> If StataCorp are listening, then I would like to add the capability of
> saving multiple sets of windowing preference sets to the Stata Wish list.
Below I make a statement. It is direct. There is no anger in it. I am
from the east coast of the US where being polite also allows one to be
direct. Please do not hear anger in my words. They are just my direct
statement about the facts as I see them. I admit I could be wrong. I
think my view has some strong relationship to reality, though. But I am
willing to be corrected.
So, here goes.
If StataCorp are listening, I have no problem with adding "the
capability of saving multiple sets of windowing preference sets to the
Stata Wish list" in the abstract. But the workday is not infinite.
Hence, my preference would be for StataCorp to devote like 95% of the time
to extending the models estimable and extending the things one can do
after estimation. For example, multilevel models are not feasibly
estimated in Stata, despite the presence of gllamm. (While gllamm is
nice, it does not work well with datasets greater than, say, 10,000, and
it is not supported, while a module for multilevel modelling that is fully
part of stata would be supported). The ability to estimate such models
will make it possible for us to learn new things about the world. I hope
StataCorp prioritizes those things that will help us learn new facts about
the world above other possible priorities (e.g., tweaking the interface,
surely a complex programming task with comparatively little benefit
compared to an at least equally complex programming task of introducing
new models into stata).
Thanks a bunch.
Respectfully,
Sam
On Thu, 24 Jun 2004, Roger Newson wrote:
> At 16:11 24/06/2004, Nick Cox wrote (in reply to Shawn.Fultz):
> >Unless I'm missing something specific,
> >I think this is based on a misunderstanding.
> >Help files, as from Stata 7, are based on
> >SMCL, and there is no fixed, pre-defined line width,
> >although there can be, and often are, fixed
> >new paragraphs.
> >
> >Rather the issue is to size your window
> >so that what is copied and later printed
> >is the right size.
>
> This issue is surely part of the general issue of saving reproducible
> windowing preferences. With the present technology (correct me if I'm
> wrong), if you want the printed lines from the Help window to be the right
> size for your printer, then you have to tweak the window size by trial and
> error, typically wasting a bit of paper in the process, and then use the
> menu sequence
>
> Prefs->Save Windowing Preferences
>
> to save that window size for the Help window, together with window sizes
> and positions for all other Stata windows. If you later change the Help
> window size, then you can restore it using the menu sequence
>
> Prefs->Load Windowing Preferences
>
> The main limitation of this practice is that we can only save one set of
> windowing preferences at a time. It would be useful to have a library of
> windowing preference sets, and to load each one at will.
> Unfortunately, if like me you use Windows, then, to do this, you must
> either start working with the Registry Editor and create a library of .reg
> documents containing Stata windowing preferences, or re-define yourself at
> system level as a set of multiple users, each with its own set of windowing
> preferences. The first of these possibilities apparently can render your
> computer unusable if you make a minor mistake, and the second would create
> extra work for the system administrator (at least in our system).
>
> If StataCorp are listening, then I would like to add the capability of
> saving multiple sets of windowing preference sets to the Stata Wish list.
>
> Roger
>
>
> --
> Roger Newson
> Lecturer in Medical Statistics
> Department of Public Health Sciences
> King's College London
> 5th Floor, Capital House
> 42 Weston Street
> London SE1 3QD
> United Kingdom
>
> Tel: 020 7848 6648 International +44 20 7848 6648
> Fax: 020 7848 6620 International +44 20 7848 6620
> or 020 7848 6605 International +44 20 7848 6605
> Email: [email protected]
> Website: http://www.kcl-phs.org.uk/rogernewson
>
> Opinions expressed are those of the author, not the institution.
>
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