SPSS Scratch Variables
Contents
Declaration
Scratch variables are declared like:
compute #TotalSales = sum(Sales, #TotalSales).
Note the names are prefixed with a hash (#). This is a requirement.
Usage
Scratch variables are firstly useful as temporary variables. They are deleted in the next execution (e.g. the next EXECUTE command).
Scratch variables are also useful for data aggregation, as they are not re-initialized for each case.
compute #TotalSales = sum(Sales, #TotalSales). compute Total_Sales = #TotalSales.