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Re: release plans
From: |
Ben Pfaff |
Subject: |
Re: release plans |
Date: |
Wed, 20 Dec 2006 22:02:07 -0800 |
User-agent: |
Gnus/5.110006 (No Gnus v0.6) Emacs/21.4 (gnu/linux) |
Kevin Smith <address@hidden> writes:
> My name is Kevin Smith. I am a Ph.D. psychologist, and
> statistician. I have been monitoring the this list for some time
> watching the progress of the application development.
Pleased to meet you.
> I have a few thoughts on some of the ideas that Jason mentioned
> below. First, reading SAS data sets is not a simple task. SAS
> data sets or specific to major version, bit ordering and
> operating system (in some cases anyhow). One of the major
> problems that I have run in to as a SAS user is that old data
> can no longer be read by newer versions of SAS, and thus users
> with such data are left with no options. I can see a potential
> market for an application which can read such data, but I also
> know that the file formats for SAS datasets (even the old ones)
> are considered trade secrets.
Usually, this just means that it takes a lot of time to figure
out how the format works. Thus, to make it work properly you
need someone with a lot of time on his hands, and by preference a
working copy of each version of SAS whose format you're
interested in.
In other words, I'd categorize SAS data file formats as "lots of
work" not as "impossible", etc.
> I assume that getting SPSS data formats is equally as difficult
> as SAS doesn't read SPSS data.
SPSS published an older version of their data file format on the
web several years ago, giving us a head start on that format.
Since then they've only made minor changes, so it hasn't been a
big problem.
> Is what Jason is suggesting really feasible? As far as syntax
> files, certainly SAS syntax is just plain text. I don't have a
> lot of experience with language parsers but SAS and SPSS aren't
> fully comparible in terms of what algorithms are used on a huge
> range of functions. Nor is data handled in the same manner, so
> I am uncertain how feasible this idea is. [...]
This part sounds less plausible to me, too, than understanding
the SAS data format. Perhaps we could start a separate ASA
project :-)
--
Ben Pfaff
email: address@hidden
web: http://benpfaff.org
Re: release plans, Jason Stover, 2006/12/20
Re: release plans, Ben Pfaff, 2006/12/21