Re: [Gretl-users] Menu re-structuring

On Wed, Jul 12, 2006 at 01:13:17PM -0400, Talha Yalta wrote: Ok, I'll jump in, I'll try to summarize the whole menu debate and I'll add my suggestions. (Allin, if we decide to do substantial changes I'll be glad to help you tracking the necessary changes in documentation) * File - Allin: [...] Make the File menu more focused, with Open and Save for data files, scripts, and session files. Take out "View command log", "Browse databases", "Additional functions", "Create data set" (and maybe Preferences too?). - Cri: this could be one solution, but some people (like me :) tend to view the "File" menu as the place where all "disk I/O" operations take place, so I'd leave there all the "load/create/save" commands pertaining to data files, session files, command files, databases, and now also function package files. Of course all these items should be properly grouped and arranged in submenus: first I'd group together the items related to data files (so that they are immediately accessible), and I'd arrange the others into submenus: File->Session, File->Commands, File->Databases, File->Functions (yes I'd move here the "Function package editor" from Utilities, so that one has all the function packaging commands handy) It would look like this: File Open data Append data Save data Save data as Export data Send to Clear dataset ------------- Commands Open command file New command file ----------------- Sessions Open session file Save session file Save session file as -------------------- Databases Browse databases -------------------- Functions Load Package editor -------------------- Exit * Utilities - Allin: rename as Tools, put the items moved out of File under Tools. Also Preferences should go here - Cri: I agree. Something like this could do? Tools Statistical tables p-value finder Test statistics calculator -------------------------- Gretl console View command log Icon View -------------------------- Start GNU R -------------------------- NIST test suite -------------------------- Preferences * Session - Sven: maybe move it under File - Jack: maybe move it under Utilities - Allin: let's move it under File - Cri: let's move it under File * Data - Allin: basically contains "things you might want to do with more than one variable" -- other than constructing a model, which has its own menu branch. Examples: graphing, summary statistics, etc. Plus some things pertaining to the data set as a whole -- other than setting the sample range, which again has its own branch. Examples: edit values, read informative text, if any - Sven: I would at least suggest to group the commands together that are related to dataset-management. (Right now there are some at the top and some at the bottom.) As a result the "data" menu would have two main blocks, one for management commands, and one for descriptive statistics (loosely speaking) - Cri: I agree with Sven: I'd group together commands that modify the data (values, observations, info), separating them from graphing commands and commands for descriptive stats. I'd also suggest to move here from the Sample menu all the commands which irreversibly modify the dataset (not just the current sample): Dataset structure, Compact/Expand data, Transpose data, Add/Remove case markers. Thus, under "Sample" we'd only have reversible commands (seems more user-friendly to me). Data Display values Edit values Add observations Remove extra observations ------------------------- Dataset structure Compact data Expand data Transpose data ------------------------- Read info Edit info Print description Add case markers Remove case markers ------------------------- (graphs...) ------------------------- (descriptive statistics...) * Add - Cri: here again I'd just re-group items in three groups: - Transformations of existing variables (lags, logs, squares, diffs, logdiffs, seasdiffs) - New "special" variables (index, normal, uniform, trend, define new variable) - New dummy variables (discrete, periodic, unit, time) * Sample - Allin: The core functionality here is setting the sample range in various ways. Some other functions have been added here (e.g. set dataset structure, transpose data), and the location of these extra items may be debatable. - Cri: as I said in "Data", I'd move away all commands which permanently modify the dataset * Variable Everything's fine here? :-) * Model - Jack: let's re-arrange commands like this: Model Ordinary Least Squares ---------------------- Other linear models WLS Heteroskedasticity corrected 2SLS High precision OLS ---------------------- Time series GLS Cochrane-Orcutt Hildreth-Lu Prais-Winsten Autoregressive estimation ARIMA GARCH Multiple VAR VAR lag selection VECM Johansen cointegration test Cointegration test/Engle-Granger ---------------------- Panel ---------------------- Nonlinear models Logit Probit Tobit Poisson Logistic NLS ---------------------- Robust estimation LAD Rank correlation ---------------------- Maximum likelihood ---------------------- Simultaneous equations - Cri: I agree with Jack and (as you might have noticed) I think this grouping/submenus style should be extendend also to other menus -- GPG/PGP Key-Id 0x943A5F0E - http://www.linux.it/~cri/cri.asc Free software, free society - http://www.fsfeurope.org