SPSS 10 for MacOS: Freeze on "Save" if file-path > 128 characters
Leonid Rozenblit
I've been experiencing frequent system-wide freezes when saving data files
in SPSS 10 for the MacOS. Several other folks in my department also
mentioned frequent crashes, but the vast majority reported no difficulties
of this kind.
After trying unsuccessfully to deal with the problem as an extensions
conflict, I believe I have isolated the issue . . . and it's a peculiar one.
(It's definitely weird from a MacOS perspective, but makes some sense when
you consider that SPSS 10 is a recent port of a Windows App.)
As best I can tell, a SAVE command causes a general system-wide freeze if
you try to save a data file with a file-path name longer than 128
characters. (Thus, if you are experiencing frequent freezes, you may want to
try saving the SPSS data files in folders closer to your root directory, or
shortening the names of the folders in the data-file's path.) I haven't
replicated the problem on other machines yet, but it seems to hold true for
my PowerBook G3, running MacOS 9.0.4.
I've notified SPSS tech-support of my trials and tribulations, but I have
yet to hear back from them. If you happen to replicate the problem on your
machines, please feel free to drop them a note -- the louder we holler, the
more likely they are to provide a fix quickly.
Best,
-Leon