SPSS Programming and Data Management, 4th Edition: A Guide for ...

21Best Practices and Efficiency Tips• !client contains the client’s name. This can be used in titles of tables or graphs.• !title specifies a TITLE command, using the value of the macro !client as thetitle text.The master command syntax file might then look something like this:INSERT FILE = "c:\examples\commands\define_globals.sps".!title.INSERT FILE = "data\prepare data.sps".INSERT FILE = "commands\combine data.sps".INSERT FILE = "commands\do tests.sps".INCLUDE FILE = "commands\report groups.sps".• The first INSERT runs the command syntax file that defines all of the globalsettings. This needs to be run before any commands that invoke the macrosdefined in that file.• !title will print the client’s name at the top of each page of output.• "data" and "commands" in the remaining INSERT commands will be expandedto "c:\examples\data" and "c:\examples\commands", respectively.Note: Using absolute paths or file handles that represent those paths is the most reliablewaytomakesurethatSPSSfinds the necessary files. Relative paths may not work asyou might expect, since they refer to the current working directory, which can changefrequently. You can also use the CD command or the CD keyword on the INSERTcommand to change the working directory.