1 PSPP NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
2 Time-stamp: <2006-04-03 10:56:18 blp>
3 Copyright (C) 1996-9, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end for copying conditions.
6 Please send PSPP bug reports to bug-gnu-pspp@gnu.org.
11 Changes since 0.4.0 to 0.4.1:
13 Added support for very long string variables > 255 bytes.
17 * Output configuration options have changed. Please refer to the
18 manual for a full description of the available options.
20 In consequence, you will need to reinstall your "devices" file.
21 "make install" will do this for you.
23 * The PostScript driver now obtains font metrics from AFM files,
24 instead of Groff-format metrics files. It can now embed
25 PostScript fonts in its output.
27 In consequence, you will need to install an AFM file for each
28 font used in PostScript output. "make install" will install AFM
29 files for the standard PostScript files, including the ones that
30 the PostScript driver uses by default.
32 Newly implemented commands and statistical features:
34 * CLOSE FILE HANDLE (a PSPP extension; see below).
38 * XEXPORT (a PSPP extension).
42 A new PSPP extension called "scratch files" has been implemented.
43 A scratch file, like a system file, consists of a dictionary and
44 any number of cases. Small scratch files are stored in memory;
45 one that grows too large is written to disk. By default, any file
46 handle whose name begins with # is assumed to refer to a scratch
49 Scratch files can be used just about anywhere a system or portable
50 file can be used. Also, portable files are now allowed in most
51 places that system files were allowed in previous PSPP version.
53 A new CLOSE FILE HANDLE command allows the storage associated with
54 scratch files to be freed. It also allows file handles to be
55 reassigned to new files.
57 For more information on scratch files, refer to the "File Handles"
58 section in the PSPP manual. For specifics of what commands now
59 allow what kinds of files to be specified, refer to the
60 documentation on those particular commands.
62 PSPP is now able to start up and run even if it cannot find its
65 Changes from 0.3.0 to 0.4.0:
67 Changes in build dependencies:
69 * The GNU Scientific Library (libgsl), version 1.6 or later, is
72 * libplot from GNU plotutils is optional. Without it, the new
73 graphing features will not work. If you do not have it
74 installed, you must run `configure' with --without-libplot.
76 * libgmp2 is no longer a dependency.
78 Newly implemented commands and statistical features:
80 * EXAMINE, including its graphing features.
82 * FREQUENCIES now supports percentiles.
90 * SORT CASES now sorts stably, that is, two cases with equal sort
91 criteria will be in the same relative order before and after the
94 * T-TEST (re-written).
96 * DATE and USE. These commands are parsed but otherwise ignored,
97 to enhance compatibility with certain command files that invoke
100 * VARIABLE WIDTH, VARIABLE ALIGNMENT, and VARIABLE LEVEL. These
101 currently have no effect on PSPP output, but their values are
102 written to and read from system files and thus may affect
103 third-party software.
105 * SET EPOCH implemented.
107 * DATA LIST FREE and DATA LIST LIST now support arbitrary field
110 * FILE HANDLE now supports custom tab widths.
112 Long variable names (and other identifiers) are now supported. Up
113 to the first 64 bytes of each identifier is significant. PSPP now
114 reads and writes system files compatible with SPSS version 12.
116 New --algorithm and --syntax command line options allow
117 SPSS-compatible or enhanced modes to be selected.
119 Support for transformation expressions has been rewritten and
120 significantly improved. Refer to the manual for details.
122 Calculation of moments (mean, standard deviation, kurtosis,
123 skewness) has been rewritten and should now be more accurate. In
124 --algorithm=enhanced mode moments may be more accurate than SPSS in
127 Numerous bugs have been fixed, too many to mention here. Many new
128 tests have been added, leading to the discovery and fixing of many
131 The ASCII output driver can now squeeze multiple blank lines into
134 Much of the code has been rewritten and refactored. It is now much
137 The FILE TYPE and REPEATING DATA commands have been disabled for
138 this release because their implementations were deemed too buggy to
139 be useful. They will be fixed and replaced in a future release.
141 New pspp-mode for Emacs (in pspp-mode.el).
143 Added rudimentary command-line completion for interactive input.
145 lib/julcal and lib/dcdflib are no longer used, so they have been
148 For developers, the build system now requires Autoconf 2.58 and
149 Automake 1.7. The included gettext has been updated to version
152 Some reports state that Texinfo 4.8, the latest version, may be
153 necessary to successfully format the documentation on some systems.
155 Version 0.3.0 changes since 0.2.3:
159 * Using alphanumeric variables in functions under AGGREGATE
162 * Under certain circumstances, the final case would be omitted
163 from the results of an AGGREGATE operation. Fixed.
165 * Undefined behavior was invoked by referencing a freed pointer
166 under certain circumstances. Fixed.
168 * A wrong record size was displayed when paging the active file to
171 * Not having enough temporary space for sorting caused a core
174 * Syntax errors in function descriptions on AGGREGATE caused core
177 * A null pointer was dereferenced, causing a core dump, when
178 PERCENTILES was specified on FREQUENCIES. This fixes the
179 problem, but PSPP still doesn't calculate percentiles.
181 * SORT always sorted in ascending order. Fixed.
183 * Some minor memory leaks in the expression parser were removed.
185 * Many assertions fixed for strict ANSI C compliance.
189 * SET ECHO ON now implemented, but turned off by default.
191 * PRINT specifier supported on END REPEAT.
195 * System libgmp2 library is used if installed instead of
196 unconditionally using the included libgmp2 subset.
198 * Extensive code cleanup, which continues.
200 * Added CORRELATIONS command parser, but not implemented.
202 Version 0.2.3 changes since 0.2.2:
206 * SPLIT FILE with a string variable caused a core dump. Fixed.
208 * Nested INCLUDEs didn't work. Fixed.
210 * The MATCH FILES procedure set the values of variables not present
211 to 0. It should have been SYSMIS. This is now fixed.
213 * The REMARK command was too aggressive about skipping lines. It
214 didn't like being the last command in a file.
216 * Comment parsing wasn't consistent with the rest of the code in its
217 idea of where one command ends and another starts. This meant
218 that sometimes commands would be mysteriously ignored. Thanks to
219 Dr. Dirk Melcher <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
221 * The TABLE subcommand on MATCH FILES worked only erratically at
222 best. This fixes it. Thanks to Dr. Dirk Melcher
223 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
225 * VARIABLE LABELS rejected a slash before the first variable
226 specification, contradicting the documentation. Thanks to Walter
227 M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for reporting this bug.
229 * Because of an incorrect optimization in memory allocation,
230 CROSSTABS sometimes segfaulted when asked to output multiple
231 tables. Thanks to Walter M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for
234 * CROSSTABS didn't display value labels for column and row
235 variables. Thanks to Walter M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for
238 * WRITE didn't write line ends. Fixed. Thanks to Dr. Dirk Melcher
239 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
241 * The TABLE subcommand on MATCH FILES worked only erratically at
242 best. This fixes it. Thanks to Dr. Dirk Melcher
243 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
245 * VARIABLE LABELS rejected a slash before the first variable
246 specification, contradicting the documentation. Thanks to Walter
247 M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for reporting this bug.
249 * Because of an incorrect optimization in memory allocation,
250 CROSSTABS sometimes segfaulted when asked to output multiple
251 tables. Thanks to Walter M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for
254 * CROSSTABS didn't display value labels for column and row
255 variables. Thanks to Walter M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for
258 * WRITE didn't write line ends. Fixed. Thanks to Dr. Dirk Melcher
259 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
261 * MATCH FILES corrupted memory and dumped core on some syntax
264 * MATCH FILES should set numeric values not available to the
265 system-missing value, not to 0. Thanks to Dr. Dirk Melcher
266 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
268 * KEEP didn't work properly on the SAVE procedure. Fixed. Thanks
269 to Ralf Geschke <ralf@kuerbis.org> for reporting this bug.
273 * Some systems didn't like the way open_file was coded. Thanks to
274 Hankin <hankin@rogue.consultco.com> for pointing this out.
276 * The SAVE procedure didn't save long string variables properly.
277 Fixed by this patch. Thanks to Hankin
278 <hankin@rogue.consultco.com> for this patch.
280 * Minor documentation fixes for MATCH FILES.
282 Version 0.2.2 changes since 0.2.1:
286 * Fix behavior of PRINT SPACE for negative arguments.
288 * Fix reading some unusual system files.
290 * Fix LIST problems with very long variables. Thanks to Hankin
291 <hankin@dunno.com> for this bug report.
293 * Fix problems with some string format specifiers.
295 * Fix use of $CASENUM in expressions. Thanks to Dirk Melcher
296 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
298 * Additional DATA LIST FREE and DATA LIST LIST fixes. Thanks to
299 Hankin <hankin@dunno.com> again on this one.
301 * Sometimes you may encounter a PSPP script that has to be
302 interpreted in interactive mode. Now you can use the -i flag to
305 * Warnings for egcs 1.1.1 cleaned up. (However you'll get lots of
306 `unused variable' warnings under gcc 2.7.2.3, fixing this will
311 * The files in gmp need the internationalization directory in
312 their include path. Thanks to OKUJI Yoshinori
313 <okuji@kuicr.kyoto-u.ac.jp> for pointing this out.
315 Version 0.2.1 changes since 0.2.0:
319 * Remember to include examples/ directory in distribution :-)
321 * Fixed gmp compile problems for some non-i386 architectures.
322 Thanks to Hans Olav Eggestad <olav@jordforsk.nlh.no> and others
325 * DATA LIST FREE and DATA LIST LIST parsing of input files is now
326 matches the documented behavior exactly, and error messages are
327 more helpful. Thanks to Mark H. Wood <mwood@IUPUI.Edu>.
329 Version 0.2.0 changes since 0.1.0:
331 Procedures now implemented:
332 * CROSSTABS. Please see documentation for caveats.
334 Transformations and utilities now implemented:
337 * CLEAR TRANSFORMATIONS
338 * DISPLAY (all subcommands).
349 Support for input and output through pipes: "|command" and
350 "command|" filenames; support for special filenames "-", "stdin",
353 New command-line features:
354 * New option --testing-mode: Invoke heuristics to assist testing.
355 * New option --safer, -s: Don't allow certain unsafe operations.
356 * New option --command=CMD, -c CMD: Perform literal command CMD.
357 * rc file ~/.pspp/rc is executed before any other files.
358 * Now multiple syntax files can be specified.
360 Operator LAG is now implemented.
362 Added missing FILE subcommand to REREAD.
364 Table output manager completely rewritten.
366 Device configuration file syntax changed. You will need to
367 reinstall your `devices' file.
369 New output driver for HTML.
371 PostScript driver and prologue simplified.
373 Many bugs fixed. General source-code cleanup.
375 Added Texinfo documentation for:
376 * PSPP system file format
377 * PSPP portable file format
378 * How to write input for q2c parser generator
381 PSPP language is now fully documented. Please report any
382 inaccuracies or omissions in the documentation.
384 Changes for version 0.1.0:
386 First public release. For changes from unreleased development
387 versions, please see ONEWS.
389 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
390 Copyright information:
392 Copyright (C) 1996-9, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
394 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim
395 copies of this document as received, in any medium, provided that
396 the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved, thus
397 giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
399 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions of this
400 document, or of portions of it, under the above conditions,
401 provided also that they carry prominent notices stating who last
405 version-control: never