On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 7:19 PM, Allin Cottrell <cottrell(a)wfu.edu> wrote:
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009, Talha Yalta wrote:
> 1)- In the Edit menu for the model window, it could be useful to
add
> an option such as "restore model sample" to quickly reverting to the
> subsample used by that model.
Could be nice, not very high priority.
This can be more useful than it seems at
first. Currently, gretl asks
whether the user wants to revert to the sample of the model only once
during when the model window is opened. If there are multiple model
windows open, the user finds himself constantly closing and reopening
windows just to switch between different subsample choices. Each model
window already knows its subsample so why not make switching more
accessible?
> 2)- I understand disabling forecasts but don't see why gretl
disables
> saving the residuals, fitted values etc. from a model just because the
> current subsample is different. I think it is perfectly OK to save the
> residuals based on the model subsample with the outside observations
> having missing values After all, this is what gretl does when the
> current subsample happens to match the model subsample.
This is problematic if the model was estimated on a subsample and
the dataset is also currently subsampled, but in a different way
from the model. But some possibilities may be worth exploring.
Again, each model
window already knows its subsample so I don't see
why this can be more problematic than what gretl can currently do,
that is running the various non-linearity, normality etc. tests
without the user being required to switch to the model sample. If I
understand correctly, quickly switching to the model sample and back
is what gretl is now doing in order to run these tests so the same
approach can be used to create a new variable where the sample
observations have the required data and the other observations are
just missing vaues.
> 3)- A Bug: I have 2 models one is with n=100 and based on a
dummy,
> while the other is using a random subsample with n=200. After
> estimating the second model, I return to the first one and gretl asks
> me if I want to restore the sample. I say yes and now the sample size
> is 60 instead of 100 (probably because gretl took the observations
> only from the active random subsample of n=200 instead of the full
> sample)...
Thanks for the report; fixed in CVS.
Thanks very much for the rapid fix.
> 4)- The subsampling info at the bottom of the gretl main window
could
> use some improvements. For example, when the sub sample is based on a
> dummy, instead of just saying "current sample n = 100" it would be
> nice if gretl said something like: "current sample based on dummy
> <varname> (n = 100)" (The same thing for other subsampling options
> such as random subsamples etc.)
Too much information to print at the bottom of the window. I've
added a menu item /Sample/Show status which shows some more detail
than the bottom-of-the-screen line. It doesn't yet show a
sampling criterion or anything of that sort -- that could maybe be
added later (it would require recording more dataset information
than we currently record).
IMHO, this information (with the additional dataset info
required) is
very useful for not just the current sample but for all the saved
models. Can this be added to individual model windows as well?
> 6)- Opening a new data set, all open windows are closed except
for the
> gnuplot graphs.
OK, that could cause trouble in some cases. The graph windows
should now close too.
Works nicely.
> 7)- In the model specification window, when the "Set as
default"
> option is checked, it becomes unchecked the next time (although the
> dependent variable is set correctly and as expected)
OK, cosmetic. Will be fixed at some point.
Again thanks. Cosmetics are more
important than what most people
think. Little things like this can result in bad first impressions
which is especially bad for a program like gretl where the users trust
their data for performing extremely complex operations.
> 8)- My system is Turkish and when I use gretl in English, the
legend
> for the OLS fitted line still uses commas as the decimal seperator.
I'm not in a position to test that. Do other people see that too?
(I.e. you're in a locale that uses the decimal comma, but you use
the GUI selector to run in English: what decimal separator
character do you see?)
This is interesting especially since Helio reports not
having the same
problem. Can this be due to the Linux distro? I cannot currently test
this on windows since I have the English Windows installed. I will let
you know when I find out more.
> 9)- Also, when using gretl in Turkish, entering formula for a new
line
> I need to use dot as the decimal seperator. If I use the comma sign in
> the formula, gretl draws a wrong line and a differently wrong legend.
> I think this issue was fixed a while ago.
I'm pretty sure that's as it always has been. The string is fed
straight to gnuplot and you have to use '.' as decimal separator.
I think
it is OK that we have to use dot as the decimal seperator at
all times but it is not OK that gretl produces erronious output when
someone accidentally uses commas. We need a check and an error message
here.
Again thanks very much for your attention and rapid fixing the various
bugs/issiues that I have mentioned.
Cheers
A. Talha Yalta
--
“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far
more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting
moment.” - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
--