Common SST Subops

DEP -- specify the dependant variable to SST commands
DOMAIN -- specify the domain of a single or multivariable function
FILE -- specify file names to SST commands
FUNC -- specify function names to SST commands
IF -- modify observations on which a command operates
IND -- specify independant variables to SST commands
MACRO -- specify macros to SST commands
MAT -- specify matrices to SST commands
OBS -- modify observations on which a command operates
PARM -- change characteristics of certain plots
PRINT -- send plotting commands directly to printer
SIZE -- cause plotting commands to use sections of the screen
TERM -- set terminal type used for SST graphics output
TIME -- print time spent executing a command
TO -- specify variables to SST commands
VAR -- specify variables to SST commands

DEP subop

Synopsis:: DEP[variable list]

The DEP subop is used to specify dependent variables to SST commands.

DOMAIN subop

Synopsis:: DOMAIN[name = low-val TO high-val {BY inc-val2, ...]

The DOMAIN subop is used to specify the domain of a single or multivariable function. The name of a parameter is given first, followed by the range of values which that parameter can take. Some or all of the parameters which specify the range may be missing. If the character or characters which precede each value are present, the corresponding value must also be present. The reserved words lo and hi may be used in place of low-val and high-val to indicate that parameter is unconstrained from below or above, respectively.

For multivariable functions, a domain entry should be given for each function parameter. The domain entries can be seperated by commas or spaces.

The BY syntax is used in plot commands to establish the increment employed for function evaluation. If BY is absent in plot commands, then the current global range size is used to get the number of evaluation points. In SOLV and other commands using DOMAIN, the BY syntax is ignored.

FILE subop

Synopsis:: FILE[pathname]

The FILE subop is used to specify filenames to SST commands. On DOS machines, FILE[prn:] directs output to the printer. On UNIX machines, FILE[/dev/lpr] directs output to the printer.

FUNC subop

Synopsis:: FUNC[function list]

The FUNC subop is used to specify function names to SST commands.

IF subop

Synopsis:: IF[expression]

The IF subop is used to modify the observations on which a command operates. All observations for which expression is 0 will be removed from the active set of observations. This subop acts with the OBS subop and the current RANGE command to determine the active set of observations for a command.

Example

To remove even numbered observations from the active set

IF[obsno % 2 == 1]

IND subop

Synopsis:: IND[variable list]

The IND subop is used to specify independent variables to SST commands.

MACRO subop

Synopsis:: MACRO[macro list]

The MACRO subop is used to specify macro names to SST commands.

MAT subop

Synopsis:: MAT[matrix list]

The MAT subop is used to specify matrices to SST commands.

OBS subop

Synopsis:: OBS[observation list]

The OBS subop is used to modify the observations on which a command operates. All observations not listed in observation list will be removed from the active set of observations. This subop acts with the IF subop and the current RANGE command to determine the active set of observations for a command.

If DATE is specified, then all subsequent arguments to OBS must be in the "period : subperiod" syntax discussed under DATE.

Example

To include only observations 5 through 10 and observation 16

OBS[5-10, 16]

PARM subop

The PARM subop can be used to change characteristics of a plot created with the SCAT, PLOT, HIST or BOXPLOT commands. PARM takes a list of options separate by spaces or commas.

x min max {quanta subquanta2: Sets the axis limits for the horizontal axis (or the first horizontal axis in the case of matrix scatter plots). If you just specify min and max these limits will be used as the endpoints for the horizontal axis. If quanta and subquanta are specified, then tickmarks and subtickmarks will be placed at the specified intervals instead of the default interval which is calculated based on the limits.
y min max {interval num2: Sets the axis limits for the vertical axis (or the first vertical axis in the case of matrix scatter plots).
h size
w size: Scales the height (h) and/or width(w) of a plot to the indicated size. Size should be a number between 0 and 1.
u offset
r offset: Move the lower left corner of the plot up (u) or right (r) by the indicated amount. Offset should be a number between 0 and 1. The plot must also be scaled to fit on the screen using the h and w option.
[no]compress (SCAT and PLOT only): If compress is specified, SST removes missing data before plotting. If nocompress is specified, missing data causes connected lines to be broken. Observations masked by the local sample vector (RANGE, IF and OBS) is always removed before plotting. The default is compress.
connect (SCAT only): Connect points in the scatter plot by lines.
noconnect (PLOT only): Do not connect the points that make up a plot.
connectx (SCAT only): Draw horizontal lines between consecutive points in a scatter plot.
connecty (SCAT only): Draw vertical lines between consecutive points in a scatter plot.
connectxy (SCAT only): Connect points using manhattan lines (horizontal then vertical)
connectyx (SCAT only): Connect points using manhattan lines (vertical then horizontal)
cumulative (HIST only): Draw histogram boxes on stacked on top of each other. This is the default for multiple variable histograms.
vertical (HIST only): Draw histogram boxes one in front of the other, smallest first.
horizontal (HIST only): Draw histogram boxes for different variables side by side. The boxes are filled with the fill style specified in the fill_string option.
total (HIST only): Total the counts for each variable and draw the outline of the total count for each bin. This is the default for single histogram plots.
fill_string string (HIST only): Set the fill styles used for plotting histograms. Each character in the string corresponds to a fill style; the first variable specified will use the first fill style, the second variable uses the second fill style, etc.
{no2matrix: Specifies whether multiple variables should be plotted on a single graph (nomat) or on a matrix of graphs (default = mat).
{no2mark: If connected scatter plots are drawn the mark option will label the lines of the scatter plot (this is particularly useful when combined with the nomat option) (default = mark). If the connect option is not specified this option is ignored.
point_style string (or ps string): Gives the sequence of symbols used to designate points from different variables when nomat is used. For example, POINT_STYLE ^*\# gives a triangle, a star, and a box to denote the points for the first three variables.
{no2regression_line: If rl is specified, a regression line will be drawn for each scatter plot (default = nrl).

PRINT subop

The PRINT subop can be used in some versions of SST to cause plotting commands to send output directly to a printer. When the subop PRINT is added to the graphics line, SST will attempt to send its graphics output directly to the printer.

The command used to print graphical output is system dependent. Under MS-DOS, the default is to automatically invoke the sstjet.exe program; this causes the intermediate device independent output to be processed and sent to device PRN. For unix versions of SST, the lpr command is used.

The default printing command can be overridden using the SSTPRT environment variable. If set, this variable should contain the name of a program which accepts graphics output and processes it appropriately. The format of the graphics output is determined by the graphics terminal type (set by the TERM subop).

Examples

Under VMS, define the environment variable SSTPRT to be the program sstprt.com which contains the single line:
```
$ imprint/ultrascript 'p1
```
This causes graphics images to be automatically sent to an Imagen postscript laserprinter. In this case we need to define the graphics type to be postscript (using TERM[psc]).
On a Sun 4/280 we set the environment variable SSTPRT to be lpr -h to avoid the printing of the header page.

SIZE subop

Synopsis:: SIZE[ll.x ll.y ur.x ur.y]

By default, SST plotting commands use the entire screen for their output. The SIZE subop can be used to cause the output to be placed in a rectangular portion of the screen. The rectangle is specified by giving the coordiantes of the lower left and upper right corners. These coordinates must lie in the range 0 to 1. The coordinates of 0, 0, 1, 1 specify the entire screen and are equivalent to omitting the SIZE subop.

The SIZE subop can be used with the FIGURE command to place multiple plots on a single screen.

TERM subop

Synopsis:: TERM[terminal-type]

The TERM subop can be used to set the terminal type used for SST graphics output. If no TERM subop is given for a graphics command SST will look at the value of the SSTTERM environment variable (if it is present) or default to the dumb device type. The terminal type can be set within SST using the CONFIG command.

Not all device types are supported on all systems. The following types are defined:

dvi: Device independent graphics codes. This device always writes its output to a file. If the filetype is not specified, sstplt.dvi is used.
mono: Monochrome graphics adapter (IBM PC only).
cga, ega, vga, color: IBM PC color graphics adapter
herc: Hercules graphics card (IBM PC only).
jet
jet+: Generate a file suitable for printing on the HP laserjet. The jet+ terminal type can be used for the HP laserjet+ to improve resolution.
pic: Pic format output (file only; default = sstplt.pic)
psc: PostScript output (file only; default = sstplt.psc)
tek: Tektronix 401x output. Output can be redirected to a file using the FILE subop.
sunview: Suntools driver. Graphics output will be sent to a suntools window (this window is created the first time that graphics is sent to the driver).
xterm: X windows output. Window is created on first output.
amg: Amiga driver
dumb: Tty driver. This driver sends out ASCII characters and will work almost anyplace. The pictures aren't very pretty.

TIME subop

Synopsis:: TIME

The time subop causes the time spent executing a command to be printed when the command terminates. It can be used on any SST command.

TO subop

Synopsis:: TO[variable list]

The TO subop is used to specify variables to many SST commands. The main difference between the VAR and the TO subop is that variables that do not exist will be created.

VAR subop

Synopsis:: VAR[variable list]

The VAR subop is used to specify variables to many SST commands. The simplest type of variable list consists of a list of variable names separated by spaces or commas.