Recording Data Editing Operations

Certain data editing operations on an input data set are recorded as part of Master Macros. As a general rule, most editing operations that are accomplished via selections on respective dialog boxes (e.g., the Sort Options dialog box) are recorded; operations that are performed via simple keyboard actions (e.g., deleting a data value by pressing the DELETE key on your keyboard) or interactive operations performed on the spreadsheet (that typically depend on the current context) are usually not recorded. Also keep in mind that the Master Macro recording only starts when the recording is explicitly requested, so any editing operations that are performed prior to the start of the recording of course will not be reflected in the Master Macro.

Here is a list of data editing operations that are recorded into Master Macros (note that most operations available on the Data menu are recorded):

Sorting
Creating subsets of cases or variables
Changes in the variable specifications
Data transformations via formulas entered into the specifications dialogs of the respective variables
Adding, moving, copying, and deleting variables
Adding, moving, copying, and deleting cases
Ranking of data
Recoding operations
Automatic replacement of missing data operations
Shifting of data
Standardizing data
Date operations

Recordable operations performed outside the Data menu include:

Creation of new datafiles (spreadsheets)
Opening datafiles
All Output Manager options
Filling data ranges with random values (note that this operation is recorded even though it is accomplished without going through dialogs, but by selecting it from the Edit menu)
Entering case selection conditions on a global and local (one analysis) level
Entering case weight variables on a global and local (one analysis) level
Note: recording of certain operations as part of the Master Macro logs might lead to creating ambiguous and context-dependent solutions, so they are excluded from the list of recordable tasks. This includes such operations as:
Editing values in the spreadsheets
Selections of cells
Clipboard based copy, paste, and delete operations (note that this does not include the copy, move, and delete cases and variables operations listed above)
Generally, anything not on the list of recordable data management operations (see above)

Keep these issues in mind when recording a Master Macro with data editing operations that are necessary before subsequent analyses are performed.