1 @node Invoking pspp-convert
2 @chapter Invoking @command{pspp-convert}
4 @cindex @command{pspp-convert}
6 @command{pspp-convert} is a command-line utility accompanying
7 @pspp{}. It reads an SPSS or SPSS/PC+ system file or SPSS portable
8 file or encrypted SPSS syntax file @var{input} and
9 writes a copy of it to another @var{output} in a different format.
13 @t{pspp-convert} [@var{options}] @var{input} @var{output}
15 @t{pspp-convert -@w{-}help}
17 @t{pspp-convert -@w{-}version}
20 The format of @var{input} is automatically detected, when possible.
21 The character encoding of old SPSS system files cannot always be
22 guessed correctly, and SPSS/PC+ system files do not include any
23 indication of their encoding. Use @code{-e @var{encoding}} to specify
24 the encoding in this case.
26 By default, the intended format for @var{output} is inferred based on its
32 Comma-separated value. Each value is formatted according to its
33 variable's print format. The first line in the file contains variable
44 SPSS syntax file. (Only encrypted syntax files may be converted to
48 @command{pspp-convert} can convert most input formats to most output
49 formats. Encrypted system file and syntax files are exceptions: if
50 the input file is in an encrypted format, then the output file must be
51 the same format (decrypted). To decrypt such a file, specify the
52 encrypted file as @var{input}. The output will be the equivalent
53 plaintext file. You will be prompted for the password (or use
54 @option{-p}, documented below).
56 Use @code{-O @var{extension}} to override the inferred format or to
57 specify the format for unrecognized extensions.
59 The following options are accepted:
63 @itemx --output-format=@var{format}
64 Specifies the desired output format. @var{format} must be one of the
65 extensions listed above, e.g. @code{-O csv} requests comma-separated
68 @item -c @var{maxcases}
69 @itemx --cases=@var{maxcases}
70 By default, all cases are copied from @var{input} to @var{output}.
71 Specifying this option to limit the number of cases written to
72 @var{output} to @var{maxcases}.
74 @item -e @var{charset}
75 @itemx --encoding=@var{charset}
76 Overrides the encoding in which character strings in @var{input} are
77 interpreted. This option is necessary because old SPSS system files,
78 and SPSS/PC+ system files, do not self-identify their encoding.
80 @item -p @var{password}
81 @item --password=@var{password}
82 Specifies the password to use to decrypt an encrypted SPSS system file
83 or syntax file. If this option is not specified,
84 @command{pspp-convert} will prompt interactively for the password as
87 Be aware that command-line options, including passwords, may be
88 visible to other users on multiuser systems.
92 Prints a usage message on stdout and exits.
96 Prints version information on stdout and exits.