SPSS ODBC error
Paul R. Falzer
Using database capture in SPSS 8.0, I am attempting to import data
from an MS Access 97 database. The wizard seems to workl, but when I
highlight a table or query for the purpose selecting fields, the
following SPSS dialog box appears: "[name of table] has no columns and
will not be shown." I clear the message and the highlighted item
disappears from the list box. This message appears with every table
and query in the database.
The problem described here occurs with only one of my databases.
Database capture proceeds without error in importing my other MS
Access 97 databases.
1. What does this message mean and what can I do to resolve the
problem?
2. Is there a reference I can consult that explains this and other
SPSS database capture error messages?
Thanks for your assistance.
Paul Falzer
Paul R. Falzer
Following up from my message of 3/3 regarding a problem SPSS 8.0
database capture, here is a different problem. Attempting to import
data from another MS Access 97 database, when I highlight a table or
query for the purpose of selecting fields, the following SPSS dialog
box appears: "duplicate alias [name of a variable] specified for the
field [name of the same variable] in [name of the query]."
There are three oddities to this problem: 1. when I clear the dialog
box, an identical box takes its place. I could click forever, but must
eventually close SPSS manually (from the Win 95 close program manu).
2. The variable that's being referenced resides in the database, but
it is not in the highlighted query. 3. When I save the query as an
Excel 4 file, SPSS opens it without difficulty.
I would appreciate any advice about what's happening here and what I
might do about the problem.
Paul Falzer
Adrian Barnett
This probably won't help you much but :
I had it happen too, with Paradox files. Did it 3 times in a row. The
fourth time, when I was on the phone to SPSS tech support, it worked
fine :-( This is with NT 4, SP3.
SPSS does not handle errors well with ODBC. You can make it fall over
altogether if ODBC is not configured properly eg if the directory you
tell the ODBC configuration has got your files doesn't contain
databases of that type. SPSS will just fall over, saying the processor
has stopped responding. It seems to go on waiting for a response and
when it doesn't get one, goes catatonic instead of telling you that
ODBC didn't behave as advertised and should perhaps have its setup
looked at. Version 7.5 did this too. I notified SPSS about it and
version 8 came out with the same problem. Thier view seemed to be that
it was the fault of ODBC not of SPSS.
I'm beginning to think the ODBC 'feature' is not worth the trouble,
except perhaps for very simple queries and where you have no
alternative means of accessing the data. More complex queries are
possibly more easily done in the database itself and an extract then
saved and then given to SPSS somehow. We're probably going to get
DBMS/COPY to help with some of the translations we have to do here and
this may mean we don't have to put up with ODBC at all, I hope.
Microsoft does not document ODBC setup in their NT manual, the
Resource Kit, and several NT texts I consulted don't discuss it
either. The only info I could find was the HELP button on the ODBC
setup dialog and I don't recall it going into error messages. Not much
good news for you, I'm afraid.
Regards,
Adrian
--
Adrian Barnett | "It's always the trombone player"
Ph : +61-8-82071531 | (Faye Dunaway in 'The Arrangement')
Fax: +61-8-82049575 Email: adr...@microtronics.com.au
Paul R. Falzer
>I'm beginning to think the ODBC 'feature' is not worth the trouble,
>except perhaps for very simple queries and where you have no
>alternative means of accessing the data. More complex queries are
>possibly more easily done in the database itself and an extract then
>saved and then given to SPSS somehow. We're probably going to get
>DBMS/COPY to help with some of the translations we have to do here and
>this may mean we don't have to put up with ODBC at all, I hope.
>Not much good news for you, I'm afraid.
Thank you for replying to my posting about ODBC. I would like to use
MS Access for entering and aggregating data, and rely on SAS or SPSS
for data analysis. I want to move easily between the applications and
believed that I found a solution in SPSS. DBMS/COPY also relies on
ODBC; reports from users lead me believe that the program works well
when the SPSS wizard fails. I conclude from that the the principal
problems I have been experiencing can be traced to SPSS. Perhaps a fix
is in the works.
Paul Falzer
p...@callnet.com
Steven Dubnoff
On Mon, 09 Mar 1998 16:49:10 GMT, p...@callnet.com (Paul R. Falzer)
wrote:
>Thank you for replying to my posting about ODBC. I would like to use
>MS Access for entering and aggregating data, and rely on SAS or SPSS
>for data analysis. I want to move easily between the applications and
>believed that I found a solution in SPSS. DBMS/COPY also relies on
>ODBC; reports from users lead me believe that the program works well
>when the SPSS wizard fails. I conclude from that the the principal
>problems I have been experiencing can be traced to SPSS. Perhaps a fix
>is in the works.
>
If you need to go between SPSS and Access, you should try
Stat/Transfer. Although it uses ODBC for the data transfer, this is
completely invisable to the user. it installs all of the drivers,
configures datasources on the fly and, in general, makes Access
transfers as easy as those to or from any other file type. Aso, in
contrast to DBMS/Copy, Stat/Transfer allows you to create new Access
databases or replace existing Access tables.
You can download a free demo from:
Best wishes,
Steve
____________________________________________________________________
Steven Dubnoff sdub...@circlesys.com
Circle Systems We make your data instantly usable.
Check out Stat/Transfer at http://www.stattransfer.com
1001 Fourth Avenue, #3200 (206) 682-3783
Seattle, WA 98154 Fax (206) 328-4788