IBM SPSS Statistics Programmability Extension

Discover unlimited programming capabilities with the IBM SPSS Statistics Programmability Extension. This powerful feature enables your organization to extend the IBM SPSS Statistics command syntax language with external programming languages, such as Python®, R, and the .NET version of Microsoft® Visual Basic®. The IBM SPSS Statistics Programmability Extension is included with IBM SPSS Statistics Base.

With the IBM SPSS Statistics Programmability Extension, you can:

• Extend IBM SPSS Statistics functionality. The IBM SPSS Statistics Programmability Extension enables you to add computations not included in IBM SPSS Statistics.
• Write generalized and more flexible jobs. Create generalized jobs by controlling logic based on the Variable Dictionary, procedure output (XML or datasets), case data, and environment. Reusable code means data is not tied to a single program.
• Handle errors with generated exceptions. The IBM SPSS Statistics Programmability Extension makes it easy to check whether a long syntax job worked. Hundreds of standard modules for Python are available.
• React to results and metadata
• Build IBM SPSS Statistics functionality into other applications

Getting started

Since the IBM SPSS Statistics Programmability Extension is included with IBM SPSS Statistics Base, you can get started quickly. Just integrate IBM SPSS Statistics Base with an IBM SPSS Statistics Programmability Integration Plug-In to take advantage of this advanced programmability functionality.

Use the freeware plug-ins that SPSS Inc. has already built for Python, R, and .NET, or follow the instructions in the IBM SPSS Statistics Programmability Extension Software Developer's Kit (SDK) to build your own. You can download freeware plug-ins from the SPSS Developer Central Web site. New Programmability Integration Plug-Ins are being developed by SPSS, an IBM Company, and will be available to download at SPSS Developer Central as soon as they are ready.

SPSS Developer Central

SPSS Developer Central is the online resource for end users and software developers interested in SPSS-related programming and development. From this Web site, you can download programmability extensions and sample code, access forums and participate in discussions on programmability practices, and read in-depth articles on SPSS programmability topics.

At SPSS Developer Central, you'll also find many example libraries and syntax jobs for use with the IBM SPSS Statistics-Python Integration Plug-In. Current Python examples include:

• Functions for simplifying the calls to the IBM SPSS Statistics backend processor for common tasks
• Functions for working with the IBM SPSS Statistics Viewer
• Bootstrap regression

We encourage you to visit SPSS Developer Central regularly, as new information is frequently added.