1 PSPP NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
2 Time-stamp: <2008-06-04 21:27:06 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.
8 Changes from 0.4.0 to 0.6.0:
10 * The PSPP license is now version 3 or later of the GNU General
11 Public License. Previously, it was version 2 or later.
13 * PSPP now has a graphical interface, called PSPPIRE. This
14 interface allows you to enter data and variable definitions
15 interactively. Commands may be executed in syntax form, or by
16 using the interactive dialog boxes available from the dropdown
19 * A few sample syntax files are now included in the `examples'
22 * Numerous major and minor bugs have been fixed.
26 * The INSTALL file now reflects the details of how to install
27 PSPP. It is a tailored version of the generic installation
28 instructions, instead of a verbatim copy.
30 * iconv, which is ordinarily installed as part of a Unix-like
31 system, is now required. If you don't have it already, you can
32 install GNU libiconv (http://www.gnu.org/software/libiconv/).
34 * libxml2 and zlib are new optional dependencies. They are
35 required to use PSPP's support for reading Gnumeric files.
37 Statistical procedure changes:
39 * REGRESSION is a new procedure for fitting linear models to data
40 via least-squares estimation.
42 * NPAR TESTS is a new procedure for non-parametric tests. In this
43 release, it supports binomial and chi-square tests.
45 * RANK is a new procedure to rank variables. It supports numerous
48 * FREQUENCIES can now output histograms and pie charts. These
49 features were present in earlier releases, but not documented.
51 User interface changes:
53 * In many situations where PSPP once terminated with a fatal
54 error, PSPP now recovers and continues execution.
56 * PSPP is now able to start up and run even if it cannot find its
59 * Journaling of interactive commands to a disk file is now
60 implemented. By default, journaling is enabled, to a file named
61 `pspp.jnl' in the current directory. SET JOURNAL may be used to
64 * The use of `+' between syntax file names on the command line to
65 prevent the dictionary from being cleared between their
66 executions is no longer supported. All syntax files are now
67 executed as if `+' had been specified.
69 * The -d/--define and -u/--undef command line options are no
70 longer supported. Instead, use /usr/bin/env or shell primitives
71 to define or clear environment variables before invoking PSPP.
73 * If a syntax file named named `rc' is found in a configuration
74 directory (such as $HOME/.pspp), it is executed before any
75 syntax file specified on the command line. The -r or
76 --no-statrc command line option may be used to disable this
81 * Output configuration options have changed. Please refer to the
82 manual for a full description of the available options.
84 In consequence, you will need to reinstall your "devices" file.
85 "make install" will do this for you.
87 * Most error messages are now written to PSPP output files by
88 default. SET ERROR can be used to disable this behavior.
90 * When invoked interactively, PSPP now by default produces output
91 on the terminal, piping it through the "more" program.
92 Previously, by default output was written only to file
93 pspp.list. On most terminals, the page length used for output
94 automatically adapts to the terminal size, even if the terminal
99 - This driver now supports charts in output. Charts are written
100 as separate files that the main output file refers to. By
101 default, charts are written in PNG format to files named
102 pspp-1.png, pspp-2.png, and so on.
104 - Configurations are provided that use VT100 (and xterm)
105 line-drawing characters in tables. The option "-o list-vt100"
106 requests use of this device for output to pspp.list.
110 - The default paper size is now determined using the PAPERSIZE
111 environment variable, or the LC_PAPER locale category on
112 systems that support it. If these are not set, the default is
113 now A4, instead of US letter. To make US letter the default,
114 set PAPERSIZE to "letter" in your environment.
116 - Font metrics are now read from AFM files, instead of
117 Groff-format metrics files. PostScript fonts can now be
120 In consequence, you will need to install an AFM file for each
121 font used in PostScript output. "make install" will install
122 AFM files for the standard PostScript fonts, including the
123 ones that the PostScript driver uses by default.
125 - Standard paper sizes no longer need to be specified through a
126 configuration file. The "papersize" configuration file is no
127 longer needed, or supported.
129 - The PostScript prologue is no longer obtained from the
130 "ps-prologue" configuration file. This configuration file is
131 no longer needed, or supported.
135 - The HTML prologue is no longer obtained from the
136 "html-prologue" configuration file. This configuration file
137 is no longer needed, or supported.
139 Command language changes:
141 * The following commands are new:
143 - GET DATA, which currently supports reading Gnumeric files and
144 text data files. It will be extended later to read other
145 types of foreign data.
147 - CD, to change the current directory.
149 - INSERT, to execute a syntax file.
151 - DELETE VARIABLES, to remove variables from the active file
154 - ADD DOCUMENT, to add text to active file documents.
156 - CLOSE FILE HANDLE (a PSPP extension; see below).
158 - XEXPORT, a PSPP extension that is a transformation equivalent
161 * The following functions for transformation expressions are new:
163 - DATEDIFF, for computing the difference of two dates.
165 - DATESUM, for advancing a date by a specified duration.
167 - VALUELABEL, to obtain the value label for a value.
169 * PSPP now supports very long string variables (over 255 bytes
172 * MATCH FILES now supports the FIRST and LAST subcommands.
174 * Previous versions of PSPP prohibited using commands to both read and
175 write a single file at the same time. Now, PSPP allows this, and
176 the new version of the file atomically replaces the old version.
178 * The following commands are no longer available. They will be
179 re-implemented in a later release:
181 - CLEAR TRANSFORMATIONS
187 * The PROCESS IF command, which was deprecated, has been removed.
188 You may replace any usage of it by SELECT IF following
189 TEMPORARY, which has the same effect.
191 * The output format for variables created by VECTOR may now be
192 specified as part of the VECTOR syntax.
194 "Scratch files", a new PSPP extension:
196 A scratch file, like a system file, consists of a dictionary and
197 any number of cases. Small scratch files are stored in memory;
198 one that grows too large is written to disk. By default, any file
199 handle whose name begins with # is assumed to refer to a scratch
202 Scratch files can be used just about anywhere a system or portable
203 file can be used. Also, portable files are now allowed in most
204 places that system files were allowed in previous PSPP version.
206 A new CLOSE FILE HANDLE command allows the storage associated with
207 scratch files to be freed. It also allows file handles to be
208 reassigned to new files.
210 For more information on scratch files, refer to the "File Handles"
211 section in the PSPP manual. For specifics of what commands now
212 allow what kinds of files to be specified, refer to the
213 documentation on those particular commands.
217 * Binary formats and IBM/360 formats, including ASCII/EBCDIC
218 translation, are now supported. Use FILE HANDLE to specify the
219 format of these files.
221 * Little-endian, big-endian, and VAX-endian formats are now
222 supported for integer binary formats when reading and writing
223 data files. The new RIB and WIB subcommands on the SET command
224 control endianness of integer data. The default is the host's
227 * IEEE 754, VAX, and IBM hexadecimal formats are now supported for
228 floating point binary formats when reading and writing data
229 files. The new RRB and WRB subcommands on the SET command
230 control the floating point format. The default is the host's
231 native floating point format.
233 * DATA LIST now supports the SKIP subcommand, to skip records at
234 the beginning of a file. For compatibility, DATA LIST now
235 treats N format as F format for FREE and LIST format input.
237 * The SAVE and XSAVE commands now support the UNSELECTED,
238 PERMISSIONS, NAMES, and MAP subcommands.
240 * The EXPORT command has been re-implemented to obtain better
241 results. Support for the UNSELECTED, DIGITS, and TYPE
242 subcommands has been added.
244 * For compatibility, PRINT now inserts a space at the beginning of
245 every output line, even lines that would otherwise be blank,
246 when OUTFILE is specified. (The behavior of WRITE is
249 * For compatibility, PRINT EJECT now inserts the digit `1' at the
250 beginning of each line that should begin a new page.
252 * For compatibility, WRITE now outputs the system-missing value as
253 a field filled with spaces. Binary formats are an exception.
254 (The behavior of PRINT is unchanged.)
258 * Input and output format descriptions have been rewritten. They
259 now precisely describe what is accepted on input and written on
262 * The descriptions of the PSPP system and portable file formats
263 have been extensively revised and improved.
265 For developers, the build system now requires Autoconf 2.60 and
268 Changes from 0.3.0 to 0.4.0:
270 Changes in build dependencies:
272 * The GNU Scientific Library (libgsl), version 1.6 or later, is
275 * libplot from GNU plotutils is optional. Without it, the new
276 graphing features will not work. If you do not have it
277 installed, you must run `configure' with --without-libplot.
279 * libgmp2 is no longer a dependency.
281 Newly implemented commands and statistical features:
283 * EXAMINE, including its graphing features.
285 * FREQUENCIES now supports percentiles.
293 * SORT CASES now sorts stably, that is, two cases with equal sort
294 criteria will be in the same relative order before and after the
297 * T-TEST (re-written).
299 * DATE and USE. These commands are parsed but otherwise ignored,
300 to enhance compatibility with certain command files that invoke
303 * VARIABLE WIDTH, VARIABLE ALIGNMENT, and VARIABLE LEVEL. These
304 currently have no effect on PSPP output, but their values are
305 written to and read from system files and thus may affect
306 third-party software.
308 * SET EPOCH implemented.
310 * DATA LIST FREE and DATA LIST LIST now support arbitrary field
313 * FILE HANDLE now supports custom tab widths.
315 Long variable names (and other identifiers) are now supported. Up
316 to the first 64 bytes of each identifier is significant. PSPP now
317 reads and writes system files compatible with SPSS version 12.
319 New --algorithm and --syntax command line options allow
320 SPSS-compatible or enhanced modes to be selected.
322 Support for transformation expressions has been rewritten and
323 significantly improved. Refer to the manual for details.
325 Calculation of moments (mean, standard deviation, kurtosis,
326 skewness) has been rewritten and should now be more accurate. In
327 --algorithm=enhanced mode moments may be more accurate than SPSS in
330 Numerous bugs have been fixed, too many to mention here. Many new
331 tests have been added, leading to the discovery and fixing of many
334 The ASCII output driver can now squeeze multiple blank lines into
337 Much of the code has been rewritten and refactored. It is now much
340 The FILE TYPE and REPEATING DATA commands have been disabled for
341 this release because their implementations were deemed too buggy to
342 be useful. They will be fixed and replaced in a future release.
344 New pspp-mode for Emacs (in pspp-mode.el).
346 Added rudimentary command-line completion for interactive input.
348 lib/julcal and lib/dcdflib are no longer used, so they have been
351 For developers, the build system now requires Autoconf 2.58 and
352 Automake 1.7. The included gettext has been updated to version
355 Some reports state that Texinfo 4.8, the latest version, may be
356 necessary to successfully format the documentation on some systems.
358 Version 0.3.0 changes since 0.2.3:
362 * Using alphanumeric variables in functions under AGGREGATE
365 * Under certain circumstances, the final case would be omitted
366 from the results of an AGGREGATE operation. Fixed.
368 * Undefined behavior was invoked by referencing a freed pointer
369 under certain circumstances. Fixed.
371 * A wrong record size was displayed when paging the active file to
374 * Not having enough temporary space for sorting caused a core
377 * Syntax errors in function descriptions on AGGREGATE caused core
380 * A null pointer was dereferenced, causing a core dump, when
381 PERCENTILES was specified on FREQUENCIES. This fixes the
382 problem, but PSPP still doesn't calculate percentiles.
384 * SORT always sorted in ascending order. Fixed.
386 * Some minor memory leaks in the expression parser were removed.
388 * Many assertions fixed for strict ANSI C compliance.
392 * SET ECHO ON now implemented, but turned off by default.
394 * PRINT specifier supported on END REPEAT.
398 * System libgmp2 library is used if installed instead of
399 unconditionally using the included libgmp2 subset.
401 * Extensive code cleanup, which continues.
403 * Added CORRELATIONS command parser, but not implemented.
405 Version 0.2.3 changes since 0.2.2:
409 * SPLIT FILE with a string variable caused a core dump. Fixed.
411 * Nested INCLUDEs didn't work. Fixed.
413 * The MATCH FILES procedure set the values of variables not present
414 to 0. It should have been SYSMIS. This is now fixed.
416 * The REMARK command was too aggressive about skipping lines. It
417 didn't like being the last command in a file.
419 * Comment parsing wasn't consistent with the rest of the code in its
420 idea of where one command ends and another starts. This meant
421 that sometimes commands would be mysteriously ignored. Thanks to
422 Dr. Dirk Melcher <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
424 * The TABLE subcommand on MATCH FILES worked only erratically at
425 best. This fixes it. Thanks to Dr. Dirk Melcher
426 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
428 * VARIABLE LABELS rejected a slash before the first variable
429 specification, contradicting the documentation. Thanks to Walter
430 M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for reporting this bug.
432 * Because of an incorrect optimization in memory allocation,
433 CROSSTABS sometimes segfaulted when asked to output multiple
434 tables. Thanks to Walter M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for
437 * CROSSTABS didn't display value labels for column and row
438 variables. Thanks to Walter M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for
441 * WRITE didn't write line ends. Fixed. Thanks to Dr. Dirk Melcher
442 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
444 * The TABLE subcommand on MATCH FILES worked only erratically at
445 best. This fixes it. Thanks to Dr. Dirk Melcher
446 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
448 * VARIABLE LABELS rejected a slash before the first variable
449 specification, contradicting the documentation. Thanks to Walter
450 M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for reporting this bug.
452 * Because of an incorrect optimization in memory allocation,
453 CROSSTABS sometimes segfaulted when asked to output multiple
454 tables. Thanks to Walter M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for
457 * CROSSTABS didn't display value labels for column and row
458 variables. Thanks to Walter M. Gray <graywm@northernc.on.ca> for
461 * WRITE didn't write line ends. Fixed. Thanks to Dr. Dirk Melcher
462 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
464 * MATCH FILES corrupted memory and dumped core on some syntax
467 * MATCH FILES should set numeric values not available to the
468 system-missing value, not to 0. Thanks to Dr. Dirk Melcher
469 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
471 * KEEP didn't work properly on the SAVE procedure. Fixed. Thanks
472 to Ralf Geschke <ralf@kuerbis.org> for reporting this bug.
476 * Some systems didn't like the way open_file was coded. Thanks to
477 Hankin <hankin@rogue.consultco.com> for pointing this out.
479 * The SAVE procedure didn't save long string variables properly.
480 Fixed by this patch. Thanks to Hankin
481 <hankin@rogue.consultco.com> for this patch.
483 * Minor documentation fixes for MATCH FILES.
485 Version 0.2.2 changes since 0.2.1:
489 * Fix behavior of PRINT SPACE for negative arguments.
491 * Fix reading some unusual system files.
493 * Fix LIST problems with very long variables. Thanks to Hankin
494 <hankin@dunno.com> for this bug report.
496 * Fix problems with some string format specifiers.
498 * Fix use of $CASENUM in expressions. Thanks to Dirk Melcher
499 <BZN-mdksh@t-online.de> for reporting this bug.
501 * Additional DATA LIST FREE and DATA LIST LIST fixes. Thanks to
502 Hankin <hankin@dunno.com> again on this one.
504 * Sometimes you may encounter a PSPP script that has to be
505 interpreted in interactive mode. Now you can use the -i flag to
508 * Warnings for egcs 1.1.1 cleaned up. (However you'll get lots of
509 `unused variable' warnings under gcc 2.7.2.3, fixing this will
514 * The files in gmp need the internationalization directory in
515 their include path. Thanks to OKUJI Yoshinori
516 <okuji@kuicr.kyoto-u.ac.jp> for pointing this out.
518 Version 0.2.1 changes since 0.2.0:
522 * Remember to include examples/ directory in distribution :-)
524 * Fixed gmp compile problems for some non-i386 architectures.
525 Thanks to Hans Olav Eggestad <olav@jordforsk.nlh.no> and others
528 * DATA LIST FREE and DATA LIST LIST parsing of input files is now
529 matches the documented behavior exactly, and error messages are
530 more helpful. Thanks to Mark H. Wood <mwood@IUPUI.Edu>.
532 Version 0.2.0 changes since 0.1.0:
534 Procedures now implemented:
535 * CROSSTABS. Please see documentation for caveats.
537 Transformations and utilities now implemented:
540 * CLEAR TRANSFORMATIONS
541 * DISPLAY (all subcommands).
552 Support for input and output through pipes: "|command" and
553 "command|" filenames; support for special filenames "-", "stdin",
556 New command-line features:
557 * New option --testing-mode: Invoke heuristics to assist testing.
558 * New option --safer, -s: Don't allow certain unsafe operations.
559 * New option --command=CMD, -c CMD: Perform literal command CMD.
560 * rc file ~/.pspp/rc is executed before any other files.
561 * Now multiple syntax files can be specified.
563 Operator LAG is now implemented.
565 Added missing FILE subcommand to REREAD.
567 Table output manager completely rewritten.
569 Device configuration file syntax changed. You will need to
570 reinstall your `devices' file.
572 New output driver for HTML.
574 PostScript driver and prologue simplified.
576 Many bugs fixed. General source-code cleanup.
578 Added Texinfo documentation for:
579 * PSPP system file format
580 * PSPP portable file format
581 * How to write input for q2c parser generator
584 PSPP language is now fully documented. Please report any
585 inaccuracies or omissions in the documentation.
587 Changes for version 0.1.0:
589 First public release. For changes from unreleased development
590 versions, please see ONEWS.
592 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
593 Copyright information:
595 Copyright (C) 1996-9, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
597 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim
598 copies of this document as received, in any medium, provided that
599 the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved, thus
600 giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
602 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions of this
603 document, or of portions of it, under the above conditions,
604 provided also that they carry prominent notices stating who last
608 version-control: never