[Gretl-users] Menu re-structuring

[Riccardo Jack Lucchetti]

On Wed, July 12, 2006 19:13, Talha Yalta wrote:

> While we are at it, I also would like to make a few suggestions
> regarding the user interface. It may not be possible to implement them
> in this version but what does everybody think of these?
>
> 1- How about dividing the main window vertically so that icon view is
> available and visible by
> default next to the vertical list of variables. This would be nice
> because I think the icon view is one of the particularly novel and
> useful features of the program and it is not very visible with the
> current setting.

Hmm, I don't know. I feel the window might become a little crammed. Would it
be hard for you to produce a mockup screenshot of what you aven in mind?

> 2- Multiple UIs! It is known that econometric software can be
> intimidating for the uninitiated. The students are often lost within
> the myriad of tools and options. With the user friendliness in mind,
> how about gretl having 2 different user interfaces (full and lite for
> undergrads) which have different set of options visible in the menus.
> Once the students master more basic tools, they will be able to move
> on to the higher level, which can be easily set in the options menu.
> This might be a nice idea to consider for the next versions as gretl
> becomes more and more powerful.

Sorry, but I'm against this. IMHO, the perception that some people of gretl as
a toy package, barely good for teaching introductory econometrics is our worst
enemy. I fear that a "trimmed" version of the menu could increase the risk of
peing perceived as "not really suitable for serious use".

> 3- Finally, I would like to submit my testing of the p-value finder in
> gretl in terms of numerical accuracy. Looks like gretl has some
> problems with calculating the correct values for the left tails for
> several distributions. Some may find the inaccuracies insignificant.
> Still, it might be worth to take a look into it. The results are
> attached as a ods spreadsheet.

This is very interesting. I didn't know of the ELV program. Apparently, its
source is not available, which is a shame, because we could have ripped at
least some algorithms from it. Anyway, as you say, the inaccuracies in gretl
seem unlikely to have any impact on real applied work, but still it'd be nice
to set  them right (but maybe not for 1.6.0).


Riccardo "Jack" Lucchetti
Dipartimento di Economia
Facoltà di Economia "G. Fuà"
Ancona