Data Conversion

Use the Statistical Data Conversion app to convert a data file from one supported format to another. The maximum upload size is 20 MB. The app identifies the input format from the file extension.

Supported formats

Format	Input	Output
SPSS	`.sav`	`.sav`
SAS data	`.sas7bdat`	`.sas7bdat`
SAS transport	`.xpt`	`.xpt`
Stata	`.dta`	`.dta`
Excel	`.xls`, `.xlsx`	`.xlsx`
Comma-separated values	`.csv`	`.csv`
Text data	`.txt`, `.dat`	`.txt`

The app exports Excel files as .xlsx; it does not export .xls. Text output is tab-delimited.

Convert a file

Open the Statistical Data Conversion app.
Select a data file in one of the supported input formats.
Choose the format to convert to.
For CSV, TXT, or DAT input, indicate whether the first row contains variable names.
For CSV, TXT, or Excel output, choose how to handle value labels.
Select Convert.
When conversion finishes, review the reported row and variable counts and the data structure preview, then select the download link.

Options

Option	Description
Variable names in first row	Choose Yes if the first row of CSV, TXT, or DAT input contains column names. Choose No if it contains data; the app will assign names such as V1 and V2.
Value labels	For CSV, TXT, or Excel output, choose Keep numeric codes to retain the underlying values, or Replace codes with labels to write available value labels as text. This setting does not affect other output formats.

SAS format warning

SAS data files (.sas7bdat): These files are created with write_sas(). The SAS file format is complex and undocumented, so this output is unreliable; in most cases, SAS will not read the file.

For reliable SAS compatibility, choose SAS transport (.xpt). write_xpt() produces files in the open SAS transport format, which SAS reliably reads. The transport format has limitations.

Troubleshooting

Confirm that the file extension matches the file’s actual format.
Check that the file is no larger than 20 MB.
For CSV, TXT, or DAT input, verify the variable-name setting matches the first row of the file.
If SAS cannot read an exported .sas7bdat file, convert the data to .xpt instead.

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