Inspecting SPSS/PC+ Files

The pspp show-pc command reads an SPSS/PC+ system file which usually has a .sys extension, and produces a report.

SPSS/PC+ has been obsolete since the 1990s, and its file format is also obsolete and rarely encountered. Use pspp show to inspect modern SPSS system files.

The basic syntax is:

pspp show-pc <MODE> <INPUT> [OUTPUT]

where <MODE> is a mode of operation (see below), <INPUT> is the SPSS/PC+ file to read, and [OUTPUT] is the output file name. If [OUTPUT] is omitted, output is written to the terminal.

The following <MODE>s are available:

  • dictionary: Outputs the file dictionary in detail, including variables, value labels, and so on. With --data, also outputs cases from the system file.

    This can be useful as an alternative to PSPP syntax commands such as DISPLAY DICTIONARY.

    pspp convert is a better way to convert an SPSS/PC+ file to another format.

  • metadata: Outputs metadata not included in the dictionary:

    • The creation date and time declared inside the file (not in the file system).

    • The name of the product family and product that wrote the file, if present.

    • The file name embedded inside the file, if one is present.

    • Whether the file is bytecode-compressed.

    • The number of cases in the file.

Options

The following options affect how pspp show-pc reads <INPUT>:

  • --data [<MAX_CASES>]
    For mode dictionary, and encodings, this instructs pspp show-pc to read cases from the file. If <MAX_CASES> is given, then that sets a limit on the number of cases to read. Without this option, PSPP will not read any cases.

The following options affect how pspp show-pc writes its output:

  • -f <FORMAT>
    --format <FORMAT>
    Specifies the format to use for output. <FORMAT> may be one of the following:

    • json: JSON using indentation and spaces for easy human consumption.
    • ndjson: Newline-delimited JSON.
    • output: Pivot tables with the PSPP output engine. Use -o for additional configuration.
    • discard: Do not produce any output.

    When these options are not used, the default output format is chosen based on the [OUTPUT] extension. If [OUTPUT] is not specified, then output defaults to JSON.

  • -o <OUTPUT_OPTIONS>
    Adds <OUTPUT_OPTIONS> to the output engine configuration.