1 Time-stamp: <2006-05-03 22:28:57 blp>
5 * Should not need temporary casefile in the common case.
7 * All of the procedure_*() variants can (and should) be implemented in terms of
8 a variant that provides "proc_func" plus an "end_func" called after all
9 processing is complete.
11 * The "split" variants should not dump the splits to the output file
12 automatically. There is no need for the procedure code to talk to the output
15 * LAG need not be as much of a special case.
17 Get rid of need for GNU diff in `make check'.
19 Format specifier code needs to be rewritten for lowered crappiness.
21 CROSSTABS needs to be re-examined.
23 RANK, which is needed for the Wilcoxon signed-rank statistic, Mann-Whitney U,
24 Kruskal-Wallis on NPAR TESTS and for Spearman and the Johnkheere trend test (in
27 Add NOT_REACHED() macro.
29 Scratch variables should not be available for use following TEMPORARY.
31 Check our results against the NIST StRD benchmark results at
32 strd.itl.nist.gov/div898/strd
34 Storage of value labels on disk is inefficient. Invent new data structure.
36 Fix spanned joint cells, i.e., EDLEVEL on crosstabs.stat.
38 SELECT IF should be moved before other transformations whenever possible. It
39 should only be impossible when one of the variables referred to in SELECT IF is
40 created or modified by a previous transformation.
42 Figure out a stylesheet for messages displayed by PSPP: i.e., what quotation
43 marks around filenames, etc.
45 From Zvi Grauer <z.grauer@csuohio.edu> and <zvi@mail.ohio.net>:
47 1. design of experiments software, specifically Factorial, response surface
48 methodology and mixrture design.
50 These would be EXTREMELY USEFUL for chemists, engineeris, and anyone
51 involved in the production of chemicals or formulations.
53 2. Multidimensional Scaling analysis (for market analysis) -
55 3. Preference mapping software for market analysis
57 4. Hierarchical clustering (as well as partition clustering)
61 6. Categorical data analsys ?
63 Sometimes very wide (or very tall) columns can occur in tables. What is a good
64 way to truncate them? It doesn't seem to cause problems for the ascii or
65 postscript drivers, but it's not good in the general case. Should they be
66 split somehow? (One way that wide columns can occur is through user request,
67 for instance through a wide PRINT request--try time-date.stat with a narrow
68 ascii page or with the postscript driver on letter size paper.)
70 From Moshe Braner <mbraner@nessie.vdh.state.vt.us>: An idea regarding MATCH
71 FILES, again getting BEYOND the state of SPSS: it always bothered me that if I
72 have a large data file and I want to match it to a small lookup table, via
73 MATCH FILES FILE= /TABLE= /BY key, I need to SORT the large file on key, do the
74 match, then (usually) re-sort back into the order I really want it. There is
75 no reason to do this, when the lookup table is small. Even a dumb sequential
76 search through the table, for every case in the big file, is better, in some
77 cases, than the sort. So here's my idea: first look at the /TABLE file, if it
78 is "small enough", read it into memory, and create an index (or hash table,
79 whatever) for it. Then read the /FILE and use the index to match to each case.
80 OTOH, if the /TABLE is too large, then do it the old way, complaining if either
81 file is not sorted on key.
83 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
84 Statistical procedures:
86 For each case we read from the input program:
88 1. Execute permanent transformations. If these drop the case, stop.
89 2. N OF CASES. If we have already written N cases, stop.
90 3. Write case to replacement active file.
91 4. Execute temporary transformations. If these drop the case, stop.
92 5. Post-TEMPORARY N OF CASES. If we have already analyzed N cases, stop.
93 6. FILTER, PROCESS IF. If these drop the case, stop.
94 7. Pass case to procedure.
98 LAG records cases in step 3.
100 AGGREGATE: When output goes to an external file, this is just an ordinary
101 procedure. When output goes to the active file, step 3 should be skipped,
102 because AGGREGATE creates its own case sink and writes to it in step 7. Also,
103 TEMPORARY has no effect and we just cancel it. Regardless of direction of
104 output, we should not implement AGGREGATE through a transformation because that
105 will fail to honor FILTER, PROCESS IF, N OF CASES.
107 ADD FILES: Essentially an input program. It silently cancels unclosed LOOPs
108 and DO IFs. If the active file is used for input, then runs EXECUTE (if there
109 are any transformations) and then steals vfm_source and encapsulates it. If
110 the active file is not used for input, then it cancels all the transformations
111 and deletes the original active file.
117 MATCH FILES: Similar to AGGREGATE. This is a procedure. When the active file
118 is used for input, it reads the active file; otherwise, it just cancels all the
119 transformations and deletes the original active file. Step 3 should be
120 skipped, because MATCH FILES creates its own case sink and writes to it in step
121 7. TEMPORARY is not allowed.
129 UPDATE: same as ADD FILES.
132 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
135 * Before TEMPORARY, limits number of cases sent to the sink.
137 * After TEMPORARY, limits number of cases sent to the procedure.
139 * Without TEMPORARY, those are the same cases, so it limits both.
143 * Sample is just a transformation. It has no special properties.
147 * Always selects cases sent to the procedure.
149 * No effect on cases sent to sink.
151 * Before TEMPORARY, selection is permanent. After TEMPORARY,
152 selection stops after a procedure.
156 * Always selects cases sent to the procedure.
158 * No effect on cases sent to sink.
160 * Always stops after a procedure.
164 * Ignored by AGGREGATE. Used when procedures write matrices.
166 * Always applies to the procedure.
168 * Before TEMPORARY, splitting is permanent. After TEMPORARY,
169 splitting stops after a procedure.
173 * TEMPORARY has no effect on AGGREGATE when output goes to the active file.
175 * SORT CASES, ADD FILES, RENAME VARIABLES, CASESTOVARS, VARSTOCASES,
176 COMPUTE with a lag function cannot be used after TEMPORARY.
178 * Cannot be used in DO IF...END IF or LOOP...END LOOP.
180 * FLIP ignores TEMPORARY. All transformations become permanent.
182 * MATCH FILES and UPDATE cannot be used after TEMPORARY if active
183 file is an input source.
185 * RENAME VARIABLES is invalid after TEMPORARY.
187 * WEIGHT, SPLIT FILE, N OF CASES, FILTER, PROCESS IF apply only to
188 the next procedure when used after TEMPORARY.
192 * Always applies to the procedure.
194 * Before TEMPORARY, weighting is permanent. After TEMPORARY,
195 weighting stops after a procedure.
198 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------