What’s changed in SPSS Statistics 17.0
SPSS Statistics 17.0 brings many exciting new features, but there are some changes in the functionality of features that you may have used in prior versions. Here is information about these changes, along with details about new processes that are now available.
- Viewer files created in versions prior to SPSS 16.0 cannot be opened in SPSS 16.0 or later. The Legacy Viewer (available on the installation CD and on our Tech Support website at http://support.spss.com/) is available for Microsoft Windows users for access to older (.spo) SPSS Output Viewer files. There is no Legacy Viewer available on the Mac and Linux operating systems.
- The Draft Viewer is no longer supported. There are two alternatives for creating text output similar to the Draft Viewer:
- Export Output. The Export item on the File menu in the Viewer window provides text output options similar to the Draft Viewer, including tab- or space-separated table output, column width control, and row/column border characters. For more information, in the help system see Working with Output>Export Output>Text Options.
- Output Management System. You can use the Output Management System (OMS) to automatically route results to text files in tab- or space-separated format. In the Help system, see Output Management System>OMS Options
Search-and-replace functionality is now available in the SPSS Statistics Output Viewer, including the ability to search hidden rows and columns and non-visible layers in multidimensional pivot tables. In the Help system, see Working with Output>Finding and Replacing Information in the Viewer for more information.
- TableLooks created in versions prior to SPSS 16.0 cannot be used in SPSS 16.0 or later versions.
- IGraph’s underlying technology was replaced with a new visualization engine based on SPSS Inc.’s ViZml technology. It is planned that this new graphing technology eventually be used in all SPSS Inc. products to establish consistent cross-product graphing standards and capabilities. Initial replacement of IGraph with ViZml has changed the behavior of some SPSS Statistics features, such as disallowing the use of pre-existing Chartlooks and scripts. ViZml is set to evolve to enable new graphing features that will enhance a user’s reporting capabilities in ways that were not possible with IGraph. In recent years, the ongoing development of IGraph has become nearly impossible given the limitations and complexities of the legacy code on which it is based. The new SPSS Statistics visualization engine is highly extensible and has eliminated these constraints going forward.
- SPSS Statistics 17.0 will be the last release that contains the IGRAPH user interface. You are encouraged to save your IGRAPH syntax and run it through the syntax converter, which will convert the IGRAPH syntax to GGRAPH syntax. In version 18, the user interface will no longer be available, in version 19, IGRAPH syntax will no longer work. In the Help system, see TABLES and IGRAPH Command Syntax Converter for more information.
- Production Facility job files (.spp) created in releases prior to SPSS 16.0 will not run in release 16.0 or later. A conversion utility is available to convert Windows and Mac Production Facility job files to version 16.0 production jobs (.spj). In the Help system, see Production Jobs>Converting Production Facility Files for more information.
- Custom autoscripts created in releases prior to SPSS 16.0 will need to be manually converted in order to run in release 16.0 or later. Some of the autoscripts provided in releases prior to 16.0 are now available as a set of separate script files. In the help system, see SPSS Statistics Scripting Facility>Scripting in Basic>Compatibility with Versions Prior to SPSS 16.0 for more information.
- The facility for customizing output exported in HTML format using the text file htmlfram.txt is no longer supported. In the Help system, see the Output Management System for information on more flexible and powerful solutions for customizing HTML and other exported output formats.
- The Results Coach is no longer available. Similar functionality has been shifted into the Case Studies which are updated with each release. Case Studies can be found under the Help menu.
- Right-mouse help on dialog controls is no longer available. In most cases, you can find the equivalent information in the help topic accessed from the Help button in the dialog.
- The user interface for SPSS Trends Original (Exponential Smoothing, Autoregression, ARIMA) is no longer available. Your existing syntax should continue to work.
- The user interface for SPSS Tables Original (Basic Tables, General Tables, Multiple Response Tables, Tables of Frequencies) is no longer available. Although your existing TABLES syntax should continue to work, please be aware that TABLES syntax is no longer supported. We recommend that you convert your TABLES syntax to CTABLES syntax using the syntax converter that is available on your CD. In the Help system, see Tables Option>TABLES Command Syntax Converter for more information.
