Plug-in
for Python used for Python programs. This function is useful when working with multiple versions of the
plug-in on a given machine (see Note below). The value of the argument is a quoted string or an integer
specifying a plug-in version--for example, "spss160" or 160 for version 16.0. The strings representing the
installed versions of the plug-in are available from the function spss.ShowInstalledPlugInVersions.
v For versions 17.0 to 21.0, SetDefaultPlugInVersion also sets the default version of the IBM SPSS
Statistics - Integration Plug-in for Python used for Python scripts (Python code that utilizes the
SpssClient module).

Example
import spss
spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion("spss160")

Note: The functions for managing multiple versions of the plug-in (spss.GetDefaultPlugInVersion,
spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion, and spss.ShowInstalledPlugInVersions) operate within a given Python
version, not across Python versions. For example, if you are driving IBM SPSS Statistics from a Python
IDE installed for Python 2.6 then you can view and control the versions of the plug-in installed for
Python 2.6.

spss.SetMacroValue Function
spss.SetMacroValue(name, value). Defines a macro variable that can be used outside a program block in
command syntax. The first argument is the macro name, and the second argument is the macro value. Both
arguments must resolve to strings.

82 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v The argument specifying the macro value cannot contain the characters \ or ^ unless they are
contained within a quoted string.

Example
DATA LIST FREE /var1 var2 var3 var4.
begin data
1 2 3 4
end data.
VARIABLE LEVEL var1 var3 (scale) var2 var4 (nominal).

BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
macroValue=[]
macroName="!NominalVars"
varcount=spss.GetVariableCount()
for i in xrange(varcount):
if spss.GetVariableMeasurementLevel(i)=="nominal":
macroValue.append(spss.GetVariableName(i))
spss.SetMacroValue(macroName, macroValue)
END PROGRAM.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=!NominalVars.

spss.SetOutput Function
spss.SetOutput("value"). Controls the display of IBM SPSS Statistics output in Python when running IBM
SPSS Statistics from Python. Output is displayed as standard output, and charts and classification trees are
not included. When running Python from IBM SPSS Statistics within program blocks (BEGIN PROGRAM-END
PROGRAM), this function has no effect. The value of the argument is a quoted string:
v "on". Display IBM SPSS Statistics output in Python.
v "off". Do not display IBM SPSS Statistics output in Python.

Example
import spss
spss.SetOutput("on")

spss.SetOutputLanguage Function
spss.SetOutputLanguage("language"). Sets the language that is used in IBM SPSS Statistics output. The
argument is a quoted string specifying one of the following languages: "English", "French", "German",
"Italian", "Japanese", "Korean", "Polish", "Russian", "SChinese" (Simplified Chinese), "Spanish", "TChinese"
(Traditional Chinese), or "BPortugu" (Brazilian Portuguese). The setting does not apply to simple text
output.

Example
import spss
spss.SetOutputLanguage("German")

spss.ShowInstalledPlugInVersions Function
Note: This function is deprecated in release 22. See the topic “Working with Multiple Versions of IBM
SPSS Statistics” on page 8 for more information.

spss.ShowInstalledPlugInVersions(). Displays the installed versions of the IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration
Plug-in for Python. This function displays the installed versions of the plug-in--for example, "spss200" and
"spss210" for versions 20.0 and 21.0--and is useful when working with multiple versions of the plug-in
on a given machine (see Note below). Use an identifier from this list as the argument to the
spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion function.

Example
import spss
spss.ShowInstalledPlugInVersions()

Python Integration Package 83

Note: The functions for managing multiple versions of the plug-in (spss.GetDefaultPlugInVersion,
spss.SetDefaultPlugInVersion, and spss.ShowInstalledPlugInVersions) operate within a given Python
version, not across Python versions. For example, if you are driving IBM SPSS Statistics from a Python
IDE installed for Python 2.6 then you can view and control the versions of the plug-in installed for
Python 2.6.

spss.SplitChange Function
spss.SplitChange(outputName). Used to process splits when creating pivot tables from data that have splits.
The argument outputName is the name associated with the output, as specified on the associated call to
the StartProcedure function. See the topic “spss.StartProcedure Function” on page 85 for more
information.
v This function should be called after detecting a split and reading the first case of the new split. It
should also be called after reading the first case in the active dataset.
v The creation of pivot table output does not support operations involving data in different split groups.
When working with splits, each split should be treated as a separate set of data.
v Use the SPLIT FILE command to control whether split-file groups will be displayed in the same table
or in separate tables. The SPLIT FILE command should be called before the StartProcedure function.
v The IsEndSplit method from the Cursor class is used to detect a split change.

Example

In this example, a split is created and separate averages are calculated for the split groups. Results for
different split groups are shown in a single pivot table. In order to understand the example, you will
need to be familiar with creating pivot tables using the BasePivotTable class and creating output with the
spss.StartProcedure function.
import spss
from spss import CellText
from spss import FormatSpec

spss.Submit(r"""
GET FILE="/examples/data/employee data.sav".
SORT CASES BY GENDER.
SPLIT FILE LAYERED BY GENDER.
""")

spss.StartProcedure("spss.com.demo")

table = spss.BasePivotTable("Table Title","OMS table subtype")

table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,"Minority Classification")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,"coldim",hideName=True)

cur=spss.Cursor()
salary = 0; salarym = 0; n = 0; m = 0
minorityIndex = 9
salaryIndex = 5

row = cur.fetchone()
spss.SplitChange("spss.com.demo")
while True:
if cur.IsEndSplit():
if n>0:
salary=salary/n
if m>0:
salarym=salarym/m
# Populate the pivot table with values for the previous split group
table[(CellText.String("No"),CellText.String("Average Salary"))] = \
CellText.Number(salary,FormatSpec.Count)
table[(CellText.String("Yes"),CellText.String("Average Salary"))] = \
CellText.Number(salarym,FormatSpec.Count)
salary=0; salarym=0; n = 0; m = 0
# Try to fetch the first case of the next split group
row=cur.fetchone()
if not None==row:
spss.SplitChange("spss.com.demo")
else:
#There are no more cases, so quit
break
if row[minorityIndex]==1:
salarym += row[salaryIndex]

84 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

 m += 1
elif row[minorityIndex]==0:
salary += row[salaryIndex]
n += 1
row=cur.fetchone()

cur.close()
spss.EndProcedure()
v The spss.Submit function is used to submit command syntax to create a split on a gender variable. The
LAYERED subcommand on the SPLIT FILE command indicates that results for different split groups are
to be displayed in the same table. Notice that the command syntax is executed before calling
spss.StartProcedure.
v The spss.SplitChange function is called after fetching the first case from the active dataset. This is
required so that the pivot table output for the first split group is handled correctly.
v Split changes are detected using the IsEndSplit method from the Cursor class. Once a split change is
detected, the pivot table is populated with the results from the previous split.
v The value returned from the fetchone method is None at a split boundary. Once a split has been
detected, you will need to call fetchone again to retrieve the first case of the new split group, followed
by spss.SplitChange. Note: IsEndSplit returns True when the end of the dataset has been reached.
Although a split boundary and the end of the dataset both result in a return value of True from
IsEndSplit, the end of the dataset is identified by a return value of None from a subsequent call to
fetchone, as shown in this example.

spss.StartDataStep Function
spss.StartDataStep(). Signals the beginning of a data step. A data step allows you to create and manage
multiple datasets.
v You cannot use the following classes and functions within a data step: the Cursor class, the
BasePivotTable class, the BaseProcedure class, the TextBlock class, the StartProcedure function, the
Submit function, and the StartDataStep function (data steps cannot be nested).
v The StartDataStep function cannot be used if there are pending transformations. If you need to access
case data in the presence of pending transformations, use the Cursor class.
v To end a data step, use the EndDataStep function.

For an example of using StartDataStep, see the topic on the Dataset class.

To avoid the need to check for pending transformations before starting a data step, use the DataStep
class. It implicitly starts and ends a data step and executes any pending transformations.

spss.StartProcedure Function
spss.StartProcedure(procedureName,omsIdentifier). Signals the beginning of pivot table or text block output.
Pivot table and text block output is typically associated with procedures. Procedures are user-defined
Python functions or custom Python classes that can read the data, perform computations, add new
variables and/or new cases to the active dataset, create new datasets, and produce pivot table output and
text blocks in the IBM SPSS Statistics Viewer. Procedures have almost the same capabilities as built-in
IBM SPSS Statistics procedures, such as DESCRIPTIVES and REGRESSION, but they are written in Python by
users. You read the data and create new variables and/or new cases in the active dataset using the
Cursor class, or create new datasets with the Dataset class. Pivot tables are created using the
BasePivotTable class. Text blocks are created using the TextBlock class.
v The argument procedureName is a string and is the name that appears in the outline pane of the Viewer
associated with the output. If the optional argument omsIdentifier is omitted, then procedureName is also
the command name associated with this output when routing it with OMS (Output Management
System), as used in the COMMANDS keyword of the OMS command.
v The optional argument omsIdentifier is a string and is the command name associated with this output
when routing it with OMS (Output Management System), as used in the COMMANDS keyword of the OMS
command. If omsIdentifier is omitted, then the value of the procedureName argument is used as the OMS

Python Integration Package 85

 identifier. omsIdentifier is only necessary when creating procedures with localized output so that the
procedure name can be localized but not the OMS identifier. See the topic “Localizing Output from
Python Programs” on page 11 for more information.
v In order that names associated with output not conflict with names of existing IBM SPSS Statistics
commands (when working with OMS), it is recommended that they have the form
yourcompanyname.com.procedurename.
v Within a StartProcedure-EndProcedure block you cannot use the spss.Submit function. You cannot
nest StartProcedure-EndProcedure blocks.
v Within a StartProcedure-EndProcedure block, you can create a single cursor instance.
v Instances of the Dataset class created within StartProcedure-EndProcedure blocks cannot be set as the
active dataset.
v Output from StartProcedure-EndProcedure blocks does not support operations involving data in
different split groups. When working with splits, each split should be treated as a separate set of data.
To cause results from different split groups to display properly in custom pivot tables, use the
SplitChange function. Use the IsEndSplit method from the Cursor class to determine a split change.
v spss.StartProcedure must be followed by spss.EndProcedure.
Note: You can use the spss.Procedure class to implicitly start and end a procedure without the need to
call StartProcedure and EndProcedure. See the topic “spss.Procedure Class” on page 81 for more
information.

Example

As an example, we will create a procedure that calculates group means for a selected variable using a
specified categorical variable to define the groups. The output of the procedure is a pivot table displaying
the group means. For an alternative approach to creating the same procedure, but with a custom class,
see the example for the spss.BaseProcedure class.
def groupMeans(groupVar,sumVar):

#Determine variable indexes from variable names

varCount = spss.GetVariableCount()
groupIndex = 0
sumIndex = 0
for i in range(varCount):
varName = spss.GetVariableName(i)
if varName == groupVar:
groupIndex = i
continue
elif varName == sumVar:
sumIndex = i
continue

varIndex = [groupIndex,sumIndex]
cur = spss.Cursor(varIndex)
Counts={};Statistic={}

#Calculate group sums

for i in range(cur.GetCaseCount()):
row = cur.fetchone()
cat=int(row[0])
Counts[cat]=Counts.get(cat,0) + 1
Statistic[cat]=Statistic.get(cat,0) + row[1]

cur.close()

#Call StartProcedure
spss.StartProcedure("mycompany.com.groupMeans")

#Create a pivot table

table = spss.BasePivotTable("Group Means","OMS table subtype")
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.row,
spss.GetVariableLabel(groupIndex))
table.Append(spss.Dimension.Place.column,
spss.GetVariableLabel(sumIndex))

category2 = spss.CellText.String("Mean")
for cat in sorted(Counts):
category1 = spss.CellText.Number(cat)
table[(category1,category2)] = \

86 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

 spss.CellText.Number(Statistic[cat]/Counts[cat])

#Call EndProcedure
spss.EndProcedure()
v groupMeans is a Python user-defined function containing the procedure that calculates the group
means.
v The arguments required by the procedure are the names of the grouping variable (groupVar) and the
variable for which group means are desired (sumVar).
v The name associated with output from this procedure is mycompany.com.groupMeans. The output
consists of a pivot table populated with the group means.
v spss.EndProcedure marks the end of output creation.

Saving and Running Procedures

To use a procedure you have written, you save it in a Python module on the Python search path so that
you can call it. A Python module is simply a text file containing Python definitions and statements. You
can create a module with a Python IDE, or with any text editor, by saving a file with an extension of .py.
The name of the file, without the .py extension, is then the name of the module. You can have many
functions in a single module. To be sure that Python can find your new module, you may want to save it
to your Python "site-packages" directory, typically /Python27/Lib/site-packages.

For the example procedure described above, you might choose to save the definition of the groupMeans
function to a Python module named myprocs.py. And be sure to include an import spss statement in the
module. Sample command syntax to run the function is:
import spss, myprocs
spss.Submit("get file=’/examples/data/Employee data.sav’.")
myprocs.groupMeans("educ","salary")
v The import statement containing myprocs makes the contents of the Python module myprocs.py
available to the current session (assuming that the module is on the Python search path).
v myprocs.groupMeans("educ","salary") runs the groupMeans function for the variables educ and salary
in /examples/data/Employee data.sav.

Result

Figure 16. Output from the groupMeans procedure

Python Integration Package 87

spss.StartSPSS Function
spss.StartSPSS(hide, show, notes, nfc, nl). Starts a session of IBM SPSS Statistics.
v This function starts a session of IBM SPSS Statistics, for use when driving IBM SPSS Statistics from
Python. The function has no effect if a session is already running. Note: The spss.Submit function
automatically starts a session of IBM SPSS Statistics.
v This function has no effect when running Python from IBM SPSS Statistics (within program blocks
defined by BEGIN PROGRAM-END PROGRAM).
v The optional argument hide specifies types of output items that are omitted from generated output.
The value is one or more characters that specify the output types to hide. Do not include spaces when
multiple types are specified. For example, to hide warnings and text output, specify hide=’WT’. See the
table that follows for the allowed values.
v The optional argument show specifies types of output items that are included in generated output. The
value is one or more characters that specify the output types to show. Do not include spaces when
multiple types are specified. For example, to show notes tables and output titles, specify show=’NE’. See
the table that follows for the allowed values.
v The optional argument notes specifies whether notes tables are included in generated output. The
value is a Boolean and the default is False, which specifies that notes tables are not included. Setting
notes=True is equivalent to setting show=’N’.
v The optional argument nfc specifies whether footnotes and captions are included in the generated
output for tables. The value is a Boolean and the default is True, which specifies that footnotes and
captions are included in the output.
v The optional argument nl specifies whether all layers of a multi-layer table are included in the
generated output. The value is a Boolean and the default is True, which specifies that all layers are
included in the output. The value False specifies that only the first layer is included in the output.
Table 7. Arguments and display defaults for output items
Output Item Description Value for show or hide Displayed by default?
argument
Warnings Warning messages that occurred when W Yes
the procedure was run
Note Information about how the output was N No
created
Output title Title connected to the output of a E No
procedure
Page title Title connected to a page G No
Pivot table Tabular statistical output P Yes
Text output Output not displayed in pivot tables T Yes

spss.StopSPSS Function
spss.StopSPSS(). Stops IBM SPSS Statistics, ending the session.
v This function is ignored when running Python from IBM SPSS Statistics (within program blocks
defined by BEGIN PROGRAM-END PROGRAM).
v When running IBM SPSS Statistics from Python, this function ends the IBM SPSS Statistics session, and
any subsequent spss.Submit functions that restart IBM SPSS Statistics will not have access to the active
dataset or to any other session-specific settings (for example, OMS output routing commands) from the
previous session.

Example: Running IBM SPSS Statistics from Python

import spss
#start a session and run some commands
#including one that defines an active dataset

88 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

spss.Submit("""
GET FILE ’/examples/data/employee data.sav’.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=gender jobcat.
""")
#shutdown the session
spss.StopSPSS()
#insert a bunch of Python statements
#starting a new session and running some commands without defining
#an active dataset results in an error
spss.Submit("""
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=gender jobcat.
""")

Example: Running Python from IBM SPSS Statistics

BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
#start a session and run some commands
#including one that defines an active dataset
spss.Submit("""
GET FILE ’/examples/data/employee data.sav’.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=gender jobcat.
""")
#following function is ignored
spss.StopSPSS()
#active dataset still exists and subsequent spss.Submit functions
#will work with that active dataset.
spss.Submit("""
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=gender jobcat.
""")
END PROGRAM.

spss.Submit Function
spss.Submit(command text). Submits the command text to IBM SPSS Statistics for processing. The argument
can be a quoted string, a list, or a tuple.
v The argument should resolve to one or more complete IBM SPSS Statistics commands.
v For lists and tuples, each element must resolve to a string.
v You can also use the Python triple-quoted string convention to specify blocks of IBM SPSS Statistics
commands on multiple lines that more closely resemble the way you might normally write command
syntax.
v If IBM SPSS Statistics is not currently running (when driving IBM SPSS Statistics from Python),
spss.Submit will start the IBM SPSS Statistics backend processor.
v Submitted syntax for MATRIX-END MATRIX and BEGIN DATA-END DATA blocks cannot be split across BEGIN
PROGRAM-END PROGRAM blocks.
v The following commands are not supported by Submit when driving IBM SPSS Statistics from Python:
OUTPUT EXPORT, OUTPUT OPEN and OUTPUT SAVE.

Example
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
#run a single command
spss.Submit("DISPLAY NAMES.")
#run two commands
spss.Submit(["DISPLAY NAMES.", "SHOW $VARS."])

#build and run two commands

command1="FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=var1."
command2="DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=var3."
spss.Submit([command1, command2])
END PROGRAM.

Example: Triple-Quoted Strings

BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss
file="/examples/data/demo.sav"
varlist="marital gender inccat"
spss.Submit("""
GET FILE=’%s’.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=%s

Python Integration Package 89

 /STATISTICS NONE
/BARCHART.
""" %(file,varlist))
END PROGRAM.

Within the triple-quoted string, %s is used for string substitution; thus, you can insert Python variables
that resolve to strings in the quoted block of commands.

spss.TextBlock Class
spss.TextBlock(name,content,outline). Creates and populates a text block item in the Viewer. The argument
name is a string that specifies the name of this item in the outline pane of the Viewer. The argument
content is a string that specifies the text. The string may include the escape sequence \n to specify line
breaks, but must otherwise be specified as plain text (HTML and rich text formatting are not supported).
You can also add lines using the append method. The optional argument outline is a string that specifies a
title for this item that appears in the outline pane of the Viewer. The item for the text block itself will be
placed one level deeper than the item for the outline title. If outline is omitted, the Viewer item for the text
block will be placed one level deeper than the root item for the output containing the text block.

An instance of the TextBlock class can only be used within a StartProcedure-EndProcedure block or
within a custom procedure class based on the spss.BaseProcedure class.

Example
import spss
spss.StartProcedure("mycompany.com.demo")
textBlock = spss.TextBlock("Text block name",
"A single line of text.")
spss.EndProcedure()

Figure 17. Sample text block

v This example shows how to generate a text block within a spss.StartProcedure-spss.EndProcedure

block. The output will be contained under an item named mycompany.com.demo in the outline pane of
the Viewer.
v The variable textBlock stores a reference to the instance of the text block object. You will need this object
reference if you intend to append additional lines to the text block with the append method.

append Method
.append(line,skip). Appends lines to an existing text block. The argument line is a string that specifies the
text. The string may include the escape sequence \n to specify line breaks, but must otherwise be

90 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

specified as plain text (HTML and rich text formatting are not supported). The optional argument skip
specifies the number of new lines to create when appending the specified line. The default is 1 and
results in appending the single specified line. Integers greater than 1 will result in blank lines preceding
the appended line. For example, specifying skip=3 will result in two blank lines before the appended line.

Example
import spss
spss.StartProcedure("mycompany.com.demo")
textBlock = spss.TextBlock("Text block name",
"A single line of text.")
textBlock.append("A second line of text.")
textBlock.append("A third line of text preceded by a blank line.",skip=2)
spss.EndProcedure()

Python Integration Package 91

92 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics
Scripting Guide
Introduction to Python Scripts
®
The Scripting Facility for IBM SPSS Statistics provides the ability to create Python scripts that operate
on the IBM SPSS Statistics user interface, manipulate output objects, and run command syntax. This
feature requires the IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration Plug-in for Python, which is installed by default
with your IBM SPSS Statistics product..

A companion interface is available for creating Python programs that enable you to control the flow of
command syntax jobs, read and write data, and create custom procedures. See the topic “Introduction to
Python Programs” on page 3 for more information.

Scope

You can run Python scripts directly from within IBM SPSS Statistics, from within Python programs, or
from an external Python process, such as a Python IDE or the Python interpreter.

Python Script Run from IBM SPSS Statistics. You can run a Python script from Utilities>Run Script or
from the Python script editor which is launched when opening a Python file (.py) from File>Open>Script.
Scripts run from the Python editor that is launched from IBM SPSS Statistics operate on the IBM SPSS
Statistics client that launched the editor. This allows you to debug your Python code from a Python
editor.

Python Script Run from an External Python Process. You can run a Python script from any external
Python process, such as a Python IDE that is not launched from IBM SPSS Statistics, or the Python
interpreter. The script will attempt to connect to an existing IBM SPSS Statistics client. If more than one
client is found, a connection is made to the most recently launched one. If an existing client is not found,
the Python script starts up a new instance of the IBM SPSS Statistics client. By default, the Data Editor
and Viewer are invisible for the new client. You can choose to make them visible or work in invisible
mode with datasets and output documents.
v Mac. To run a Python script from an external Python process on Mac, launch the Programmability
External Python Process application, installed with IBM SPSS Statistics - Essentials for Python and
located in the directory where IBM SPSS Statistics is installed. The application launches IDLE (the
default IDE provided with Python) and sets environment variables necessary for driving IBM SPSS
Statistics.

Python Script Run from Python Program. You can run a Python script from a Python program by
importing the Python module containing the script and calling the function in the module that
implements the script. You can also call Python script methods directly from within a Python program.
See the topic “Running Python Scripts from Python Programs” on page 98 for more information.
v This feature is not available when running a Python program from an external Python process or when
running a Python program from the IBM SPSS Statistics Batch Facility (available with IBM SPSS
Statistics Server).
v When running Python scripting code from a Python program in distributed mode, you may need to
configure your firewall to allow access from the remote server to which you are connected.

Limitations
v The interfaces exposed by the spss module (the module used for Python programs) cannot be used in
a Python script.
v Calling methods in the SpssClient module with keyword arguments--in other words, keyword =
value--is not supported.

93
Help

General information on the Scripting Facility for IBM SPSS Statistics and additional information on
Python scripts is available from Core System>Scripting Facility in the Help system .

Script Editor for the Python Programming Language

For the Python programming language, the default editor is IDLE, which is provided with Python. IDLE
provides an integrated development environment (IDE) with a limited set of features. Many IDE's are
available for the Python programming language. For instance, on Windows you might choose to use the
freely available PythonWin IDE.

To change the script editor for the Python programming language:

1. Open the file clientscriptingcfg.ini, located in the directory where IBM SPSS Statistics is installed. Note:
clientscriptingcfg.ini must be edited with a UTF-16 aware editor, such as SciTE on Windows or the
TextEdit application on Mac.
2. Under the section that is labeled [Python2] or [Python3], change the value of EDITOR_PATH to point to
the file that starts the editor. The specifications for Python 2 and Python 3 are independent.
3. In that same section, change the value of EDITOR_ARGS to handle any arguments that need to be passed
to the editor. If no arguments are required, remove any existing values.

Working with Multiple Versions of IBM SPSS Statistics

For versions 16.0 to 21.0, special considerations apply when multiple versions of the IBM SPSS Statistics -
Integration Plug-in for Python (each associated with a major version of IBM SPSS Statistics, such as 20 or
21) are installed on your computer.

Running Python Scripts from Within IBM SPSS Statistics

Important: This section only applies to versions 16.0 to 21.0.

By default, Python scripts run from within the last installed version of IBM SPSS Statistics will
automatically use the appropriate version of the plug-in. To run Python scripts from within a different
version of IBM SPSS Statistics, use the SpssClient.SetDefaultJCVersion method to set the default to a
different version (the setting persists across sessions). You can then run Python scripts from within the
other version. If you are attempting to change the default version from 16.0 to 17.0, additional
configuration is required; please see the Notes below.

Running Python Scripts from an External Python Process

Important: This section only applies to versions 16.0 to 21.0. For version 22 and higher, see “Running
IBM SPSS Statistics from an External Python Process” on page 9.

When running Python scripts from a separate Python process, such as the Python interpreter or a Python
IDE, the plug-in will drive the version of IBM SPSS Statistics that matches the default plug-in version
specified for that version of Python. Unless you change it, the default plug-in version for a given version
of Python (such as Python 2.7) is the last one installed. You can view the default version using the
SpssClient.GetDefaultJCVersion method and you can change the default version using the
SpssClient.SetDefaultJCVersion method. The setting persists across sessions. If you are attempting to
change the default version from 16.0 to 17.0, additional configuration is required; please see the Notes
below.

Note:

94 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

To change the default version from 16.0 to 17.0, you will need to manually modify the file SpssClient.pth
located in the Python 2.5 site-packages directory. Change the order of entries in the file so that the first line
is SpssClient170. You should also ensure that the first line in spss.pth (also located in site-packages) is
spss170.
v Windows. The site-packages directory is located in the Lib directory under the Python 2.5 installation
directory—for example, C:\Python25\Lib\site-packages.
v Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). The site-packages directory is located at /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/
Versions/2.5/lib/python2.5/site-packages.
v Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). The site-packages directory is located at /Library/Python/2.5/site-packages.
v Linux and UNIX Server. The site-packages directory is located in the /lib/python2.5/ directory under the
Python 2.5 installation directory—for example, /usr/local/python25/lib/python2.5/site-packages.

Class Hierarchy for Scripting Facility

The following diagram shows the hierarchy of classes available to Python scripts.

Scripting Guide 95
Getting Started with Python Scripts
The basic structure of a Python script is:
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
<Python language statements>
SpssClient.StopClient()
v The import SpssClient statement imports the Python module containing the IBM SPSS Statistics
classes and methods available in the Python scripting interface.

96 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v SpssClient.StartClient() provides a connection to the associated IBM SPSS Statistics client, enabling
the script to retrieve information from the client and to perform operations on objects managed by the
client, such as pivot tables. Whether the script connects to an existing client or starts up a new client
depends on how the script was invoked. See the topic “Introduction to Python Scripts” on page 93 for
more information.
v SpssClient.StopClient() terminates the connection to the IBM SPSS Statistics client and should be
called at the completion of each Python script.
Note: If you're running a Python script from an external Python process that starts up a new client, call
SpssClient.Exit() before SpssClient.StopClient().

Example

This script accesses the designated output document and sets each of the pivot tables as selected.
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT:
OutputItem.SetSelected(True)
SpssClient.StopClient()

Target for Standard output

The Python print statement writes output to Python's standard output. When you run a Python script
from Utilities>Run Script, Python's standard output is directed to a log item in the IBM SPSS Statistics
Viewer.

Getting Started with Autoscripts in Python

Autoscripts are scripts that run automatically when triggered by the creation of specific pieces of output
from selected procedures and typically require a reference to the object that triggered the script. They
may also require a reference to the associated output document and possibly the index of the output item
in the output document. These values are obtained from the SpssScriptContext object, as shown in this
example of an autoscript that transposes the rows and columns of a pivot table.
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

SpssScriptContext = SpssClient.GetScriptContext()
SpssOutputItem = SpssScriptContext.GetOutputItem()
SpssPivotTable = SpssOutputItem.GetSpecificType()
SpssPivotMgr = SpssPivotTable.PivotManager()
SpssPivotMgr.TransposeRowsWithColumns()

SpssClient.StopClient()
v SpssClient.GetScriptContext returns an SpssScriptContext object that provides values for use by the
autoscript.
v The GetOutputItem method of the SpssScriptContext object returns the output item that triggered the
current autoscript--in this example, the pivot table whose rows and columns are to be transposed.

Although not used in this example, the GetOutputDoc method of the SpssScriptContext object returns the
associated output document, and the GetOutputItemIndex method returns the index (in the associated
output document) of the output item that triggered the autoscript.

General information on autoscripts is available from Core System>Scripting Facility in the Help system.

Detecting When a Script is Run as an Autoscript

Scripting Guide 97
Using the GetScriptContext method, you can detect when a script is being run as an autoscript. This
allows you to code a script so that it functions in either context (autoscript or not). This trivial script
illustrates the approach.
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

SpssScriptContext = SpssClient.GetScriptContext()
if SpssScriptContext == None:
print "I’m not an autoscript"
else:
print "I’m an autoscript"

SpssClient.StopClient()
v When a script is not run as an autoscript, the GetScriptContext method will return a value of None.
v Given the if-else logic in this example, you would include your autoscript-specific code in the else
clause. Any code that is not to be run in the context of an autoscript would be included in the if
clause. Of course you can also include code that is to be run in either context.

Running Python Scripts from Python Programs

You can run Python scripts from Python programs and you can call Python script methods from within a
Python program. This allows you to write Python programs that operate on user interface and output
objects.
v This feature is only available when running a Python program from the IBM SPSS Statistics
client--within a BEGIN PROGRAM-END PROGRAM block in command syntax or within an extension
command. It is not available when running a Python program from an external Python process.
v When running Python scripting code from a Python program in distributed mode, you may need to
configure your firewall to allow access from the remote server to which you are connected.

Example: Calling a Python Script from a Python Program

This example shows a Python program that creates a custom pivot table and calls a Python script to
make the column labels of the table bold.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss, MakeColsBold
spss.StartProcedure("Demo")
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Sample Table","OMS subtype")
table.SimplePivotTable(rowlabels = ["1","2"],
collabels = ["A","B"],
cells = ["1A","1B","2A","2B"])
spss.EndProcedure()
MakeColsBold.Run("Sample Table")
END PROGRAM.
v Python programs use the interface exposed by the Python spss module, so the first line of the program
contains an import statement for that module. The Python script is assumed to be contained in a
Python module named MakeColsBold, so the import statement also includes that module.
v The code from spss.StartProcedure to spss.EndProcedure creates a pivot table titled "Sample Table".
v MakeColsBold.Run("Sample Table") calls the Run function in the MakeColsBold module and passes the
value "Sample Table" as the argument. The Run function implements the Python script to make the
column labels of the specified table bold.

The content of the MakeColsBold module is as follows:

import SpssClient

def Run(tableName):
SpssClient.StartClient()
OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()
for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):
OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT \
and OutputItem.GetDescription() == tableName:
PivotTable = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()
ColumnLabels = PivotTable.ColumnLabelArray()

98 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

 for i in range(ColumnLabels.GetNumColumns()):
ColumnLabels.SelectLabelAt(1,i)
PivotTable.SetTextStyle(SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold)
SpssClient.StopClient()
v The import SpssClient statement is needed to access the classes and methods available in the Python
scripting interface.
v The module contains a single function named Run, which implements the script. It takes a single
argument that specifies the name of the table to modify. There is nothing special about the name Run
and the module is not limited to a single function. You can create a module that contains many
functions, each of which implements a different script.
v The Run function calls SpssClient.StartClient() to provide a connection to the associated IBM SPSS
Statistics client and SpssClient.StopClient() to terminate the connection at the completion of the
script.

Example: Calling Python Scripting Methods Directly from a Python Program

This example shows a Python program that creates a custom pivot table and makes direct calls to Python
scripting methods to make the title of the table italic.
BEGIN PROGRAM.
import spss, SpssClient
spss.StartProcedure("Demo")
table = spss.BasePivotTable("Sample Table","OMS subtype")
table.SimplePivotTable(cells = ["A","B","C","D"])
spss.EndProcedure()

SpssClient.StartClient()
OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()
OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(OutputItems.Size()-1)
PivotTable = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()
PivotTable.SelectTitle()
PivotTable.SetTextStyle(SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSItalic)
SpssClient.StopClient()
END PROGRAM.
v The import spss, SpssClient statement provides access to the classes and methods available for
Python programs (spss) as well as those for Python scripts (SpssClient).
v The code from spss.StartProcedure to spss.EndProcedure is the Python program code that creates the
pivot table.
v The code from SpssClient.StartClient() to SpssClient.StopClient() is the Python script code that
makes the title italic.

SpssClient Class
The SpssClient class is the top level class for the IBM SPSS Statistics Python scripting interface. From an
SpssClient object you can:
v Access the current data, syntax, or output document.
v Open and access a saved data, syntax, or output document.
v Create and access a new data, syntax, or output document.
v Obtain a list of all open data, syntax, or output documents.
v Run command syntax.
v Get and set options available from Edit>Options in the user interface.
v Get and set export options for exporting output.
v Get values pertinent to an autoscript, such as the output item that triggered the autoscript.
v Obtain information about configured instances of IBM SPSS Statistics Server and configure new
instances.

Scripting Guide 99
The SpssClient object is always available to a script, but you must call SpssClient.StartClient to
establish a connection to the IBM SPSS Statistics client before you can use any of the other methods in the
class. See the topic “Getting Started with Python Scripts” on page 96 for more information.

CreateNewServer Method
Creates a new server configuration and returns an SpssServerConf object. To add this server to the list of
configured servers, use the Add method in the SpssServerConfList class. You can obtain an instance of
SpssServerConfList from the GetConfiguredServers method in the SpssClient class.

Syntax

SpssServerConf=SpssClient.CreateNewServer(serverName,port,desc)

Parameters

serverName. The machine name or IP address of the IBM SPSS Statistics Server machine

port. Port number for IBM SPSS Statistics Server

desc. Textual description of the server

Exit Method
Terminates the instance of the IBM SPSS Statistics client associated with the current script. This method is
intended for use when running a script from an external Python process (such as a Python IDE or the
Python interpreter), and will terminate the instance of the IBM SPSS Statistics client associated with the
script. The method has no effect when called from a script that is run from within the IBM SPSS Statistics
client, either through Utilities>Run Script or from a Python IDE launched from File>Open>Script or
File>New>Script.

Syntax

SpssClient.Exit()

GetActiveDataDoc Method
Returns the active dataset as an SpssDataDoc object.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc=SpssClient.GetActiveDataDoc()

GetConfiguredServers Method
Returns the list of configured servers as an SpssServerConfList object. The list consists of SpssServerConf
objects for each of the configured servers, including the local computer.

Syntax

SpssServerConfList=SpssClient.GetConfiguredServers()

GetCurrentDirectory Method
Returns the current working directory of the IBM SPSS Statistics client.

Syntax

100 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssClient.GetCurrentDirectory()

GetCurrentServer Method
Returns an SpssServerConf object representing the current server (may be an instance of IBM SPSS
Statistics Server or the local computer).

Syntax

SpssServerConf=SpssClient.GetCurrentServer()

GetDataDocuments Method
Returns the list of open datasets as a DataDocsList object. Each item in the list is an SpssDataDoc object.

Syntax

DataDocsList=SpssClient.GetDataDocuments()

GetDefaultJCVersion Method
Returns a string specifying the default version of the IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration Plug-in for Python
used for Python scripts--for example, "SpssClient170" for version 17.0. This method is useful when
working with multiple versions of the plug-in on a given machine (see Note below). You can change the
default using the SetDefaultJCVersion method.

Syntax

SpssClient.GetDefaultJCVersion()

Note: The methods for managing multiple versions of the plug-in (SpssClient.GetDefaultJCVersion, and
SpssClient.SetDefaultJCVersion) operate within a given Python version, not across Python versions. For
example, if you are driving IBM SPSS Statistics from a Python IDE installed for Python 2.6 then you can
view and control the versions of the plug-in installed for Python 2.6.

See the topic “Working with Multiple Versions of IBM SPSS Statistics” on page 94 for more information.

GetDefaultServer Method
Returns an SpssServerConf object representing the default server (may be an instance of IBM SPSS
Statistics Server or the local computer).

Syntax

SpssServerConf=SpssClient.GetDefaultServer()

GetDesignatedOutputDoc Method
Returns an SpssOutputDoc object representing the designated output document.
v If you have more than one open output document, output is routed to the designated one.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc=SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()

Scripting Guide 101

GetDesignatedSyntaxDoc Method
Returns an SpssSyntaxDoc object representing the designated syntax document.
v If you have more than one open syntax document, command syntax is pasted into the designated one.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc=SpssClient.GetDesignatedSyntaxDoc()

GetExportOption Method
Returns the value of the specified export option, as a string.

Syntax

SpssClient.GetExportOption(option)

Parameters

The value of option is the identifier SpssClient.ExportOptions, followed by a period (.) and the name of
the option--for example, SpssClient.ExportOptions.GraphExportType. See Export Options for the
available list of options.

GetLocale Method
Returns a string specifying the current locale. The locale consists of the language, country and char set
information.

Syntax

SpssClient.GetLocale()

GetLocalServer Method
Returns an SpssServerConf object representing the local computer.

Syntax

SpssServerConf=SpssClient.GetLocalServer()

GetOutputDocuments Method
Returns the list of open output documents as an OutputDocsList object. Each item in the list is an
SpssOutputDoc object.

Syntax

OutputDocsList=SpssClient.GetOutputDocuments()

GetPreference Method
Returns the value of the specified preference option, as a string.

Syntax

SpssClient.GetPreference(option)

102 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

The value of option is the identifier SpssClient.PreferenceOptions, followed by a period (.) and the name
of the option--for example, SpssClient.PreferenceOptions.VariableListDisplay. See Preference Options
for the available list of options.

GetScriptContext Method
Returns an SpssScriptContext object that allows you to determine the context in which a script is being
run--as an autoscript, or not.
v When the script is being run as an autoscript, the returned SpssScriptContext object provides access to
the output item that triggered the autoscript as well as the associated output document.
v When the script is not being run as an autoscript, GetScriptContext returns None.

Syntax

SpssScriptContext=SpssClient.GetScriptContext()

GetSPSSOptions Method
Returns a string which is a concatenation of three-letter abbreviations for each of the licensed options.
You can determine if a specified option is available from the IsOptionAvailable method.

Syntax

options=SpssClient.GetSPSSOptions()

The options and associated three-letter abbreviations are as follows:

Bas. Base

Pro. Regression

Adv. Advanced Statistics

Cyt. Exact Test

Cat. Categories

Mva. Missing Values

Con. Conjoint

Msa. Custom Tables

Csp. Complex Samples

Tre. Decision Trees

Vld. Data Preparation

Trd. Forecasting

Pes. Statistics Adaptor

Neu. Neural Networks

Rfm. RFM

Scripting Guide 103

GetSPSSPath Method
Returns a string specifying the path to the IBM SPSS Statistics installation directory.

Syntax

path=SpssClient.GetSPSSPath()

GetSPSSVersion Method
Returns a string specifying the IBM SPSS Statistics version.

Syntax

version=SpssClient.GetSPSSVersion()

GetSyntaxDocuments Method
Returns the list of open syntax documents as a SyntaxDocsList object. Each item in the list is an
SpssSyntaxDoc object.

Syntax

SyntaxDocsList=SpssClient.GetSyntaxDocuments()

GetUIAlerts Method
Returns the current setting of UI alerts for the client. The result is Boolean.

Syntax

SpssClient.GetUIAlerts()

Returns

True. Alerts are displayed in the UI

False. UI alerts are suppressed

IsDataDocInUse Method
Indicates whether a specified data file is in use by another instance of IBM SPSS Statistics. The result is
Boolean. The argument is a string specifying the path to the data file. Note: This method is not supported
on Mac and Linux.

Syntax

SpssClient.IsDataDocInUse(fileName)

On Windows, it is recommended to use raw strings for file paths, or replace backslashes with forward
slashes (IBM SPSS Statistics accepts a forward slash for any backslash in a file specification). Raw strings
are specified by prefacing the string with r, as in r'c:\examples\mydata.sav'. In raw mode, Python treats
all backslashes in the string as the backslash character and not as the start of an escape sequence.

IsDistributedMode
Indicates whether the scripting process is being run in distributed mode. The result is Boolean.

Syntax

104 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssClient.IsDistributedMode()

IsOptionAvailable Method
Checks if the IBM SPSS Statistics client is licensed for a specified optional component. The result is
Boolean. You can obtain a list of all available options from the GetSPSSOptions method.

Syntax

SpssClient.IsOptionAvailable(licOption)

Parameters

The parameter licOption specifies the option.

Table 8. Option values
Value Description
SpssClient.LicenseOption.BASE Base
SpssClient.LicenseOption.PRO_STATS Regression
SpssClient.LicenseOption.ADVANCED_STATS Advanced Statistics
SpssClient.LicenseOption.CYTEL Exact Test
SpssClient.LicenseOption.MARKET_RESEARCH Categories
SpssClient.LicenseOption.MISSING_VALUES Missing Values
SpssClient.LicenseOption.CONJOINT Conjoint
SpssClient.LicenseOption.CUSTOM_TABLES Custom Tables
SpssClient.LicenseOption.COMPLEX_SAMPLE Complex Samples
SpssClient.LicenseOption.TREEVIEW Decision Trees
SpssClient.LicenseOption.VALIDATEDATA Data Preparation
SpssClient.LicenseOption.TRENDS Forecasting
SpssClient.LicenseOption.PES Statistics Adaptor
SpssClient.LicenseOption.NEURAL_NETWORK Neural Networks
SpssClient.LicenseOption.RFM RFM

Returns

True. The option is available.

False. The option is not available or the license for the option has expired.

LogToViewer Method
Writes the specified content to the designated output document as a log item. The content is appended to
the last log item in the output document.

Syntax

SpssClient.LogToViewer(content)

Parameters

content. A string

Scripting Guide 105

NewDataDoc Method
Creates a new dataset and makes it the active dataset. The method returns an SpssDataDoc object
associated with the new dataset.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc=SpssClient.NewDataDoc()

NewOutputDoc Method
Creates a new output document and makes it the designated output document. The method returns an
SpssOutputDoc object associated with the new output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc=SpssClient.NewOutputDoc()

NewSyntaxDoc Method
Creates a new syntax document and makes it the designated syntax document. The method returns an
SpssSyntaxDoc object associated with the new syntax document.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc=SpssClient.NewSyntaxDoc()

OpenDataDoc Method
Opens the specified data document and makes it the active dataset. The method returns an SpssDataDoc
object.
v This method is not available when called from a Python program in distributed mode (Python
programs make use of the interface exposed by the Python spss module).

Syntax

SpssDataDoc=SpssClient.OpenDataDoc(fileName,password=None)

Parameters

fileName. The path and file name of the data document, as a string.

password. A string specifying the password required to open the file. Only applies to encrypted data
files. The password can be specified as encrypted or unencrypted. Encrypted passwords are created when
pasting command syntax, for an encrypted file, from the Save Data As dialog.

On Windows, it is recommended to use raw strings for file paths, or replace backslashes with forward
slashes (IBM SPSS Statistics accepts a forward slash for any backslash in a file specification). Raw strings
are specified by prefacing the string with r, as in r'c:\examples\mydata.sav'. In raw mode, Python treats
all backslashes in the string as the backslash character and not as the start of an escape sequence.

OpenOutputDoc Method
Opens the specified output document and makes it the designated output document. The method returns
an SpssOutputDoc object. By default, the associated Viewer window is invisible. Use the SetVisible
method from the SpssOutputUI class to make the Viewer window visible. You get an SpssOutputUI object
using the GetOutputUI method of the SpssOutputDoc object.

106 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc=SpssClient.OpenOutputDoc(fileName,password=None)

Parameters

fileName. The path and file name of the output document, as a string.

password. A string specifying the password required to open the file. Only applies to encrypted output
files. The password can be specified as encrypted or unencrypted. Encrypted passwords are created when
pasting command syntax, for an encrypted file, from the Save Output As dialog.

On Windows, it is recommended to use raw strings for file paths, or replace backslashes with forward
slashes (IBM SPSS Statistics accepts a forward slash for any backslash in a file specification). Raw strings
are specified by prefacing the string with r, as in r'c:\examples\mydata.sav'. In raw mode, Python treats
all backslashes in the string as the backslash character and not as the start of an escape sequence.

OpenSyntaxDoc Method
Opens the specified syntax document and makes it the designated syntax document. The method returns
an SpssSyntaxDoc object. By default, the associated Syntax Editor window is invisible. Use the SetVisible
method from the SpssSyntaxUI class to make the Syntax Editor window visible. You get an SpssSyntaxUI
object using the GetSyntaxUI method of the SpssSyntaxDoc object.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc=SpssClient.OpenSyntaxDoc(fileName,password=None)

Parameters

fileName. The path and file name of the syntax document, as a string.

password. A string that specifies the password that is required to open the file. This setting applies only
to encrypted syntax files. The password can be specified as encrypted or unencrypted. For reference,
passwords are always encrypted in pasted syntax.

On Windows, it is recommended to use raw strings for file paths, or replace backslashes with forward
slashes (IBM SPSS Statistics accepts a forward slash for any backslash in a file specification). Raw strings
are specified by prefacing the string with r, as in r'c:\examples\mydata.sav'. In raw mode, Python treats
all backslashes in the string as the backslash character and not as the start of an escape sequence.

RunSyntax Method
Executes a set of syntax commands.
v The submitted commands are executed synchronously with any other submitted command syntax.
v This method cannot be called within a script that is run from the SCRIPT command. It is also not
available when called from a Python program in distributed mode (Python programs make use of the
interface exposed by the Python spss module).

Syntax

SpssClient.RunSyntax(syntaxCommands)

Parameters

Scripting Guide 107

syntaxCommands. A string specifying command syntax. If the string is empty, no error is returned and
the script continues. Commands must end in a period (command terminator).

Example
SpssClient.RunSyntax("GET FILE=’/examples/data/Employee data.sav’.")

To specify multiple commands, separate each command by the escape sequence for a linefeed, "\n", or
enclose the set of commands in a triple-quoted string, as in:
SpssClient.RunSyntax(r"""
GET FILE=’/examples/data/Employee data.sav’.
SORT CASES BY gender.
SPLIT FILE
LAYERED BY gender.
DESCRIPTIVES
VARIABLES=salary salbegin jobtime prevexp
/STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV MIN MAX.
SPLIT FILE OFF.
""")
v The triple double quotes enclose a block of command syntax that is submitted for processing, retaining
the line breaks. You can use either triple single quotes or triple double quotes, but you must use the
same type (single or double) on both sides of the command syntax block.
v Notice that the triple-quoted expression is prefixed with the letter r. The r prefix to a string specifies
Python's raw mode. In raw mode, Python treats all backslashes in the string as the backslash character
and not as the start of an escape sequence.

SaveServers Method
Saves the set of configured servers so that new server configurations added during the current session
will persist across sessions.

Syntax

SpssClient.SaveServers()

ScriptParameter Method
Retrieves a parameter passed to the script when calling the script from a SCRIPT command within
command syntax. Only a single parameter can be passed and it must be a quoted string.

Syntax

SpssClient.ScriptParameter(0)

SetCurrentDirectory Method
Sets the current working directory of the IBM SPSS Statistics client to a specified value.

Syntax

SpssClient.SetCurrentDirectory(newDir)

Parameters

newDir. The absolute path to the new working directory, as a string.

On Windows, it is recommended to use raw strings for file paths, or replace backslashes with forward
slashes (IBM SPSS Statistics accepts a forward slash for any backslash in a file specification). Raw strings
are specified by prefacing the string with r, as in r'c:\examples\mydata.sav'. In raw mode, Python treats
all backslashes in the string as the backslash character and not as the start of an escape sequence.

108 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SetDefaultJCVersion Method
Sets the default version of the IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration Plug-in for Python used for Python
scripts. This method is useful when working with multiple versions of the plug-in on a given machine
(see Note below). The value of the argument is a quoted string or an integer specifying a plug-in
version--for example, "SpssClient160" or 160 for version 16.0. You can view the default using the
GetDefaultJCVersion method.
v SetDefaultJCVersion also sets the default version of the IBM SPSS Statistics - Integration Plug-in for
Python used for Python programs (Python code that utilizes the spss module).

Syntax

SpssClient.SetDefaultJCVersion(version)

Note: The methods for managing multiple versions of the plug-in (SpssClient.GetDefaultJCVersion, and
SpssClient.SetDefaultJCVersion) operate within a given Python version, not across Python versions. For
example, if you are driving IBM SPSS Statistics from a Python IDE installed for Python 2.6 then you can
view and control the versions of the plug-in installed for Python 2.6.

See the topic “Working with Multiple Versions of IBM SPSS Statistics” on page 94 for more information.

SetExportOption Method
Sets the value of the specified export option to the value provided.

Syntax

SpssClient.SetExportOption(option,value)

Parameters

value. A string

For a list of the available export options and associated settings, see . The value of option is the identifier
SpssClient.ExportOptions, followed by a period (.) and the name of the option--for example,
SpssClient.ExportOptions.GraphExportType.

SetPreference Method
Sets the value of the specified preference option to the value provided.

Syntax

SpssClient.SetPreference(option,value)

Parameters

value. A string

For a list of the available preference options and settings, see Appendix E, “Preference Options,” on page
255. The value of option is the identifier SpssClient.PreferenceOptions, followed by a period (.) and the
name of the option--for example, SpssClient.PreferenceOptions.VariableListDisplay.

SetUIAlerts Method
Specifies the setting of UI alerts for the IBM SPSS Statistics client.

Syntax

Scripting Guide 109

SpssClient.SetUIAlerts(showUIAlerts)

Parameters

showUIAlerts. True if alerts are to be displayed in the UI and False if UI alerts are to be suppressed.

If False is specified, any alerts triggered by script operations are propagated to the script as an exception.

StartClient Method
Establishes a connection to the IBM SPSS Statistics client and is required for every Python script.
v If the script is run from an external Python process (such as a Python IDE or the Python interpreter),
an attempt is made to connect to an existing IBM SPSS Statistics client. If more than one client is
found, a connection is made to the most recently launched one. If an existing client is not found, a new
and invisible instance of the IBM SPSS Statistics client is started and a connection to it is established.
You can make the associated Data Editor window visible using the SetVisible method from the
SpssDataUI class.
v SpssClient.StopClient() should be called at the completion of the script. To ensure that StopClient()
is called, it is recommended to include the call in the finally clause of a try statement--for example,
by including the body of the script in a try statement. If the script is being run from an external
Python process that starts up a new client, call SpssClient.Exit() before SpssClient.StopClient().

Syntax

SpssClient.StartClient()

StopClient Method
Terminates the connection to the IBM SPSS Statistics client. This method should be called at the
completion of each Python script. To ensure that StopClient() is called, it is recommended to include the
call in the finally clause of a try statement--for example, by including the body of the script in a try
statement.

Syntax

SpssClient.StopClient()

_heartBeat Method
The _heartBeat method is a utility function for use with thread-aware debuggers that pause all threads at
a breakpoint. If you are using such a debugger, then you will need to disable the SpssClient heartbeat
function (which is enabled by default) during debugging; otherwise the scripting session may terminate
at a breakpoint due to a failed heartbeat.

Syntax

To set the heartbeat status, use:

SpssClient._heartBeat(status)

To get the heartbeat status, use:

SpssClient._heartBeat()

Parameters

status. True to enable the heartbeat function, False to disable the heartbeat function.

110 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Returns

True. The heartbeat function is enabled.

False. The heartbeat function is disabled.

Datasets and Data Editor Windows

SpssDataDoc Class
The SpssDataDoc class represents an open dataset.

Example: Obtaining the Active Dataset

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
ActiveDataDoc = SpssClient.GetActiveDataDoc()
v The variable ActiveDataDoc is an SpssDataDoc object for the active dataset.

Example: Obtaining the First Opened Dataset

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
DataDocsList = SpssClient.GetDataDocuments()
FirstDataDoc = DataDocsList.GetItemAt(0)
v SpssClient.GetDataDocuments() returns a DataDocsList object, which provides access to all open
datasets.
v The GetItemAt method from the DataDocsList class is used to get the dataset with index 0 (the first
opened dataset) from the list of open datasets. The variable FirstDataDoc is an SpssDataDoc object for
this dataset.

CloseDocument Method
Closes the dataset. If the dataset is the last open dataset then the instance of the IBM SPSS Statistics client
associated with the current script is terminated.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.CloseDocument()

GetCaseCount Method
Returns the number of cases in the dataset.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.GetCaseCount()

GetDatasetName Method
Returns the dataset name. If the dataset is unnamed, an empty string is returned.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.GetDatasetName()

GetDataUI Method
Returns an SpssDataUI object representing the Data Editor window of the associated dataset, if one
exists.

Syntax

Scripting Guide 111

SpssDataUI=SpssDataDoc.GetDataUI()

GetDocumentPath Method
Returns the path and file name of the data file associated with this dataset object, or the empty string if
the dataset is not associated with a file.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.GetDocumentPath()

Note: If you reopen a data file that is currently open, the GetDocumentPath method will return the empty
string when called on the SpssDataDoc object associated with the reopened instance of the file.

GetMenuTable Method
Returns a MenuTableList object containing the list of available menu items for the data document.

Syntax

MenuTableList = SpssDataDoc.GetMenuTable()

GetVariableCount Method
Returns the number of variables in the associated dataset.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.GetVariableCount()

IsActiveDataDoc Method
Indicates if this dataset is the active one. The result is Boolean--True if the dataset is the active one, False
otherwise.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.IsActiveDataDoc()

IsEqualTo Method
Indicates if this dataset object is the same object as a specified dataset object. The result is Boolean--True if
the two objects are identical, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.IsEqualTo(dataDoc)

Parameters

dataDoc. An SpssDataDoc object

IsModified Method
Indicates whether the dataset has been modified. The result is Boolean--True if the dataset has been
modified, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.IsModified()

112 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

IsPromptToSave Method
Indicates if the 'prompt to save' flag is set for this dataset object. The result is Boolean--True if the 'prompt
to save' flag has been set, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.IsPromptToSave()

SaveAs Method
Saves the dataset to the specified file.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.SaveAs(fileName,password=None)

Parameters

fileName. The path and file name of the data file, as a string.

password. An optional string specifying the password that will be required to open the file. Only applies
if you want to encrypt the data file. Passwords are limited to 10 characters and are case-sensitive. All
spaces, including leading and trailing spaces, are retained.

Note: The save operation is carried out asynchronously, which means that execution continues without
waiting for the save operation to complete. If you require subsequent access to the saved file using the
Python open function, you can attempt to open the file from a try block within a while loop, continuing
to loop until the open operation succeeds.

Creating strong passwords

v Use eight or more characters.
v Include numbers, symbols and even punctuation in your password.
v Avoid sequences of numbers or characters, such as "123" and "abc", and avoid repetition, such as
"111aaa".
v Do not create passwords that use personal information such as birthdays or nicknames.
v Periodically change the password.

Warning: Passwords cannot be recovered if they are lost. If the password is lost the file cannot be opened.

Note: Encrypted data files and output documents cannot be opened in versions of IBM SPSS Statistics
prior to version 21. Encrypted syntax files cannot be opened in versions prior to version 22.

SetAsActiveDataDoc Method
Sets this dataset as the active one.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.SetAsActiveDataDoc()

SetDatasetName Method
Sets the dataset name. The argument is a string.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.SetDatasetName(name)

Scripting Guide 113

SetModified Method
Sets the modified status of the dataset.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.SetModified(modified)

Parameters

modified. True to set the status to modified, False otherwise.

SetPromptToSave Method
Sets the 'prompt to save' flag for this dataset object.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc.SetPromptToSave(promptToSave)

Parameters

promptToSave. True to set the prompt to save flag, False otherwise.

DataDocsList Class
The DataDocsList class provides access to the list of open datasets. You obtain a DataDocsList object from
the GetDataDocuments method of the SpssClient class.

A DataDocsList object is not an iterable Python object. In order to iterate over the items in the list, use a
for loop, as in:
for index in range(DataDocsList.Size()):

For an example that uses the DataDocsList class, see the examples for the SpssDataDoc class.

GetItemAt Method
Returns an SpssDataDoc object representing the dataset with the specified index. The index corresponds to
the order in which the datasets were opened, with the first opened document having an index of 0.

Syntax

SpssDataDoc=DataDocsList.GetItemAt(index)

Size Method
Returns the number of open datasets.

Syntax

DataDocsList.Size()

SpssDataUI Class
The SpssDataUI class represents the Data Editor window associated with an open dataset. You obtain an
SpssDataUI object from the GetDataUI method of an SpssDataDoc object.

Example: Get the SpssDataUI Object Associated with the Active Dataset
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
ActiveDataDoc = SpssClient.GetActiveDataDoc()
DataUI = ActiveDataDoc.GetDataUI()

114 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v The variable DataUI is an SpssDataUI object for the Data Editor window associated with the active
dataset.

GetHeight Method
Returns the height of the associated Data Editor window in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.GetHeight()

GetLeft Method
Returns the horizontal screen position of the associated Data Editor window's upper left corner. The
result is in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.GetLeft()

GetShowGridLines Method
Return the setting for showing grid lines in the associated Data Editor window. The result is
Boolean--True if grid lines are visible, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.GetShowGridLines()

GetShowValueLabels Method
Return the setting for displaying value labels in the associated Data Editor window. The result is
Boolean--True if value labels are displayed, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.GetShowValueLabels()

GetTitleText Method
Returns the title bar text of the associated Data Editor window.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.GetTitleText()

GetTop Method
Returns the vertical screen position of the associated Data Editor window's upper left corner. The result is
in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.GetTop()

GetVisible Method
Indicates if the associated Data Editor window is visible. The result is Boolean--True if the Data Editor
window is visible, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.GetVisible()

Scripting Guide 115

GetWidth Method
Returns the width of the associated Data Editor window in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.GetWidth()

GetWindowState Method
Returns the state of the associated Data Editor window.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.GetWindowState()

Returns
Table 9. Window states
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMinimized Minimized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMaximized Maximized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssNormal Normal

InvokeDialog Method
Invokes a dialog and returns the syntax generated from that dialog, if any.

Syntax

syntax = SpssDataUI.InvokeDialog(menuItemPath,desktopParent)

Parameters

menuItemPath. Menu or menu item with path of the dialog to invoke. See below for detailed description.

desktopParent. True specifies that the dialog is parented off the desktop. False specifies that the dialog is
parented off an IBM SPSS Statistics window.

Note: For release 19.0.0.2 and higher, the bSync parameter (available in previous releases) is deprecated.
The InvokeDialog method always runs synchronously, meaning that the scripting process waits until the
dialog has been dismissed. Older scripts containing the bSync parameter will continue to function in
release 19.0.0.2 and higher, but the value of the parameter will be ignored.

Specifying The Menu Item Path

The value of the menuItemPath parameter is a string specifying the menu path to the desired dialog--for
example "analyze>survival>life tables". The greater-than sign (>) is used to separate a menu, its
submenus and the menu item. The menu string must correspond exactly to the text on the menus,
submenus, and menu items, and is language specific.

PrintDataDoc Method
Prints the document.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.PrintDataDoc()

116 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SetHeight Method
Sets the height of the associated Data Editor window.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.SetHeight(height)

Parameters

height. An integer representing the height in pixels.

SetLeft Method
Sets the horizontal screen position of the associated Data Editor window's upper left corner.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.SetLeft(leftPosition)

Parameters

leftPosition. An integer representing the position in pixels.

SetShowGridLines Method
Specify the setting for showing grid lines in the associated Data Editor window.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.SetShowGridLines(isGridLines)

Parameters

isGridLines. True if grid lines are to be displayed, False otherwise.

SetShowValueLabels Method
Specify the setting for displaying value labels in the Data Editor window.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.SetShowValueLabels(isValueLabels)

Parameters

isValueLabels. True if value labels are to be displayed, False otherwise.

SetTop Method
Sets the vertical screen position of the associated Data Editor window's upper left corner.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.SetTop(topPosition)

Parameters

topPosition. An integer representing the position in pixels.

Scripting Guide 117

SetVisible Method
Sets the visibility of the associated Data Editor window.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.SetVisible(isVisible)

Parameters

isVisible. True to set the Data Editor window as visible, False otherwise.

SetWidth Method
Sets the width of the associated Data Editor window.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.SetWidth(width)

Parameters

width. An integer representing the width in pixels.

SetWindowState Method
Set the state of the associated Data Editor window.

Syntax

SpssDataUI.SetWindowState(newState)
Table 10. Window states
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMinimized Minimized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMaximized Maximized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssNormal Normal

Output Documents and Viewer Windows

SpssOutputDoc Class
The SpssOutputDoc class represents an open output document.

Example: Obtaining the Designated Output Document

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
DesignatedOutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
v The variable DesignatedOutputDoc is an SpssOutputDoc object for the designated output document.

Example: Obtaining the First Opened Output Document

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
OutputDocsList = SpssClient.GetOutputDocuments()
FirstOutputDoc = OutputDocsList.GetItemAt(0)
v SpssClient.GetOutputDocuments() returns an OutputDocsList object, which provides access to all open
output documents.

118 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v The GetItemAt method from the OutputDocsList class is used to get the output document with index 0
(the first opened output document) from the list of open output documents. The variable
FirstOutputDoc is an SpssOutputDoc object for this output document.

Example: Create a New Output Document and Set it as the Designated One
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
NewOutputDoc = SpssClient.NewOutputDoc()
NewOutputDoc.SetAsDesignatedOutputDoc()
v The variable NewOutputDoc is an SpssOutputDoc object for the new output document.

Accessing Output Items in an Output Document

You access individual output items, within an output document, from an OutputItemList object. You
obtain an OutputItemList object from the GetOutputItems method of the SpssOutputDoc class. See the
topic “SpssOutputItem Class” on page 146 for more information.

ClearSelection Method
Deselects all selected output items or pivot table elements.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.ClearSelection()

CloseDocument Method
Closes the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.CloseDocument()

Copy Method
Copies selected items to the clipboard. Use this method with caution because it overwrites clipboard
content. To improve performance when copying large pivot tables, consider using the CopySpecial
method.

To select individual items, use the SetSelected method. You can also select all items of a given type, such
as all tables using the SelectAllTables method.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.Copy()

CopySpecial Method
Copies selected items to the clipboard in a set of specified formats. Use this method with caution because
it overwrites clipboard content. This method is especially useful when copying large pivot tables since
you can limit the output to just the formats you need. In that regard, the Copy method generates output
in all available formats.

To select individual items, use the SetSelected method. You can also select all items of a given type, such
as all tables using the SelectAllTables method.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.CopySpecial(formats)

Scripting Guide 119

Table 11. Format specifications
Format Identifier Description
SpssClient.CopySpecialFormat.Text plain text
SpssClient.CopySpecialFormat.Rtf rich text format
SpssClient.CopySpecialFormat.Image image
SpssClient.CopySpecialFormat.Emf Windows enhanced metafile
SpssClient.CopySpecialFormat.Biff excel worksheet in biff5 format

v The image format is a java raster image and is handled differently by different applications.
v The Windows enhanced metafile (emf) format is only supported when selecting a single output item to
copy to the clipboard.
Table 12. Available formats for each output type
Type Formats
SpssClient.OutputItemType.CHART rich text, image or emf
SpssClient.OutputItemType.LOG plain text, rich text or biff
SpssClient.OutputItemType.MODEL image or emf
SpssClient.OutputItemType.NOTE plain text, rich text, image, emf or biff
SpssClient.OutputItemType.PAGETITLE plain text, rich text or biff
SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT plain text, rich text, image, emf or biff
SpssClient.OutputItemType.TEXT plain text, rich text or biff
SpssClient.OutputItemType.TITLE plain text, rich text or biff
SpssClient.OutputItemType.TREEMODEL rich text or image
SpssClient.OutputItemType.WARNING plain text, rich text, image, emf or biff

v If a specified format is not supported for a selected item then the format is ignored for that item. For
example, you select a Log item and a Chart item and specify the plain text and image formats. The
clipboard contains the Log item in plain text format and the Chart item as an image.

Example

The following copies a pivot table to the clipboard in rich text format only.

SpssOutputDoc.CopySpecial([SpssClient.CopySpecialFormat.Rtf])

CreateHeaderItem Method
Returns an SpssOutputItem object for a new header item. To insert the header item into the output
document, use the InsertChildItem method in the SpssHeaderItem class.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem=SpssOutputDoc.CreateHeaderItem(label)

Parameters

label. A string specifying the label for the header item. The value can be specified as plain text, HTML, or
rich text format. For HTML, embed markup in a <html></html> block. For rich text format, specify the
string as a raw string to avoid unintentional escape sequences.

120 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

CreateImageChartItem Method
Returns an SpssOutputItem object for a new chart item associated with an external image. This allows
you to insert an external image of type png, jpg, or gif into an output document. To insert the chart item
into the output document, use the InsertChildItem method in the SpssHeaderItem class.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem=SpssOutputDoc.CreateImageChartItem(fileName,label)

Parameters

fileName. Full path to the image file.

label. A string specifying the label for the chart item. The value can be specified as plain text, HTML, or
rich text format. For HTML, embed markup in a <html></html> block. For rich text format, specify the
string as a raw string to avoid unintentional escape sequences.

On Windows, it is recommended to use raw strings for file paths, or replace backslashes with forward
slashes (IBM SPSS Statistics accepts a forward slash for any backslash in a file specification). Raw strings
are specified by prefacing the string with r, as in r'c:\examples\mydata.sav'. In raw mode, Python treats
all backslashes in the string as the backslash character and not as the start of an escape sequence.

CreateTextItem Method
Returns an SpssOutputItem object for a new text item. To insert the text item into the output document,
use the InsertChildItem method in the SpssHeaderItem class.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem=SpssOutputDoc.CreateTextItem(content)

Parameters

content. A string specifying the content of the text item. The value can be specified as plain text, HTML,
or rich text format. For HTML, embed markup in a <html></html> block. For rich text format, specify
the string as a raw string to avoid unintentional escape sequences.

CreateTitleItem Method
Returns an SpssOutputItem object for a new title item. To insert the title item into the output document,
use the InsertChildItem method in the SpssHeaderItem class.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem=SpssOutputDoc.CreateTitleItem(title,pageBreak)

Parameters

title. A string specifying the title. The value can be specified as plain text, HTML, or rich text format. For
HTML, embed markup in a <html></html> block. For rich text format, specify the string as a raw string
to avoid unintentional escape sequences.

pageBreak. True if this title item is to be a page title item, False otherwise.

Cut Method
Removes the selected data or text and places them on the clipboard. Use this method with caution
because it overwrites clipboard content.

Scripting Guide 121

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.Cut()

Delete Method
Deletes the selected items.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.Delete()

Demote Method
Demotes selected output items down one level within the hierarchy of the output tree.
v You cannot demote an item that is at the deepest level in the output tree and you cannot demote an
item if there are unselected items at the same level immediately preceding it in the output tree.
v If the item has children, the children are also demoted.
v You cannot demote the root item.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.Demote()

You can promote items up one level with the Promote method.

ExportCharts Method
Exports charts from this output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.ExportCharts(subSet,filePrefix,format)

Parameters

subSet. Specifies whether all charts, all visible charts, or all selected charts are exported. See available
choices below.

filePrefix. Full path and file name prefix for the files containing the exported charts. Each chart is
exported to a separate file.

format. Specifies the export format. See available choices below.

On Windows, it is recommended to use raw strings for file paths, or replace backslashes with forward
slashes (IBM SPSS Statistics accepts a forward slash for any backslash in a file specification). Raw strings
are specified by prefacing the string with r, as in r'c:\examples\mydata.sav'. In raw mode, Python treats
all backslashes in the string as the backslash character and not as the start of an escape sequence.
Table 13. Subset specifications
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssExportSubset.SpssSelected All selected charts
SpssClient.SpssExportSubset.SpssVisible All visible charts
SpssClient.SpssExportSubset.SpssAll All charts

122 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Table 14. Image formats
Format Description
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.bmp Windows bitmap
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.emf Enhanced metafile
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.eps Enhanced postscript
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.jpg JPG file
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.png PNG file
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.tiff Tagged image file

ExportDocument Method
Exports items from this output document.
v If the items to be exported include charts, then they are exported in the last selected graphics format.
The graph export type can be set from the SetExportOption method in the SpssClient class.
v Use the SetOutputOptions method to set export options for export to Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.ExportDocument(subSet,fileName,format)

Parameters

subSet. Specifies whether all items, all visible items, or all selected items are exported. See available
choices below.

fileName. Full path and file name for the file containing the exported items.

format. Specifies the export format. See available choices below.

On Windows, it is recommended to use raw strings for file paths, or replace backslashes with forward
slashes (IBM SPSS Statistics accepts a forward slash for any backslash in a file specification). Raw strings
are specified by prefacing the string with r, as in r'c:\examples\mydata.sav'. In raw mode, Python treats
all backslashes in the string as the backslash character and not as the start of an escape sequence.
Table 15. Specifications for subsets
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssExportSubset.SpssSelected All selected items
SpssClient.SpssExportSubset.SpssVisible All visible items
SpssClient.SpssExportSubset.SpssAll All items

Table 16. Export formats

Format Description
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatHtml Html
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatDoc Word
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatXls Excel
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatText Text
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatPdf PDF
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatPpt PowerPoint

Scripting Guide 123

GetCurrentItem Method
Returns an SpssOutputItem object for the current output item--as indicated by a red arrow next to the
item in the outline pane.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem=SpssOutputDoc.GetCurrentItem()

GetDocumentPath Method
Returns the path and file name of the output file associated with this output document object, or the
empty string if the output document is not associated with a file.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.GetDocumentPath()

GetFooterText Method
Returns the footer text for printed pages. The value is returned as plain text.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.GetFooterText()

GetHeaderText Method
Returns the header text for printed pages. The value is returned as plain text.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.GetHeaderText()

GetMenuTable Method
Returns a MenuTableList object containing the list of available menu items for the output document.

Syntax

MenuTableList = SpssOutputDoc.GetMenuTable()

GetOutputItems Method
Returns a list of items in the output document as an OutputItemList object. Each item in the list is an
SpssOutputItem object.

Syntax

OutputItemList=SpssOutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

GetOutputOptions Method
Returns the value of the specified export option for this output document, as a string.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.GetOutputOptions(option)

Parameters

The available values for the option parameter are (specify the value without quotes):

124 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelSheetNames. Specifies the name of the sheet to which items will be
exported. This option only applies when exporting to Excel.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelStartingCell. Specifies the starting cell for exporting to Excel. Applies

when SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelLocationOptions is set to “OverwriteAtCellRef”.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelOperationOptions. Specifies whether a new workbook is created, a

new worksheet is created, or an existing worksheet is modified. This option only applies when exporting
to Excel.
v "CreateWorkbook". A new workbook is created. If the specified file exists, it is overwritten.
v "CreateWorksheet". A new worksheet is created within the specified workbook. The name of the sheet
is given by the setting of SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelSheetNames. If a worksheet with the
specified name already exists, that worksheet is overwritten. If the specified file does not exist, a new
file is created with a worksheet with the specified name.
v "ModifyWorksheet". Modifies the contents of an existing worksheet. The name of the sheet is given by
the setting of SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelSheetNames. Export of charts, model views, and tree
diagrams is not supported with "ModifyWorksheet".

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelLocationOptions. Specifies how items will be added to a worksheet.

This option only applies when exporting to Excel.
v "AddColumns". Specifies that items will be added after the last column, starting in the first row,
without modifying any existing contents.
v "AddRows". Specifies that items will be added after the last row, starting in the first column, without
modifying any existing contents.
v "OverwriteAtCellRef". Specifies that items will be written to the location specified in
SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelStartingCell. Any existing content in the area where the exported
items are added will be overwritten.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.WideTablesOptions. Specifies the treatment of pivot tables that are too

wide for the document width (the specified page width minus the left and right margins). This option
only applies when exporting to Word or PowerPoint.
v "WT_Wrap". Specifies that tables are divided into sections that will fit within the defined document
width. Row labels are repeated for each section of the table. If the row labels are too wide for the
defined document width, the table is exported without wrapping and will appear truncated in the
document.
v "WT_Shrink". Specifies that font size and column width are reduced so that tables fit within the
document width.
v "WT_Extend". Specifies that tables that are too wide for the document width will appear truncated. All
of the table content, however, is retained so expanding the document width will display additional
table content.

The following options apply when exporting to Word or PowerPoint.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsPageHeight. A character representation of a positive number

representing the page height, in units specified by SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsPageWidth. A character representation of a positive number

representing the page width, in units specified by SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsTopMargin. A character representation of a positive number

representing the top margin, in units specified by SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

Scripting Guide 125

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsBottomMargin. A character representation of a positive number
representing the bottom margin, in units specified by
SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsRightMargin. A character representation of a positive number

representing the right margin, in units specified by SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsLeftMargin. A character representation of a positive number

representing the left margin, in units specified by SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits. The units for specifying page dimensions and

margins: "IExportOptions.MeasurementUnits.Inches", "IExportOptions.MeasurementUnits.Millimeters",
"IExportOptions.MeasurementUnits.Centimeters", and "IExportOptions.MeasurementUnits.PrintPoints"
(1/72 inch).

GetOutputUI Method
Returns an SpssOutputUI object representing the Viewer window associated with the output document, if
one exists.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI=SpssOutputDoc.GetOutputUI()

GetPrintOptions Method
Returns the value of the specified print option, as a string.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.GetPrintOptions(printOption)
Table 17. Print options
Option Description
SpssClient.PrintOptions.LeftMargin Left margin
SpssClient.PrintOptions.TopMargin Top margin
SpssClient.PrintOptions.RightMargin Right margin
SpssClient.PrintOptions.BottomMargin Bottom margin
SpssClient.PrintOptions.Orientation Orientation (portrait or landscape)
SpssClient.PrintOptions.StartingPageNumber Starting page number
SpssClient.PrintOptions.SpaceBetweenItems Space between items
SpssClient.PrintOptions.PrintedChartSize Printed chart size (as is, full page, half
page, or quarter page)

v All margin settings and Space Between Items are in units of points (1/72 inch).
v For Orientation, 1 corresponds to Portrait and 2 corresponds to Landscape.
v For Printed Chart Size, 0 corresponds to As Is, 1 to Full Page, 2 to Half Page, and 3 to Quarter Page.

InsertTable Method
Inserts an empty pivot table after the item designated as the current item. The inserted table is populated
with default row, column and layer labels, and becomes the current item. Note: You can use the
SetCurrentItem method to designate an item as the current item.

Syntax

126 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

index=SpssOutputDoc.InsertTable(heading,nrows,ncolumns,nlayers)

Parameters

heading. A string specifying the heading for this table in the outline pane of the Viewer.

nrows. An integer specifying the number of rows in the table. Specifying zero will result in a table with
one row.

ncolumns. An integer specifying the number of columns in the table. Specifying zero will result in a table
with one column.

nlayers. An integer specifying the number of layers in the table.

Return Value

index. The index of the new table item. The index corresponds to the order of the items in the output
document, starting with 0 for the root item.

Example

This example inserts a pivot table with four rows, three columns and no layers. The table is inserted after
the root item.
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()
OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(0)
OutputItem.SetCurrentItem()
index = OutputDoc.InsertTable("Sample table",4,3,0)

IsDesignatedOutputDoc Method
Indicates if this output document is the designated one. The result is Boolean--True if the output
document is the designated one, False otherwise.
v If you have more than one open output document, output is routed to the designated one.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.IsDesignatedOutputDoc()

IsEqualTo Method
Indicates if this output document object is the same object as a specified output document object. The
result is Boolean--True if the two objects are identical, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.IsEqualTo(outputDoc)

Parameters

outputDoc. An SpssOutputDoc object

IsModified Method
Indicates whether the output document has been modified. The result is Boolean--True if the output
document has been modified, False otherwise.

Syntax

Scripting Guide 127

SpssOutputDoc.IsModified()

IsPromptToSave Method
Indicates if the 'prompt to save' flag is set for this output document object. The result is Boolean--True if
the 'prompt to save' flag has been set, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.IsPromptToSave()

Paste Method
Pastes the clipboard content after the current item.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.Paste()

PasteBefore Method
Pastes the clipboard content before the current item.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.PasteBefore()

PrintRange Method
Sets the print range for the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.PrintRange(range)

Parameters

range. An integer specifying the print range: 0 for all expanded output, 1 for all selected items.

You can specify print options using the SetPrintOptions method. You print an output document using the
PrintOutputDoc method from the SpssOutputUI class.

Promote Method
Promotes selected output items up one level within the hierarchy of the output tree.
v You cannot promote an item to the root level and you cannot promote an item if there are unselected
items at the same level immediately following it in the output tree.
v If the item has children, the children are also promoted.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.Promote()

You can demote items down one level with the Demote method.

SaveAs Method
Saves the output document to the specified file.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SaveAs(fileName,password=None)

128 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Parameters

fileName. The path and file name of the output file, as a string.

password. An optional string specifying the password that will be required to open the file. Only applies
if you want to encrypt the output file. Passwords are limited to 10 characters and are case-sensitive. All
spaces, including leading and trailing spaces, are retained.

Creating strong passwords

v Use eight or more characters.
v Include numbers, symbols and even punctuation in your password.
v Avoid sequences of numbers or characters, such as "123" and "abc", and avoid repetition, such as
"111aaa".
v Do not create passwords that use personal information such as birthdays or nicknames.
v Periodically change the password.

Warning: Passwords cannot be recovered if they are lost. If the password is lost the file cannot be opened.

Note: Encrypted data files and output documents cannot be opened in versions of IBM SPSS Statistics
prior to version 21. Encrypted syntax files cannot be opened in versions prior to version 22.

SelectAll Method
Selects all items in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAll()

SelectAllCharts Method
Selects all chart items in the output document. This includes standard charts, graphboard charts, and R
graphics.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllCharts()

SelectAllLogs Method
Selects all log items in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllLogs()

SelectAllModels Method
Selects all Model Viewer items in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllModels()

SelectAllNotes Method
Selects all notes items in the output document.

Syntax

Scripting Guide 129

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllNotes()

SelectAllNotesEx Method
Note: This method is deprecated for release 20 and higher. Please use the “SelectAllNotes Method” on
page 129 instead.

Selects all notes items in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllNotesEx()

SelectAllOther Method
Selects all non-IBM SPSS Statistics items in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllOther()

SelectAllTables Method
Selects all pivot tables in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllTables()

SelectAllTablesEx Method
Note: This method is deprecated for release 20 and higher. Please use the “SelectAllTables Method”
instead.

Selects all pivot tables in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllTablesEx()

SelectAllText Method
Selects all text items in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllText()

SelectAllTitles Method
Selects all title items in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllTitles()

SelectAllWarnings Method
Selects all warnings in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllWarnings()

130 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SelectAllWarningsEx Method
Note: This method is deprecated for release 20 and higher. Please use the “SelectAllWarnings Method” on
page 130 instead.

Selects all warnings in the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectAllWarningsEx()

SelectLastOutput Method
Selects all items generated by the last executed procedure.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SelectLastOutput()

SetAsDesignatedOutputDoc Method
Sets this output document as the designated output document.
v If you have more than one open output document, output is routed to the designated one.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SetAsDesignatedOutputDoc()

SetFooterText Method
Sets the footer text for printed pages. The value can be specified as plain text, HTML, or rich text format.
For HTML, embed markup in a <html></html> block. For rich text format, specify the string as a raw
string to avoid unintentional escape sequences.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SetFooterText(text)

SetHeaderText Method
Sets the header text for printed pages. The value can be specified as plain text, HTML, or rich text
format. For HTML, embed markup in a <html></html> block. For rich text format, specify the string as a
raw string to avoid unintentional escape sequences.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SetHeaderText(text)

SetModified Method
Sets the modified status of the output document.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SetModified(modified)

Parameters

modified. True to set the status to modified, False otherwise.

Scripting Guide 131

SetOutputOptions Method
Sets export options for this output document. These options apply when exporting with the
ExportDocument method from the SpssOutputDoc class as well as the ExportToDocument method from the
SpssOutputItem class.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SetOutputOptions(option,setting)

Parameters

The available values for the option parameter as well as the allowed values of the associated setting are
(specify the name of the option without quotes):

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelSheetNames. The setting is a string specifying the name of the sheet

to which items will be exported. Sheet names cannot exceed 31 characters and cannot contain forward or
back slashes, square brackets, question marks, or asterisks. If the specified worksheet doesn't exist in the
Excel file, a new worksheet with that name will be created. This option only applies when exporting to
Excel. The default worksheet is "Sheet1".

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelStartingCell. The setting is a string specifying the starting cell, as in

"B3". Applies when SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelLocationOptions is set to "OverwriteAtCellRef".
Only applies when exporting to Excel. The default starting cell is A1.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelOperationOptions. The setting is a string specifying whether a new

workbook is created, a new worksheet is created, or an existing worksheet is modified. This option only
applies when exporting to Excel.
v "CreateWorkbook". A new workbook is created. This is the default. If the specified file exists, it is
overwritten.
v "CreateWorksheet". A new worksheet is created within the specified workbook. The name of the sheet
is given by the setting of SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelSheetNames. If a worksheet with the
specified name already exists, that worksheet is overwritten. If the specified file does not exist, a new
file is created with a worksheet with the specified name.
v "ModifyWorksheet". Modifies the contents of an existing worksheet. The name of the sheet is given by
the setting of SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelSheetNames. Use
SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelLocationOptions and
SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelStartingCell to specify location in the sheet. Export of charts,
model views, and tree diagrams is not supported with "ModifyWorksheet".

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelLocationOptions. A string specifying how items will be added to a

worksheet. This option only applies when exporting to Excel.
v "AddColumns". Specifies that items will be added after the last column, starting in the first row,
without modifying any existing contents. This is the default.
v "AddRows". Specifies that items will be added after the last row, starting in the first column, without
modifying any existing contents.
v "OverwriteAtCellRef". Specifies that items will be written to the location specified in
SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelStartingCell. Any existing content in the area where the exported
items are added will be overwritten.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.WideTablesOptions. A string specifying the treatment of pivot tables that

are too wide for the document width (the specified page width minus the left and right margins). This
option only applies when exporting to Word or PowerPoint.

132 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v "WT_Wrap". Specifies that tables are divided into sections that will fit within the defined document
width. This is the default. Row labels are repeated for each section of the table. If the row labels are too
wide for the defined document width, the table is exported without wrapping and will appear
truncated in the document.
v "WT_Shrink". Specifies that font size and column width are reduced so that tables fit within the
document width.
v "WT_Extend". Specifies that tables that are too wide for the document width will appear truncated. All
of the table content, however, is retained so expanding the document width will display additional
table content.

The following options apply when exporting to Word or PowerPoint.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsPageHeight. A character representation of a positive number

representing the page height, in units specified by SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsPageWidth. A character representation of a positive number

representing the page width, in units specified by SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsTopMargin. A character representation of a positive number

representing the top margin, in units specified by SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsBottomMargin. A character representation of a positive number

representing the bottom margin, in units specified by
SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsRightMargin. A character representation of a positive number

representing the right margin, in units specified by SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsLeftMargin. A character representation of a positive number

representing the left margin, in units specified by SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits.

SpssClient.DocExportOption.ItemsMeasurementUnits. A string specifying the units for page dimensions

and margins: "IExportOptions.MeasurementUnits.Inches",
"IExportOptions.MeasurementUnits.Millimeters", "IExportOptions.MeasurementUnits.Centimeters", and
"IExportOptions.MeasurementUnits.PrintPoints" (1/72 inch). The default is
"IExportOptions.MeasurementUnits.Inches".

Example

This example assumes that OutputDoc is an SpssOutputDoc object and exports all pivot tables to an
existing Excel worksheet beginning at a specified location.
OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputDoc.SetOutputOptions(SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelSheetNames,"mysheet")
OutputDoc.SetOutputOptions(SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelStartingCell,"B6")
OutputDoc.SetOutputOptions(SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelLocationOptions,
"OverwriteAtCellRef")
OutputDoc.SetOutputOptions(SpssClient.DocExportOption.ExcelOperationOptions,
"ModifyWorksheet")
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()
for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):
OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT:
OutputItem.SetSelected(True)
OutputDoc.ExportDocument(SpssClient.SpssExportSubset.SpssSelected,
"/output/myexport.xls",
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatXls)

Scripting Guide 133

SetPrintOptions Method
Sets the value of the specified print option.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SetPrintOptions(printOption,value)
Table 18. Print options
Option Description
SpssClient.PrintOptions.LeftMargin Left margin
SpssClient.PrintOptions.TopMargin Top margin
SpssClient.PrintOptions.RightMargin Right margin
SpssClient.PrintOptions.BottomMargin Bottom margin
SpssClient.PrintOptions.Orientation Orientation (portrait or landscape)
SpssClient.PrintOptions.StartingPageNumber Starting page number
SpssClient.PrintOptions.SpaceBetweenItems Space between items
SpssClient.PrintOptions.PrintedChartSize Printed chart size (as is, full page, half
page, or quarter page)

The parameter value is a string. Following are the available settings:

v All margin settings and Space Between Items are in units of points (1/72 inch).
v For Orientation, 1 corresponds to Portrait and 2 corresponds to Landscape.
v For Printed Chart Size, 0 corresponds to As Is, 1 to Full Page, 2 to Half Page, and 3 to Quarter Page.

You can specify the print range using the PrintRange method. You print an output document using the
PrintOutputDoc method from the SpssOutputUI class.

SetPromptToSave Method
Sets the 'prompt to save' flag for this output document object.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc.SetPromptToSave(promptToSave)

Parameters

promptToSave. True to set the prompt to save flag, False otherwise.

OutputDocsList Class
The OutputDocsList class provides access to the list of open output documents. You obtain an
OutputDocsList object from the GetOutputDocuments method of the SpssClient class.

An OutputDocsList object is not an iterable Python object. In order to iterate over the items in the list, use
a for loop, as in:
for index in range(OutputDocsList.Size()):

For an example that uses the OutputDocsList class, see the examples for the SpssOutputDoc class.

134 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

GetItemAt Method
Returns an SpssOutputDoc object representing the output document with the specified index. The index
corresponds to the order in which the output documents were opened, with the first opened document
having an index of 0.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc=OutputDocsList.GetItemAt(index)

Size Method
Returns the number of open output documents.

Syntax

OutputDocsList.Size()

OutputItemList Class
The OutputItemList class provides access to the list of items in an open output document. You obtain an
OutputItemList object from the GetOutputItems method of an SpssOutputDoc object.

An OutputItemList object is not an iterable Python object. In order to iterate over the items in the list, use
a for loop, as in:
for index in range(OutputItemList.Size()):

For an example that uses the OutputItemList class, see the example for the SpssOutputItem class.

GetItemAt Method
Returns an SpssOutputItem object corresponding to the output item with the specified index. The index
corresponds to the order of the items in the output document, starting with 0 for the root item.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem=OutputItemList.GetItemAt(index)

Size Method
Returns the number of items in the associated output document.

Syntax

OutputItemList.Size()

SpssOutputUI Class
The SpssOutputUI class represents the Viewer window associated with an open output document. You
obtain an SpssOutputUI object from the GetOutputUI method of an SpssOutputDoc object.

Example: Get the SpssOutputUI Object Associated with the Designated Output Document
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
DesignatedOutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputUI = DesignatedOutputDoc.GetOutputUI()
v The variable OutputUI is an SpssOutputUI object for the Viewer window associated with the designated
output document.

Scripting Guide 135

GetHeight Method
Returns the height of the associated Viewer window in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.GetHeight()

GetLeft Method
Returns the horizontal screen position of the associated Viewer window's upper left corner. The result is
in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.GetLeft()

GetSplitterPosition Method
Returns the position of the splitter bar in the associated Viewer window. The result is in units of pixels.
The splitter bar determines how large the outline area is.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.GetSplitterPosition()

GetTitleText Method
Returns the title bar text of the associated Viewer window.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.GetTitleText()

GetTop Method
Returns the vertical screen position of the associated Viewer window's upper left corner. The result is in
units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.GetTop()

GetVisible Method
Indicates if the associated Viewer window is visible. The result is Boolean--True if the Viewer window is
visible, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.GetVisible()

GetWidth Method
Returns the width of the associated Viewer window in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.GetWidth()

136 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

GetWindowState Method
Returns the state of the associated Viewer window.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.GetWindowState()

Returns
Table 19. Window states
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMinimized Minimized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMaximized Maximized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssNormal Normal

InvokeDialog Method
Invokes a dialog and returns the syntax generated from that dialog, if any.

Syntax

syntax = SpssOutputUI.InvokeDialog(menuItemPath,desktopParent)

Parameters

menuItemPath. Menu or menu item with path of the dialog to invoke. See below for detailed description.

desktopParent. True specifies that the dialog is parented off the desktop. False specifies that the dialog is
parented off an IBM SPSS Statistics window.

Note: For release 19.0.0.2 and higher, the bSync parameter (available in previous releases) is deprecated.
The InvokeDialog method always runs synchronously, meaning that the scripting process waits until the
dialog has been dismissed. Older scripts containing the bSync parameter will continue to function in
release 19.0.0.2 and higher, but the value of the parameter will be ignored.

Specifying The Menu Item Path

The value of the menuItemPath parameter is a string specifying the menu path to the desired dialog--for
example "analyze>survival>life tables". The greater-than sign (>) is used to separate a menu, its
submenus and the menu item. The menu string must correspond exactly to the text on the menus,
submenus, and menu items, and is language specific.

PrintOutputDoc Method
Prints the document.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.PrintOutputDoc()

You can specify the print range using the PrintRange method. You can specify print options using the
SetPrintOptions method.

Scripting Guide 137

SetHeight Method
Sets the height of the associated Viewer window.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.SetHeight(height)

Parameters

height. An integer representing the height in pixels.

SetLeft Method
Sets the horizontal screen position of the associated Viewer window's upper left corner.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.SetLeft(leftPosition)

Parameters

leftPosition. An integer representing the position in pixels.

SetSplitterPosition Method
Sets the position of the splitter bar in the associated Viewer window. The splitter bar determines how
large the outline area is.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.SetSplitterPosition(position)

Parameters

position. An integer representing the position in pixels.

SetTop Method
Sets the vertical screen position of the associated Viewer window's upper left corner.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.SetTop(topPosition)

Parameters

topPosition. An integer representing the position in pixels.

SetVisible Method
Sets the visibility of the associated Viewer window.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.SetVisible(isVisible)

Parameters

isVisible. True to set the Viewer window as visible, False otherwise.

138 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SetWidth Method
Sets the width of the associated Viewer window.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.SetWidth(width)

Parameters

width. An integer representing the width in pixels.

SetWindowState Method
Sets the state of the associated Viewer window.

Syntax

SpssOutputUI.SetWindowState(newState)
Table 20. Window states
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMinimized Minimized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMaximized Maximized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssNormal Normal

Syntax Documents and Syntax Editor Windows

SpssSyntaxDoc Class
The SpssSyntaxDoc class represents an open syntax document.

Example: Obtaining the Designated Syntax Document

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
DesignatedSyntaxDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedSyntaxDoc()
v The variable DesignatedSyntaxDoc is an SpssSyntaxDoc object for the designated syntax document.

Example: Obtaining the First Opened Syntax Document

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
SyntaxDocsList = SpssClient.GetSyntaxDocuments()
FirstSyntaxDoc = SyntaxDocsList.GetItemAt(0)
v SpssClient.GetSyntaxDocuments() returns a SyntaxDocsList object, which provides access to all open
syntax documents.
v The GetItemAt method from the SyntaxDocsList class is used to get the syntax document with index 0
(the first opened syntax document) from the list of open syntax documents. The variable FirstSyntaxDoc
is an SpssSyntaxDoc object for this syntax document.

Example: Create a New Syntax Document and Set it as the Designated One
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
NewSyntaxDoc = SpssClient.NewSyntaxDoc()
NewSyntaxDoc.SetAsDesignatedSyntaxDoc()
v The variable NewSyntaxDoc is an SpssSyntaxDoc object for the new syntax document.

Scripting Guide 139

CloseDocument Method
Closes the syntax document.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.CloseDocument()

GetDocumentPath Method
Returns the path and file name of the syntax file associated with this syntax document object, or the
empty string if the syntax document is not associated with a file.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.GetDocumentPath()

GetMenuTable Method
Returns a MenuTableList object containing the list of available menu items for the syntax document.

Syntax

MenuTableList = SpssSyntaxDoc.GetMenuTable()

GetSyntax Method
Returns the syntax contained in the associated syntax document, as a unicode string.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.GetSyntax()

GetSyntaxUI Method
Returns an SpssSyntaxUI object representing the syntax window associated with the syntax document.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI=SpssSyntaxDoc.GetSyntaxUI()

IsDesignatedSyntaxDoc Method
Indicates if this syntax document is the designated one. The result is Boolean--True if the syntax
document is the designated one, False otherwise.
v If you have more than one open syntax document, command syntax is pasted into the designated one.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.IsDesignatedSyntaxDoc()

IsEqualTo Method
Indicates if this syntax document object is the same object as a specified syntax document object. The
result is Boolean--True if the two objects are identical, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.IsEqualTo(syntaxDoc)

Parameters

syntaxDoc. An SpssSyntaxDoc object

140 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

IsModified Method
Indicates whether the syntax document has been modified. The result is Boolean--True if the syntax
document has been modified, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.IsModified()

IsPromptToSave Method
Indicates if the 'prompt to save' flag is set for this syntax document object. The result is Boolean--True if
the 'prompt to save' flag has been set, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.IsPromptToSave()

RunSyntax Method
Runs all of the syntax in the associated syntax document.
v The submitted commands are executed synchronously with any other submitted command syntax.
v This method cannot be called within a script that is run from the SCRIPT command. It is also not
available when called from a Python program in distributed mode (Python programs make use of the
interface exposed by the Python spss module).

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.RunSyntax()

SaveAs Method
Saves the syntax document to the specified file.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.SaveAs(fileName,password=None)

Parameters

fileName. The path and file name of the syntax file, as a string. If you are encrypting the file with a
password then specify .spsx as the file extension.

password. An optional string that specifies the password that is required to open the file. This setting
applies only if you want to encrypt the syntax file. Passwords are limited to 10 characters and are
case-sensitive. All spaces, including leading and trailing spaces, are retained.

Creating strong passwords

v Use eight or more characters.
v Include numbers, symbols and even punctuation in your password.
v Avoid sequences of numbers or characters, such as "123" and "abc", and avoid repetition, such as
"111aaa".
v Do not create passwords that use personal information such as birthdays or nicknames.
v Periodically change the password.

Warning: Passwords cannot be recovered if they are lost. If the password is lost the file cannot be opened.

Scripting Guide 141

Note: Encrypted data files and output documents cannot be opened in versions of IBM SPSS Statistics
prior to version 21. Encrypted syntax files cannot be opened in versions prior to version 22.

SetAsDesignatedSyntaxDoc Method
Sets this syntax document as the designated syntax document.
v If you have more than one open syntax document, command syntax is pasted into the designated one.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.SetAsDesignatedSyntaxDoc()

SetModified Method
Sets the modified status of the syntax document.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.SetModified(modified)

Parameters

modified. True to set the status to modified, False otherwise.

SetPromptToSave Method
Sets the 'prompt to save' flag for this syntax document object.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.SetPromptToSave(promptToSave)

Parameters

promptToSave. True to set the prompt to save flag, False otherwise.

SetSyntax Method
Specifies the content of the associated syntax document and replaces any existing content.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc.SetSyntax(syntax)

Parameters

syntax. A string specifying the syntax. You can include line breaks using the escape sequence "\n", and
you can use a triple-quoted string as shown in the example.

Example
SpssSyntaxDoc.SetSyntax(r"""DESCRIPTIVES
VARIABLES=salary salbegin jobtime prevexp
/STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV MIN MAX.""")
v Using a triple-quoted string--as in this example--allows you to specify a block of syntax commands on
multiple lines. You can use either triple single quotes or triple double quotes, but you must use the
same type (single or double) on both sides of the specified string.
v Notice that the triple-quoted expression is prefixed with the letter r. The r prefix to a string specifies
Python's raw mode. In raw mode, Python treats all backslashes in the string as the backslash character
and not as the start of an escape sequence.

142 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SyntaxDocsList Class
The SyntaxDocsList class provides access to the list of open syntax documents. You obtain a
SyntaxDocsList object from the GetSyntaxDocuments method of the SpssClient class.

A SyntaxDocsList object is not an iterable Python object. In order to iterate over the items in the list, use
a for loop, as in:
for index in range(SyntaxDocsList.Size()):

For an example that uses the SyntaxDocsList class, see the examples for the SpssSyntaxDoc class.

GetItemAt Method
Returns an SpssSyntaxDoc object representing the syntax document with the specified index. The index
corresponds to the order in which the syntax documents were opened, with the first opened document
having an index of 0.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxDoc=SyntaxDocsList.GetItemAt(index)

Size Method
Returns the number of open syntax documents.

Syntax

SyntaxDocsList.Size()

SpssSyntaxUI Class
The SpssSyntaxUI class represents the Syntax Editor window associated with an open syntax document.
You obtain an SpssSyntaxUI object from the GetSyntaxUI method of an SpssSyntaxDoc object.

Example: Get the SpssSyntaxUI Object Associated with the Designated Syntax Document
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
DesignatedSyntaxDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedSyntaxDoc()
SyntaxUI = DesignatedSyntaxDoc.GetSyntaxUI()
v The variable SyntaxUI is an SpssSyntaxUI object for the Syntax Editor window associated with the
designated syntax document.

GetHeight Method
Returns the height of the associated Syntax Editor window in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.GetHeight()

GetLeft Method
Returns the horizontal screen position of the associated Syntax Editor window's upper left corner. The
result is in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.GetLeft()

Scripting Guide 143

GetTitleText Method
Returns the title bar text of the associated Syntax Editor window.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.GetTitleText()

GetTop Method
Returns the vertical screen position of the associated Syntax Editor window's upper left corner. The result
is in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.GetTop()

GetVisible Method
Indicates if the associated Syntax Editor window is visible. The result is Boolean--True if the Syntax Editor
window is visible, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.GetVisible()

GetWidth Method
Returns the width of the associated Syntax Editor window in units of pixels.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.GetWidth()

GetWindowState Method
Returns the state of the associated Syntax Editor window.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.GetWindowState()
Table 21. Window states
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMinimized Minimized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMaximized Maximized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssNormal Normal

InvokeDialog Method
Invokes a dialog and returns the syntax generated from that dialog, if any.

Syntax

syntax = SpssSyntaxUI.InvokeDialog(menuItemPath,desktopParent)

Parameters

menuItemPath. Menu or menu item with path of the dialog to invoke. See below for detailed description.

144 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

desktopParent. True specifies that the dialog is parented off the desktop. False specifies that the dialog is
parented off an IBM SPSS Statistics window.

Note: For release 19.0.0.2 and higher, the bSync parameter (available in previous releases) is deprecated.
The InvokeDialog method always runs synchronously, meaning that the scripting process waits until the
dialog has been dismissed. Older scripts containing the bSync parameter will continue to function in
release 19.0.0.2 and higher, but the value of the parameter will be ignored.

Specifying The Menu Item Path

The value of the menuItemPath parameter is a string specifying the menu path to the desired dialog--for
example "analyze>survival>life tables". The greater-than sign (>) is used to separate a menu, its
submenus and the menu item. The menu string must correspond exactly to the text on the menus,
submenus, and menu items, and is language specific.

PrintSyntaxDoc Method
Prints the document.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.PrintSyntaxDoc()

SetHeight Method
Sets the height of the associated Syntax Editor window.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.SetHeight(height)

Parameters

height. An integer representing the height in pixels.

SetLeft Method
Sets the horizontal screen position of the associated Syntax Editor window's upper left corner.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.SetLeft(leftPosition)

Parameters

leftPosition. An integer representing the position in pixels.

SetTop Method
Sets the vertical screen position of the associated Syntax Editor window's upper left corner.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.SetTop(topPosition)

Parameters

topPosition. An integer representing the position in pixels.

Scripting Guide 145

SetVisible Method
Sets the visibility of the associated Syntax Editor window.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.SetVisible(isVisible)

Parameters

isVisible. True to set the Syntax Editor window as visible, False otherwise.

SetWidth Method
Sets the width of the associated Syntax Editor window.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.SetWidth(width)

Parameters

width. An integer representing the width in pixels.

SetWindowState Method
Set the state of the associated Syntax Editor window.

Syntax

SpssSyntaxUI.SetWindowState(newState)
Table 22. Window states
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMinimized Minimized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssMaximized Maximized
SpssClient.SpssWindowStates.SpssNormal Normal

Output Items

SpssOutputItem Class
The SpssOutputItem class represents any item in an output document. You get an SpssOutputItem object
from an OutputItemList object.

Example: Exporting the First Pivot Table to HTML

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItemList = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItemList.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItemList.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT:
OutputItem.ExportToDocument("/myfiles/mypivot",
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatHtml)
break
SpssClient.StopClient()
v SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc() gets an SpssOutputDoc object for the designated output
document. In this example, the variable OutputDoc is an SpssOutputDoc object.

146 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v The GetOutputItems method of an SpssOutputDoc object returns an OutputItemList object. In this
example, the variable OutputItemList is an OutputItemList object.
v The for loop iterates through all of the objects in the OutputItemList object--one object for each item in
the output document. On each iteration of the loop, the variable OutputItem is an SpssOutputItem
object.
v The GetType method from the SpssOutputItem class returns the type of the output item. Pivot tables
have an output item type of SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT.
v You export the pivot table using the ExportToDocument method from the SpssOutputItem class.
v The break statement terminates the loop if a pivot table is found.

ConvertToStdTable Method
This method is obsolete for release 20 and higher. Note: Lightweight tables created in IBM SPSS Statistics
release 19 automatically have full support for pivoting and editing in release 20 or later.

ExportToDocument Method
Exports this output item in the specified document format.
v This method cannot be used for exporting chart items. To export a chart item, use the ExportToImage
method.
v See SetOutputOptions for options available when exporting to Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.ExportToDocument(fileName,format)
Table 23. Export formats
Format Description
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatHtml Html
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatDoc Word
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatXls Excel
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatText Text
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatPdf PDF
SpssClient.DocExportFormat.SpssFormatPpt PowerPoint

ExportToImage Method
Exports this output item in the specified image format.
v This method can only be used for exporting charts, trees, and Model Viewer items. To export other
item types, use the ExportToDocument method.
v When used for a Model Viewer item, the method exports the view displayed in the Viewer. You can
export all views using the “ExportAllViews Method” on page 155.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.ExportToImage(fileName,format)
Table 24. Image formats
Format Description
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.bmp Windows bitmap
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.emf Enhanced metafile
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.eps Enhanced postscript
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.jpg JPG file

Scripting Guide 147

Table 24. Image formats (continued)
Format Description
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.png PNG file
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.tiff Tagged image file

GetAlignment Method
Returns the alignment for this output item.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetAlignment()

Returns
Table 25. Alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.OutputItemAlignment.Left Left
SpssClient.OutputItemAlignment.Center Center
SpssClient.OutputItemAlignment.Right Right

When testing for a particular alignment type with the return value from GetAlignment, you can also use
the following integer type codes: 0 (Left), 1 (Center), 2 (Right). For example:
if SpssOutputItem.GetAlignment() == 0:

GetDescription Method
Returns the name of this output item as it appears in the outline pane of the Viewer.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetDescription()

GetHeight Method
Returns the height of this output item in units of points (1/72 inch).
v This method is not available for header items or root items.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetHeight()

GetPageBreak Method
Indicates whether a page break is set before this item. The result is Boolean--True if the page break is set,
False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetPageBreak()

GetParentItem Method
Returns an SpssOutputItem object representing the parent item of this output item.

Syntax

148 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssOutputItem.GetParentItem()

GetProcedureName Method
Returns the name of the IBM SPSS Statistics procedure that generated this output item. The value is the
OMS command identifier associated with the procedure.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetProcedureName()

GetSpecificType Method
Returns an object of a specific output type, such as a pivot table or header item. You will need to call this
method before using methods specific to that type of output item. For example, before you can use the
methods available for a pivot table, you must call GetSpecificType on the associated SpssOutputItem
object. The set of output types is listed in the description of the GetType method.

Syntax

object=SpssOutputItem.GetSpecificType()

For an example of using the GetSpecificType method, see “SpssPivotTable Class” on page 162.

GetSubType Method
Returns the OMS (Output Management System) sub type identifier, if any, of this output item.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetSubType()

GetTreeLevel Method
Returns the level of this item within the hierarchy of the output tree. For instance, the root item is at level
0, and header items beneath the root are at level 1.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetTreeLevel()

GetType Method
Returns the type associated with this output item.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetType()
Table 26. Type codes
Type Type Code
SpssClient.OutputItemType.UNKNOWN 0
SpssClient.OutputItemType.CHART 1
SpssClient.OutputItemType.HEAD 2
SpssClient.OutputItemType.LOG 3
SpssClient.OutputItemType.NOTE 4
SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT 5
SpssClient.OutputItemType.ROOT 6

Scripting Guide 149

Table 26. Type codes (continued)
Type Type Code
SpssClient.OutputItemType.TEXT 7
SpssClient.OutputItemType.WARNING 8
SpssClient.OutputItemType.TITLE 9
SpssClient.OutputItemType.PAGETITLE 11
SpssClient.OutputItemType.TREEMODEL 13
SpssClient.OutputItemType.GENERIC 14
SpssClient.OutputItemType.MODEL 15
SpssClient.OutputItemType.LIGHTNOTE 18
SpssClient.OutputItemType.LIGHTPIVOT 19
SpssClient.OutputItemType.LIGHTWARNING 20

When testing for a particular output type with the return value from GetType, you can use the integer
type code or the textual specification of the type. For an example of using the GetType method, see
“SpssPivotTable Class” on page 162.

Notes
v Standard charts, graphboard charts, and R graphics all have the type
SpssClient.OutputItemType.CHART. To distinguish between these chart types, use the SPSSSubtype
method on the associated SpssChartItem object.
v Objects of type SpssClient.OutputItemType.ROOT (the root object in an output document) or
SpssClient.OutputItemType.HEAD are SpssHeaderItem objects.
v Objects of type SpssClient.OutputItemType.TREEMODEL are SpssChartItem objects.
v The object types SpssClient.OutputItemType.LIGHTNOTE, SpssClient.OutputItemType.LIGHTPIVOT, and
SpssClient.OutputItemType.LIGHTWARNING are obsolete for release 20 and higher. Lightweight Notes
items, lightweight Pivot Table items, and lightweight Warnings items created in release 19 will have the
output types SpssClient.OutputItemType.NOTE, SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT and
SpssClient.OutputItemType.WARNING respectively when accessed in release 20 or higher.

GetTypeString Method
Returns the type string of this output item. The returned value is not translated.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetTypeString()

Returns

Returns one of the following strings: "Chart", "Log", "Notes", "Table", "Text", "Warning", "Title", "PageTitle",
"TreeDiagram", "Model".

Notes
v Standard charts, graphboard charts, and R graphics all have the type string 'Chart'. To distinguish
between these chart types, use the SPSSSubtype method on the associated SpssChartItem object.
v Lightweight Notes items, lightweight Pivot Table items, and lightweight Warnings items created in
release 19 will have the type strings Notes, Table, and Warning respectively when accessed in release 20
or higher.

150 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

GetWidth Method
Returns the width of this output item in units of points (1/72 inch).
v This method is not available for header items or root items.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetWidth()

GetXML Method
Returns the XML representation for an SpssChartItem or SpssModelItem, as a Unicode string.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.GetXML()

You can set the XML for a chart item using the SetXML method from the SpssChartItem class. You can set
the XML for a Model Viewer item using the SetXML method from the SpssModelItem class.

IsCurrentItem Method
Indicates if this output item is the current item--as indicated by a red arrow next to the item in the
outline pane. The result is Boolean--True if the item is the current item, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.IsCurrentItem()

IsEditable Method
Indicates whether this output item can be edited. The result is Boolean--True if the item can be edited,
False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.IsEditable()

IsEqualTo Method
Indicates if this output item object is the same object as a specified output item object. The result is
Boolean--True if the two objects are identical, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.IsEqualTo(outputItem)

Parameters

outputItem. An SpssOutputItem object

IsSelected Method
Indicates whether the current output item is selected. The result is Boolean--True if the item is currently
selected, False otherwise. Use the SetSelected method to select an item.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.IsSelected()

Scripting Guide 151

IsVisible Method
Indicates if this output item is visible. The result is Boolean--True if the item is visible, False if it is hidden.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.IsVisible()

SetAlignment Method
Sets the alignment for this output item.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetAlignment(alignment)
Table 27. Alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.OutputItemAlignment.Left Left
SpssClient.OutputItemAlignment.Center Center
SpssClient.OutputItemAlignment.Right Right

SetCurrentItem Method
Sets the item as the current item--as indicated by a red arrow next to the item in the outline pane.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetCurrentItem()

SetDescription Method
Sets the name of this output item. This is the name that is displayed in the outline pane of the Viewer.
The value can be specified as plain text, HTML, or rich text format. For HTML, embed markup in a
<html></html> block. For rich text format, specify the string as a raw string to avoid unintentional
escape sequences.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetDescription(desc)

SetHeight Method
Sets the height of this output item in units of points (1/72 inch).
v This method is not available for pivot tables, header items, or the root item.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetHeight(height)

SetPageBreak Method
Sets or clears a page break before this item.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetPageBreak(pageBreak)

Parameters

152 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

pageBreak. True to set a page break, False to clear a page break.

SetProcedureName Method
Sets the procedure name associated with this output item. The argument is a string and is not translated.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetProcedureName(procName)

SetSelected Method
Specifies whether the current output item is set as selected. You can use the IsSelected method to
determine if a given item is already selected.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetSelected(selected)

Parameters

selected. True to set this item as selected, False to set it as not selected.

SetSubType Method
Sets the OMS (Output Management System) sub-type identifier of this output item.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetSubType(subType)

Parameters

subType. A string

SetTreeLevel Method
Sets the level of this item within the hierarchy of the output tree. For instance, the root item is at level 0,
and header items beneath the root are at level 1.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetTreeLevel(level)

Parameters

level. An integer

SetVisible Method
Specifies whether this output item is visible.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetVisible(visible)

Parameters

visible. True to set the item as visible, False to set it as hidden.

Scripting Guide 153

SetWidth Method
Sets the width of this output item in units of points (1/72 inch).
v This method is not available for pivot tables, header items, or the root item.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem.SetWidth(width)

SpssChartItem Class
The SpssChartItem class represents a chart item in an output document. You get an SpssChartItem object
from the collection of output items in an output document.

Example: Getting Chart Items

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.CHART:
ChartItem = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()
v Chart items have an output item type of SpssClient.OutputItemType.CHART.
v Once an output item has been identified as a chart item, you get an SpssChartItem object by calling the
GetSpecificType method on the output item object. In this example, ChartItem is an SpssChartItem
object.

SetXML Method
Sets the chart XML from a UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format, 8 bit) string.

Syntax

SpssChartItem.SetXML(xml)

You can get the XML for a chart item using the GetXML method from the SpssOutputItem class. You can
also use chart XML (OXML) created by the OMS command as the source for SetXML. To do so, extract the
visualization element from the OXML, decode the resulting string to "UTF-8" (e.g., with the Python
decode string method), and use the decoded string as the argument to SetXML.

SPSSSubtype Method
Returns a string specifying the type of chart.

Syntax

SpssChartItem.SPSSSubtype()
Table 28. Chart types
Type Description
CHART Standard chart
GRAPHBOARD Graphboard chart
IMAGE R graphic
TREEMODEL Tree model

154 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssModelItem Class
The SpssModelItem class represents a Model Viewer item in an output document. You get an
SpssModelItem object from the collection of output items in an output document.

Example: Getting Model Viewer Items

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.MODEL:
ModelItem = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()
v Model Viewer items have an output item type of SpssClient.OutputItemType.MODEL.
v Once an output item has been identified as a Model Viewer item, you get an SpssModelItem object by
calling the GetSpecificType method on the output item object. In this example, ModelItem is an
SpssModelItem object.

ExportAllViews Method
Exports all views of this Model Viewer item in the specified image format.

Syntax

SpssModelItem.ExportAllViews(filePrefix,format)

Parameters

The argument filePrefix is the full path and file name prefix for the files containing the exported views.
Each view is exported to a separate file.

On Windows, it is recommended to use raw strings for file paths, or replace backslashes with forward
slashes (IBM SPSS Statistics accepts a forward slash for any backslash in a file specification). Raw strings
are specified by prefacing the string with r, as in r'c:\examples\mydata.sav'. In raw mode, Python treats
all backslashes in the string as the backslash character and not as the start of an escape sequence.
Table 29. Image formats
Format Description
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.bmp Windows bitmap
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.emf Enhanced metafile
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.eps Enhanced postscript
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.jpg JPG file
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.png PNG file
SpssClient.ChartExportFormat.tiff Tagged image file

You can export the view displayed in the Viewer using the “ExportToImage Method” on page 147.

SetXML Method
Sets the XML for the Model Viewer item from a UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format, 8 bit) string.

Syntax

SpssModelItem.SetXML(xml)

Scripting Guide 155

You can get the XML for a Model Viewer item using the GetXML method from the SpssOutputItem class.
You can also use model XML (OXML) created by the OMS command as the source for SetXML.

SpssHeaderItem Class
The SpssHeaderItem class represents a header item in an output document. You get an SpssHeaderItem
object from the collection of output items in an output document.

Example: Getting Header Items

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.HEAD:
HeaderItem = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()
v Header items have an output item type of SpssClient.OutputItemType.HEAD.
v Once an output item has been identified as a header item, you get an SpssHeaderItem object by calling
the GetSpecificType method on the output item object. In this example, HeaderItem is an
SpssHeaderItem object.

Note: The root item is an SpssHeaderItem object.

GetChildCount Method
Returns the child item count for this header item.

Syntax

SpssHeaderItem.GetChildCount()

GetChildItem Method
Returns an SpssOutputItem object for the child item at the specified index. Index values start from 0.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem=SpssHeaderItem.GetChildItem(index)

InsertChildItem Method
Inserts a child item--at the specified index--under the current header item in the associated output
document. Index values start from 0 and are relative to the current header item.
v Use this method to insert header items, text items, and title items created with the CreateHeaderItem,
CreateTextItem, and CreateTitleItem methods from the SpssOutputDoc class.

Syntax

SpssHeaderItem.InsertChildItem(item,index)

Parameters

item. An SpssOutputItem object

index. The index position of the new child item in the header item's child list. Index values start from 0.
To append an item to the end of the child list, use an index value equal to the current child count.

Example: Appending a new header item containing a child text item

156 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

This example appends a new header item under the root item. A text item is added under the new
header item.
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
doc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
itemlist = doc.GetOutputItems()
# Get the root header item
root = itemlist.GetItemAt(0).GetSpecificType()
# Create a new header item
newHeader = doc.CreateHeaderItem("New header")
# Append the new header to the root item
root.InsertChildItem(newHeader,root.GetChildCount())
# Get the new header item
newHeaderItem = root.GetChildItem(root.GetChildCount()-1).GetSpecificType()
# Create a new text item
newText = doc.CreateTextItem("New text")
# Append the new text item to the new header item
newHeaderItem.InsertChildItem(newText,0)
SpssClient.StopClient()

Example: Inserting a text item under an existing header item

This example inserts a text item at index position 1, under a header item identified by the description
string "Demo".
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
doc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = doc.GetOutputItems()
for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):
OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.HEAD \
and OutputItem.GetDescription() == "Demo":
HeaderItem = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()
newText = doc.CreateTextItem("My inserted text")
HeaderItem.InsertChildItem(newText,1)
SpssClient.StopClient()

IsExpanded Method
Indicates whether the associated header item is expanded. The result is Boolean--True if the header item is
expanded, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssHeaderItem.IsExpanded()

RemoveChildItem Method
Removes the child item at the specified index. Index values start from 0.

Syntax

SpssHeaderItem.RemoveChildItem(index)

SetExpanded Method
Sets whether the associated header item is expanded.

Syntax

SpssHeaderItem.SetExpanded(expand)

Parameters

expand. True to expand the item, False to collapse the item.

Scripting Guide 157

SpssLogItem Class
The SpssLogItem class represents a log item in an output document. You get an SpssLogItem object from
the collection of output items in an output document.

Example: Getting Log Items

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.LOG:
LogItem = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()
v Log items have an output item type of SpssClient.OutputItemType.LOG.
v Once an output item has been identified as a log item, you get an SpssLogItem object by calling the
GetSpecificType method on the output item object. In this example, LogItem is an SpssLogItem object.

Append Method
Appends the specified text to the contents of the associated log output item.

Syntax

SpssLogItem.Append(text)

GetTextContents Method
Returns the contents of the associated log output item. The value is returned as plain text.

Syntax

SpssLogItem.GetTextContents()

SetTextContents Method
Sets the contents of the associated log output item, replacing any existing content. The value can be
specified as plain text, HTML, or rich text format. For HTML, embed markup in a <html></html> block.
For rich text format, specify the string as a raw string to avoid unintentional escape sequences. For
multiple lines, use "\n" to specify line breaks.

Syntax

SpssLogItem.SetTextContents(contents)

SpssTextItem Class
The SpssTextItem class represents a text item in an output document. You get an SpssTextItem object
from the collection of output items in an output document.

Example: Getting Text Items

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.TEXT:
TextItem = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()
v Text items have an output item type of SpssClient.OutputItemType.TEXT.

158 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v Once an output item has been identified as a text item, you get an SpssTextItem object by calling the
GetSpecificType method on the output item object. In this example, TextItem is an SpssTextItem object.

GetTextContents Method
Returns the contents of the associated text output item. The value is returned as plain text.

Syntax

SpssTextItem.GetTextContents()

SetTextContents Method
Sets the contents of the associated text output item, replacing any existing content. The value can be
specified as plain text, HTML, or rich text format. For HTML, embed markup in a <html></html> block.
For rich text format, specify the string as a raw string to avoid unintentional escape sequences. For
multiple lines, use "\n" to specify line breaks.

Syntax

SpssTextItem.SetTextContents(contents)

SpssTitleItem Class
The SpssTitleItem class represents a title item in an output document. You get an SpssTitleItem object
from the collection of output items in an output document.

Example: Getting Title Items

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.TITLE:
TitleItem = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()
v Title items have an output item type of SpssClient.OutputItemType.TITLE.
v Once an output item has been identified as a title item, you get an SpssTitleItem object by calling the
GetSpecificType method on the output item object. In this example, TitleItem is an SpssTitleItem
object.

GetTextContents Method
Returns the contents of the associated title output item. The value is returned as plain text.

Syntax

SpssTitleItem.GetTextContents()

SetTextContents Method
Sets the contents of the associated title output item, replacing any existing content. The value can be
specified as plain text, HTML, or rich text format. For HTML, embed markup in a <html></html> block.
For rich text format, specify the string as a raw string to avoid unintentional escape sequences.

Syntax

SpssTitleItem.SetTextContents(contents)

Scripting Guide 159

Menus

MenuTableList Class
The MenuTableList class provides access to the list of available menu items for a data, output, or syntax
document. You obtain a MenuTableList object from the GetMenuTable method of an SpssDataDoc,
SpssOutputDoc, or SpssSyntaxDoc object.

A MenuTableList object is not an iterable Python object. In order to iterate over the items in the list, use a
for loop, as in:
for index in range(MenuTableList.Size()):

For an example that uses the MenuTableList class, see the example for the SpssMenuItem class.

GetItemAt Method
Returns an SpssMenuItem object representing the menu item with the specified index.

Syntax

SpssMenuItem=MenuTableList.GetItemAt(index)

Size Method
Returns the number of items in a MenuTableList object.

Syntax

MenuTableList.Size()

SpssMenuItem Class
The SpssMenuItem class represents a menu item in a data, output, or syntax document. You get an
SpssMenuItem object from the GetItemAt method of a MenuTableList object.

Example: Getting a List of Menu Items

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
MenuTableList = OutputDoc.GetMenuTable()
strMenuItemList = []
for i in range(MenuTableList.Size()):
item = MenuTableList.GetItemAt(i)
strMenuItemList.append(item.GetTextContents())

GetTextContents Method
Returns the name of the menu item (as a string) associated with an SpssMenuItem object.

Syntax

SpssMenuItem.GetTextContents()

Pivot Tables

Pivot Tables
The scripting facility allows you to do most of the things you can do in the pivot table editor, through
use of the SpssPivotTable class. There are two general approaches for working with pivot tables from
scripting:

160 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

v Select groups of cells (results or labels) or other elements (such as footnotes) and apply methods that
modify the entire selection. For example, you can change the foreground color for selected cells.
v Access a subset of the pivot table, such as its data cells or row labels, and modify a particular element
in the subset. For example, you can access the data cells and call a method to set the foreground color
for a specified cell.

Generally speaking, if you want to modify a number of elements in the same manner, the first approach
is faster.

Areas of a Pivot Table

(Red labels indicate accessible objects.)

Available Objects

The SpssPivotTable object provides access to the following objects:

v SpssDataCells Provides access to the data cells.
v SpssLabels Provides access to the row and column labels.
v SpssFootnotes Provides access to all of the table's footnotes.
v SpssLayerLabels Provides access to labels in any layer dimensions.
v SpssPivotMgr Provides access to row, column, and layer dimensions.
v SpssDimension Provides access to the properties of a particular dimension.

Compatibility with previous releases

Legacy tables (referred to as full-featured tables in release 19) are tables that are fully compatible with
IBM SPSS Statistics releases prior to 20. Legacy tables may render slowly and are only recommended if
compatibility with releases prior to 20 is required. You can specify that tables are rendered as legacy
tables by calling the SpssClient.SetPreference method with the TableRender option set to "full". See
the topic “SetPreference Method” on page 109 for more information. You can also specify legacy table
creation with the command syntax SET TABLERENDER = FULL.
v Tables, other than legacy tables, created in IBM SPSS Statistics release 20 or later and lightweight tables
in output documents that are modified in release 20 or later (but created in release 19) cannot be
viewed or accessed through scripting in releases prior to 19.0.0.2. Such tables are viewable and
accessible through scripting in release 19.0.0.2, where they are rendered as lightweight tables; however,
they may not render the same as in release 20 or later.

Scripting Guide 161

v Lightweight tables created in IBM SPSS Statistics release 19 automatically have full support for
pivoting and editing in release 20 or later.

SpssPivotTable Class
The SpssPivotTable class allows you to operate on the table as a whole as well as providing access to
objects for working with the footnotes, data cells, row or column labels, and layer labels associated with
the table. Pivot tables are output items and are accessed from the list of output items associated with an
output document.

Example: Getting Pivot Tables

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT:
PivotTable = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()
v Pivot tables have an output item type of SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT.
v Once an output item has been identified as a pivot table, you get an SpssPivotTable object by calling
the GetSpecificType method on the output item object. In this example, PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable
object.

Example: Getting the First Selected Pivot Table

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT \
and OutputItem.IsSelected():
PivotTable = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()

Example: Getting the First Pivot Table Labeled "Statistics"

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()

OutputDoc = SpssClient.GetDesignatedOutputDoc()
OutputItems = OutputDoc.GetOutputItems()

for index in range(OutputItems.Size()):

OutputItem = OutputItems.GetItemAt(index)
if OutputItem.GetType() == SpssClient.OutputItemType.PIVOT \
and OutputItem.GetDescription() == "Statistics":
PivotTable = OutputItem.GetSpecificType()

Autofit Method
Recalculates the size of all cells in the entire table to accommodate label lengths or the lengths of both
labels and data values.
v To specify how the cells are to be recalculated (labels only or labels and data), use the SetPreference
method from the SpssClient class and specify SpssClient.PreferenceOptions.ColumnWidth as the
option.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.Autofit()

ClearSelection Method
Deselects all selected output items or pivot table elements.

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v All Select methods add the current item(s)/element(s) to what has been previously selected. Always
clear selections before you start selecting output items or table elements.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.ClearSelection()

ColumnLabelArray Method
Returns an SpssLabels object representing the column labels.

Syntax

SpssLabels=SpssPivotTable.ColumnLabelArray()

DataCellArray Method
Returns an SpssDataCells object representing the data cells of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssDataCells=SpssPivotTable.DataCellArray()

DisplayTableByRows Method
Specifies whether to display the table n rows at a time, where n is set with the
SetRowsToDisplayRowCount method. The argument is Boolean--True to display the table n rows at a
time, False otherwise.

Note: This method is only available for legacy tables. See the topic “Compatibility with previous releases”
on page 161 for more information.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.DisplayTableByRows(boolean)

FootnotesArray Method
Returns an SpssFootnotes object representing the table footnotes.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes=SpssPivotTable.FootnotesArray()

GetCaptionText Method
Returns the caption text for the current table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetCaptionText()

GetFootnoteMarkersPosition Method
Gets the current position--superscript or subscript--for footnote markers for the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetFootnoteMarkersPosition()

Scripting Guide 163

Table 30. Returned values
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssFootnoteMarkerTypes.SpssFtSuperscript Superscript
SpssClient.SpssFootnoteMarkerTypes.SpssFtSubscript Subscript

GetFootnoteMarkersStyle Method
Gets the current style--alphabetic or numeric--for footnote markers for the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetFootnoteMarkersStyle()
Table 31. Returned values
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssFootnoteMarkerTypes.SpssFtAlphabetic Alphabetic
SpssClient.SpssFootnoteMarkerTypes.SpssFtNumeric Numeric

GetHeight Method
Returns the height of the pivot table. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetHeight()

GetRotateColumnLabels Method
Indicates if category labels closest to the data (that is, categories of the column dimension with the largest
index) are rotated. The result is Boolean.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetRotateColumnLabels()

Returns

True. The column labels closest to the data are displayed vertically

False. The column labels closest to the data are displayed horizontally

GetRotateRowLabels Method
Indicates if the labels of all but the last row dimension (that is, the row dimension with the largest index)
are rotated. The result is Boolean.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetRotateRowLabels()

Returns

True. The outer row labels are displayed vertically

False. The outer row labels are displayed horizontally

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GetSigMarkersType Method
Gets the type of the significance indicators that are used for the pivot table. The method returns None
when the table has no significance indicators. Significance indicators are created for custom tables
(CTABLES) when pairwise comparisons of column proportions or column means are calculated. The
GetSigMarkersType method returns the type only when the indicators are merged into the main table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetSigMarkersType()
Table 32. Returned values
Value Description
SpssClient.SpssSigMarkerTypes.SpssSigSimple Simple indicators
SpssClient.SpssSigMarkerTypes.SpssSigAPA APA-style indicators
None The table has no
significance indicators

GetTitleText Method
Returns the text of the title for the table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetTitleText()

GetUpdateScreen Method
Returns whether changes in the pivot table are refreshed immediately. The result is Boolean--True if
changes are refreshed immediately, False otherwise.
v By default, changes are refreshed immediately. Use the SetUpdateScreen method to specify that
changes are not to be refreshed immediately.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetUpdateScreen()

GetVarNamesDisplay Method
This method returns the setting for how variable names are displayed in the pivot table: as variable
names, as variable labels, or both.

Note: This method is not supported for legacy tables.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetVarNamesDisplay()
Table 33. Returned values.
Value Description
SpssClient.VarNamesDisplay.Names Names
SpssClient.VarNamesDisplay.Labels Labels
SpssClient.VarNamesDisplay.Both Names and labels

Scripting Guide 165

GetVarValuesDisplay Method
This method gets the setting for how variable values are displayed in the pivot table: as values, as value
labels, or both.

Note: This method is not supported for legacy tables.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetVarValuesDisplay()
Table 34. Returned values.
Value Description
SpssClient.VarValuesDisplay.Values Values
SpssClient.VarValuesDisplay.Labels Labels
SpssClient.VarValuesDisplay.Both Values and labels

GetWidowOrphanLines Method
Returns the number of allowable widow/orphan lines when pivot tables are printed.
v Widow lines are the last few lines of a paragraph printed at the top of the next page; orphan lines are
the first few lines of a paragraph printed at the bottom of the previous page.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetWidowOrphanLines()

GetWidth Method
Returns the width of the pivot table. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.GetWidth()

Group Method
Groups selected category labels or group labels, creates a grouping level, and inserts a grouping label.
v The selection must be category or group labels.
v After the execution of this method, the inserted grouping label is selected and has the default label of
Group Label.
v If a new group level is inserted, labels on the same and lower levels are demoted one level. (For
column labels, the row index increases by one; for row labels, the column index increases by one.)

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.Group()

Example

This example assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object, selects category column labels Clerical
and Custodial, and groups them under the label of Non-Managerial.
ColumnLabels = PivotTable.ColumnLabelArray()

#Select the category column labels Clerical and Custodial:

PivotTable.ClearSelection()
for i in range(ColumnLabels.GetNumRows()):
for j in range(ColumnLabels.GetNumColumns()):
if ColumnLabels.GetValueAt(i,j) in ["Clerical","Custodial"]:

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 ColumnLabels.SelectLabelAt(i,j)

#Group the categories and assign a group label:

PivotTable.Group()
for i in range(ColumnLabels.GetNumRows()):
for j in range(ColumnLabels.GetNumColumns()):
if ColumnLabels.GetValueAt(i,j)=="Group Label":
ColumnLabels.SetValueAt(i,j,"Non-Managerial")

HideCaption Method
Hides the caption of the current table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.HideCaption()

HideFootnote Method
Hides the selected footnotes or all the footnotes referenced by the selected cell.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.HideFootnote()

HideTitle Method
Hides the title of a pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.HideTitle()

InsertFootnote Method
Inserts a footnote to the selected data or label cell.
v If multiple data cells or labels are selected, the footnote is attached to the first selected item.
v To set a footnote for corner text, first set the corner text with the SpssPivotTable.SetCornerText
method.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.InsertFootnote(string)

Parameters

string. Text of the footnote

IsDisplayTableByRows Method
Indicates whether the table is being displayed a fixed number of rows at a time. The result is
Boolean--True if the table is being displayed a fixed number of rows at a time, False otherwise. Use the
DisplayTableByRows method to change the setting.

Note: The feature to display a table a fixed number of rows at a time is only available for legacy tables.
See the topic “Compatibility with previous releases” on page 161 for more information.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.IsDisplayTableByRows()

Scripting Guide 167

IsLegacyTableCompatible Method
Indicates whether row and column labels are indexed in the same manner as for legacy tables. The result
is Boolean--True if row and column labels are indexed in the same manner as for legacy tables, False
otherwise.
v By default, row and column labels are indexed in the same manner as for legacy tables.
v IsLegacyTableCompatible always returns True for legacy tables.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.IsLegacyTableCompatible()

LayerLabelArray Method
Returns an SpssLayerLabels object representing all layer labels.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels=SpssPivotTable.LayerLabelArray()

NavigateToFirstRow Method
Displays the first block of rows of the table when displaying the table a fixed number of rows at a time.
Use the DisplayTableByRows method to display the table a fixed number of rows at a time.

Note: This method is only available for legacy tables. See the topic “Compatibility with previous releases”
on page 161 for more information.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.NavigateToFirstRow()

NavigateToLastRow Method
Displays the last block of rows of the table when displaying the table a fixed number of rows at a time.
Use the DisplayTableByRows method to display the table a fixed number of rows at a time.

Note: This method is only available for legacy tables. See the topic “Compatibility with previous releases”
on page 161 for more information.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.NavigateToLastRow()

NavigateToNextRows Method
Displays the next block of rows of the table when displaying the table a fixed number of rows at a time.
Use the DisplayTableByRows method to display the table a fixed number of rows at a time.

Note: This method is only available for legacy tables. See the topic “Compatibility with previous releases”
on page 161 for more information.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.NavigateToNextRows()

NavigateToPreviousRows Method
Displays the previous block of rows of the table when displaying the table a fixed number of rows at a
time. Use the DisplayTableByRows method to display the table a fixed number of rows at a time.

168 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Note: This method is only available for legacy tables. See the topic “Compatibility with previous releases”
on page 161 for more information.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.NavigateToPreviousRows()

NumericFormat Method
Sets the display format for numeric values in the selected cells of the current table.

SpssPivotTable.NumericFormat(format,decimal)

Parameters

format. The string description of the format.

decimal. Number of decimal places.

For a listing of the format types, see Appendix D, “String Description of Numeric Formats,” on page 253.

PivotManager Method
Returns an SpssPivotMgr object, providing access to the Pivot Manager.

Syntax

SpssPivotMgr=SpssPivotTable.PivotManager()

RowLabelArray Method
Returns an SpssLabels object representing the row labels.

Syntax

SpssLabels=SpssPivotTable.RowLabelArray()

SelectAllFootnotes Method
Selects all footnotes in the pivot table, in addition to what has already been selected.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SelectAllFootnotes()

SelectCaption Method
Selects the caption of the pivot table, in addition to all previously selected elements.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SelectCaption()

SelectCorner Method
Selects the corner of the pivot table, in addition to all previously selected elements.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SelectCorner()

Scripting Guide 169

SelectTable Method
Selects all the elements of a pivot table for modification.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SelectTable()

SelectTableBody Method
Selects the body of the pivot table (labels and data cells) for modification.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SelectTableBody()

SelectTitle Method
Selects the title of the pivot table for modification.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SelectTitle()

SetBackgroundColor Method
Sets the background color of the selected element(s) in the current pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetBackgroundColor(color)

Parameters

color. Integer representation of the color

For information on setting color values, see Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249.

SetBottomMargin Method
Sets the bottom margin of the selected cells in the current pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetBottomMargin(margin)

Parameters

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetCaptionText Method
Sets the caption text for the current table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetCaptionText(string)

Parameters

string. Caption text

170 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SetCornerText Method
Sets the corner text.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetCornerText(string)

Parameters

string. Corner text

SetDataCellWidths Method
Sets the width of all data cells of the current table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetDataCellWidths(width)

Parameters

width. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

SetFootnoteMarkers Method
Sets the style of footnote markers for the entire table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetFootnoteMarkers(type)
Table 35. Footnote marker types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssFootnoteMarkerTypes.SpssFtSuperscript Superscript
SpssClient.SpssFootnoteMarkerTypes.SpssFtSubscript Subscript
SpssClient.SpssFootnoteMarkerTypes.SpssFtAlphabetic Alphabetic
SpssClient.SpssFootnoteMarkerTypes.SpssFtNumeric Numeric

SetForegroundColor Method
This method is deprecated in release 17.0. Use the SetTextColor method instead.

SetHAlign Method
Sets the horizontal alignment of the selected elements in the current table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetHAlign(alignment)
Table 36. Horizontal alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlLeft Left
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlRight Right
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlCenter Center
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlMixed Mixed

Scripting Guide 171

Table 36. Horizontal alignment types (continued)
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlDecimal Decimal

SetHDecDigits Method
Sets the number of decimal digits for the selected cells of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetHDecDigits(number)

Parameters

number. Number of decimal digits

SetLeftMargin Method
Sets the left margin of the selected cells in the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetLeftMargin(margin)

Parameters

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetLegacyTableCompatible Method
Sets whether row and column labels are indexed in the same manner as for legacy tables. The argument
is Boolean--True if row and column labels are indexed in the same manner as for legacy tables, False
otherwise.
v By default, row and column labels are indexed in the same manner as for legacy tables.
v For tables with hidden rows or columns, you might need to specify SetLegacyTableCompatible(False).
v SetLegacyTableCompatible has no effect on legacy tables.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetLegacyTableCompatible(boolean)

SetRightMargin Method
Sets the right margin for the selected cells in the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetRightMargin(margin)

Parameters

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetRotateColumnLabels Method
Rotates the category labels closest to the data (that is, categories of the column dimension with the largest
index).

Syntax

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SpssPivotTable.SetRotateColumnLabels(boolean)

Parameters

True. The column labels closest to the data are displayed vertically

False. The column labels closest to the data are displayed horizontally

SetRotateRowLabels Method
Rotates the labels of all but the last row dimension (that is, the row dimension with the largest index).

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetRotateRowLabels(boolean)

Parameters

True. The outer row labels are displayed vertically

False. The outer row labels are displayed horizontally

SetRowsToDisplayRowCount Method
Sets the number of rows to be displayed at a time for the current pivot table. Note that you must also call
the DisplayTableByRows method with an argument of True to specify that the table is to be displayed a
fixed number of rows at a time.

Note: This method is only available for legacy tables. See the topic “Compatibility with previous releases”
on page 161 for more information.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetRowsToDisplayRowCount(number)

Parameters

number. An integer specifying the number of rows to display at a time.

SetRowsToDisplayTolerance Method
Sets the widow/orphan tolerance to be used when displaying the table a fixed number of rows at a time
(as set by the DisplayTableByRows method). The default is 0.
v If a break between blocks of rows leaves widow rows equal to or less than the specified tolerance, then
the break point is shifted up in the table to display those rows in the next block.
v If a break between blocks of rows leaves orphan rows equal to or less than the specified tolerance, then
the break point is shifted down in the table to display those rows in the previous block.
v If a break between blocks of rows leaves both widow and orphan rows equal to or less than the
specified tolerance, then the break point is shifted up in the table to display the widow rows in the
next block.

Note: This method is only available for legacy tables. See the topic “Compatibility with previous releases”
on page 161 for more information.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetRowsToDisplayTolerance(number)

Scripting Guide 173

Parameters

number. An integer specifying the widow/orphan tolerance.

SetTableLook Method
Applies a predefined table look.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetTableLook(filename)

Parameters

filename. Path to the TableLook (.stt) file

On Windows, it is recommended to use raw strings for file paths, or replace backslashes with forward
slashes (IBM SPSS Statistics accepts a forward slash for any backslash in a file specification). Raw strings
are specified by prefacing the string with r, as in r'c:\examples\mydata.sav'. In raw mode, Python treats
all backslashes in the string as the backslash character and not as the start of an escape sequence.

SetTextColor Method
Sets the color of the text in the selected cells of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetTextColor(color)

Parameters

color. Integer representation of the color

For information on setting color values, see Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249.

SetTextFont Method
Sets the font of the text in the selected cells of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetTextFont(fontname)

Parameters

fontname. Name of the font family, as a string. Available fonts are accessed from Format>Table Properties
in the pivot table editor.

SetTextHidden Method
Sets the hidden effect of the text in the selected cells of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetTextHidden(boolean)

Parameters

True. Hidden

174 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

False. Not hidden

SetTextSize Method
Sets the font size of the text in the selected cells of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetTextSize(size)

Parameters

size. Size in points (integer)

SetTextStyle Method
Sets the bold or italic style of the text in the selected cells of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetTextStyle(style)
Table 37. Text style types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSRegular Regular
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSItalic Italic
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold Bold
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBoldItalic Bold Italic

SetTextUnderlined Method
Sets the underlined effect of the text in the selected cells of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetTextUnderlined(boolean)

Parameters

True. Underlined

False. Not underlined

SetTitleText Method
Sets the text of the title for the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetTitleText(title)

Parameters

title. Text of the title

Scripting Guide 175

SetTopMargin Method
Sets the top margin of the selected cells in the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetTopMargin(margin)

Parameters

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetUpdateScreen Method
Sets whether changes in the pivot table are refreshed immediately. The argument is Boolean--True if
changes are refreshed immediately, False otherwise.
v By default, changes are refreshed immediately.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetUpdateScreen(boolean)

Example

This example assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object, and stops refreshing while looping
through the row labels and making changes.
PivotTable.SetUpdateScreen(False)
rowlabels = PivotTable.RowLabelArray()
for i in range(rowlabels.GetNumRows()):
for j in range(rowlabels.GetNumColumns()):
if rowlabels.GetValueAt(i,j)=="Female":
rowlabels.SetValueAt(i,j,"Women")
PivotTable.SetUpdateScreen(True)

Note: Setting the immediate refresh off (parameter set to False) prevents flashing when you make changes
to individual cells in a loop (in internal scripting), but it may also prevent you assessing the results
immediately. A better way is to avoid making changes cell by cell but select the cells and change the
selection using a method on the pivot table object. This is also a faster way.

SetVAlign Method
Sets the vertical alignment of the text in the selected cells of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetVAlign(alignment)
Table 38. Vertical alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlTop Top
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlBottom Bottom
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlCenter Center

SetVarNamesDisplay Method
This method sets how variable names are displayed in the pivot table: as variable names, as variable
labels, or both.

Note: This method is not supported for legacy tables.

176 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetVarNamesDisplay(display)
Table 39. Settings for display.
Value Description
SpssClient.VarNamesDisplay.Names Names
SpssClient.VarNamesDisplay.Labels Labels
SpssClient.VarNamesDisplay.Both Names and labels

SetVarValuesDisplay Method
This method sets how variable values are displayed in the pivot table: as values, as value labels, or both.

Note: This method is not supported for legacy tables.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetVarValuesDisplay(display)
Table 40. Settings for display.
Value Description
SpssClient.VarValuesDisplay.Values Values
SpssClient.VarValuesDisplay.Labels Labels
SpssClient.VarValuesDisplay.Both Values and labels

SetWidowOrphanLines Method
Sets the number of allowable widow/orphan lines when pivot tables are printed.
v Widow lines are the last few lines of a paragraph printed at the top of the next page; orphan lines are
the first few lines of a paragraph printed at the bottom of the previous page.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.SetWidowOrphanLines(number)

Parameters

number. Line limit (integer). The valid range is 1 to 100.

ShowAll Method
Shows all labels and data.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.ShowAll()

ShowAllFootnotes Method
Shows all footnotes associated with the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.ShowAllFootnotes()

Scripting Guide 177

ShowCaption Method
Shows the caption of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.ShowCaption()

ShowFootnote Method
Shows the hidden footnote(s) referenced by the selected label(s), data cell(s) or title.
v Ignored if no hidden footnote is referenced.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.ShowFootnote()

ShowTitle Method
Shows the title of the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.ShowTitle()

Ungroup Method
Deletes selected group labels and ungroups the category or group labels in the deleted group(s).
v If all group labels on one level are removed, labels on the lower levels are promoted one level. (For
column labels, the row index increases by one; for row labels, the column index increases by one.)
v Selection must be group labels.

Syntax

SpssPivotTable.Ungroup()

SpssDataCells Class
The SpssDataCells object provides access to the data cells of a pivot table. In most pivot tables, the data
cells contain the results of the statistical analysis. You need to use the SpssDataCells object if you want to
highlight significant values in the output (for example, making bold all correlation coefficients that are
greater than a specified value) or to retrieve specific statistics from the output (for example, the means
and standard deviations of each group or variable).

The SpssDataCells object represents a 2-dimensional array of the data cells you can view in a pivot table.
If there are no layer dimensions, all of the cells will be accessible; otherwise, the table must be pivoted in
order to fully access the data currently in layer dimensions.

The data cells array has the same number of rows as the row labels array and the same number of
columns as the column labels array. That is to say, row indexes for the row labels and column indexes for
the column labels respectively correspond to the row and column indexes for the data cells.

Note: If the current table has been set to display blocks of rows--either using SET ROWSBREAK or by
checking Display the table as blocks of rows on the Pivot Tables tab of the Options dialog box--then
methods of the SpssDataCells class that access specific cells, such as GetTextColorAt, will only have
access to the first block of rows. Exceptions to this behavior are the GetValueAt, SetValueAt, and
GetUnformattedValueAt methods, which can access all rows of the pivot table, regardless of whether the
table is displayed in blocks of rows.

You get an SpssDataCells object from the DataCellArray method of an SpssPivotTable object, as in:

178 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssDataCells = SpssPivotTable.DataCellArray()

Example: Modifying Specific Cells

This example assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object, and sets the background color to red
for all data cells containing a value below 0.01.
DataCells = PivotTable.DataCellArray()
for i in range(DataCells.GetNumRows()):
for j in range(DataCells.GetNumColumns()):
try:
val = float(DataCells.GetValueAt(i,j))
if val < 0.01:
DataCells.SetBackgroundColorAt(i,j,255)
except:
pass
v The value returned from GetValueAt is a unicode string. If the value is a representation of a numeric
value, it is converted to a float, otherwise an exception is raised and control passes to the except
clause. Since the except clause only contains a pass statement, execution continues.

GetBackgroundColorAt Method
Returns the background color of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetBackgroundColorAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Returns

The color is returned as an integer. See the topic Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249 for
more information.

GetBottomMarginAt Method
Returns the bottom margin of the specified data cell. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetBottomMarginAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

GetForegroundColorAt Method
This method is deprecated in release 17.0. Use the GetTextColorAt method instead.

GetHAlignAt Method
Returns the horizontal alignment of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetHAlignAt(row,column)

Scripting Guide 179

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Returns
Table 41. Horizontal alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlLeft Left
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlRight Right
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlCenter Center
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlMixed Mixed
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlDecimal Decimal

GetHDecDigitsAt Method
Returns the number of decimal digits allowed in decimal alignment for the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetHDecDigitsAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

GetLeftMarginAt Method
Returns the left margin of the specified data cell. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetLeftMarginAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

GetNumColumns Method
Returns the number of columns in the SpssDataCells object.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetNumColumns()

GetNumericFormatAt method
Returns the display format for the numeric value in the specified data cell.

SpssDataCells.GetNumericFormatAt(row,column)

180 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Return Value

The string description of the format. For a listing of the format types, see Appendix D, “String
Description of Numeric Formats,” on page 253.

Note: To obtain detailed format information for custom currency formats use the GetNumericFormatAtEx
method.

GetNumericFormatAtEx method
Returns an SpssNumericFormat object from which you can obtain detailed formatting information for a
specified data cell, such as the prefix, separator, and suffix for a cell with a custom currency format.

SpssNumericFormat=SpssDataCells.GetNumericFormatAtEx(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

The SpssNumericFormat object supports two methods. GetFormatListSize indicates the number of format
items available for retrieval--3 if the current cell has a custom currency format, and 1 otherwise.
GetFormatStringAt retrieves a specified format item. It takes an integer (zero based) that specifies the
index of the format item to retrieve.

GetFormatStringAt(0). If the list size is 3 then the returned value is the prefix of the value in the
associated data cell; otherwise the returned value is the same as that returned from the
GetNumericFormatAt method.

GetFormatStringAt(1). Returns the separator character of the format for the value in the associated data
cell. Only available when the list size is greater than 1.

GetFormatStringAt(2). Returns the suffix of the value in the associated data cell. Only available when the
list size is greater than 2.

GetNumRows Method
Returns the number of rows in the SpssDataCells object.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetNumRows()

GetReferredFootnotesAt Method
Returns an SpssFootnotes object, which allows access to all the footnotes referred to by the specified data
cell.
v The footnotes array is a subset of the Footnotes object you can get from the pivot table. You can
manipulate the subset using the same properties and methods, but the index of a footnote in this array
is in no way related to the index of the same footnote when accessed from the pivot table.

Syntax

Scripting Guide 181

SpssFootnotes=SpssDataCells.GetReferredFootnotesAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Example

This example gets the footnotes associated with the cell in the first row and first column of the data cell
array and sets the text color and text style of the first footnote (index value 0) to red and bold
respectively. It assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object.
DataCells = PivotTable.DataCellArray()
Footnotes = DataCells.GetReferredFootnotesAt(0,0)
Footnotes.SetTextStyleAt(0,SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold)
Footnotes.SetTextColorAt(0,255)

GetRightMarginAt Method
Returns the right margin of the specified data cell. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetRightMarginAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

GetSigMarkersAt method
Returns the significance indicators, if any, for the specified data cell. Significance indicators are created
for custom tables (CTABLES) when pairwise comparisons of column proportions or column means are
calculated. The GetSigMarkersAt method returns significance indicators only when the indicators are
merged into the main table.

SpssDataCells.GetSigMarkersAt(row,column)

Parameters
Row Row index.
Column
Column index.

Return Value
Simple indicators
When simple indicators are used, the returned value is a Python dictionary. The keys of the
dictionary are the case-preserved values of the indicators for the specified cell. The value for each
key is the number of the column, in the column label array, whose alphabetic identifier matches
the key.
v When multiple statistics are specified for the custom table, the column number for each key is
the column for the statistic that was used for the comparison.

182 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

 v If two significance levels are specified for the pairwise comparisons, capital letters (for the
indicators) are used to identify significance values less than or equal to the smaller level.
Lowercase letters (for the indicators) are used to identify significance values less than or equal
to the larger level.
APA-style indicators
When APA-style indicators are used, the returned value is a string that consists of the indicator
for the specified cell.

You can get the indicator type from the SpssPivotTable.GetSigMarkersType method.

GetTextColorAt Method
Returns the color of the text in the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetTextColorAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Returns

The color is returned as an integer. See the topic Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249 for
more information.

GetTextFontAt Method
Returns the font of the text in the specified data cell, as a string.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetTextFontAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

GetTextHiddenAt Method
Returns the hidden effect of the text in the specified data cell. The result is Boolean.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetTextHiddenAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Returns

Scripting Guide 183

True. Hidden

False. Not hidden

GetTextSizeAt Method
Returns the font size of the text in the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetTextSizeAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

GetTextStyleAt Method
Returns the bold or italic style of the text in the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetTextStyleAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Returns
Table 42. Text style types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSRegular Regular
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSItalic Italic
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold Bold
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBoldItalic Bold Italic

GetTextUnderlinedAt Method
Returns the underlined effect of the text in the specified data cell. The result is Boolean.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetTextUnderlinedAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Returns

184 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

True. Underlined

False. Not underlined

GetTopMarginAt Method
Returns the top margin of the specified data cell. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetTopMarginAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

GetVAlignAt Method
Returns the vertical alignment of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetVAlignAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Returns
Table 43. Vertical alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlTop Top
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlBottom Bottom
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlCenter Center

GetUnformattedValueAt Method
Returns the unformatted value of the specified data cell, as a unicode string. This allows you to obtain all
available digits for a cell that contains a numeric value. In addition, any footnote markers associated with
the cell are removed in the returned value. To obtain the value of the cell, formatted in the same manner
as it appears in the pivot table, use the GetValueAt method.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetUnformattedValueAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Scripting Guide 185

GetValueAt Method
Returns the value of the specified data cell, as a unicode string, and formatted in the same manner as it
appears in the pivot table. To obtain an unformatted version of the cell, use the GetUnformattedValueAt
method.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.GetValueAt(row,column,includeFootnotes)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

includeFootnotes. Optional Boolean specifying whether to include footnote markers in the returned value.
The default is True.

HideFootnotesAt Method
Hides all footnotes referenced by the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.HideFootnotesAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

InsertNewFootnoteAt Method
Inserts a new footnote for the specified data cell.

Syntax

index=SpssDataCells.InsertNewFootnoteAt(row,column,string)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

string. New footnote text

Return Value

index. Integer (to be used to insert the footnote in other cells if it is a shared footnote)

Example

This example inserts a footnote for the cell in the first row and first column of the data cell array and
inserts a shared footnote for each cell whose value is identical to this one. It assumes that PivotTable is
an SpssPivotTable object.

186 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

DataCells = PivotTable.DataCellArray()
val = DataCells.GetUnformattedValueAt(0,0)
index = DataCells.InsertNewFootnoteAt(0,0,"My footnote")
for i in range(DataCells.GetNumRows()):
for j in range(DataCells.GetNumColumns()):
if DataCells.GetUnformattedValueAt(i,j) == val:
DataCells.InsertSharedFootnoteAt(i,j,index)

InsertSharedFootnoteAt Method
Inserts a shared footnote (a footnote that applies to multiple data cells and/or labels) for the specified
data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.InsertSharedFootnoteAt(row,column,index)

Parameters

row. Row index.

column. Column index

index. The index (in the footnote array) of the desired footnote.

Note: When inserting a shared footnote along with a new footnote created with the InsertNewFootnoteAt
method, you can use the index value returned by the InsertNewFootnoteAt method. See the topic
“InsertNewFootnoteAt Method” on page 186 for more information.

ReSizeColumn Method
Resets the width of the current column.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.ReSizeColumn(column,width)

Parameters

column. Column index

width. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

SelectCellAt Method
Selects the specified data cell, in addition to previously selected elements.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SelectCellAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

SelectReferredFootnotesAt Method
Selects all the footnotes referenced by the specified data cell, in addition to previously selected elements.

Syntax

Scripting Guide 187

SpssDataCells.SelectReferredFootnotesAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables. To modify footnotes associated with a particular data
cell in a legacy table, use the GetReferredFootnotesAt method to get an SpssFootnotes object containing
the footnotes. You can then use the methods of the SpssFootnotes object to make the desired
modifications.

SetBackgroundColorAt Method
Sets the background color of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetBackgroundColorAt(row,column,color)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

color. Integer representation of the color

For information on setting color values, see Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249.

SetBottomMarginAt Method
Sets the bottom margin of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetBottomMarginAt(row,column,margin)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetForegroundColorAt Method
This method is deprecated in release 17.0. Use the SetTextColorAt method instead.

SetHAlignAt Method
Sets the horizontal alignment of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetHAlignAt(row,column,alignment)

Parameters

188 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

row. Row index

column. Column index

Table 44. Horizontal alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlLeft Left
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlRight Right
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlCenter Center
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlMixed Mixed
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlDecimal Decimal

SetHDecDigitsAt Method
Sets the number of decimal digits for the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetHDecDigitsAt(row,column,number)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

number. Number of decimal digits

SetLeftMarginAt Method
Sets the left margin of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetLeftMarginAt(row,column,margin)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetNumericFormatAt method
Sets the display format for the numeric value in the current cell.

SpssDataCells.SetNumericFormatAt(row,column,format)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

format. The string description of the format.

Scripting Guide 189

For a listing of the format types, see Appendix D, “String Description of Numeric Formats,” on page 253.

SetNumericFormatAtWithDecimal method
Sets the display format for the numeric value in the current cell.

SpssDataCells.SetNumericFormatAtWithDecimal(row,column,format,decimal)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

format. The string description of the format.

decimal. Number of decimal places. The default is 0.

For a listing of the format types, see Appendix D, “String Description of Numeric Formats,” on page 253.

SetRightMarginAt Method
Sets the right margin of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetRightMarginAt(row,column,margin)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetTextColorAt Method
Sets the color of the text in the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetTextColorAt(row,column,color)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

color. Integer representation of the color

For information on setting color values, see Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249.

SetTextFontAt Method
Sets the font of the text in the specified data cell.

Syntax

190 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssDataCells.SetTextFontAt(row,column,fontname)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

fontname. Name of the font family, as a string. Available fonts are accessed from Format>Cell Properties
in the pivot table editor.

SetTextHiddenAt Method
Sets the hidden effect of the text in the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetTextHiddenAt(row,column,boolean)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

boolean. True for hidden, False for not hidden

SetTextSizeAt Method
Sets the font size of the text in the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetTextSizeAt(row,column,size)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

size. Size in points (integer)

SetTextStyleAt Method
Sets the bold or italic style of the text in the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetTextStyleAt(row,column,style)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Scripting Guide 191

Table 45. Text style types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSRegular Regular
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSItalic Italic
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold Bold
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBoldItalic Bold Italic

SetTextUnderlinedAt Method
Sets the underlined effect of the text in the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetTextUnderlinedAt(row,column,boolean)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

boolean. True for underlined, False for not underlined

SetTopMarginAt Method
Sets the top margin of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetTopMarginAt(row,column,margin)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetVAlignAt Method
Sets the vertical alignment of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetVAlignAt(row,column,alignment)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

Table 46. Vertical alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlTop Top

192 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Table 46. Vertical alignment types (continued)
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlBottom Bottom
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlCenter Center

SetValueAt Method
Sets the value of the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.SetValueAt(row,column,value)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

value. Value as a string

ShowFootnotesAt Method
Displays all the footnotes referenced by the specified data cell.

Syntax

SpssDataCells.ShowFootnotesAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index

column. Column index

SpssDimension Class
The SpssDimension class provides access to a pivot table's dimensions. A pivot table can have three types
of dimensions: column dimensions, row dimensions, and layer dimensions. Using an SpssDimension
object you can obtain the name of a dimension, change the current category, or pivot the dimension.

Table Dimensions

The following is an illustration of the three types of dimension in a pivot table. To see the pivot table
with all its labels (as shown in the figure), double-click it and select View>Show All from the menus in
the pivot table editor.

Scripting Guide 193

To display the pivot trays (if they are not on the screen), select Pivot >Pivoting Trays from the menus.

Getting an SpssDimension Object

You get an SpssDimension object from the GetColumnDimension, GetLayerDimension, or

GetRowDimension method of an SpssPivotMgr object. The SpssPivotMgr object is obtained from the
SpssPivotTable object. For example, the following gets an SpssDimension object for the row dimension
with index 1:
SpssPivotMgr = SpssPivotTable.PivotManager()
SpssDimension = SpssPivotMgr.GetRowDimension(1)

Example

This example assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object and moves the "Statistics" row
dimension to the first column dimension.
PivotManager = PivotTable.PivotManager()
# Search for the row dimension named "Statistics" and pivot it to
# the first column dimension.
for i in range(PivotManager.GetNumRowDimensions()):
RowDim = PivotManager.GetRowDimension(i)
if RowDim.GetDimensionName() == "Statistics":
RowDim.MoveToColumn(0)
break

GetCategoryValueAt Method
Returns the label associated with the current category.

Syntax

SpssDimension.GetCategoryValueAt(index)

Parameters

index. Category index within the column or row dimension

GetCurrentCategory Method
Returns the index for the current category.

Syntax

194 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssDimension.GetCurrentCategory()

GetDimensionName Method
Returns the dimension name.

Syntax

SpssDimension.GetDimensionName()

GetFullDimensionLabel Method
Returns the value of the label for the dimension, which is a concatenation of the dimension name, all the
group labels (if any), and the label for the current category.

Syntax

SpssDimension.GetFullDimensionLabel()

GetNumCategories Method
Returns the number of categories in the dimension.

Syntax

SpssDimension.GetNumCategories()

HideLabel Method
Hides the dimension label.

Syntax

SpssDimension.HideLabel()

MoveToColumn Method
Pivots the dimension to the column, placing it before the specified column dimension.

Syntax

SpssDimension.MoveToColumn(index)

Parameters

index. Column dimension index

MoveToLayer Method
Pivots the dimension to the layer, placing it before the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssDimension.MoveToLayer(index)

Parameters

index. Layer dimension index

MoveToRow Method
Pivots the dimension to the row, placing it before the specified row dimension.

Syntax
Scripting Guide 195
SpssDimension.MoveToRow(index)

Parameters

index. Row dimension index

SetCurrentCategory Method
Sets the specified category as current.

Syntax

SpssDimension.SetCurrentCategory(index)

Parameters

index. Category index

SetDimensionName Method
Sets the dimension name.

Syntax

SpssDimension.SetDimensionName(name)

SpssFootnotes Class
The SpssFootnotes class provides access to all of the footnotes contained in a pivot table. The index of a
footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in the table. The
index is returned when you insert a new footnote.

You get an SpssFootnotes object from the FootnotesArray method of an SpssPivotTable object, as in:
SpssFootnotes = SpssPivotTable.FootnotesArray()

An SpssFootnotes object is also returned by the GetReferredFootnotesAt method of an SpssDataCells or

SpssLabels object. The footnote collection thus returned contains only the footnotes referred to by the
specified data cell or label. The indexes for the returned collection are in the ordinal order of the
references in the referring cell. IBM SPSS Statistics does not provide a method to go from a footnote
referred to by a cell to the same footnote contained in the footnote array of the table.

Example

This example assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object and sets the background color to
yellow for all data cells that have footnotes.
Footnotes = PivotTable.FootnotesArray()
PivotTable.ClearSelection()
for i in range(Footnotes.GetCount()):
Footnotes.SelectCellAt(i)
PivotTable.SetBackgroundColor(65535)

ChangeMarkerToRegular Method
Changes the marker of the current footnote to the regular marker. The marker is either alphabetic or
numeric. The footnote marker type is set from the SetFootnoteMarkers method in the SpssPivotTable
class.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.ChangeMarkerToRegular(index)

196 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

ChangeMarkerToSpecial Method
Changes the marker of the current footnote to the special marker.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.ChangeMarkerToSpecial(index,newmarker)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

newmarker. Special marker for the footnote. The value is a string with a maximum length of two
characters.

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

GetBackgroundColorAt Method
Returns the background color of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetBackgroundColorAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Returns

The color is returned as an integer. See the topic Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249 for
more information.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables.

GetBottomMarginAt Method
Returns the bottom margin of the specified footnote. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetBottomMarginAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

Scripting Guide 197

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables.

GetCount Method
Returns the number of footnotes associated with the current pivot table.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetCount()

GetForegroundColorAt Method
This method is deprecated in release 17.0 and obsolete for legacy tables in release 20 and higher. Use the
GetTextColorAt method instead.

GetHAlignAt Method
Returns the horizontal alignment of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetHAlignAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Returns
Table 47. Horizontal alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlLeft Left
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlRight Right
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlCenter Center
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlMixed Mixed
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlDecimal Decimal

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables.

GetLeftMarginAt Method
Returns the left margin for the specified footnote. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetLeftMarginAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote.

198 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables.

GetRightMarginAt Method
Returns the right margin of the specified footnote. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetRightMarginAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables.

GetTextColorAt Method
Returns the color of the text of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetTextColorAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Returns

The color is returned as an integer. See the topic Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249 for
more information.

GetTextFontAt Method
Returns the font of the text in the specified footnote, as a string.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetTextFontAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Scripting Guide 199

GetTextHiddenAt Method
Returns the hidden effect of the specified footnote. The result is a Boolean.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetTextHiddenAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Returns

True. Hidden

False. Not hidden

GetTextSizeAt Method
Returns the font size of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetTextSizeAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

GetTextStyleAt Method
Returns the bold or italic style of the text for specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetTextStyleAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Returns
Table 48. Text style types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSRegular Regular
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSItalic Italic
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold Bold

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Table 48. Text style types (continued)
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBoldItalic Bold Italic

GetTextUnderlinedAt Method
Returns the underlined effect of the specified footnote. The result is a Boolean.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetTextUnderlinedAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Returns

True. Underlined

False. Not underlined

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables.

GetTopMarginAt Method
Returns the top margin of the specified footnote. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetTopMarginAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables.

GetVAlignAt Method
Returns the vertical alignment of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetVAlignAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.
Scripting Guide 201
Returns
Table 49. Vertical alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlTop Top
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlBottom Bottom
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlCenter Center

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables.

GetValueAt Method
Returns the value associated with the specified footnote, as a unicode string.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.GetValueAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

RenumberFootnotes Method
Renumbers all footnotes.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.RenumberFootnotes()

SelectCellAt Method
Selects the data or label cell associated with the specified footnote, in addition to previously selected
elements.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SelectCellAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

SetBackgroundColorAt Method
Sets the background color of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetBackgroundColorAt(index,color)

Parameters

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index. Index of the footnote

color. Integer representation of the color

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

For information on setting color values, see Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables. You can set the background color of all footnotes in a
legacy table by selecting all footnotes with the SpssPivotTable.SelectAllFootnotes method and then calling
the SpssPivotTable.SetBackgroundColor method.

SetBottomMarginAt Method
Sets the bottom margin of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetBottomMarginAt(index,margin)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables. You can set the bottom margin of the footnote area in
a legacy table by selecting all footnotes with the SpssPivotTable.SelectAllFootnotes method and then
calling the SpssPivotTable.SetBottomMargin method.

SetForegroundColorAt Method
This method is deprecated in release 17.0 and obsolete for legacy tables in release 20 and higher. Use the
SetTextColorAt method instead.

SetHAlignAt Method
Sets the horizontal alignment of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetHAlignAt(index,alignment)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.
Table 50. Horizontal alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlLeft Left
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlRight Right

Scripting Guide 203

Table 50. Horizontal alignment types (continued)
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlCenter Center
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlMixed Mixed
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlDecimal Decimal

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables. You can set the horizontal alignment of all footnotes
in a legacy table by selecting all footnotes with the SpssPivotTable.SelectAllFootnotes method and then
calling the SpssPivotTable.SetHAlign method.

SetLeftMarginAt Method
Sets the left margin for the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetLeftMarginAt(index,margin)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote.

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables. You can set the left margin of the footnote area in a
legacy table by selecting all footnotes with the SpssPivotTable.SelectAllFootnotes method and then calling
the SpssPivotTable.SetLeftMargin method.

SetRightMarginAt Method
Sets the right margin of specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetRightMarginAt(index,margin)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables. You can set the right margin of the footnote area in a
legacy table by selecting all footnotes with the SpssPivotTable.SelectAllFootnotes method and then calling
the SpssPivotTable.SetRightMargin method.

SetTextColorAt Method
Sets the color of the text of the specified footnote.

Syntax

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SpssFootnotes.SetTextColorAt(index,color)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

color. Integer representation of the color

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

For information on setting color values, see Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249.

SetTextFontAt Method
Sets the font of the text in the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetTextFontAt(index,fontname)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

fontname. Name of the font family, as a string. Available fonts are accessed from Format>Cell Properties
in the pivot table editor.

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

SetTextHiddenAt Method
Sets the hidden effect of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetTextHiddenAt(index,boolean)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

boolean. True for hidden, False for not hidden

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

SetTextSizeAt Method
Sets the font size of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetTextSizeAt(index,size)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

Scripting Guide 205

size. Size in points (integer)

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

SetTextStyleAt Method
Sets the bold or italic style of the text for the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetTextStyleAt(index,style)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.
Table 51. Text style types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSRegular Regular
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSItalic Italic
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold Bold
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBoldItalic Bold Italic

SetTextUnderlinedAt Method
Sets the underlined effect of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetTextUnderlinedAt(index,boolean)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

boolean. True for underlined, False for not underlined

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables. You can set the underlined effect of all footnotes in a
legacy table by selecting all footnotes with the SpssPivotTable.SelectAllFootnotes method and then calling
the SpssPivotTable.SetTextUnderlined method.

SetTopMarginAt Method
Sets the top margin of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetTopMarginAt(index,margin)

Parameters

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index. Index of the footnote

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables. You can set the top margin of the footnote area in a
legacy table by selecting all footnotes with the SpssPivotTable.SelectAllFootnotes method and then calling
the SpssPivotTable.SetTopMargin method.

SetVAlignAt Method
Sets the vertical alignment of the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetVAlignAt(index,alignment)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.
Table 52. Vertical alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlTop Top
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlBottom Bottom
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlCenter Center

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables. You can set the vertical alignment of all footnotes in a
legacy table by selecting all footnotes with the SpssPivotTable.SelectAllFootnotes method and then calling
the SpssPivotTable.SetVAlign method.

SetValueAt Method
Sets the value associated with the specified footnote.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes.SetValueAt(index,value)

Parameters

index. Index of the footnote

value. String

The index of a footnote does not correspond to the footnote marker but to the order of their references in
the table.

SpssLabels Class
The SpssLabels class provides access to the row labels and column labels contained in a pivot table. You
need to use this object to format column or row labels (for example, making all "Total" labels bold) or to

Scripting Guide 207

change labels (for example, changing the "Column %", "Row %" or "Total %" label). Generally speaking,
you need to get the specified column or row label in order to locate specific statistics in an SpssDataCells
object.

The row and column labels are represented as 2-dimensional arrays, referred to as the row labels array
and column labels array. The arrays contain all row and column labels for the pivot table, including
hidden labels. The row labels array has the same number of rows as the data cells array and the column
labels array has the same number of columns as the data cells array. Row indexes for the row labels and
column indexes for the column labels respectively correspond to the row and column indexes for the data
cells.

Column Labels Array

The following diagrams illustrate how the column labels array is indexed. Note that where you see only
one label (such as the dimension name Statistics) in the pivot table, the label can be accessed in all cells
corresponding to the categories under it. In the case of Statistics, you can access it using (0,0), (0,1), (0,2),
(0,3), (0,4) or (0,5) and any change you make to one cell is reflected in all these cells.

Figure 18. Column labels (after Showing All)

208 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Figure 19. Column labels array indexing

Each column dimension in the column labels array is represented by a set of levels. The first level is the
dimension label, the last level contains the category labels, and all the levels in between (if any) contain
group labels.

Row Labels Array

The following diagrams illustrate how the row labels array is indexed. Note that where you see only one
label (such as the dimension name Statistics) in the pivot table, the label can be accessed in all cells
corresponding to the categories under it. In the case of Statistics, you can access it using (0,0), (1,0), (2,0),
(3,0), (4,0) and (5,0) and any change you make to one cell is reflected in all these cells.

Figure 20. Row labels (after showing all)

Scripting Guide 209

Figure 21. Row labels array indexing

Each row dimension in the row labels array is represented by a set of levels. The first level is the
dimension label, the last level contains the category labels, and all the levels in between (if any) contain
group labels.

Notes
v To see all row and column labels in a pivot table, double-click on it and select View>Show All in the
pivot table editor.
v Blank cells in the row label or column label arrays indicate that some categories (or subgroups) are not
grouped.

Getting an SpssLabels Object

You get an SpssLabels object from the RowLabelArray or ColumnLabelArray method of an

SpssPivotTable object, as in:
SpssLabels = SpssPivotTable.RowLabelArray()

Examples

This example assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object, selects all row labels and bolds the
text.
RowLabels = PivotTable.RowLabelArray()
for i in range(RowLabels.GetNumRows()):
for j in range(1,RowLabels.GetNumColumns()):
RowLabels.SetTextStyleAt(i,j,
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold)

This example assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object, selects all column labels and bolds
the text.
ColLabels = PivotTable.ColumnLabelArray()
for i in range(1,ColLabels.GetNumRows()):
for j in range(ColLabels.GetNumColumns()):
ColLabels.SetTextStyleAt(i,j,
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold)

210 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

BreakHere Method
Sets the break location for printing large pivot tables. The break occurs after a specified row or column
label and only applies to the innermost row or column labels. Breaks are specified for a particular row or
column label and do not apply to any repeated versions of the specified label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.BreakHere(index)

Parameters

index. For row labels, the index of the row (to break on) in the row labels array. For column labels, the
index of the column (to break on) in the column labels array.

GetBackgroundColorAt Method
Returns the background color of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetBackgroundColorAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Returns

The color is returned as an integer. See the topic Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249 for
more information.

GetBottomMarginAt Method
Returns the bottom margin of the specified row/column label. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetBottomMarginAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

GetColumnLabelWidthAt Method
Returns the width of the column labels for the level containing the current label. The unit is the point
(1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetColumnLabelWidthAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

Scripting Guide 211

column. Column index in the label array

GetForegroundColorAt Method
This method is deprecated in release 17.0. Use the GetTextColorAt method instead.

GetHAlignAt Method
Returns the horizontal alignment of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetHAlignAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Returns
Table 53. Horizontal alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlLeft Left
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlRight Right
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlCenter Center
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlMixed Mixed
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlDecimal Decimal

GetLeftMarginAt Method
Returns the left margin of the specified row/column label. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetLeftMarginAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

GetNumColumns Method
Returns the number of columns in the row/column labels object.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetNumColumns()

GetNumRows Method
Returns the number of rows in the row/column labels object.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetNumRows()

212 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

GetReferredFootnotesAt Method
Returns an SpssFootnotes object, which allows access to all the footnotes referred to by the specified label
cell.
v The returned footnotes array is a subset of the array returned by the FootnotesArray method of the
SpssPivotTable class. You can manipulate the subset using the same properties and methods, but the
index of a footnote in this array is in no way related to the index of the same footnote when accessed
from the pivot table.

Syntax

SpssFootnotes=SpssLabels.GetReferredFootnotesAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Example

This example gets the footnotes for the column label with row index 1 and column index 1 (in the
column label array) and sets the text color and text style of the first footnote (index value 0) to red and
bold respectively. It assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object.
Labels = PivotTable.ColumnLabelArray()
Footnotes = Labels.GetReferredFootnotesAt(1,1)
Footnotes.SetTextStyleAt(0,SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold)
Footnotes.SetTextColorAt(0,255)

GetRightMarginAt Method
Returns the right margin of the specified row/column label. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetRightMarginAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

GetRowLabelWidthAt Method
Returns the width of the row labels for the level containing the current label. The unit is the point (1/72
inch).

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetRowLabelWidthAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Scripting Guide 213

GetTextColorAt Method
Returns the color of the text in the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetTextColorAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Returns

The color is returned as an integer. See the topic Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249 for
more information.

GetTextFontAt Method
Returns the font of the text in the specified row/column label, as a string.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetTextFontAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

GetTextHiddenAt Method
Returns the hidden effect of the text for the specified row/column label. The result is a Boolean.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetTextHiddenAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Returns

True. Hidden

False. Not hidden

GetTextSizeAt Method
Returns the font size of the text for the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetTextSizeAt(row,column)

214 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

GetTextStyleAt Method
Returns the bold or italic style of the text in the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetTextStyleAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Returns
Table 54. Text style types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSRegular Regular
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSItalic Italic
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold Bold
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBoldItalic Bold Italic

GetTextUnderlinedAt Method
Returns the underlined effect of the text in the specified row/column label. The result is a Boolean.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetTextUnderlinedAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Returns

True. Underlined

False. Not underlined

GetTextWidthAt Method
Returns the width of the text in the indexed row/column label, as if the text were unwrapped. The unit
is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetTextWidthAt(row,column)

Scripting Guide 215

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

GetTopMarginAt Method
Returns the top margin of the specified row/column label. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetTopMarginAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

GetVAlignAt Method
Returns the vertical alignment of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetVAlignAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Returns
Table 55. Vertical alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlTop Top
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlBottom Bottom
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlCenter Center

GetValueAt Method
Returns the value of the specified row/column label, as a unicode string.

Syntax

SpssLabels.GetValueAt(row,column,includeFootnotes)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

216 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

includeFootnotes. Optional Boolean specifying whether to include footnote markers in the returned value.
The default is True.

HideAllLabelsInDimensionAt Method
Hides all labels in the same dimension as the specified label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.HideAllLabelsInDimensionAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

HideFootnotesAt Method
Hides all footnotes referenced by the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.HideFootnotesAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

HideLabelsInDimensionAt Method
Hides all instances of the specified label within the dimension containing the label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.HideLabelsInDimensionAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

HideLabelsWithDataAt Method
Hides all instances of the specified label and all data associated with those instances. Only applies to the
innermost labels.

Syntax

SpssLabels.HideLabelsWithDataAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Scripting Guide 217

InsertBefore Method
Moves the selected column(s) or rows before a specified column or row. (The data are moved together
with the labels.)
v The selected and specified labels must be in the same dimension and must be either category or group
labels. (That is, they cannot be dimension names.)
v If no labels in the same dimension are selected, the method is ignored.

Syntax

SpssLabels.InsertBefore(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

InsertNewAfter Method
Inserts a new row or column, after the specified row or column, in the pivot table. To insert a new row,
use this method with the row labels array. To insert a new column, use this method with the column
labels array. The particular row or column is specified by providing the indexes of its associated label in
the labels array. For example, to insert a column after the column whose label is "Mean", you provide the
indexes of the label "Mean" in the column labels array.
v A plus sign "+" is inserted in the first cell of the new row or column to prevent the row or column
from being automatically hidden because it is empty.
v In a table with nested or layered dimensions, a column or row is inserted at every corresponding
dimension level.

Note: This method is not supported for legacy tables.

Syntax

SpssLabels.InsertNewAfter(row,column,label=None)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

label. An optional label for the new row or column. If omitted, a plus sign "+" is used for the label.

InsertNewBefore Method
Inserts a new row or column, before the specified row or column, in the pivot table. To insert a new row,
use this method with the row labels array. To insert a new column, use this method with the column
labels array. The particular row or column is specified by providing the indexes of its associated label in
the labels array. For example, to insert a column before the column whose label is "Mean", you provide
the indexes of the label "Mean" in the column labels array.
v A plus sign "+" is inserted in the first cell of the new row or column to prevent the row or column
from being automatically hidden because it is empty.
v In a table with nested or layered dimensions, a column or row is inserted at every corresponding
dimension level.

Note: This method is not supported for legacy tables.

218 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Syntax

SpssLabels.InsertNewBefore(row,column,label=None)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

label. An optional label for the new row or column. If omitted, a plus sign "+" is used for the label.

InsertNewFootnoteAt Method
Inserts a new footnote for the specified row/column label.

Syntax

index=SpssLabels.InsertNewFootnoteAt(row,column,string)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

string. New footnote text

Return Value

index. Integer (to be used to insert the footnote in other cells if it is a shared footnote)

Example

This example inserts a footnote for the column label with row index 1 and column index 1 (in the column
label array), and it also inserts a shared footnote for the column label with row index 1 and column index
2. It assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object.
Labels = PivotTable.ColumnLabelArray()
index = Labels.InsertNewFootnoteAt(1,1,"My footnote")
Labels.InsertSharedFootnoteAt(1,2,index)

InsertSharedFootnoteAt Method
Inserts a shared footnote (a footnote that applies to multiple labels and/or data cells) for the specified
row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.InsertSharedFootnoteAt(row,column,index)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array.

column. Column index in the label array

index. The index (in the footnote array) of the desired footnote.

Scripting Guide 219

Note: When inserting a shared footnote along with a new footnote created with the InsertNewFootnoteAt
method, you can use the index value returned by the InsertNewFootnoteAt method. See the topic
“InsertNewFootnoteAt Method” on page 219 for more information.

KeepTogether Method
Prevents a page break from occurring within the specified range when printing large pivot tables.

Syntax

SpssLabels.KeepTogether(from,to)

Parameters

from. For row labels, the index of the starting row in the row labels array. For column labels, the index of
the starting column in the column labels array.

to. For row labels, the index of the ending row in the row labels array. For column labels, the index of the
ending column in the column labels array.

RemoveBreakHere Method
Clears a previously set break location.

Syntax

SpssLabels.RemoveBreakHere(index)

Parameters

index. For row labels, the index of the row (in the row labels array) for which the break was set. For
column labels, the index of the column (in the column labels array) for which the break was set.

RemoveKeepTogether Method
Negates the effects of a previous call to KeepTogether.

Syntax

SpssLabels.RemoveKeepTogether(from,to)

Parameters

from. For row labels, the index of the starting row in the row labels array. For column labels, the index of
the starting column in the column labels array.

to. For row labels, the index of the ending row in the row labels array. For column labels, the index of the
ending column in the column labels array.

SelectDataUnderLabelAt Method
Selects the data under the indexed label (but not the label), in addition to whatever has been selected
previously.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SelectDataUnderLabelAt(row,column)

Parameters

220 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

SelectLabelAt Method
Selects the indexed label, in addition to previously selected elements.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SelectLabelAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

SelectLabelDataAt Method
Selects the indexed label and all corresponding data in the category, in addition to whatever has been
selected previously.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SelectLabelDataAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

SelectReferredFootnotesAt Method
Selects all the footnotes referenced by the specified label cell, in addition to previously selected elements.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SelectReferredFootnotesAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables. To modify footnotes associated with a particular label
in a legacy table, use the GetReferredFootnotesAt method to get an SpssFootnotes object containing the
footnotes. You can then use the methods of the SpssFootnotes object to make the desired modifications.

SetBackgroundColorAt Method
Sets the background color of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetBackgroundColorAt(row,column,color)

Parameters

Scripting Guide 221

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

color. Integer representation of the color

For information on setting color values, see Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249.

SetBottomMarginAt Method
Sets the bottom margin of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetBottomMarginAt(row,column,margin)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetColumnLabelWidthAt Method
Sets the width of the specified column label. This property will also set the widths of all column labels
and data cells that are in the same column of the table as the specified label. To set column widths
independently, use the ReSizeColumn method in the SpssDataCells class.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetColumnLabelWidthAt(row,column,width)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

width. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

SetForegroundColorAt Method
This method is deprecated in release 17.0. Use the SetTextColorAt method instead.

SetHAlignAt Method
Sets the horizontal alignment of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetHAlignAt(row,column,alignment)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

222 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Table 56. Horizontal alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlLeft Left
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlRight Right
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlCenter Center
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlMixed Mixed
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlDecimal Decimal

SetLeftMarginAt Method
Sets the left margin of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetLeftMarginAt(row,column,margin)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetRightMarginAt Method
Sets the right margin of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetRightMarginAt(row,column,margin)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetRowLabelWidthAt Method
Sets the width of the specified row label. This method will also set the widths of all row labels that are in
the same column of the row label array as the specified label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetRowLabelWidthAt(row,column,width)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

width. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Scripting Guide 223

SetTextColorAt Method
Sets the color of the text in the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetTextColorAt(row,column,color)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

color. Integer representation of the color

For information on setting color values, see Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249.

SetTextFontAt Method
Sets the font of the text in the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetTextFontAt(row,column,fontname)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

fontname. Name of the font family, as a string. Available fonts are accessed from Format>Cell Properties
in the pivot table editor.

SetTextHiddenAt Method
Sets the hidden effect of the text for the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetTextHiddenAt(row,column,boolean)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

boolean. True for hidden, False for not hidden. True hides the cell associated with the label.

SetTextSizeAt Method
Sets the font size of the text for the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetTextSizeAt(row,column,size)

Parameters

224 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

size. Size in points (integer)

SetTextStyleAt Method
Sets the bold or italic style of the text in the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetTextStyleAt(row,column,style)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Table 57. Text style types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSRegular Regular
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSItalic Italic
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold Bold
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBoldItalic Bold Italic

SetTextUnderlinedAt Method
Sets the underlined effect of the text in the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetTextUnderlinedAt(row,column,boolean)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

boolean. True for underlined, False for not underlined.

SetTopMarginAt Method
Sets the top margin of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetTopMarginAt(row,column,margin)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Scripting Guide 225

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetVAlignAt Method
Sets the vertical alignment of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetVAlignAt(row,column,alignment)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Table 58. Vertical alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlTop Top
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlBottom Bottom
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlCenter Center

SetValueAt Method
Sets the value of the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.SetValueAt(row,column,value)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

value. String

ShowAllLabelsAndDataInDimensionAt Method
Shows all labels and data in the dimension that contains the specified label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.ShowAllLabelsAndDataInDimensionAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

ShowAllLabelsInDimensionAt Method
Shows all labels in the dimension that contains the specified label.

Syntax

226 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssLabels.ShowAllLabelsInDimensionAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

ShowFootnotesAt Method
Displays all the footnotes referenced by the specified row/column label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.ShowFootnotesAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

ShowHiddenDimensionLabelAt Method
Shows the hidden dimension label for the dimension that contains the specified label.

Syntax

SpssLabels.ShowHiddenDimensionLabelAt(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

Swap Method
Swaps the selected column(s) or rows with a specified column or row. The data are swapped together
with the labels.
v The selected and specified labels must be in the same dimension and must be either category or group
labels. (That is, they cannot be dimension names.)
v If no labels in the same dimenison are selected, the method is ignored.

Syntax

SpssLabels.Swap(row,column)

Parameters

row. Row index in the label array

column. Column index in the label array

SpssLayerLabels Class
The SpssLayerLabels class provides access to the layer labels contained in a pivot table. You need to use
this object to format or change layer labels.

Scripting Guide 227

Layer Labels Array

The layer labels are represented as a 2-dimensional array, referred to as the layer labels array. Each row
corresponds to the current category of one layer dimension. The first column is a concatenation of all the
labels in the row, the second column is the dimension name, and the last column is the category label.
Any columns between the second and last are group labels. You access other categories of the dimension
from the SpssDimension object.

Figure 22. Layer labels displayed in a pivot table

Figure 23. Layer labels array indexing

Each layer dimension in the layer labels array is represented by a set of levels. The first level is the
dimension name, the last level contains the current category label, and all the levels in between (if any)
contain group labels. Blank cells in the layer labels array indicate that there are different numbers of
levels in different layer dimensions.

Getting an SpssLayerLabels Object

You get an SpssLayerLabels object from the LayerLabelArray method of an SpssPivotTable object, as in:
SpssLayerLabels = SpssPivotTable.LayerLabelArray()

Example

This example assumes that PivotTable is an SpssPivotTable object and sets the background color of the
label for the first layer dimension to yellow.
LayerLabels = PivotTable.LayerLabelArray()
LayerLabels.SetBackgroundColorAt(0,65535)

228 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

GetBackgroundColorAt Method
Returns the background color of the specified layer label.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetBackgroundColorAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Returns

The color is returned as an integer. See the topic Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249 for
more information.

GetBottomMarginAt Method
Returns the bottom margin of the specified layer label. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetBottomMarginAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

GetForegroundColorAt Method
This method is deprecated in release 17.0. Use the GetTextColorAt method instead.

GetHAlignAt Method
Returns the horizontal alignment of the specified layer label.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetHAlignAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Returns
Table 59. Horizontal alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlLeft Left
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlRight Right
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlCenter Center
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlMixed Mixed
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlDecimal Decimal

Scripting Guide 229

GetLeftMarginAt Method
Returns the left margin of the label for the specified layer dimension. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetLeftMarginAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

GetNumDimensions Method
Returns the number of labels in the Layers (equal to the number of dimensions in the layers).

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetNumDimensions()

GetNumLabelsWide Method
Returns the width (number of columns) of the Layer Labels array. The width equals the maximum depth
of layer dimensions plus one.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetNumLabelsWide()

GetRightMarginAt Method
Returns the right margin of the label for the specified layer dimension. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetRightMarginAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

GetTextColorAt Method
Returns the color of the text in the label of the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetTextColorAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Returns

The color is returned as an integer. See the topic Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249 for
more information.

230 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

GetTextFontAt Method
Returns the font of the text in the specified layer dimension, as a string.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetTextFontAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

GetTextHiddenAt Method
Returns the hidden effect of the specified layer dimension. The result is a Boolean.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetTextHiddenAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Returns

True. Hidden

False. Not hidden

GetTextSizeAt Method
Returns the font size of the label for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetTextSizeAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

GetTextStyleAt Method
Returns the bold or italic style of the text for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetTextStyleAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Returns
Table 60. Text style types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSRegular Regular

Scripting Guide 231

Table 60. Text style types (continued)
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSItalic Italic
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold Bold
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBoldItalic Bold Italic

GetTextUnderlinedAt Method
Returns the underlined effect of the specified layer dimension. The result is a Boolean.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetTextUnderlinedAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Returns

True. Underlined

False. Not underlined

GetTopMarginAt Method
Returns the top margin of the label for the specified layer dimension. The unit is the point (1/72 inch).

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetTopMarginAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

GetVAlignAt Method
Returns the vertical alignment of the label for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetVAlignAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Returns
Table 61. Vertical alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlTop Top
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlBottom Bottom
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlCenter Center

232 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

GetValueAt Method
Returns the value associated with the specified layer and column from the layer labels array, as a unicode
string.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.GetValueAt(index,column)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

column. Column index of the cell in the layer labels array

HideFootnotesAt Method
Hides all footnotes referenced by the specified layer label.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.HideFootnotesAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

InsertNewFootnoteAt Method
Inserts a new footnote for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

index=SpssLayerLabels.InsertNewFootnoteAt(index,string)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

string. New footnote text

Return Value

index. Integer (to be used to insert the footnote in other cells if it is a shared footnote)

Example

This example inserts a footnote for the layer dimension with index 0 (in the layer label array), and then
inserts a shared footnote for the layer dimension with index 1. It assumes that PivotTable is an
SpssPivotTable object.
Labels = PivotTable.LayerLabelArray()
index = Labels.InsertNewFootnoteAt(0,"My footnote")
Labels.InsertSharedFootnoteAt(1,index)

InsertSharedFootnoteAt Method
Inserts a shared footnote (a footnote that applies to multiple labels and/or data cells) for the specified
layer dimension.

Syntax

Scripting Guide 233

SpssLayerLabels.InsertSharedFootnoteAt(dim,index)

Parameters

dim. Index of the layer dimension

index. The index (in the footnote array) of the desired footnote.

Note: When inserting a shared footnote along with a new footnote created with the InsertNewFootnoteAt
method, you can use the index value returned by the InsertNewFootnoteAt method. See the topic
“InsertNewFootnoteAt Method” on page 233 for more information.

SelectLabelAt Method
Selects the specified label, in addition to previously selected elements.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SelectLabelAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

SelectReferredFootnotesAt Method
Selects all the footnotes referenced by the current layer label, in addition to previously selected elements.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SelectReferredFootnotesAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Note: This method is not available for legacy tables.

SetBackgroundColorAt Method
Sets the background color of the specified layer label.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetBackgroundColorAt(index,color)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

color. Integer representation of the color

For information on setting color values, see Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249.

SetBottomMarginAt Method
Sets the bottom margin of the specified layer label.

Syntax

234 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssLayerLabels.SetBottomMarginAt(index,margin)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetForegroundColorAt Method
This method is deprecated in release 17.0. Use the SetTextColorAt method instead.

SetHAlignAt Method
Sets the horizontal alignment of the specified layer label.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetHAlignAt(index,alignment)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Table 62. Horizontal alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlLeft Left
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlRight Right
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlCenter Center
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlMixed Mixed
SpssClient.SpssHAlignTypes.SpssHAlDecimal Decimal

SetLeftMarginAt Method
Sets the left margin of the label for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetLeftMarginAt(index,margin)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetRightMarginAt Method
Sets the right margin of the label for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetRightMarginAt(index,margin)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Scripting Guide 235

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetTextColorAt Method
Sets the color of the text in the label of the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetTextColorAt(index,color)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

color. Integer representation of the color

For information on setting color values, see Appendix B, “Setting Color Values,” on page 249.

SetTextFontAt Method
Sets the font of the text in the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetTextFontAt(index,fontname)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

fontname. Name of the font family, as a string. Available fonts are accessed from Format>Cell Properties
in the pivot table editor.

SetTextHiddenAt Method
Sets the hidden effect of the label for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetTextHiddenAt(index,boolean)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

boolean. True for hidden, False for not hidden

SetTextSizeAt Method
Sets the font size of the label of the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetTextSizeAt(index,size)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

size. Size in points (integer)

236 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SetTextStyleAt Method
Sets the bold or italic style of the text for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetTextStyleAt(index,style)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Table 63. Text style types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSRegular Regular
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSItalic Italic
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBold Bold
SpssClient.SpssTextStyleTypes.SpssTSBoldItalic Bold Italic

SetTextUnderlinedAt Method
Sets the underlined effect of the label for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetTextUnderlinedAt(index,boolean)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

boolean. True for underlined, False for not underlined.

SetTopMarginAt Method
Sets the top margin of the label for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetTopMarginAt(index,margin)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

margin. An integer. The unit is the point (1/72 inch). The maximum value is 36.

SetVAlignAt Method
Sets the vertical alignment of the label for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.SetVAlignAt(index,alignment)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

Scripting Guide 237

Table 64. Vertical alignment types
Type Description
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlTop Top
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlBottom Bottom
SpssClient.SpssVAlignTypes.SpssVAlCenter Center

ShowFootnotesAt Method
Displays all the footnotes referenced by the label of the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssLayerLabels.ShowFootnotesAt(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

SpssPivotMgr Class
The SpssPivotMgr class provides access to the row, column, and layer dimensions contained in a pivot
table. By pivoting row dimensions to column dimensions, or column dimensions to layer dimensions, you
can find the best way to present the results of the statistical analyses.

You get an SpssPivotMgr object from the PivotManager method of an SpssPivotTable object, as in:
SpssPivotMgr = SpssPivotTable.PivotManager()

For an example of using the SpssPivotMgr class, see “SpssDimension Class” on page 193.

GetColumnDimension Method
Returns an SpssDimension object for the specified column dimension.

Syntax

SpssDimension=SpssPivotMgr.GetColumnDimension(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the column dimension, where the value 0 refers to the innermost column dimension.

GetLayerDimension Method
Returns an SpssDimension object for the specified layer dimension.

Syntax

SpssDimension=SpssPivotMgr.LayerDimension(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the layer dimension

GetNumColumnDimensions Method
Returns the number of column dimensions.

Syntax

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SpssPivotMgr.GetNumColumnDimensions()

GetNumLayerDimensions Method
Returns the number of layer dimensions.

Syntax

SpssPivotMgr.GetNumLayerDimensions()

GetNumRowDimensions Method
Returns the number of row dimensions.

Syntax

SpssPivotMgr.GetNumRowDimensions()

GetRowDimension Method
Returns an SpssDimension object for the specified row dimension.

Syntax

SpssDimension=SpssPivotMgr.GetRowDimension(index)

Parameters

index. Index of the row dimension, where the value 0 refers to the innermost row dimension.

MoveLayersToColumns Method
Moves all dimensions in layers to the outermost columns.

Syntax

SpssPivotMgr.MoveLayersToColumns()

MoveLayersToRows Method
Moves all dimensions in layers to the outermost rows.

Syntax

SpssPivotMgr.MoveLayersToRows()

TransposeRowsWithColumns Method
Moves all dimensions in the rows to the columns and moves all dimensions in the columns to the rows.

Syntax

SpssPivotMgr.TransposeRowsWithColumns()

Managing Remote Servers

SpssServerConf Class
The SpssServerConf class represents the configuration information for a server machine (may be an
instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server or the local computer). From the SpssClient object you can get an
SpssServerConf object for the current server, the default server, the local computer, or you can get a list of
SpssServerConf objects for all configured servers (includes the local computer).

Scripting Guide 239

Example: Connecting to a Server
import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
SpssServerConf = SpssClient.CreateNewServer("myservername",3016,"")
SpssServerConf.Connect("","myuserID","mypassword")
SpssClient.StopClient()
v The CreateNewServer method from the SpssClient class creates a new server configuration object for a
server with a specified name (or IP address) on a specified port. It returns an SpssServerConf object.
v The Connect method of an SpssServerConf object establishes a connection to the server using the
specified domain, user ID, and password.

Example: Configuring a New Server and Saving the Configuration

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
ServerConfList = SpssClient.GetConfiguredServers()
SpssServerConf = SpssClient.CreateNewServer("myservername",3016,"")
ServerConfList.Add(SpssServerConf)
SpssServerConf = ServerConfList.GetItemAt(ServerConfList.Size()-1)
SpssServerConf.SetUserId("myuserID")
SpssServerConf.SetPassword("mypassword")
SpssServerConf.SetUserDomain("mydomain")
SpssServerConf.SetPasswordSaved(True)
SpssClient.SaveServers()
SpssClient.StopClient()
v SpssClient.GetConfiguredServers() gets an SpssServerConfList object that allows you to manage the
list of configured servers.
v The CreateNewServer method from the SpssClient class creates a new server configuration object. The
variable SpssServerConf is an SpssServerConf object.
v To add a new server configuration to the list, you use the Add method of the SpssServerConfList
object.
v The user ID, password, and domain are set using the SetUserId, SetPassword, and SetUserDomain
methods of the SpssServerConf object. The SetPasswordSaved method specifies that the password is to
be saved for future use.
v The SaveServers method from the SpssClient class saves all server configurations so that they are
available in future sessions.

Example: Connecting to a Server Using a Saved Configuration

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
ServerConfList = SpssClient.GetConfiguredServers()
for i in range(ServerConfList.Size()):
server = ServerConfList.GetItemAt(i)
if server.GetServerName()=="myservername":
server.ConnectWithSavedPassword()
SpssClient.StopClient()
v SpssClient.GetConfiguredServers() gets an SpssServerConfList object that provides access to the list
of configured servers.
v The GetItemAt method of an SpssServerConfList object returns the SpssServerConf object at the
specified index. Index values start from 0 and represent the order in which the servers were added to
the list.
v The ConnectWithSavedPassword method uses the connection information (domain, user ID, and
password) to connect to the server.

Connect Method
Attempts to connect to the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server using the provided domain,
user ID, and password. Any existing connection to an instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server is
terminated.

Note: This method is not available when called from a Python program in distributed mode (Python
programs make use of the interface exposed by the Python spss module).

240 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Syntax

SpssServerConf.Connect(domain,userID,password)

Parameters

domain. A string specifying the domain of the user ID. Enter a blank string if the domain is not required.

userID. A string specifying the user ID.

password. A string specifying the password.

ConnectWithSavedPassword Method
Attempts to connect to the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server using the stored user
domain, user ID, and password.

Note: This method is not available when called from a Python program in distributed mode (Python
programs make use of the interface exposed by the Python spss module).

Syntax

SpssServerConf.ConnectWithSavedPassword()

Disconnect Method
Disconnects from the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server.
v The method has no effect when called on the local server.
v After calling the Disconnect method, you must connect to another server before calling other methods
in the SpssClient module.
v It is not necessary to disconnect before connecting to a new server.

Note: This method is not available when called from a Python program in distributed mode (Python
programs make use of the interface exposed by the Python spss module).

Syntax

SpssServerConf.Disconnect()

GetDescription Method
Returns the description text for the associated server.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.GetDescription()

GetServerName Method
Returns the machine name or IP address for the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.GetServerName()

GetServerPort Method
Returns the port number for the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server.

Syntax

Scripting Guide 241

SpssServerConf.GetServerPort()

GetUserDomain Method
Returns the domain for the current user ID.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.GetUserDomain()

GetUserId Method
Returns the user ID if it is saved as part of the associated server configuration.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.GetUserId()

GetUseSSL Method
Indicates if SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is in use for the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server.
SSL is a commonly used protocol for managing the security of message transmission on the Internet. The
result is Boolean--True if SSL is in use, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.GetUseSSL()

IsDefaultServer Method
Indicates whether the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server is set as the default server. The
result is Boolean--True if this is the default server, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.IsDefaultServer()

IsEqualTo Method
Indicates if this server configuration object is the same object as a specified server configuration object.
The result is Boolean--True if the two objects are identical, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.IsEqualTo(serverConf)

Parameters

serverConf. An SpssServerConf object

IsLocalServer Method
Indicates whether the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server represents the local server. The
result is Boolean--True if this server is the local server, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.IsLocalServer()

IsPasswordSaved Method
Indicates whether the password is saved in the server configuration. The result is Boolean--True if the
password is saved, False otherwise.

242 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Syntax

SpssServerConf.IsPasswordSaved()

SetDefaultServer Method
Specifies whether the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server is set as the default server.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.SetDefaultServer(defaultServerFlag)

Parameters

defaultServerFlag. True to set as the default server, False otherwise.

SetDescription Method
Sets the description text for the associated server configuration.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.SetDescription(description)

SetPassword Method
Sets the password to be used by this server configuration.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.SetPassword(password)

SetPasswordSaved Method
Specifies whether the password is saved in the server configuration.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.SetPasswordSaved(savePassword)

Parameters

savePassword. True if the password is to be saved for future use, False otherwise.

SetServerName Method
Sets the machine name or IP address for the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.SetServerName(serverName)

SetServerPort Method
Sets the port number for the associated instance of IBM SPSS Statistics Server.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.SetServerPort(port)

Parameters

Scripting Guide 243

port. An integer

SetUserDomain Method
Sets the domain for the current user ID.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.SetUserDomain(domain)

domain. A string

SetUserId Method
Sets the user ID for the associated server configuration.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.SetUserId(userId)

SetUseSSL Method
Specifies the setting for using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) with the associated instance of IBM SPSS
Statistics Server. SSL is a commonly used protocol for managing the security of message transmission on
the Internet.

Syntax

SpssServerConf.SetUseSSL(useSSL)

Parameters

useSSL. True to use SSL, False otherwise.

SpssServerConfList Class
The SpssServerConfList class allows you to manage the list of configured servers, which includes the
local computer. You obtain an SpssServerConfList object from the GetConfiguredServers method of the
SpssClient class.

An SpssServerConfList object is not an iterable Python object. In order to iterate over the items in the
list, use a for loop, as in:
for index in range(SpssServerConfList.Size()):

For an example that uses the SpssServerConfList class, see the example for the SpssServerConf class.

Add Method
Adds a server configuration to the list of available servers.

Syntax

SpssServerConfList.Add(serverConf)

Parameters

serverConf. An SpssServerConf object.

Server configuration objects are created with the CreateNewServer method in the SpssClient class.

244 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Clear Method
Clears the list of server configurations, including the local computer.

Syntax

SpssServerConfList.Clear()

Contains Method
Indicates if the specified server configuration is a member of the list of available server configurations.
The result is a Boolean--True if the specified server configuration object is equal to a member of the list of
available server configuration objects, False otherwise.

Syntax

SpssServerConfList.Contains(serverConf)

Parameters

serverConf. An SpssServerConf object

GetItemAt Method
Returns an SpssServerConf object corresponding to the server configuration with the specified index. The
index corresponds to the order in which the server configurations were created.

Syntax

SpssServerConf=SpssServerConfList.GetItemAt(index)

Remove Method
Removes the first occurrence of the specified server configuration from the list of available server
configurations. There is no effect if the list does not contain the specified server configuration object.

Syntax

SpssServerConfList.Remove(serverConf)

Parameters

serverConf. An SpssServerConf object

RemoveItemAt Method
Removes the server configuration with the specified index from the list of available server configurations.
The index corresponds to the order in which the server configurations were created.

Syntax

SpssServerConfList.RemoveItemAt(index)

Size Method
Returns the number of configured servers, including the local computer.

Syntax

SpssServerConfList.Size()

Scripting Guide 245

SpssScriptContext Class
The SpssScriptContext class provides access to the object that triggers an autoscript as well as the
associated output document object. Autoscripts are scripts that run automatically when triggered by the
creation of specific pieces of output from selected procedures. Scripts are specified as autoscripts and
associated with output items (that trigger them) from the Scripts tab of the Options dialog.

SpssScriptContext objects are only for use when writing a script that will be used as an autoscript. They
have a value of None if referenced by a script that is not being run as an autoscript.

You get an SpssScriptContext object from the GetScriptContext method of the SpssClient object.

Example: Get the Output Item that Triggered an Autoscript

import SpssClient
SpssClient.StartClient()
SpssScriptContext = SpssClient.GetScriptContext()
SpssOutputItem = SpssScriptContext.GetOutputItem()

The GetOutputItem method of the SpssScriptContext object returns the output item (SpssOutputItem
object) that triggered the current autoscript.

GetOutputDoc Method
Returns an SpssOutputDoc object representing the output document associated with the current autoscript.

Syntax

SpssOutputDoc=SpssScriptContext.GetOutputDoc()

GetOutputItem Method
Returns an SpssOutputItem object representing the output item that triggered the current autoscript.

Syntax

SpssOutputItem=SpssScriptContext.GetOutputItem()

Note: To obtain an object of a specific output type, such as a pivot table or header item, from an
SpssOutputItem object, call the GetSpecificType method of the SpssOutputItem object.

GetOutputItemIndex Method
Returns the index, in the associated output document, of the output item that triggered the current
autoscript. The index corresponds to the order of the items in the output document, starting with 0 for
the root item.

Syntax

SpssScriptContext.GetOutputItemIndex()

246 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Appendix A. Variable Format Types
Table 65. Variable format types supported by IBM SPSS Statistics
Type Description
1 A. Standard characters.
2 AHEX. Hexadecimal characters.
COMMA. Numbers with commas as the grouping symbol and a period as the decimal indicator. For
3
example: 1,234,567.89.
DOLLAR. Numbers with a leading dollar sign ($), commas as the grouping symbol, and a period as
4
the decimal indicator. For example: $1,234,567.89.
5 F. Standard numeric.
6 IB. Integer binary.
7 PIBHEX. Hexadecimal of PIB (positive integer binary).
8 P. Packed decimal.
9 PIB. Positive integer binary.
10 PK. Unsigned packed decimal.
11 RB. Real binary.
12 RBHEX. Hexadecimal of RB (real binary).
15 Z. Zoned decimal.
16 N. Restricted numeric.
17 E. Scientific notation.
20 DATE. International date of the general form dd-mmm-yyyy.
21 TIME. Time of the general form hh:mm:ss.ss.
22 DATETIME. Date and time of the general form dd-mmm-yyyy hh:mm:ss.ss.
23 ADATE. American date of the general form mm/dd/yyyy.
24 JDATE. Julian date of the general form yyyyddd.
25 DTIME. Days and time of the general form dd hh:mm:ss.ss.
26 WKDAY. Day of the week.
27 MONTH. Month.
28 MOYR. Month and year.
29 QYR. Quarter and year of the general form qQyyyy.
30 WKYR. Week and year.
31 PCT. Percentage sign after numbers.
DOT. Numbers with periods as the grouping symbol and a comma as the decimal indicator. For
32
example: 1.234.567,89.
33 CCA. Custom currency format 1.
34 CCB. Custom currency format 2.
35 CCC. Custom currency format 3.
36 CCD. Custom currency format 4.
37 CCE. Custom currency format 5.
38 EDATE. European date of the general form dd.mm.yyyy.

247
Table 65. Variable format types supported by IBM SPSS Statistics (continued)
Type Description
39 SDATE. Sortable date of the general form yyyy/mm/dd.
85 MTIME. Time of the general form mm:ss.ss.
86 YMDHMS. Date and time of the general form yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ss.

248 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Appendix B. Setting Color Values
Color values are expressed as integers. If you're accustomed to specifying colors in RGB format, you can
convert to the associated integer using the following:
integer color value = R + G*(256) + B*(256^2)

where R, G, and B are the RGB values. For reference, following are some of the most common colors and
their integer values:
Table 66. Color codes
Color Integer Value
Black 0
Blue 16711680
Cyan 16776960
Green 65280
Magenta 16711935
Red 255
White 16777215
Yellow 65535

249
250 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics
Appendix C. Export Options
Export options are retrieved from the GetExportOption method of the SpssClient class and set from the
SetExportOption method of that class. The option identifiers have the form
SpssClient.ExportOptions.<option>, where the available option values are listed below--for example,
SpssClient.ExportOptions.GraphExportType. All of the settings are strings.
Table 67. Specifications for export options
Option Valid Settings
ObjectsToExport "all", "visible", "selected"
DocExportType "excel", "html", "pdf", "plain", "utf8", "utf16", "word_rtf",
"none" (graphics only)
DocFilePath Export document file path
GraphExportType "bmp", "emf", "eps", "jpg", "png", "tiff"
GraphFilePath Export graph file path
XLSLayers "all", "honor" (honors print layer setting), "visible"
XLSFootnotes "No", "Yes"
HTMLayers "all", "honor" (honors print layer setting), "visible"
HTMFootnotes "No", "Yes"
WordRTFLayers "all", "honor" (honors print layer setting), "visible"
WordRTFFootnotes "No", "Yes"
TXTPlainTabsOrSpaces "tabs", "spaces"
TXTPlainColumnWidthType "autofit", "custom"
TXTPlainNoOfChars Character representation of integer
TXTPlainRowBorderChar Row border character
TXTPlainColBorderChar Column border character
TxtPlainLayersInPivotTable "all", "honor" (honors print layer setting), "visible"
TXTPlainFootnoteCaption "No", "Yes"
TXTPlainInsertPageBreak "No", "Yes"
TXTUTF8TabsOrSpaces "tabs", "spaces"
TXTUTF8ColumnWidthType "autofit", "custom"
TXTUTF8NoOfChars Character representation of integer
TXTUTF8RowBorderChar Row border character
TXTUTF8ColBorderChar Column border character
TxtUTF8LayersInPivotTable "all", "honor" (honors print layer setting), "visible"
TXTUTF8FootnoteCaption "No", "Yes"
TXTUTF8InsertPageBreak "No", "Yes"
TXTUTF16TabsOrSpaces "tabs", "spaces"
TXTUTF16ColumnWidthType "autofit", "custom"
TXTUTF16NoOfChars Character representation of integer
TXTUTF16RowBorderChar Row border character
TXTUTF16ColBorderChar Column border character

251
Table 67. Specifications for export options (continued)
Option Valid Settings
TxtUTF16LayersInPivotTable "all", "honor" (honors print layer setting), "visible"
TXTUTF16FootnoteCaption "No", "Yes"
TXTUTF16InsertPageBreak "No", "Yes"
PDFOptimize "No", "Yes"
PDFEmbedBookmarks "No", "Yes"
PDFEmbedFonts "No", "Yes"
PDFLayers "all", "honor" (honors print layer setting), "visible"
JPEGSize Character representation of image size in percent
JPEGGreyScale "No", "Yes"
BMPSize Character representation of image size in percent
BMPCompressImage "no", "yes"
PNGSize Character representation of image size in percent
PNGColorDepth "current" (current screen depth), "bw" (black and white),
"256gray", "16color", "256color", "24bit" (true color),
"32bit" (true color)
TIFSize Character representation of image size in percent
EPSSize "physical_size" (same aspect ratio), "current_size"
EPSPercent Character representation of image size in percent.
Applies to "current_size".
EPSWidthPoints Character representation of image width in points.
Applies to "physical_size".
EPSPreviewImage "no", "yes"
EPSFont "replace_font", "use_font_ref"

252 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Appendix D. String Description of Numeric Formats
If you are using a localized version of IBM SPSS Statistics, use the strings displayed in the Format list box
on the Format Value tab (accessed from Format>Cell Properties in the pivot table editor).
Table 68. Specifications for numeric formats
String Example / Description
#.# 1234.567
#.#;#.##E-# 1234.567(scientific notation if the cell is not wide enough)
#,###.## 1,234.567
#.###,## 1.234,567
#.##E+## 1.23E+03
##.#% 56.7%
dd.mmm.yy 28-OCT-94
dd-mmm-yyyy 28-OCT-1994
mm/dd/yy 10/28/94
mm/dd/yyyy 10/28/1994
dd.mm.yy 28.10.94
dd.mm.yyyy 28.10.1994
yy/mm/dd 94/10/28
yyyy/mm/dd 1994/10/28
yyddd 94301 (Julian date)
yyyyddd 1994301 (Julian date)
q Q yy 4 Q 94
q Q yyyy 4 Q 1994
mmm yy OCT 94
mmm yyyy OCT 1994
ww WK yy 43 WK 94
ww WK yyyy 43 WK 1994
dd-mmm-yyyy hh:mm 28-OCT-1994 08:03
dd-mmm-yyyy hh:mm:ss 28-OCT-1994 08:03:00
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm 1994-10-28 08:03
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss 1994-10-28 08:03:00
ddd.hh.mm 301 20:03
ddd.hh/mm.ss.## 301 20:03:00.04
Monday, Tuesday... Friday
January, February... October
mm:ss 03:00
hh:mm 08:03
hh:mm:ss.## 08:03:00.04
$#,###.## $1,234.56

253
You can create up to five custom currency display formats that can include special prefix and suffix
characters and special treatment for negative values. The five custom currency format names are CCA,
CCB, CCC, CCD, and CCE. The string can be used to specify the currency formats.

254 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Appendix E. Preference Options
Preference options are retrieved from the GetPreference method of the SpssClient class and set from the
SetPreference method of that class. The option identifiers have the form
SpssClient.PreferenceOptions.<option>, where the available option values are listed below--for
example, SpssClient.PreferenceOptions.VariableListDisplay. All of the settings are strings.
Table 69. General Options.
Option Valid Settings
VariableListDisplay "labels", "names"
VariableListSort "alphabetical", "file", "measurement"
MeasurementSystem "points", "inches", "centimeters"
Language "Russian", "French", "German", "English", "Italian",
"Japanese", "Korean", "Polish", "SChinese", "Spanish",
"TChinese",
AutoRaise "true", "false"
OutputScroll "true", "false"
OutputSound "system_beep", "none", "sound"
OutputSoundFile Path to a custom sound file
ScientificNotation "true", "false"
DigitGrouping Option associated with SET/SHOW DIGITGROUPING.
Settings are "true" or "false".
OpenSyntaxAtStartup "true", "false"
OnlyOneDataset "true", "false"
OXMLVersion Option associated with SET/SHOW XVERSION. Settings
are "default" or the Output XML schema version.
OutputAttributes Option associated with SET/SHOW OATTRS. Settings
are "olang", "eng", or "both".

Table 70. Viewer Options.

Option Valid Settings
TitleFont Font name, e.g. "Serif"
TitleFontSize Character representation of integer
TitleFontBold "true", "false"
TitleFontItalic "true", "false"
TitleFontUnderline "true", "false"
TitleFontColor Character representation of integer color
PageTitleFont Font name, e.g. "Serif"
PageTitleFontSize Character representation of integer
PageTitleFontBold "true", "false"
PageTitleFontItalic "true", "false"
PageTitleFontUnderline "true", "false"
PageTitleFontColor Character representation of integer color

255
Table 70. Viewer Options (continued).
Option Valid Settings
TextOutputFont Font name, e.g. "Serif"
TextOutputFontSize Character representation of integer
TextOutputFontBold "true", "false"
TextOutputFontItalic "true", "false"
TextOutputFontUnderline "true", "false"
TextOutputFontColor Character representation of integer color
DisplayCommandsLog "Off", "On"
LogContents "hidden", "shown"
WarningsContents "hidden", "shown"
WarningsJustification "align_left", "align_center", "align_right"
NotesContents "hidden", "shown"
NotesJustification "align_left", "align_center", "align_right"
TitleContents "hidden", "shown"
TitleJustification "align_left", "align_center", "align_right"
PageTitleContents "hidden", "shown"
PageTitleJustification "align_left", "align_center", "align_right"
PivotTableContents "hidden", "shown"
PivotTableJustification "align_left", "align_center", "align_right"
ChartContents "hidden", "shown"
ChartJustification "align_left", "align_center", "align_right"
TextOutputContents "hidden", "shown"
TreeModelContents "hidden", "shown"
GenericJustification "align_left", "align_center", "align_right"
Orientation 1 (portrait), 2 (landscape)
LeftMargin Character representation of positive number in units of
MeasurementSystem
RightMargin Character representation of positive number in units of
MeasurementSystem
TopMargin Character representation of positive number in units of
MeasurementSystem
BottomMargin Character representation of positive number in units of
MeasurementSystem

Table 71. Data Options.

Option Valid Settings
TransformationMergeOptions "calculate_before_used", "calculate_immediately"
RandomNumberGenerator "MC" (compatible with SPSS 12 and earlier), "MT" (Mersenne
Twister)
DisplayFormatWidth Character representation of integer between 1 and 40.
DisplayFormatDecimal Character representation of integer between 0and 15.
ReadingExternalData Character representation of integer between 1 and 40.

256 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Table 71. Data Options (continued).
Option Valid Settings
CenturyRangeValue "Automatic", "custom"
CenturyRangeBeginYear Character representation of integer between 1582 and 9900.

Table 72. File Locations.

Option Valid Settings
RecordSyntax "false", "true"
RecordMode "append", "overwrite"
SessionJournalFile Path to journal file
TempDir Path to temp directory
RecentFiles Recently used file list. Character representation of integer
between 0 and 9.
DataFiles Path to startup folder for data files on Open and Save
dialogs
OtherFiles Path to startup folder for other files on Open and Save
dialogs
SpecifiedAndLastFolder "true" (last folder used), "false" (specified folder)

Table 73. Currency Options.

Option Valid Settings
CustomOutputFormat "CCA", "CCB", "CCC", "CCD", "CCE"
AllValuesPrefix All values prefix
AllValuesSuffix All values suffix
NegativeValuesPrefix Negative values prefix
NegativeValuesSuffix Negative values suffix
DecimalSeparator "comma", "period"

Table 74. Output Options.

Option Valid Settings
OutlineVariables "Names", "Labels", "Both"
OutlineVariableValues "Values", "Labels", "Both"
PivotTableVariables "Names", "Labels", "Both"
PivotTableVariableValues "Values", "Labels", "Both"
OutputDisplay "ModelViewer", "Tables"

Table 75. Chart Options.

Option Valid Settings
ChartTemplate "On", "Off"
ChartTemplateFile Path to chart template file
ChartAspectRatio Chart aspect ratio
ChartFont Font name, e.g. "Arial"
ChartFrameInner "true", "false"

Appendix E. Preference Options 257

Table 75. Chart Options (continued).
Option Valid Settings
ChartFrameOuter "true", "false"
GridLineScale "true", "false"
GridLineCategory "true", "false"
StyleCyclePref "ColorsOnly", "PatternsOnly"

Table 76. Pivot Table Options.

Option Valid Settings
ColumnWidth "Labels", "Both" (labels and data)
EditingMode "all_tables", "large_tables", "open_tables_window"
TableRender "full", "fast", "light" (alias for "fast")

Note: For the TableRender option, "light" is deprecated for release 20 and higher, and has the same effect
as "fast".

258 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

Appendix F. Python Extension Commands for SPSS Statistics
IBM SPSS Statistics - Essentials for Python, which is installed by default with your IBM SPSS Statistics
product, includes a set of extension commands that are implemented in Python and that provide
capabilities beyond what is available with built-in SPSS Statistics procedures. Each extension command
has an associated dialog box that generates command syntax for the command and is available from the
SPSS Statistics menus. The extension commands can also be run from SPSS Statistics command syntax in
the same manner as any built-in command such as FREQUENCIES.
Table 77. Listing of Python extension commands.
Menu location Command name Description
Data>Case Control Matching FUZZY Perform exact or fuzzy case-control
matching.
File>Collect Variable Information GATHERMD Build a dataset of variable information from
multiple datasets.
Analyze>Regression>Partial Least PLS Partial least squares regression.
Squares
Data>Propensity Score Matching PSM Propensity score matching.
Utilities>Censor Table SPSSINC CENSOR TABLES Censor cells of a pivot table that is based on
the values of a test statistic.
Transform>Create Dummy SPSSINC CREATE DUMMIES Create a set of dummy variables that
Variables represent the values of a variable.
File>Open>Internet Data SPSSINC GETURI DATA Open an SPSS, Excel, SAS, or Stata dataset
from a web url.
Utilities>Process Data Files SPSSINC PROCESS FILES Apply a file of syntax to a set of data files.
Edit>Search Data Files SPSSINC PROCESS FILES Search the cases in a set of SPSS Statistics
SEARCH data files.
Data>Rake Weights SPSSINC RAKE Calculate weights to control totals in up to
10 dimensions by rim weighting, that is,
raking.
Utilities>Define Variable Macro SPSSINC SELECT VARIABLES Define a macro listing variables selected
according to variable dictionary properties.
Data>Split into Files SPSSINC SPLIT DATASET Split a dataset into separate files according
to splitting variables.
Analyze>Compare SPSSINC SUMMARY TTEST Calculate a t test from sample summary
Means>Summary information.
Independent-Samples T Test
Transform>Programmability SPSSINC TRANS Apply a Python function to case data.
Transformation
Analyze>Descriptive SPSSINC TURF Perform a TURF (Total Unduplicated Reach
Statistics>TURF Analysis and Frequency) analysis.
Data>Adjust String Widths Across STATS ADJUST WIDTHS Adjust widths of string variables across files.
Files
Analyze>Correlate>Canonical STATS CANCORR Calculate canonical correlations.
Correlation
Analyze>Custom Tables>Define STATS CATEGORY ORDER Create a macro or multiple dichotomy set
Category Order with a specified variable order.

259
Table 77. Listing of Python extension commands (continued).
Menu location Command name Description
Analyze>Classify>Cluster STATS CLUS SIL Compute silhouette measure for cluster
Silhouettes analysis.
Graphs>Regression Variable Plots STATS REGRESS PLOT Plots useful in assessing regression
relationships.
Graphs>Compare Subgroups STATS SUBGROUP PLOTS Graphically compare the distributions of a
set of variables across a partition of the data.
Utilities>Calculate with Pivot Table STATS TABLE CALC Calculate with pivot table cells.
Graphs>Weibull Plot STATS WEIBULL PLOT Create Weibull probability plot for failure
data.
Utilities>Create Text Output TEXT Create a text block in the Viewer, optionally
with formatted text.

Notes
v Help for each of the Python extension commands is available by clicking Help on the associated dialog
box. The help is not, however, integrated with the SPSS Statistics Help system.
v Complete syntax help for each of the extension commands is available by positioning the cursor within
the command (in a syntax window) and pressing the F1 key. It is also available by running the
command and including the /HELP subcommand. For example:
STATS TABLE CALC /HELP.
The command syntax help is not, however, integrated with the SPSS Statistics Help system and is not
included in the Command Syntax Reference.

Note: The F1 mechanism for displaying help is not supported in distributed mode.
v If the menu location that is specified for an extension command is not present in your IBM SPSS
Statistics product, then look on the Extensions menu for the associated dialog.
v The dialogs were created with the Custom Dialog Builder in IBM SPSS Statistics. You can view the
design for any of the dialogs and you can customize them using the Custom Dialog Builder. It is
available from Extensions>Utilities>Custom Dialog Builder (Compatibility mode).... To view the
design for a dialog, choose File>Open Installed from within the Custom Dialog Builder.
v The implementation code (Python modules) and XML specification files for each of the Python
extension commands can be found in the location where extension commands are installed on your
computer. To view the location, run the SHOW EXTPATHS syntax command. The output displays a list of
locations under the heading "Locations for extension commands". The files are installed to the first
writable location in the list.
v Other extension commands that are not included in IBM SPSS Statistics - Essentials for Python are
available for download from the Extension Hub, accessible from Extensions>Extension Hub. The
Extension Hub also displays any updates that are available for the extension commands included with
IBM SPSS Statistics - Essentials for Python in addition to updates for any other extensions that you
installed.
v If you are installing extensions on SPSS Statistics Server, you can use a script to install multiple
extensions at once. For information, see Core System > Extensions> Installing local extension bundles
> Batch installation of extension bundles in the Help system.

260 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

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262 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

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Notices 263
264 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics
Index
A BasePivotTable class (continued)
Warnings table 36
CreateHeaderItem method
SpssOutputDoc class 120
active dataset BaseProcedure class 37 CreateImageChartItem method
appending cases 39, 43 BEGIN PROGRAM (command) 3 SpssOutputDoc class 121
creating new variables 39, 41, 50, 54 BreakHere method CreateNewServer method
name 16 SpssLabels class 211 SpssClient class 100
reading into Python 39, 40 CreateTextItem method
setting 82 SpssOutputDoc class 121
ActiveDataset 16
Add method C CreateTitleItem method
SpssOutputDoc class 121
SpssServerConfList class 244 cache property
CreateXPathDictionary 39
AddProcedureFootnotes 16 Dataset class 61
Cursor class 39, 44
alignment 171, 172, 176, 179, 180, 185, Caption method 24
AllocNewVarsBuffer method 45
188, 189, 192, 198, 201, 203, 207, 212, case count 72
append mode 43
216, 222, 226, 229, 232, 235, 237 CaseList class 62
close method 45
cells 171, 179, 188, 212, 222 append method 64
CommitCase method 45
decimal 172, 180, 189 insert method 64
CommitDictionary method 46
foonotes 198, 203, 229, 235 cases property
EndChanges method 46
labels 179, 188, 198, 203, 212, 222, Dataset class 59
fetchall method 46
229, 235 CategoryFootnotes method 24
fetchmany method 47
vertical 176, 185, 192, 201, 207, 216, CellText class 33
fetchone method 48
226, 232, 237 Number class 33
IsEndSplit method 49
alignment property String class 35
read mode 40
Variable class 67 toNumber method 36
reset method 49
AllocNewVarsBuffer method 45 toString method 36
SetFetchVarList method 50
append method VarName class 35
SetOneVarNameAndType method 50
CaseList class 64 VarValue class 35
SetUserMissingInclude method 51
TextBlock class 90 ChangeMarkerToRegular method
SetValueChar method 51
VariableList class 66 SpssFootnotes class 196
SetValueNumeric method 52
Append method 19 ChangeMarkerToSpecial method
SetVarAlignment method 52
SpssLogItem class 158 SpssFootnotes class 197
SetVarAttributes method 52
Append method (BasePivotTable Clear method
SetVarCMissingValues method 53
class) 24 SpssServerConfList class 245
SetVarCValueLabel method 53
areas 170 ClearSelection method
SetVarFormat method 53
background color 170 SpssOutputDoc class 119
SetVarLabel method 53
attributes property SpssPivotTable class 162
SetVarMeasureLevel method 54
Variable class 67 close method 45
SetVarNameAndType method 54
Autofit method Dataset class 61
SetVarNMissingValues method 54
SpssPivotTable class 162 CloseDocument method
SetVarNValueLabel method 55
autoscripts SpssDataDoc class 111
SetVarRole method 55
Python 97 SpssOutputDoc class 119
write mode 41
SpssSyntaxDoc class 140
Cut method
colors 249
SpssOutputDoc class 121
B setting color values 249
column width
BasePivotTable class 16 getting and setting 68
Append method 19, 24 ColumnLabelArray method D
Caption method 24 SpssPivotTable class 163 data
CategoryFootnotes method 24 columnWidth property accessing variable properties 65
CellText class 33 Variable class 68 appending cases 39, 43, 64
DimensionFootnotes method 25 CommitCase method 45 appending new variables 66
Footnotes method 25 CommitDictionary method 46 copying datasets 62
GetDefaultFormatSpec method 25 Connect method creating new variables 39, 41
HideTitle method 26 SpssServerConf class 240 fetching data in Python 39, 40
Insert method 19, 26 ConnectWithSavedPassword method inserting cases 64
SetCategories method 20, 27 SpssServerConf class 241 inserting new variables 66
SetCell method 27 Contains method modifying cases 62
SetCellsByColumn method 21, 28 SpssServerConfList class 245 reading active dataset into
SetCellsByRow method 21, 29 Copy method Python 39, 40
SetDefaultFormatSpec method 30 SpssOutputDoc class 119 reading case data 62
SimplePivotTable method 18, 30 CopySpecial method data regions 164, 166
TitleFootnotes method 33 SpssOutputDoc class 119 height and width 164, 166

265
data step 71 ExportAllViews method GetCurrentDirectory method
accessing existing datasets 55 SpssModelItem class 155 SpssClient class 100
accessing variable properties 65 ExportCharts method GetCurrentItem method
appending cases 64 SpssOutputDoc class 122 SpssOutputDoc class 124
appending new variables 66 ExportDocument method GetCurrentServer method
copying datasets 62 SpssOutputDoc class 123 SpssClient class 101
creating new datasets 55 ExportToDocument method GetDataDocuments method
ending 71 SpssOutputItem class 147 SpssClient class 101
inserting cases 64 ExportToImage method GetDataFileAttributeNames 72
inserting new variables 66 SpssOutputItem class 147 GetDataFileAttributes 72
modifying cases 62 extension commands 11 GetDatasetName method
reading case data 62 SpssDataDoc class 111
starting 85 GetDatasets 73
data types 70, 79
DataCellArray method
F GetDataUI method
SpssDataDoc class 111
fetchall method 46
SpssPivotTable class 163 GetDefaultFormatSpec method 25
fetching data in Python 39, 40
DataCellWidths method GetDefaultJCVersion method
fetchmany method 47
SpssPivotTable class 171 SpssClient class 101
fetchone method 48
DataDocsList class 114 GetDefaultPlugInVersion 73
file handles 73
GetItemAt method 114 GetDefaultServer method
Footnotes method 25
Size method 114 SpssClient class 101
FootnotesArray method
datafile attributes GetDescription method
SpssPivotTable class 163
retrieving 59, 72 SpssOutputItem class 148
format of variables 68, 77
setting 59 SpssServerConf class 241
format property
dataFileAttributes property GetDesignatedOutputDoc method
Variable class 68
Dataset class 59 SpssClient class 101
frames 170
Dataset class 55 GetDesignatedSyntaxDoc method
background color 170
cache property 61 SpssClient class 102
cases property 59 GetDimensionName method
close method 61 SpssDimension class 195
dataFileAttributes property 59 G GetDocumentPath method
deepCopy method 62 GetActiveDataDoc method SpssDataDoc class 112
multiResponseSet property 60 SpssClient class 100 SpssOutputDoc class 124
name property 59 GetAlignment method SpssSyntaxDoc class 140
varlist property 59 SpssOutputItem class 148 GetExportOption method
DataStep class 71 GetBackgroundColorAt method SpssClient class 102
deepCopy method SpssDataCells class 179 GetFileHandles 73
Dataset class 62 SpssFootnotes class 197 GetFooterText method
Delete method SpssLabels class 211 SpssOutputDoc class 124
SpssOutputDoc class 122 SpssLayerLabels class 229 GetFootnoteMarkersPosition method
DeleteXPathHandle 71 GetBottomMarginAt method SpssPivotTable class 163
Demote method SpssDataCells class 179 GetFootnoteMarkersStyle method
SpssOutputDoc class 122 SpssFootnotes class 197 SpssPivotTable class 164
dictionary SpssLabels class 211 GetForegroundColorAt method
CreateXPathDictionary 39 SpssLayerLabels class 229 SpssDataCells class 179
reading dictionary information from GetCaptionText method SpssFootnotes class 198
Python 71 SpssPivotTable class 163 SpssLabels class 212
writing to an XML file 80 GetCaseCount 72 SpssLayerLabels class 229
Dimension class GetCaseCount method GetFullDimensionLabel method
LayerDimension method 238 SpssDataDoc class 111 SpssDimension class 195
DimensionFootnotes method 25 GetCategoryValueAt method GetHAlignAt method
Disconnect method SpssDimension class 194 SpssDataCells class 179
SpssServerConf class 241 GetChildCount method SpssFootnotes class 198
DisplayTableByRows method SpssHeaderItem class 156 SpssLabels class 212
SpssPivotTable class 163 GetChildItem method SpssLayerLabels class 229
SpssHeaderItem class 156 GetHandleList 73
GetColumnDimension method GetHDecDigitsAt method
E SpssPivotMgr class 238
GetColumnLabelWidthAt method
SpssDataCells class 180
GetHeaderText method
EndChanges method 46
SpssLabels class 211 SpssOutputDoc class 124
EndDataStep 71
GetConfiguredServers method GetHeight method
EndProcedure 71
SpssClient class 100 SpssDataUI class 115
error messages 74
GetCount method SpssOutputItem class 148
EvaluateXPath 71
SpssFootnotes class 198 SpssOutputUI class 136
executing command syntax from
GetCurrentCategory method SpssPivotTable class 164
Python 89
SpssDimension class 194 SpssSyntaxUI class 143
Exit method
GetImage 73
SpssClient class 100

266 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

GetItemAt method GetParentItem method GetTextContents method (continued)
DataDocsList class 114 SpssOutputItem class 148 SpssMenuItem class 160
MenuTableList class 160 GetPreference method SpssTextItem class 159
OutputDocsList class 135 SpssClient class 102 SpssTitleItem class 159
OutputItemList class 135 GetPrintOptions method GetTextFontAt method
SpssServerConfList class 245 SpssOutputDoc class 126 SpssDataCells class 183
SyntaxDocsList class 143 GetProcedureName method SpssFootnotes class 199
GetLastErrorlevel 74 SpssOutputItem class 149 SpssLabels class 214
GetLastErrorMessage 74 GetReferredFootnotesAt method SpssLayerLabels class 231
GetLeft method SpssDataCells class 181 GetTextHiddenAt method
SpssDataUI class 115 SpssLabels class 213 SpssDataCells class 183
SpssOutputUI class 136 GetRightMarginAt method SpssFootnotes class 200
SpssSyntaxUI class 143 SpssDataCells class 182 SpssLabels class 214
GetLeftMarginAt method SpssFootnotes class 199 SpssLayerLabels class 231
SpssDataCells class 180 SpssLabels class 213 GetTextSizeAt method
SpssFootnotes class 198 SpssLayerLabels class 230 SpssDataCells class 184
SpssLabels class 212 GetRotateColumnLabels method SpssFootnotes class 200
SpssLayerLabels class 230 SpssPivotTable class 164 SpssLabels class 214
GetLocale method GetRotateRowLabels method SpssLayerLabels class 231
SpssClient class 102 SpssPivotTable class 164 GetTextStyleAt method
GetLocalServer method GetRowDimension method SpssDataCells class 184
SpssClient class 102 SpssPivotMgr class 239 SpssFootnotes class 200
GetMenuTable method GetRowLabelWidthAt method SpssLabels class 215
SpssDataDoc class 112 SpssLabels class 213 SpssLayerLabels class 231
SpssOutputDoc class 124 GetScriptContext method GetTextUnderlinedAt method
SpssSyntaxDoc class 140 SpssClient class 103 SpssDataCells class 184
GetMultiResponseSet 75 GetServerName method SpssFootnotes class 201
GetMultiResponseSetNames 75 SpssServerConf class 241 SpssLabels class 215
GetNumCategories method GetServerPort method SpssLayerLabels class 232
SpssDimension class 195 SpssServerConf class 241 GetTextWidthAt method
GetNumColumnDimensions method GetSetting 76 SpssLabels class 215
SpssPivotMgr class 238 GetShowGridLines method GetTitleText method
GetNumColumns method SpssDataUI class 115 SpssDataUI class 115
SpssDataCells class 180 GetShowValueLabels method SpssOutputUI class 136
SpssLabels class 212 SpssDataUI class 115 SpssPivotTable class 165
GetNumDimensions method GetSigMarkersAt method SpssSyntaxUI class 144
SpssLayerLabels class 230 SpssDataCells class 182 GetTop method
GetNumericFormatAt method GetSigMarkersType method SpssDataUI class 115
SpssDataCells class 180 SpssPivotTable class 165 SpssOutputUI class 136
GetNumericFormatAtEx method GetSpecificType method SpssSyntaxUI class 144
SpssDataCells class 181 SpssOutputItem class 149 GetTopMarginAt method
GetNumLabelsWide method GetSplitterPosition method SpssDataCells class 185
SpssLayerLabels class 230 SpssOutputUI class 136 SpssFootnotes class 201
GetNumLayerDimensions method GetSplitVariableNames 76 SpssLabels class 216
SpssPivotMgr class 239 GetSPSSLocale 76 SpssLayerLabels class 232
GetNumRowDimensions method GetSPSSLowHigh 76 GetTreeLevel method
SpssPivotMgr class 239 GetSPSSOptions method SpssOutputItem class 149
GetNumRows method SpssClient class 103 GetType method
SpssDataCells class 181 GetSPSSPath method SpssOutputItem class 149
SpssLabels class 212 SpssClient class 104 GetTypeString method
GetOMSTagList 76 GetSPSSVersion method SpssOutputItem class 150
GetOutputDoc method SpssClient class 104 GetUIAlerts method
SpssScriptContext class 246 GetSubType method SpssClient class 104
GetOutputDocuments method SpssOutputItem class 149 GetUnformattedValueAt method
SpssClient class 102 GetSyntax method SpssDataCells class 185
GetOutputItem method SpssSyntaxDoc class 140 GetUpdateScreen method
SpssScriptContext class 246 GetSyntaxDocuments method SpssPivotTable class 165
GetOutputItemIndex method SpssClient class 104 GetUserDomain method
SpssScriptContext class 246 GetSyntaxUI method SpssServerConf class 242
GetOutputItems method SpssSyntaxDoc class 140 GetUserId method
SpssOutputDoc class 124 GetTextColorAt method SpssServerConf class 242
GetOutputOptions method SpssDataCells class 183 GetUseSSL method
SpssOutputDoc class 124 SpssFootnotes class 199 SpssServerConf class 242
GetOutputUI method SpssLabels class 214 GetVAlignAt method
SpssOutputDoc class 126 SpssLayerLabels class 230 SpssDataCells class 185
GetPageBreak method GetTextContents method SpssFootnotes class 201
SpssOutputItem class 148 SpssLogItem class 158 SpssLabels class 216

Index 267
GetVAlignAt method (continued) HideTitle method (continued) IsLocalServer method
SpssLayerLabels class 232 SpssPivotTable class 167 SpssServerConf class 242
GetValueAt method IsModified method
SpssDataCells class 186 SpssDataDoc class 112
SpssFootnotes class 202
SpssLabels class 216
I SpssOutputDoc class 127
SpssSyntaxDoc class 141
index property
SpssLayerLabels class 233 IsOptionAvailable method
Variable class 68
GetVarAttributeNames 76 SpssClient class 105
insert method
GetVarAttributes 77 IsOutputOn 81
CaseList class 64
GetVariableCount 77 IsPasswordSaved method
VariableList class 66
GetVariableCount method SpssServerConf class 242
Insert method 19, 26
SpssDataDoc class 112 IsPromptToSave method
InsertBefore method
GetVariableFormat 77 SpssDataDoc class 113
SpssLabels class 218
GetVariableLabel 78 SpssOutputDoc class 128
InsertChildItem method
GetVariableMeasurementLevel 78 SpssSyntaxDoc class 141
SpssHeaderItem class 156
GetVariableName 78 IsSelected method
InsertFootnote method
GetVariableRole 79 SpssOutputItem class 151
SpssPivotTable class 167
GetVariableType 79 IsVisible method
InsertNewAfter method
GetVarMissingValues 79 SpssOutputItem class 152
SpssLabels class 218
GetVarNamesDisplay method
InsertNewBefore method
SpssPivotTable class 165
SpssLabels class 218
GetVarValuesDisplay method
SpssPivotTable class 166
InsertNewFootnoteAt method K
SpssDataCells class 186 KeepTogether method
GetVisible method
SpssLabels class 219 SpssLabels class 220
SpssDataUI class 115
SpssLayerLabels class 233
SpssOutputUI class 136
InsertSharedFootnoteAt method
SpssSyntaxUI class 144
GetWeightVar 80
SpssDataCells class 187
SpssLabels class 219
L
GetWidoworphanLines method label property
SpssLayerLabels class 233
SpssPivotTable class 166 Variable class 68
InsertTable method
GetWidth method labels
SpssOutputDoc class 126
SpssDataUI class 116 variable 68, 78
InvokeDialog method
SpssOutputItem class 151 LayerDimension method
SpssDataUI class 116
SpssOutputUI class 136 Dimension class 238
SpssOutputUI class 137
SpssPivotTable class 166 LayerLabelArray method
SpssSyntaxUI class 144
SpssSyntaxUI class 144 SpssPivotTable class 168
IsActive 80
GetWindowState method legacy tables 161
IsActiveDataDoc method
SpssDataUI class 116 localizing output 11
SpssDataDoc class 112
SpssOutputUI class 137 LogToViewer method
IsCurrentItem method
SpssSyntaxUI class 144 SpssClient class 105
SpssOutputItem class 151
GetXML method
IsDataDocInUse method
SpssOutputItem class 151
SpssClient class 104
GetXmlUtf16 80
graphboard chart 129, 149, 150, 154
IsDefaultServer method M
SpssServerConf class 242 macro variables in Python 82
Group method
IsDesignatedOutputDoc method measurement level 54, 78
SpssPivotTable class 166
SpssOutputDoc class 127 getting and setting 69
IsDesignatedSyntaxDoc method measurementLevel property
SpssSyntaxDoc class 140 Variable class 69
H IsDisplayTableByRows method MenuTableList class 160
HasCursor 80 SpssPivotTable class 167 GetItemAt method 160
HideAllLabelsInDimensionAt method IsDistributedMode 80 Size method 160
SpssLabels class 217 IsDistributedMode method missing values
HideCaption method SpssClient class 104 getting and setting 69
SpssPivotTable class 167 IsEditable method retrieving user missing value
HideFootnote method SpssOutputItem class 151 definitions 79
SpssPivotTable class 167 IsEndSplit method 49 setting missing values from
HideFootnotesAt method IsEqualTo method Python 53, 54
SpssDataCells class 186 SpssDataDoc class 112 when reading data into Python 40
SpssLabels class 217 SpssOutputDoc class 127 missingValues property
SpssLayerLabels class 233 SpssOutputItem class 151 Variable class 69
HideLabel method SpssServerConf class 242 Model Viewer item 129, 149, 150
SpssDimension class 195 SpssSyntaxDoc class 140 MoveLayersToColumns method
HideLabelsInDimensionAt method IsExpanded method SpssPivotMgr class 239
SpssLabels class 217 SpssHeaderItem class 157 MoveLayersToRows method
HideLabelsWithDataAt method IsLegacyTableCompatible method SpssPivotMgr class 239
SpssLabels class 217 SpssPivotTable class 168 MoveToColumn method
HideTitle method 26 SpssDimension class 195

268 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

MoveToLayer method PivotManager method Python functions and classes (continued)
SpssDimension class 195 SpssPivotTable class 169 PyInvokeSpss.IsUTF8mode 15, 81
MoveToRow method PrintDataDoc method PyInvokeSpss.IsXDriven 15, 82
SpssDimension class 195 SpssDataUI class 116 SetActive 15, 82
multiple response sets PrintOutputDoc method SetDefaultPlugInVersion 15, 82
retrieving 60, 75 SpssOutputUI class 137 SetMacroValue 15, 82
setting 60 PrintRange method SetOutput 15, 83
multiResponseSet property SpssOutputDoc class 128 SetOutputLanguage 15, 83
Dataset class 60 PrintSyntaxDoc method ShowInstalledPlugInVersions 15, 83
SpssSyntaxUI class 145 SplitChange 15, 84
Procedure class 81 StartDataStep 15, 85
N Promote method
SpssOutputDoc class 128
StartProcedure 15, 85
StartSPSS 15, 88
name property
PyInvokeSpss.IsUTF8mode 81 StopSPSS 15, 88
Dataset class 59
PyInvokeSpss.IsXDriven 82 Submit 15, 89
Variable class 70
Python TextBlock class 15, 90
names of variables 70, 78
autoscripts 97 Variable class 15, 55, 66
NavigateToFirstRow method
debugging 110 VariableList class 15, 55, 65
SpssPivotTable class 168
file specifications 7
NavigateToLastRow method
syntax rules 7
SpssPivotTable class 168
NavigateToNextRows method
Python functions and classes 15
ActiveDataset 15, 16
R
SpssPivotTable class 168 R graphics 118, 129, 146, 149, 150, 154
AddProcedureFootnotes 15, 16
NavigateToPreviousRows method Remove method
BaseProcedure class 15, 37
SpssPivotTable class 168 SpssServerConfList class 245
CaseList class 15, 55, 62
nested program blocks 4, 5 RemoveBreakHere method
CreateXPathDictionary 15, 39
NewDataDoc method SpssLabels class 220
Cursor class 15, 39, 44
SpssClient class 106 RemoveChildItem method
Dataset class 15, 55
NewOutputDoc method SpssHeaderItem class 157
DataStep class 15, 71
SpssClient class 106 RemoveItemAt method
DeleteXPathHandle 15, 71
NewSyntaxDoc method SpssServerConfList class 245
EndDataStep 15, 71
SpssClient class 106 RemoveKeepTogether method
EndProcedure 15, 71
Number class 33 SpssLabels class 220
EvaluateXPath 15, 71
number of cases (rows) 72 RenumberFootnotes method
GetCaseCount 15, 72
number of variables 77 SpssFootnotes class 202
GetDataFileAttributeNames 15, 72
numeric variables 70, 79 reordering labels 227
GetDataFileAttributes 15, 72
NumericFormat method reset method 49
GetDatasets 15, 73
SpssPivotTable class 169 ReSizeColumn method
GetDefaultPlugInVersion 15, 73
SpssDataCells class 187
GetFileHandles 15, 73
role property
GetHandleList 15, 73
O GetImage 15, 73
Variable class 70
roles 55, 70, 79
OpenDataDoc method GetLastErrorlevel 15, 74
row count 72
SpssClient class 106 GetLastErrorMessage 15, 74
RowLabelArray method
OpenOutputDoc method GetMultiResponseSet 15, 75
SpssPivotTable class 169
SpssClient class 106 GetMultiResponseSetNames 15, 75
running command syntax from
OpenSyntaxDoc method GetOMSTagList 15, 76
Python 89
SpssClient class 107 GetSetting 15, 76
RunSyntax method
output GetSplitVariableNames 15, 76
SpssClient class 107
reading output results from GetSPSSLocale 15, 76
SpssSyntaxDoc class 141
Python 71 GetSPSSLowHigh 15, 76
OutputDocsList class 134 GetVarAttributeNames 15, 76
GetItemAt method 135 GetVarAttributes 15, 77
Size method 135 GetVariableCount 15, 77 S
OutputItemList class 135 GetVariableFormat 15, 77 SaveAs method
GetItemAt method 135 GetVariableLabel 15, 78 SpssDataDoc class 113
Size method 135 GetVariableMeasurementLevel 15, 78 SpssOutputDoc class 128
OXML GetVariableName 15, 78 SpssSyntaxDoc class 141
reading output XML in Python 71 GetVariableRole 15, 79 SaveServers method
GetVariableType 15, 79 SpssClient class 108
GetVarMissingValues 15, 79 ScriptParameter method
P GetWeightVar 15, 80
GetXmlUtf16 15, 80
SpssClient class 108
SelectAll method
Paste method
HasCursor 15, 80 SpssOutputDoc class 129
SpssOutputDoc class 128
IsActive 15, 80 SelectAllCharts method
PasteBefore method
IsDistributedMode 80 SpssOutputDoc class 129
SpssOutputDoc class 128
IsOutputOn 15, 81 SelectAllFootnotes method
pivot tables 16
Procedure class 15, 81 SpssPivotTable class 169
legacy tables 161

Index 269
SelectAllLogs method SetCategories method 20, 27 SetLeftMarginAt method
SpssOutputDoc class 129 SetCell method 27 SpssDataCells class 189
SelectAllModels method SetCellsByColumn method 21, 28 SpssFootnotes class 204
SpssOutputDoc class 129 SetCellsByRow method 21, 29 SpssLabels class 223
SelectAllNotes method SetColumnLabelWidthAt method SpssLayerLabels class 235
SpssOutputDoc class 129 SpssLabels class 222 SetLegacyTableCompatible method
SelectAllOther method SetCornerText method SpssPivotTable class 172
SpssOutputDoc class 130 SpssPivotTable class 171 SetMacroValue 82
SelectAllTables method SetCurrentCategory method SetModified method
SpssOutputDoc class 130 SpssDimension class 196 SpssDataDoc class 114
SelectAllText method SetCurrentDirectory method SpssOutputDoc class 131
SpssOutputDoc class 130 SpssClient class 108 SpssSyntaxDoc class 142
SelectAllTitles method SetCurrentItem method SetNumericFormatAt method
SpssOutputDoc class 130 SpssOutputItem class 152 SpssDataCells class 189
SelectAllWarnings method SetDatasetName method SetNumericFormatAtWithDecimal
SpssOutputDoc class 130 SpssDataDoc class 113 method
SelectCaption method SetDefaultFormatSpec method 30 SpssDataCells class 190
SpssPivotTable class 169 SetDefaultJCVersion method SetOneVarNameAndType method 50
SelectCellAt method SpssClient class 109 SetOutput 83
SpssDataCells class 187 SetDefaultPlugInVersion 82 SetOutputLanguage 83
SpssFootnotes class 202 SetDefaultServer method SetOutputOptions method
SelectCorner method SpssServerConf class 243 SpssOutputDoc class 132
SpssPivotTable class 169 SetDescription method SetPageBreak method
SelectDataUnderLabelAt method SpssOutputItem class 152 SpssOutputItem class 152
SpssLabels class 220 SpssServerConf class 243 SetPassword method
SelectLabelAt method SetDimensionName method SpssServerConf class 243
SpssLabels class 221 SpssDimension class 196 SetPasswordSaved method
SpssLayerLabels class 234 SetExpanded method SpssServerConf class 243
SelectLabelDataAt method SpssHeaderItem class 157 SetPreference method
SpssLabels 221 SetExportOption method SpssClient class 109
SelectLastOutput method SpssClient class 109 SetPrintOptions method
SpssOutputDoc class 131 SetFetchVarList method 50 SpssOutputDoc class 134
SelectReferredFootnotesAt method SetFooterText method SetProcedureName method
SpssDataCells class 187 SpssOutputDoc class 131 SpssOutputItem class 153
SpssLabels class 221 SetFootnoteMarkers method SetPromptToSave method
SpssLayerLabels class 234 SpssPivotTable class 171 SpssDataDoc class 114
SelectTable method SetForegroundColor method SpssOutputDoc class 134
SpssPivotTable class 170 SpssPivotTable class 171 SpssSyntaxDoc class 142
SelectTableBody method SetForegroundColorAt method SetRightMargin method
SpssPivotTable class 170 SpssDataCells class 188 SpssPivotTable class 172
SelectTitle method SpssFootnotes class 203 SetRightMarginAt method
SpssPivotTable class 170 SpssLabels class 222 SpssDataCells class 190
SetActive 82 SpssLayerLabels class 235 SpssFootnotes class 204
SetAlignment method SetHAlign method SpssLabels class 223
SpssOutputItem class 152 SpssPivotTable class 171 SpssLayerLabels class 235
SetAsActiveDataDoc method SetHAlignAt method SetRotateColumnLabels method
SpssDataDoc class 113 SpssDataCells class 188 SpssPivotTable class 172
SetAsDesignatedOutputDoc method SpssFootnotes class 203 SetRotateRowLabels method
SpssOutputDoc class 131 SpssLabels class 222 SpssPivotTable class 173
SetAsDesignatedSyntaxDoc method SpssLayerLabels class 235 SetRowLabelWidthAt method
SpssSyntaxDoc class 142 SetHDecDigits method SpssLabels class 223
SetBackgroundColor method SpssPivotTable class 172 SetRowsToDisplayRowCount method
SpssPivotTable class 170 SetHDecDigitsAt method SpssPivotTable class 173
SetBackgroundColorAt method SpssDataCells class 189 SetRowsToDisplayTolerance method
SpssDataCells class 188 SetHeaderText method SpssPivotTable class 173
SpssFootnotes class 202 SpssOutputDoc class 131 SetSelected method
SpssLabels class 221 SetHeight method SpssOutputItem class 153
SpssLayerLabels class 234 SpssDataUI class 117 SetServerName method
SetBottomMargin method SpssOutputItem class 152 SpssServerConf class 243
SpssPivotTable class 170 SpssOutputUI class 138 SetServerPort method
SetBottomMarginAt method SpssSyntaxUI class 145 SpssServerConf class 243
SpssDataCells class 188 SetLeft method SetShowGridLines method
SpssFootnotes class 203 SpssDataUI class 117 SpssDataUI class 117
SpssLabels class 222 SpssOutputUI class 138 SetShowValueLabels method
SpssLayerLabels class 234 SpssSyntaxUI class 145 SpssDataUI class 117
SetCaptionText method SetLeftMargin method SetSplitterPosition method
SpssPivotTable class 170 SpssPivotTable class 172 SpssOutputUI class 138

270 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SetSubType method SetUIAlerts method ShowCaption method
SpssOutputItem class 153 SpssClient class 109 SpssPivotTable class 178
SetSyntax method SetUpdateScreen method ShowFootnote method
SpssSyntaxDoc class 142 SpssPivotTable class 176 SpssPivotTable class 178
SetTableLook method SetUserDomain method ShowFootnotesAt method
SpssPivotTable class 174 SpssServerConf class 244 SpssDataCells class 193
SetTextColor method SetUserId method SpssLabels class 227
SpssPivotTable class 174 SpssServerConf class 244 SpssLayerLabels class 238
SetTextColorAt method SetUserMissingInclude method 51 ShowHiddenDimensionLabelAt method
SpssDataCells class 190 SetUseSSL method SpssLabels class 227
SpssFootnotes class 204 SpssServerConf class 244 ShowInstalledPlugInVersions 83
SpssLabels class 224 SetVAlign method ShowTitle method
SpssLayerLabels class 236 SpssPivotTable class 176 SpssPivotTable class 178
SetTextContents method SetVAlignAt method SimplePivotTable method 18, 30
SpssLogItem class 158 SpssDataCells class 192 Size method
SpssTextItem class 159 SpssFootnotes class 207 DataDocsList class 114
SpssTitleItem class 159 SpssLabels class 226 MenuTableList class 160
SetTextFont method SpssLayerLabels class 237 OutputDocsList class 135
SpssPivotTable class 174 SetValueAt method OutputItemList class 135
SetTextFontAt method SpssDataCells class 193 SpssServerConfList class 245
SpssDataCells class 190 SpssFootnotes class 207 SyntaxDocsList class 143
SpssFootnotes class 205 SpssLabels class 226 split-file processing
SpssLabels class 224 SetValueChar method 51 creating pivot tables from data with
SpssLayerLabels class 236 SetValueNumeric method 52 splits 84
SetTextHidden method SetVarAlignment method 52 reading datasets with splits in
SpssPivotTable class 174 SetVarAttributes method 52 Python 49
SetTextHiddenAt method SetVarCMissingValues method 53 split variables 76
SpssDataCells class 191 SetVarCValueLabel method 53 SplitChange 84
SpssFootnotes class 205 SetVarFormat method 53 SpssChartItem class 154
SpssLabels class 224 SetVarLabel method 53 SetXML method 154
SpssLayerLabels class 236 SetVarMeasureLevel method 54 SPSSSubtype method 154
SetTextSize method SetVarNameAndType method 54 SpssClient class 99
SpssPivotTable class 175 SetVarNamesDisplay method _heartBeat method 110
SetTextSizeAt method SpssPivotTable class 176 CreateNewServer method 100
SpssDataCells class 191 SetVarNMissingValues method 54 Exit method 100
SpssFootnotes class 205 SetVarNValueLabel method 55 GetActiveDataDoc method 100
SpssLabels class 224 SetVarRole method 55 GetConfiguredServers method 100
SpssLayerLabels class 236 SetVarValuesDisplay method GetCurrentDirectory method 100
SetTextStyle method SpssPivotTable class 177 GetCurrentServer method 101
SpssPivotTable class 175 SetVisible method GetDataDocuments method 101
SetTextStyleAt method SpssDataUI class 118 GetDefaultJCVersion method 101
SpssDataCells class 191 SpssOutputItem class 153 GetDefaultServer method 101
SpssFootnotes class 206 SpssOutputUI class 138 GetDesignatedOutputDoc
SpssLabels class 225 SpssSyntaxUI class 146 method 101
SpssLayerLabels class 237 SetWidoworphanLines method GetDesignatedSyntaxDoc
SetTextUnderlined method SpssPivotTable class 177 method 102
SpssPivotTable class 175 SetWidth method GetExportOption method 102
SetTextUnderlinedAt method SpssDataUI class 118 GetLocale method 102
SpssDataCells class 192 SpssOutputItem class 154 GetLocalServer method 102
SpssFootnotes class 206 SpssOutputUI class 139 GetOutputDocuments method 102
SpssLabels class 225 SpssSyntaxUI class 146 GetPreference method 102
SpssLayerLabels class 237 SetWindowState method GetScriptContext method 103
SetTitleText method SpssDataUI class 118 GetSPSSOptions method 103
SpssPivotTable class 175 SpssOutputUI class 139 GetSPSSPath method 104
SetTop method SpssSyntaxUI class 146 GetSPSSVersion method 104
SpssDataUI class 117 SetXML method GetSyntaxDocuments method 104
SpssOutputUI class 138 SpssChartItem class 154 GetUIAlerts method 104
SpssSyntaxUI class 145 SpssModelItem class 155 IsDataDocInUse method 104
SetTopMargin method ShowAll method IsDistributedMode method 104
SpssPivotTable class 176 SpssPivotTable class 177 IsOptionAvailable method 105
SetTopMarginAt method ShowAllFootnote method LogToViewer method 105
SpssDataCells class 192 SpssPivotTable class 177 NewDataDoc method 106
SpssFootnotes class 206 ShowAllLabelsAndDataInDimensionAt NewOutputDoc method 106
SpssLabels class 225 method NewSyntaxDoc method 106
SpssLayerLabels class 237 SpssLabels class 226 OpenDataDoc method 106
SetTreeLevel method ShowAllLabelsInDimensionAt method OpenOutputDoc method 106
SpssOutputItem class 153 SpssLabels class 226 OpenSyntaxDoc method 107

Index 271
SpssClient class (continued) SpssDataDoc class (continued) SpssFootnotes class (continued)
RunSyntax method 107 GetDocumentPath method 112 SetBottomMarginAt method 203
SaveServers method 108 GetMenuTable method 112 SetForegroundColorAt method 203
ScriptParameter method 108 GetVariableCount method 112 SetHAlignAt method 203
SetCurrentDirectory method 108 IsActiveDataDoc method 112 SetLeftMarginAt method 204
SetDefaultJCVersion method 109 IsEqualTo method 112 SetRightMarginAt method 204
SetExportOption method 109 IsModified method 112 SetTextColorAt method 204
SetPreference method 109 IsPromptToSave method 113 SetTextFontAt method 205
SetUIAlerts method 109 SaveAs method 113 SetTextHiddenAt method 205
StartClient method 110 SetAsActiveDataDoc method 113 SetTextSizeAt method 205
StopClient method 110 SetDatasetName method 113 SetTextStyleAt method 206
SpssDataCells class 178 SetModified method 114 SetTextUnderlinedAt method 206
GetBackgroundColorAt method 179 SetPromptToSave method 114 SetTopMarginAt method 206
GetBottomMarginAt method 179 SpssDataUI class 114 SetVAlignAt method 207
GetForegroundColorAt method 179 GetHeight method 115 SetValueAt method 207
GetHAlignAt method 179 GetLeft method 115 SpssHeaderItem class 156
GetHDecDigitsAt method 180 GetShowGridLines method 115 GetChildCount method 156
GetLeftMarginAt method 180 GetShowValueLabels method 115 GetChildItem method 156
GetNumColumns method 180 GetTitleText method 115 InsertChildItem method 156
GetNumericFormatAt method 180 GetTop method 115 IsExpanded method 157
GetNumericFormatAtEx method 181 GetVisible method 115 RemoveChildItem method 157
GetNumRows method 181 GetWidth method 116 SetExpanded method 157
GetReferredFootnotesAt method 181 GetWindowState method 116 SpssLabels
GetRightMarginAt method 182 InvokeDialog method 116 SelectLabelDataAt method 221
GetSigMarkersAt method 182 PrintDataDoc method 116 SpssLabels class 207
GetTextColorAt method 183 SetHeight method 117 BreakHere method 211
GetTextFontAt method 183 SetLeft method 117 GetBackgroundColorAt method 211
GetTextHiddenAt method 183 SetShowGridLines method 117 GetBottomMarginAt method 211
GetTextSizeAt method 184 SetShowValueLabels method 117 GetColumnLabelWidthAt
GetTextStyleAt method 184 SetTop method 117 method 211
GetTextUnderlinedAt method 184 SetVisible method 118 GetForegroundColorAt method 212
GetTopMarginAt method 185 SetWidth method 118 GetHAlignAt method 212
GetUnformattedValueAt method 185 SetWindowState method 118 GetLeftMarginAt method 212
GetVAlignAt method 185 SpssDimension class 193 GetNumColumns method 212
GetValueAt method 186 GetCategoryValueAt method 194 GetNumRows method 212
HideFootnotesAt method 186 GetCurrentCategory method 194 GetReferredFootnotesAt method 213
InsertNewFootnoteAt method 186 GetDimensionName method 195 GetRightMarginAt method 213
InsertSharedFootnoteAt method 187 GetFullDimensionLabel method 195 GetRowLabelWidthAt method 213
ReSizeColumn method 187 GetNumCategories method 195 GetTextColorAt method 214
SelectCellAt method 187 HideLabel method 195 GetTextFontAt method 214
SelectReferredFootnotesAt MoveToColumn method 195 GetTextHiddenAt method 214
method 187 MoveToLayer method 195 GetTextSizeAt method 214
SetBackgroundColorAt method 188 MoveToRow method 195 GetTextStyleAt method 215
SetBottomMarginAt method 188 SetCurrentCategory method 196 GetTextUnderlinedAt method 215
SetForegroundColorAt method 188 SetDimensionName method 196 GetTextWidthAt method 215
SetHAlignAt method 188 SpssFootnotes class 196 GetTopMarginAt method 216
SetHDecDigitsAt method 189 ChangeMarkerToRegular method 196 GetVAlignAt method 216
SetLeftMarginAt method 189 ChangeMarkerToSpecial method 197 GetValueAt method 216
SetNumericFormatAt method 189 GetBackgroundColorAt method 197 HideAllLabelsInDimensionAt
SetNumericFormatAtWithDecimal GetBottomMarginAt method 197 method 217
method 190 GetCount method 198 HideFootnotesAt method 217
SetRightMarginAt method 190 GetForegroundColorAt method 198 HideLabelsInDimensionAt
SetTextColorAt method 190 GetHAlignAt method 198 method 217
SetTextFontAt method 190 GetLeftMarginAt method 198 HideLabelsWithDataAt method 217
SetTextHiddenAt method 191 GetRightMarginAt method 199 InsertBefore method 218
SetTextSizeAt method 191 GetTextColorAt method 199 InsertNewAfter method 218
SetTextStyleAt method 191 GetTextFontAt method 199 InsertNewBefore method 218
SetTextUnderlinedAt method 192 GetTextHiddenAt method 200 InsertNewFootnoteAt method 219
SetTopMarginAt method 192 GetTextSizeAt method 200 InsertSharedFootnoteAt method 219
SetVAlignAt method 192 GetTextStyleAt method 200 KeepTogether method 220
SetValueAt method 193 GetTextUnderlinedAt method 201 RemoveBreakHere method 220
ShowFootnotesAt method 193 GetTopMarginAt method 201 RemoveKeepTogether method 220
SpssDataDoc class 111 GetVAlignAt method 201 SelectDataUnderLabelAt method 220
CloseDocument method 111 GetValueAt method 202 SelectLabelAt method 221
GetCaseCount method 111 RenumberFootnotes method 202 SelectReferredFootnotesAt
GetDatasetName method 111 SelectCellAt method 202 method 221
GetDataUI method 111 SetBackgroundColorAt method 202 SetBackgroundColorAt method 221

272 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

SpssLabels class (continued) SpssLogItem class (continued) SpssOutputItem class (continued)
SetBottomMarginAt method 222 SetTextContents method 158 GetProcedureName method 149
SetColumnLabelWidthAt method 222 SpssMenuItem class 160 GetSpecificType method 149
SetForegroundColorAt method 222 GetTextContents method 160 GetSubType method 149
SetHAlignAt method 222 SpssModelItem class 155 GetTreeLevel method 149
SetLeftMarginAt method 223 ExportAllViews method 155 GetType method 149
SetRightMarginAt method 223 SetXML method 155 GetTypeString method 150
SetRowLabelWidthAt method 223 SpssOutputDoc class 118 GetWidth method 151
SetTextColorAt method 224 ClearSelection method 119 GetXML method 151
SetTextFontAt method 224 CloseDocument method 119 IsCurrentItem method 151
SetTextHiddenAt method 224 Copy method 119 IsEditable method 151
SetTextSizeAt method 224 CopySpecial method 119 IsEqualTo method 151
SetTextStyleAt method 225 CreateHeaderItem method 120 IsSelected method 151
SetTextUnderlinedAt method 225 CreateImageChartItem method 121 IsVisible method 152
SetTopMarginAt method 225 CreateTextItem method 121 SetAlignment method 152
SetVAlignAt method 226 CreateTitleItem method 121 SetCurrentItem method 152
SetValueAt method 226 Cut method 121 SetDescription method 152
ShowAllLabelsAndDataInDimensionAt Delete method 122 SetHeight method 152
method 226 Demote method 122 SetPageBreak method 152
ShowAllLabelsInDimensionAt ExportCharts method 122 SetProcedureName method 153
method 226 ExportDocument method 123 SetSelected method 153
ShowFootnotesAt method 227 GetCurrentItem method 124 SetSubType method 153
ShowHiddenDimensionLabelAt GetDocumentPath method 124 SetTreeLevel method 153
method 227 GetFooterText method 124 SetVisible method 153
Swap method 227 GetHeaderText method 124 SetWidth method 154
SpssLayerLabels class GetMenuTable method 124 SpssOutputUI class 135
GetBackgroundColorAt method 229 GetOutputItems method 124 GetHeight method 136
GetBottomMarginAt method 229 GetOutputOptions method 124 GetLeft method 136
GetForegroundColorAt method 229 GetOutputUI method 126 GetSplitterPosition method 136
GetHAlignAt method 229 GetPrintOptions method 126 GetTitleText method 136
GetLeftMarginAt method 230 InsertTable method 126 GetTop method 136
GetNumDimensions method 230 IsDesignatedOutputDoc method 127 GetVisible method 136
GetNumLabelsWide method 230 IsEqualTo method 127 GetWidth method 136
GetRightMarginAt method 230 IsModified method 127 GetWindowState method 137
GetTextColorAt method 230 IsPromptToSave method 128 InvokeDialog method 137
GetTextFontAt method 231 Paste method 128 PrintOutputDoc method 137
GetTextHiddenAt method 231 PasteBefore method 128 SetHeight method 138
GetTextSizeAt method 231 PrintRange method 128 SetLeft method 138
GetTextStyleAt method 231 Promote method 128 SetSplitterPosition method 138
GetTextUnderlinedAt method 232 SaveAs method 128 SetTop method 138
GetTopMarginAt method 232 SelectAll method 129 SetVisible method 138
GetVAlignAt method 232 SelectAllCharts method 129 SetWidth method 139
GetValueAt method 233 SelectAllLogs method 129 SetWindowState method 139
HideFootnotesAt method 233 SelectAllModels method 129 SpssPivotMgr class
InsertNewFootnoteAt method 233 SelectAllNotes method 129 GetColumnDimension method 238
InsertSharedFootnoteAt method 233 SelectAllOther method 130 GetNumColumnDimensions
SelectLabelAt method 234 SelectAllTables method 130 method 238
SelectReferredFootnotesAt SelectAllText method 130 GetNumLayerDimensions
method 234 SelectAllTitles method 130 method 239
SetBackgroundColorAt method 234 SelectAllWarnings method 130 GetNumRowDimensions method 239
SetBottomMarginAt method 234 SelectLastOutput method 131 GetRowDimension method 239
SetForegroundColorAt method 235 SetAsDesignatedOutputDoc MoveLayersToColumns method 239
SetHAlignAt method 235 method 131 MoveLayersToRows method 239
SetLeftMarginAt method 235 SetFooterText method 131 TransposeRowsWithColumns
SetRightMarginAt method 235 SetHeaderText method 131 method 239
SetTextColorAt method 236 SetModified method 131 SpssPivotTable class 162
SetTextFontAt method 236 SetOutputOptions method 132 Autofit method 162
SetTextHiddenAt method 236 SetPrintOptions method 134 ClearSelection method 162
SetTextSizeAt method 236 SetPromptToSave method 134 ColumnLabelArray method 163
SetTextStyleAt method 237 SpssOutputItem class 146 DataCellArray method 163
SetTextUnderlinedAt method 237 ExportToDocument method 147 DataCellWidths method 171
SetTopMarginAt method 237 ExportToImage method 147 DisplayTableByRows method 163
SetVAlignAt method 237 GetAlignment method 148 FootnotesArray method 163
ShowFootnotesAt method 238 GetDescription method 148 GetCaptionText method 163
SpssLogItem class 158 GetHeight method 148 GetFootnoteMarkersPosition
Append method 158 GetPageBreak method 148 method 163
GetTextContents method 158 GetParentItem method 148

Index 273
SpssPivotTable class (continued) SpssPivotTable class (continued) SpssSyntaxUI class (continued)
GetFootnoteMarkersStyle SetWidoworphanLines method 177 GetTop method 144
method 164 ShowAll method 177 GetVisible method 144
GetHeight method 164 ShowAllFootnote method 177 GetWidth method 144
GetRotateColumnLabels method 164 ShowCaption method 178 GetWindowState method 144
GetRotateRowLabels method 164 ShowFootnote method 178 InvokeDialog method 144
GetSigMarkersType method 165 ShowTitle method 178 PrintSyntaxDoc method 145
GetTitleText method 165 Ungroup method 178 SetHeight method 145
GetUpdateScreen method 165 SpssScriptContext class 246 SetLeft method 145
GetVarNamesDisplay method 165 GetOutputDoc method 246 SetTop method 145
GetVarValuesDisplay method 166 GetOutputItem method 246 SetVisible method 146
GetWidoworphanLines method 166 GetOutputItemIndex method 246 SetWidth method 146
GetWidth method 166 SpssServerConf class 239 SetWindowState method 146
Group method 166 Connect method 240 SpssTextItem class 158
HideCaption method 167 ConnectWithSavedPassword GetTextContents method 159
HideFootnote method 167 method 241 SetTextContents method 159
HideTitle method 167 Disconnect method 241 SpssTitleItem class 159
InsertFootnote method 167 GetDescription method 241 GetTextContents method 159
IsDisplayTableByRows method 167 GetServerName method 241 SetTextContents method 159
IsLegacyTableCompatible GetServerPort method 241 StartClient method
method 168 GetUserDomain method 242 SpssClient class 110
LayerLabelArray method 168 GetUserId method 242 StartDataStep 85
NavigateToFirstRow method 168 GetUseSSL method 242 StartProcedure 85
NavigateToLastRow method 168 IsDefaultServer method 242 StartSPSS 88
NavigateToNextRows method 168 IsEqualTo method 242 StopClient method
NavigateToPreviousRows IsLocalServer method 242 SpssClient class 110
method 168 IsPasswordSaved method 242 StopSPSS 88
NumericFormat method 169 SetDefaultServer method 243 String class 35
PivotManager method 169 SetDescription method 243 string variables 70, 79
RowLabelArray method 169 SetPassword method 243 Submit 89
SelectAllFootnotes method 169 SetPasswordSaved method 243 Swap method
SelectCaption method 169 SetServerName method 243 SpssLabels class 227
SelectCorner method 169 SetServerPort method 243 SyntaxDocsList class 143
SelectTable method 170 SetUserDomain method 244 GetItemAt method 143
SelectTableBody method 170 SetUserId method 244 Size method 143
SelectTitle method 170 SetUseSSL method 244
SetBackgroundColor method 170 SpssServerConfList class 244
SetBottomMargin method 170
SetCaptionText method 170
Add method 244
Clear method 245
T
table breaks 211
SetCornerText method 171 Contains method 245
TextBlock class 90
SetFootnoteMarkers method 171 GetItemAt method 245
append method 90
SetForegroundColor method 171 Remove method 245
TitleFootnotes method 33
SetHAlign method 171 RemoveItemAt method 245
toNumber method 36
SetHDecDigits method 172 Size method 245
toString method 36
SetLeftMargin method 172 SPSSSubtype method
TransposeRowsWithColumns method
SetLegacyTableCompatible SpssChartItem class 154
SpssPivotMgr class 239
method 172 SpssSyntaxDoc class 139
type property
SetRightMargin method 172 CloseDocument method 140
Variable class 70
SetRotateColumnLabels method 172 GetDocumentPath method 140
SetRotateRowLabels method 173 GetMenuTable method 140
SetRowsToDisplayRowCount GetSyntax method 140
method 173 GetSyntaxUI method 140 U
SetRowsToDisplayTolerance IsDesignatedSyntaxDoc method 140 Ungroup method
method 173 IsEqualTo method 140 SpssPivotTable class 178
SetTableLook method 174 IsModified method 141 Unicode
SetTextColor method 174 IsPromptToSave method 141 Python programs 81
SetTextFont method 174 RunSyntax method 141 Unicode mode 4, 6
SetTextHidden method 174 SaveAs method 141 unknown measurement level 78
SetTextSize method 175 SetAsDesignatedSyntaxDoc
SetTextStyle method 175 method 142
SetTextUnderlined method 175
SetTitleText method 175
SetModified method 142
SetPromptToSave method 142
V
value labels 53, 55
SetTopMargin method 176 SetSyntax method 142
getting and setting 70
SetUpdateScreen method 176 SpssSyntaxUI class 143
valueLabels property
SetVAlign method 176 GetHeight method 143
Variable class 70
SetVarNamesDisplay method 176 GetLeft method 143
variable alignment 52
SetVarValuesDisplay method 177 GetTitleText method 144
getting and setting 67

274 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics

variable attributes
retrieving 67, 76, 77
setting 52, 67
Variable class 66
alignment property 67
attributes property 67
columnWidth property 68
format property 68
index property 68
label property 68
measurementLevel property 69
missingValues property 69
name property 70
role property 70
type property 70
valueLabels property 70
variable count 77
variable format 53, 77
getting and setting 68
variable label 53, 78
getting and setting 68
variable names 78
getting and setting 70
variable type
getting and setting 70
VariableList class 65
append method 66
insert method 66
varlist property
Dataset class 59
VarName class 35
VarValue class 35
versions
managing multiple versions 8, 73, 82,
83, 94, 101, 109

W
weight variable 80

X
XPath expressions 71

Index 275
276 Python Reference Guide for IBM SPSS Statistics
IBM®

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