Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:41:33 -0500
Reply-To: "Peck, Jon" <peck@spss.com>
Sender: "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From: "Peck, Jon" <peck@spss.com>
Subject: Re: GPL vs. VizML
In-Reply-To: A<001501ca51ee$8589fe40$909dfac0$@net>
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To add to ViAnn's comments,
VizML is sort of the (low-level) assembly language of the graphics engine. Most users would work in the higher level GPL.
But VizDesigner, a separate product, gives you control over the VizML and civilizes the process. With VizML you might build very sophisticated graphics templates that could then be dropped in to SPSS and used in GraphBoard or even used in other SPSS products.
Regards,
Jon Peck
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Bob Walker
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 7:34 PM
To: SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SPSSX-L] GPL vs. VizML
ViAnn,
Thanks very much... I figured this list would be a good place to address this question. And GPL should be fine for what I need. FYI, there is some VizML documentation in the PASW 17 help facility, though it is very hard to wade through.
Regards,
Bob Walker
Surveys & Forecasts, LLC
www.safllc.com
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of ViAnn Beadle
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 6:00 PM
To: SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: GPL vs. VizML
That's a really complicated question. Here's my personal opinion on the whole thing:
GPL is a higher level language that SPSS parses to generate VizML. VizML is XML. VizML provides much more control over formatting than GPL and can do some specialized charts which are not exposed within the GPL language.
Writing your own VizML is not for the faint of heart. AFAIK, the only public documentation comes with some enterprise tools that SPSS sells and comments within the xschema. Probably the best way to learn it is to create a chart using GGRAPH, IGRAPH, or GGRAPH and then open that within the Chart Editor and save it as VizML.
In PASW 17, SPSS introduced a new chart Graphboard facility which uses style sheets and variable mapping applied to visualization templates which is a variant of VizML. Note that these VizML templates are not Chart Templates (*.sgt) files.
A limited set of templates are provided with Graphboard. Depending upon the type of charts you are producing they may be sufficient. Otherwise, you are on your own to build them using Viz Designer which is a separate enterprise-level product.
The enterprise level graph facilities are designed to support a web-based distribution system but are more at the level of embeddable tools within some higher-level enterprise system.
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Bob Walker
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 1:24 PM
To: SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: GPL vs. ViZml
I am automating a graphical reporting system for a monthly consumer satisfaction study. Conceptually, how should I contrast the benefits of using GPL vs. ViZml? Does the latter primarily benefit web-based reporting model, vs. GPL which is more automation/syntax oriented?
TIA,
Bob Walker
Surveys & Forecasts, LLC
www.safllc.com
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