DBMS/Copy can be found on tombstone. Users first need to activate tombstone account.
The DBMS/Copy command-line interface uses what it calls "pseudo extensions" to indicate exactly what type of files to and from which you want to convert. This means that when issuing the command, you must use one of DBMS/Copy's pseudo extensions (the part of the filename after the ".") rather than the default one assigned by the package that was used to create the file or that you will be using. Even though you use the pseudo extension in conversion, the source file should have the original file extension, and the target file will have the program's default extension after the conversion.
DBMS/Copy for UNIX cannot read Oracle, Sybase, Informix and DB2 files that were created on the PC without special add-ons. Therefore, it is usually easier to use DBMS/Copy on the PC to convert these types of files.
DBMS/Copy is a bit outdated, but it will not be updated. The latest version of Stata into which it can convert is version 8. Stata 10 can read Stata 8 data.
1. Select the pseudo extensions that you will use for your source and target files from the table below, DBMS/Copy's Pseudo Extensions. A source file is the file you want to convert, and a target file is the file to which you are copying.
2. To invoke DMBS/Copy in command-line mode, issue the following command from the UNIX prompt:
dbmsnox [source] [target]
where source identifies the file in an old format and target identifies the file in a new format.
For example, the following command converts a SAS 6.12 data file named myfile.ssd01 into a Stata file named myfile.dta.
dbmsnox myfile.ssdsun myfile.stata8
Similarly, use the following command to convert an SPSS for Windows file, named myfile.sav, to a Stata file named myfile.dta, where the pseudo-extensions .spsswin and .stata8 are used, respectively:
dbmsnox myfile.spsswin myfile.stata8
Notice that pseudo extensions are used when dbmsnox is invoked to indicate the software and version number. The pseudo extension .ssdsun indicates that the source file was written by SAS for Sun, version 6.09, and the pseudo extension .stata8 indicates that the target file will be written in Stata version 8.0 format.
DBMS/Copy's Pseudo Extensions
| Software Product | Default Extension | Pseudo Extension |
|---|---|---|
| Stata V8 | .dta | .stata8 |
| SPSS for Windows | .sav | .spsswin |
| SPSS Portable | .por | .spssport |
| SPSS for Unix | .sav | .spssun |
| SAS for Windows & OS2 | .sd2 | .sd2 |
| SAS Xport | .ssp | .sasxport |
| SAS Transport | .ssp | .sasport |
| SAS for Unix | .ssd01 | ssdsun |
| ASCII text | .dat | .ascii2 |
| Excel 4 | .xls | .xls4 |
| S-Plus for Unix | None | splussun |
