I know that it is possible to perform various functions of SPSS through scripts.
Is it also possible to run ARIMA modeling through scripts? If yes, are there any good tutorials/documents for that?
Thank you so much.
The software R should be your choice.
Does this help you?
http://stat.ethz.ch/R-manual/R-patched/library/stats/html/arima.html
Anything computational that you can do via the user interface in SPSS can also be done using syntax. In particular, the ARIMA command does those models. Many users prefer, instead, to use the Expert Modeler in Statistics, which automates much of the process of figuring out the appropriate ARIMA model, stationarity transformations, outlier handling, etc. That is the TSMODEL command. Since virtually every dialog box in Statistics has a Paste button that generates the syntax and places it in the Syntax Editor window, it is easy to build a syntax file by doing point and click.
Statistics also supports scripting via the Python, .NET, Basic, and even R languages.
Take a look at the Case Studies on the Help menu for quick walkthroughs on forecasting as well as other statisticall topi
Related
My department maintains all sorts of jobs and reports based on SAS, in a mainframe/batch environment (ie ugly JCL green screens).
I have been enrolled in an expensive training program from the SAS Institute. One of the first parts of the training asks me to install files from a zip file. "Open SAS" and run some files. I can't "open SAS" because I don't have it. It is embedded on the mainframe.
They provide some extremely limited instructions to work in z/OS. but I can't even figure out the basics like how to make a dataset to put the learning file into. They really give no guidance. They assume you already know how to use SAS.
Anyway, the training shows examples in Windows using SAS Enterprise Guide. I would like to get that and use it instead, at least for learning the SAS language. But when I called SAS just to find out if that is a free download, or if not how much it would cost, they said they would call me back and never did. So I just want to know a ballpark for how much it would cost me to get this tool. Also, if I had that tool, would I be able to use it to access the jobs on the Base SAS that I already have (on the mainframe) or would I have to purchase another Base SAS for Windows? I haven't been able to find answers to these questions via a Google search, and the SAS company didn't call me back. Can anyone with more knowledge about this help me out?
As far as I know, SAS Institute does not provide their software to individuals. They work with organizations and the yearly licence could cost tens to hundreds thousand dollars, depending on the components included and the number of processors or users.
There was crippleware SAS Learning Edition but they discontinued it.
I wonder if you can ask for refund for your expensive training program. Alternatively, you can try to run SAS scripts in batch mode on your mainframe. There are some third-party solutions for IDE like EMACS Speaks Statistics (ESS). You will lose functionality like dataset viewer.
I'm looking for python modules that can help with grepping C++ code. I have a large code base that I would like to do some analysis on. Ultimately I would like to come up with a graphical map of the software. There is lots of message passing going on amongst apps so I would like to be able to capture that information and present it visually. I have been looking around at some of the data visualization packages but have only stumbled on math and plotting related ones.
What are the best tools for this job, preferably in python?
Your best tool for the job is Graphviz. If you look at their gallery you'll find the sort of thing that you're interested in along with links to projects.
Under the language bindings section here there are a few python entries. Personally I don't use them as the dot language format is simple enough that you can build up fairly complex graphs from Python just using print statements.
You ca look at doxygen and see if it does (at least some part of) what you want. It generates call graph and class diagrams directly in html or xml format (I believe you need to have dot installed for fancy graphs).
A sort of follow up/related question to this.
I'm trying to get a grip on a large code base that has hundreds and hundreds of classes and a large inheritance hierarchy. I want to be able to see the "main veins" of the inheritance hierarchy at a glance - not all the "peripheral" classes that only do some very specific / specialized thing. Visual Studio's "View Class Diagram" makes something that looks like a train and its sprawled horizontally across the screen and isn't very organized. You can't grok it easily.
I've just tried doxygen and graphviz but the results are .. somewhat similar to Visual Studio. I'm getting sweet looking call graphs but again too much detail for what I'm trying to get.
I need a quick way to generate the inheritance hierarchy, in some kind of collapsible view.
Why not just do it manually, it is a great learning experience when starting to work with a large code base. I usually just look at what class inherits from what, and what class contain what instances, references or pointers to other classes. Have a piece of paper next to you and get drawing...
Instead of going into the full Class Designer tool, just use the "Class View" or the "Object Browser" in Visual Studio - they present fully collapsible class heirarchies.
A good UML tool should do the trick.
Here is a list of generic UMl tools: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UML_tools
There are lots out there, all with varying feature sets. Try playing with a few to see if you get the output you desire. If they free ones fail you, you might have to shell out for a good commercial grade UML tool
You can try CppDepend, it doesn't create a class hierarchy like Doxygen does but it can show 'the big picture' for your project, it also shows some code metrics.
I've had most success with valgrind and kcachegrind to do this. You run valgrind against your debugging binary, perform whatever actions your interested in, then import the output into kcachegrind to see everything you'd ever want to know about who called what, how often, and when. Plus, because your doing it dynamically, it catches cases that static analysis likely wont.
I've also had some success using Enterprise Architect's reverse engineering features, although this doesn't end up nearly as nicely (but you get a workable UML model which is nice!).
And finally, a tool called "Understand". This is pretty good at static OO analysis, but I think quite pricey and not that widely used.
Try Source Insight it is possible to configure the depth of the generated graph in this tool.
See also C/C++ call-graph utility for Windows platform
Check out SourceNavigator, it's open source, works on a bunch of platforms and has a Hierarchy Browser, a Class Browser, a Cross-Reference Browser and more that will allow you navigate and understand the code.
I'm using it for some time now especially when I have new code to go through and understand.
For a reasonably priced commercial product, you may want to check out SolidSX from Vizlogix (www.vizlogix.com). (If you are outside of North America, go to SolidSource -- www.solidsourceit.com.)
It generates a radial diagram that can be collapsed and expanded. It also integrates with Visual Studio (both BSC and .NET).
What's your definition of 'main vein'? You either want a graph reducer or skeletizer (you could find or write one and apply it to what Doxygen and the rest produce) or, 'main vein' has something to do with the function of the code and, I don't think an automated tool can help you with that. Unless you can point out to it 'These are the important bits that do input and output, show me only elements that are one or two steps away from the paths between these'. Hum, sounds like a cool tool to write :)
... the inheritance hierarchy, in some kind of collapsible view.
again, a sweet idea for a tool!
Is there a good tool out there that can model an application concurrency/locking scheme in a graphical way and that can simulate some of the aspects?
I know that Petri nets can be used for that more or less, but I don't know a good GUI tool that can design and simulate.
Is UML in any way usable for such purposes?
Any good links are very appreciated.
UML Activity Diagrams can be expressed as Petri nets (e.g. see this paper). Unfortunately I don't know any good industrial oriented tools for simulation of Petri Nets or Activity Diagram (but there are many academic projects which you can easily find).
Are you sure that you want to simulate your model (by simulation I mean that you actually want to sit and look how your Perti net is being executed)? Usually this type of analysis is applicable for small and simple algorithms. In real world situation you probably would like to do model checking of your algorithm rather than simulation. I would recommend you to check SPIN (used by many companies, e.g. Siemens). Also I have a positive experience with Alloy and Prism. But if your focus is on verifying parallel algorithms I would suggest you to consider SPIN first.
Edit: I checked some tools for simulation and I can advise looking at
1) http://sourceforge.net/projects/visual-petri/
2) http://www.renew.de/
3) http://www.winpesim.de/index.html
SPIN is a popular tool for verification of distributed systems but is command line only I think. But on the Spin webpage there is a link to a closely related GUI tool called GOAL
I'm doubt this is what you are looking for, but I'll throw in my two cents:
At my university, in our class on concurrent software systems, we use a tool called Labelled Transition System Analyser (LTSA). It's actually a language that you can use to model the behavior of a system.
The "code" is turned into a state diagram and a transition table.
Here is an interactive Java applet which can design and run a Petri net.
It's been a long time since I've looked at it, but it sounds like Ptolemy would be a good fit.
You can check Petri Net Sim, to simulate common/timed/colored Petrinets, it comes with a nice GUI that displays Petri Net execution in real time.
Try using the concurrency tool, LTSA. Java program. (Labelled Transition System Analyser), to simulate programs. You can download it from:
http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/ltsa/
But you have to be patient while using it, it can take a couple of hours to learn how to use it. Probably works best while modeling Java programs.
And it's always good to use UML models of course :)
Closed. This question does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.
Questions asking us to recommend or find a tool, library or favorite off-site resource are off-topic for Stack Overflow as they tend to attract opinionated answers and spam. Instead, describe the problem and what has been done so far to solve it.
Closed 9 years ago.
Improve this question
One of the first things I do when I'm on a new project is design a database model. To visualize the model I use a 7 year old version of Smartdraw. Maybe it's time for something new. What is the ultimate program to make a drawing of a database model. Smartdraw is for Windows only. Is there something that can be used on unix as well?
The best tool is pencil and paper.
Perhaps not the answer you are looking for, but sometimes the most simple solution is the best. :-)
A whiteboard (and camera to take a picture afterwards)
Your brain is the best drawing tool.
I prefer to develop a database schema in a simple text file.
At first it contains just the table names, attributes and foreign keys:
company:
company_name
...
employee:
name
age
company_name -> company
...
...:
The syntax is not important.
It just needs to be clearly arranged and easy to change.
Later I add types and CHECK() constraints,
so the text file gradually transforms into valid SQL code.
Using a drawing tool in that early stage is just distracting,
because it encourages to waste your time with moving reactangles.
Instead, let your brain build a picture of the schema
in the same way it creates fantasy pictures while reading a book.
As the schema grows,
it becomes necessary to support the brain by creating an overview.
Here, however, pencil and paper are faster than any drawing software.
Also note that there is no need to clutter an overview with unimportant details.
Just sketch the table names and the most important relationships (foreign keys).
Any further details will decrease the value of this overview.
However, if you really feel more comfortable with extremely detailed graphics than with text files and overview graphics, you might want to try
DBDesigner4
or
WWW SQL Designer.
I'm happy using Sybase PowerDesigner for years now.
Did you take a look at Visio 2007 SQL Server Add-In?
You can find it here: http://dbalink.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/microsoft-office-visio-2007-professional-sql-server-add-in/
WWW SQL Designer is one of the best that I've seen, which is pretty amazing since it is all javascript. It can also import and export xml and sql code of everything you draw. And they've added nifty bezier curves since I last used it.
I don't know if it's the "ultimate" program for drawing database models, but I use Visio. Unfortunately, it only runs in Windows.
On the upside, I can create my own shapes, or modify existing ones, and save them in collections called stencils. I can also make my shapes "smart" by programming them to do various things when I double click on them.
I use a whiteboard and a camera as well. I second the pencil and paper. I keep a pen(cil) and pad of paper with me almost always because I am forever designing something in my head and need to jot it down. I like Visio as well but my favorite software program to use has always been ERWin. The price of that thing is just way out line, but it is great.
I like ERWin. Not Cheap, but it can reverse engineer or do initial design + generate CRUD and manipulate db structure. Viso is pretty good for this too, but its not as complete and of course as strong MS SQL leanings is capabilities.
I used to use Visio, but if your database server is MySQL, try MySQL Workbench. It has a linux version as well as a win32 version. Like their other GUI products it has its fair share of quirks, but it works quite well and has the ability to create a diagram of a schema and a schema from a diagram.
I also agree that a pencil and paper, or whiteboard and camera is a great way to sketch things out, but I do like the GUI tools for putting down an idea which is a bit more well formed or complicated.
I like to use the open-source mind-mapping program Freemind. It's similar to designing with pencil and paper in that there's not a lot of surface complexity to interrupt the design process.
But it has two huge advantages over paper/pencil:
node folding
easy drag-and-drop re-arranging
It is very easy to navigate the interface without using the mouse within about five minutes. You can add as many or as few details as you like and can always fold up the details to de-clutter your view. Here's a sample screenshot:
The circles at the ends of the Departments, Employees, and Hours tables indicate that there are more nodes that are folded up. You can go crazy with different fonts, background colors, and even HTML formatting. I just did a [Ctrl]-[B] to make my table names Bold.
FreeMind--and mind-mapping software in general--provides its biggest benefit by staying out of the way of the creative process. It's the first tool I turn to when starting a new project from scratch.
NOTE: I've only ever used the program on Windows, but it is available on Linux.
DIA is not bad, and there are tools to actually generate some code from some types of models. If you are using PostgreSQL, there is even a tool for going the other way, pg-autodoc.
DIA is available for Unix, and I believe Windows as well.
I used to use Viso but now, as I'm more Mac based I use Omnigraffle.
I do have to admit though, as andyUK does, I do a rough sketch on paper.
It also depends on what Database you're using. If it's MySQL then there are quite a few visual development tools available, just have a google
There may be more technical programs, but I use SmartDraw. I would also like to note that 'ultimate' is up to your circumstances. Find what works best for you or you and your company. What works for you is the 'ultimate'.
Brainstorm/sketch the database on paper/whiteboard first, and then go with a diagram tool.
Which tool depends on your target database. We use SQL Server and thus the designer in SQL Server Management Studio works great for us, since we create the database itself at the same time.
For linux I use umbrello
If you're looking for a cheap solution/tool without any reverse/forward engineering capabilities, MS Visio might be your best bet. However, if you're planning to invest some money toward ERD tool, spend it on ER/Studio.
I used to use and be champion of ERWIN. As soon as I started to use ER/Studio, I became fan of it. I'm an enterprise data architect at one of the Fortune 100 company and I don't know how to get my work done without it.
PS: I don't have no affiliations with any of those products and companies.
OpenOffice has a vector drawing tool, and Inkscape is a another good one.
Otherwise, you can use Graphviz (dot language) to generate such diagram out of a textual description.
There are also some tools to generate such diagram out of an existing database (I first thought it was what you were asking).
If you don't need much take Dia.
I used Power Designer. It's powerful but rather complex.