SYNOPSIS

pspp-convert [options] input output

pspp-convert --help | -h

pspp-convert --version | -v

DESCRIPTION

The pspp-convert program reads SPSS system or portable file input and writes it to output, performing format conversion as necessary.

The format of input is automatically detected, except that the character encoding of old system files cannot always be guessed correctly. Use -e encoding to specify the encoding in this case.

By default, the intended format for output is inferred from its extension:

csv
\$1

Comma-separated value. Each value is formatted according to its variable's print format. The first line in the file contains variable names.

sav

SPSS system file.

por

SPSS portable file.

Use -O extension to override the inferred format or to specify the format for unrecognized extensions.

pspp-convert can convert most input formats to most output formats, with one exception: if the input file is an encrypted system file, then the output file must also be an (unencrypted) system file.

OPTIONS

-O format

Specifies the desired output format. format must be one of the extensions listed above, e.g. -O csv requests comma-separated value output.

-c maxcases

By default, all cases are copied from input to output. Specifying this option to limit the number of cases written to output to maxcases.

-e charset

Overrides the encoding in which character strings in input are interpreted. This option is necessary because old SPSS system files do not self-identify their encoding.

-p password

Specifies the password to use to decrypt an encrypted SPSS system file input. If this option is not specified, pspp-convert prompts for the password.

On multiuser systems, this option may not be safe because other users may be able to see the password in process listings.

-h

Prints a usage message on stdout and exits.

-v

Prints version information on stdout and exits.

AUTHORS

Ben Pfaff.

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