March 2016 - Gretl-devel - gretlml.univpm.it

Pre-specifying names of list members returned from a function call

by Sven Schreiber

Hi, see feature request #85 (by myself I must admit): https://sourceforge.net/p/gretl/feature-requests/85/ Currently a function with a list as a return type must internally set the names of the list members (series) and the those names are automatically exported to the function caller. If series with those names already exist in the outer scope (at the caller level), they would be overwritten. This is an exception of gretl's principle of function encapsulation. I'm suggesting: To provide a cleaner solution of this name clash problem, such a list-returning function should also accept a string array argument. The string elements in this array would be used by the function as the names of the exported list members. In this context it would be useful to have a built-in easy mechanism to take the labels from the string array and use it for the returned list (inside the user-defined function). That is the concrete request right now. I'm not suggesting to make this thing mandatory any time soon, because of the backward-compatibility issue. thanks, sven

9 years, 5 months

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mailing list vs. forum

by Sven Schreiber

Hi, I know it's a never-ending discussion whether to have a forum or to use mailing lists. So this is just a "ping". First I've just noticed that you need 4 clicks to get from the gretl homepage to the view of current threads in the list. And that assumes that you know where to click each time. So I think one way to make the mailing lists more "forum-like" (in a passive read-only) mode is simply to provide a more direct access to the archives. Secondly, Allin said that we might want to shop around for the most suitable platform, instead of just using sourceforge. Ok, but where to go shopping? Any concrete suggestions? I volunteer to check them out. Finally, as the Wiki is de facto dead, I wonder if the link from the homepage should be removed. IMHO it could be mistaken for the (non-existent) forum and then creates a bad impression. thanks, sven

9 years, 10 months

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need help with % \bibliography{biblio.bib}

by oleg_komashko＠ukr.net

Dear Riccardo, Can you send something.tex with bibliography expanded? Oleh

10 years

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Gretl crashes plotting (too many) time series

by Henrique Andrade

Dear Allin, I'm running some Gret's performance tests and I think I found a bug. Using a monthly time series dataset with more than 5000 variables I tried to plot the complete data into only one graph (using the GUI). Gretl can handle up to 1486 series. Any value above 1487 will crash Gretl. I really don't need to plot all those series, it's just a test ;-) Best regards, Henrique Andrade

10 years

2
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Relation of the "waldTest" package and feature request 58

by Sven Schreiber

Hi especially Oleh, if you're reading this (we haven't heard from you in a while, hope you're alright), could you take a look at the description of the feature request and my comment on: https://sourceforge.net/p/gretl/feature-requests/58/ and then tell us if your package is relevant, I mean if it indeed covers some aspects of the request. Thanks, sven

10 years

3
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Ambiguous "modtest --breusch-pagan"

by Sven Schreiber

See: https://sourceforge.net/p/gretl/bugs/195/ The command "modtest --breusch-pagan" does a heteroskedasticity test, fine. However, it could be mistaken for the panel homogeneity test from the same authors. Which also prompts the question: How to perform the Breusch-Pagan panel homegeneity test (section "Testing panel models" in chapter 18) explicitly, and then how to retrieve the test result? Currently it seems it is printed out automatically after a panel estimation. But then the $test and $pvalue accessors might hold something else? (Haven't tested right now.) Thanks, sven

10 years

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importing R data

by Sven Schreiber

Hi, as I'm going through the open feature requests, I'm now here: https://sourceforge.net/p/gretl/feature-requests/89/ And I'm asking myself, if there is already the function "gretl.export()" that is defined for R in an R session that has been launched from the gretl side, why can't this function be used to enable the _importing_ of R data into gretl more directly? I understand that the conversion from R's formats are done by R, and therefore R would be needed. So maybe this could be done conditional on the existence of the R shared library path in gretl's preferences? thanks, sven

10 years

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point size in gnuplot

by Sven Schreiber

Hi, here's a very concrete feature request: In gretl's GUI window for gnuplot there's still some space below the drop-down list for the point symbol (which applies at least to "points" and "lines-points" styles). IMO it would be useful to put a box there to specify the point size; for example, a value of 0.5 would imply adding "ps 0.5" to the respective gnuplot command line. The box could be exactly like the one for linewidth, but of course would only be active whenever the point type selector is active as well. As a more general remark, I've learned that with gnuplot 5 it seems easier (compared to gnuplot 4) to handle the data values that are given "inline" in the gnuplot file, by specifying a named "datablock". Stuff like shaded areas and so forth should be easier to achieve from gretl's side I guess. But Debian for example switched to gnuplot 5 less than a year ago (if I understand correctly, but could be wrong?). I wonder what an acceptable timeframe for gretl would be to require gnuplot 5. thanks, sven

10 years

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hiperf model for loops (was Re: [Gretl-users] Renaming variables not allowed within a loop)

by Riccardo (Jack) Lucchetti

On Sun, 20 Mar 2016, Sven Schreiber wrote: > > Am 20.03.2016 um 00:50 schrieb Allin Cottrell: >> >> OK, I take Sven to be saying (and also Artur) that if there's any chance >> that renaming a series within a loop could lead to mischief, the general >> ban on using the "rename" command within loops should be maintained >> until further notice. >> > > It's not so much the renaming as such. So if the solution is to say "we'll > just allow it" I guess I wouldn't mind. But I thought you were saying that > some other checks have to be introduced in order to distinguish allowed from > forbidden uses. And my worry is about the side effects of those new checks or > extra treatments. [Note: I've put the devel-list in cc, because I guess this discussion may get quite technical, and that we may want to continue it there, so sorry for the cross-posting.] I've begun to think that we may wan to introduce an option to the loop command to distinguish between a "safe" and a "hi-perf" mode. Let me explain: initally, the loop .. endloop construct used to imply a simple repetition of whatever was inside, with only a few specific caveats and checks: eg, some commands were disallowed on the ground of common sense (eg, nulldata), some others would partially change their meaning (eg "print" in progressive mode) etc. This has been silently changing for a while: as Hansl has grown in ambitions, it's become evident that sometimes you must use loops for specialised tasks which involve very few different instructions, but should ideally run as fast as possible. Typically, those instructiona are the various incarnations of "genr" and, possibly, basic estimation commands such as ols or var. Think for example of implementing a bootstrap procedure or MCMC; you'll never need the full array of Hansl syntax inside those: genr and user-written functions are normally all you need, but you'll want those instruction to run as fast as possible. In the past year or so, Allin has been working on "compiling" loops, that is, change the way hansl handles them going from mere repetition of their contents to a more efficient treatment. This is very nice, but very complex, since it's very hard to optimise a few things the hansl language provides (eg string substitution) without risking complete breakage. Therefore, I'm now thinking about the possibility of introducing something like a --hi-perf option to "loop", which would disallow some instructions but would make it possible to run the allowed ones at full speed without having to bother with too many checks. What do you guys think? ------------------------------------------------------- Riccardo (Jack) Lucchetti Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali (DiSES) Università Politecnica delle Marche (formerly known as Università di Ancona) r.lucchetti(a)univpm.it http://www2.econ.univpm.it/servizi/hpp/lucchetti -------------------------------------------------------

10 years

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Special restriction syntax in VECM doesn't work anymore

by Sven Schreiber

Hi, I've run into a "matrix not conformable" problem, using the example restriction code from ch. 27 (p. 237 in my A4 PDF version dated January 2016): <hansl> open australia list vecmvars = PAU PUS E IAU IUS vecm 2 4 vecmvars # from here on code snippet from ch. 27 in user guide matrix I4 = I(4) matrix vR = I4**(I4~zeros(4,1)) matrix vq = mshape(I4,16,1) restrict R = vR q = vq end restrict </hansl> This is on gretl 2016a, and the hansl code where I noticed the problem first is not new, so I'm relatively sure that this used to work last year (as it should). Any ideas? thanks, sven

10 years

2
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Gretl-devel March 2016