12.2 AUTORECODE

AUTORECODE VARIABLES=src_vars INTO dest_vars
        [ /DESCENDING ]
        [ /PRINT ]
        [ /GROUP ]
        [ /BLANK = {VALID, MISSING} ]

The AUTORECODE procedure considers the n values that a variable takes on and maps them onto values 1…n on a new numeric variable.

Subcommand VARIABLES is the only required subcommand and must come first. Specify VARIABLES, an equals sign (‘=’), a list of source variables, INTO, and a list of target variables. There must the same number of source and target variables. The target variables must not already exist.

By default, increasing values of a source variable (for a string, this is based on character code comparisons) are recoded to increasing values of its target variable. To cause increasing values of a source variable to be recoded to decreasing values of its target variable (n down to 1), specify DESCENDING.

PRINT is currently ignored.

The GROUP subcommand is relevant only if more than one variable is to be recoded. It causes a single mapping between source and target values to be used, instead of one map per variable.

If /BLANK=MISSING is given, then string variables which contain only whitespace are recoded as SYSMIS. If /BLANK=VALID is given then they will be allocated a value like any other. /BLANK is not relevant to numeric values. /BLANK=VALID is the default.

AUTORECODE is a procedure. It causes the data to be read.