The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-385-Vol-1of3.iso/e/estat21.zip/EASIDOC.ZIP/ESCHAP03.DOC

Text File | 1992-06-30 | 11KB | 265 lines

     Chapter 3: OVERVIEW OF EASISTAT


     3:1. Command line parameters

     These are instructions to the program typed in on the
     same line as you type EASISTAT and control the way that
     the program starts up. They are entered as follows:

     EASISTAT filename /switch1 /switch2

     The first word you type after EASISTAT is taken to be the
     name of a command file from which commands are input.
     This has exactly the same effect as using the INPUT
     command from within EASISTAT, but it means that the
     program can be told which command file to use from within
     a batch file. Each switch consists of a slash followed by
     one letter (which may be upper or lower case). The
     following switches are available:

     /I - Ignore errors and pauses in command files, do not
     stop and wait for the user to press a key.

     /B - Use BIOS calls to write to the screen. This may be
     necessary for EASISTAT to work on some incompatible
     computers and monitors. It is also necessary for it to
     work in a window of some versions of Microsoft Windows.
     It makes the program run slightly more slowly.

     /L - Produce confidence limits where appropriate. The L
     must be followed immediately by a number between 5 and
     99.9 which states what percentage confidence limits
     should be output. For example entering EASISTAT /L95
     would produce 95% confidence limits. This switch has just
     the same effect as has the LIMITS command and further
     details are given in the section describing that command.


     3:2. Screen layout

     The EASISTAT screen consists of two windows, a bottom
     window where you type in instructions for the program and
     a top window where the output from EASISTAT appears. The
     only exception to this is when you are using the editor,
     when you are allowed to type directly into the top
     window.

     It is important to keep this distinction clearly in mind
     because when you learn how to use command files and
     output files you will find that command files consist of
     exactly what you type into the bottom window, and output
     files consist of exactly what comes out of the top
     window.

     Sometimes the output from EASISTAT is too wide to all fit
     on the screen (for example when listing rows of data).
     When this happens only part of the output will be viewed
     on screen, but if an output file is open then all the
     output will be sent to that.




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     3:3. Keyboard input

     Every time the "Select command -" message appears you can
     type normal letters, numbers and punctuation along a line
     and can use the BACKSPACE key to correct mistakes. When
     you have finished typing what you want press the ENTER
     key and EASISTAT will act on what you have typed. This
     will be described as entering a line. On some computers
     the ENTER key is called RETURN or CR or is just marked
     with an arrow going down and then left. For brevity we
     will just refer to it as the ENTER key.

     The LEFT and RIGHT cursor keys can be used to move along
     the line, and using the CONTROL key with them moves a
     word at a time. HOME and END move to the start or end of
     the line. Insert and overwrite mode are toggled with the
     INSERT key. BACKSPACE and DELETE keys delete a letter
     left and right. CONTROL-HOME and CONTROL-END delete to
     the start or finish of the line. The ESCAPE key deletes
     the whole line. The ESCAPE key is marked "Esc" and is
     usually near the top left of the keyboard. To use the
     CONTROL key (the key marked "Ctrl" near the bottom left
     of the keyboard) first hold it down and then while
     keeping it pressed push the key goes with it, so to type
     CONTROL-HOME hold down the CONTROL key, press and release
     the HOME key, and finally release the CONTROL key. If the
     cursor keys are not in a special cluster on their own
     then make sure to turn off the NUMLOCK key before using
     them. The actions of some of these keys are slightly
     different when using the spreadsheet-like data editor
     called up by the EDIT command. These special functions
     are described in the section on that command.

     A useful feature is the ability to recall and edit
     previously typed command lines, sometimes called a
     history feature. This is accomplished using the UP and
     DOWN cursor keys, which allow you to scroll through
     previous commands. Lines three characters long or more
     are stored for subsequent recall in this way, and going
     back to previous lines and editing them is invaluable
     when typing mistakes need to be corrected or when several
     similar tests need to be performed repeatedly.

     Please note that anything you type can use either capital
     letters or lower case letters, or if you like a mixture
     of the two. We have used capital letters a lot in this
     manual to try to make things clear, but there is no need
     at all for you to use them if you find lower case letters
     more convenient.


     3:4. Description of files
     used by EASISTAT

     EASISTAT reads and writes four kinds of files. These are
     data files, output files, command files and graph files.
     Command files are sometimes also referred to as input
     files.

     3:4.1  Data files



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     Data can be stored in these files by EASISTAT, and
     EASISTAT can read data files either that it has written
     itself or that have been produced by another program like
     a spreadsheet or word processor. The command used to read
     a data file is DATA, and to save a data file DATA SAVE is
     used. Please see the section on the DATA command for
     details of the format of data files, and how to transfer
     files from Lotus 1-2-3.

     3:4.2  Output files

     These are files containing the results of EASISTAT's
     statistical tests, or anything else which you ask the
     program to write out. They contain copies of all the
     output which appears in the top window of the screen.
     They are created with the OUTPUT command, so please see
     the section on this command for details.

     3:4.3  Command files

     These contain lists of commands for EASISTAT to perform,
     just as if you were typing in those commands at the
     keyboard. They are read using the INPUT command and can
     be written using a word processor such as EDIT.EXE or
     using the LOG command. Please see the sections on these
     two commands for details. A command file can also be read
     in when EASISTAT is first run - of the see the section
     above on "command line parameters". Command files are a
     powerful facility of EASISTAT allowing you to run long
     statistical analyses automatically from a series of
     commands that you have prepared in advance, and also make
     it possible to run EASISTAT from within DOS batch files.

     3:4.4  Graph files

     These contain data in the format needed by EASIGRAF to
     produce appropriate graphs and can be generated by the
     CHISQ, ANOVA, BASICS, REGRESS, KOLMOGOROV and COMPONENTS
     commands. Further details about these files are contained
     in the chapters describing EASIGRAF.


     3:5. Editing files

     The four kinds of auxiliary file EASISTAT uses, data,
     output, command and graph files, are all ASCII files.
     This means that they are files containing only normal
     characters like letters, numbers, punctuation and line
     feeds, and none of the special characters that some word
     processors use. It will add enormously to the value and
     convenience of EASISTAT if you have the ability to edit
     these files, and to do that you need a word processor or
     editor that can deal with ASCII text. A very simple text
     editor called EDIT.EXE is supplied with EASISTAT which is
     suitable, but you may wish to use your own program
     instead. Most word processors nowadays do have an option
     to edit ASCII files, however sometimes it can be
     difficult to tell from the manual how to select this
     option.

     Your word processor may work with ASCII files as a matter
     of course. To test this, run your word processor and type

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     a few lines of text then save it in a file called TEST
     and quit the word processor. Now enter TYPE TEST or COPY
     TEST CON. In each case what you typed should appear on
     the screen, and if it appears just as you typed it with
     no funny smiley faces or weird symbols or beeps then it
     is an ASCII file and you can use your word processor to
     edit EASISTAT files directly. An example of a word
     processor that uses ASCII files is PC-Write.

     If (as is more likely) you do get a few funny symbols
     then you are going to have to find out if there is a
     special option to read and write ASCII files. Try looking
     for one of the following options in your word processor
     manual: ASCII, Import/Export text, Save/Retrieve DOS
     text, non-document mode. If you find something that looks
     likely then use it to save a file to disk and then use
     the TYPE command to display it as suggested above.

     If you can't find any way for your word processor to
     handle ASCII then you will have to use something else to
     edit files with (though it is not impossible to use
     EASISTAT without the auxiliary files, just inconvenient).
     You can use the EDIT program we supply, although it is
     somewhat limited and does not have many features.
     Alternatively you may want to spend a few pounds to
     acquire a copy of PC-Write from a firm which distributes
     Shareware programs. You can see advertisements for them
     in most magazines dealing with PC's.

     Once you are able to deal with ASCII files the only
     difficulty you are likely to run into is if your word
     processor performs automatic reformatting and starts
     making everything into paragraphs. To prevent this
     happening make sure that your left margin is set to 0 and
     your right margin is bigger than the length of the
     longest line in your file. If there is an option to turn
     off justification, word-wrapping or reformatting then use
     it, and if you have the choice when importing text then
     say that you want hard carriage returns.

     Throughout the rest of the manual you will see references
     to editing data, output, command and graph files. Except
     when using the built-in data editor in EASISTAT to alter
     data values, you must use a word processor which loads
     and saves files in ASCII format as described above. We
     also recommend that before editing a file you always make
     a back up copy of it in case something goes wrong.
















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