SPSS syntax question - how do I refer to an empty or null cell?

[D.M.]

I'm trying to compute new variables based on the contents of other
variables. If the cell is missing data, I still want it to be
included. Is there a way to reference a cell that contains no data?
I've tried IsNull, "", etc.

I don't want to RECODE missing data as zeros, I want to leave the
original variables intact.

Thanks,
D.M.

[Richard Ulrich]

Like this?

If (missing(vara) and varb=2) varc=3 .

--
Rich Ulrich, wpi...@pitt.edu
http://www.pitt.edu/~wpilib/index.html

[andrej...@gmail.com]

What you are looking for is also referred to as the value $SYSMIS (one
of the system variables). The value of course only refers to the system
missing values. You can either use the SYSMIS() OR MISSING() functions
or u can use $SYSMIS as the specification of the value as in IF
(a=$SYSMIS) b=1.

hth

A