Our developers were very careful about following the Guidelines established by Apple. Our product worked perfectly under the 7.5.1 system, which was the most current system when our product was released. It also worked under system 7.5.2, although the Modern Memory Manager feature added by Apple can sometimes cause the program to perform less efficiently. And, SPSS worked fine under the 7.5.3 system, although it is sometimes better to remove the SPSS Translate extension (designed to seamlessly open Systat files).

The 7.5.5 release of the Macintosh operating system involved some pretty major changes in the overall functionality. Following the Apple Guidelines for development helps rule out the greatest probability for problems under new systems. But, as with any program, there are many intricate details which allow it to function as it does. The most minor programming change can often result in a problem elsewhere within the same software (a bug in the system) or in software that depends upon that functionality (other Macintosh programs).

I know it can be very frustrating to encounter these types of problems, but I assure you, we do everything in our power to avoid these situations. (Believe me, we don't want our program to have problems any more than you do.) But, if you are encountering problems under system 7.5.5, the steps below would need to be taken on a regular basis to avoid these problems. You might try writing an Apple script file (one for the Startup folder and one for the shutdown folder) to do these tasks for you automatically.

>Note: These files do not cause problems for everyone, so you >should only follow these steps if you have encountered difficulties.

Jeanette SPSS Technical Support

>---------- >From: Diana Kornbrot[SMTP:D.E.Kornbrot@herts.ac.uk] >Sent: Saturday, February 01, 1997 8:21 AM >To: Nichols, David >Cc: Multiple recipients of list SPSSX-L >Subject: Re: SPSS 6.1 PowerMac > >does one have to do ALL that every time one uses SPSS? > >i was under the impression that Apple issued guidelines to Software >Developers, and that if these guidelines are followed there should be no >problems with System Upgrades > >If SPSS are not following these guidelines then they should issue a >'health warning' with their software - not a post hoc disclaimer > >diana kornbrot > >On Fri, 31 Jan 1997, >Nichols, David wrote: > >> > >> >Again, a forwarded message from Jeanette. >> > >> >David Nichols >> >Senior Support Statistician >> >SPSS Inc. >> >nichols@spss.com >> > >> >System 7.5.5 Macintosh >> > >> >Q. Do current versions of SPSS for the Macintosh run on >> >the new System 7.5.5 operating system? >> > >> >A. Although System 7.5.5 was released after our product >> >was already completely developed and out on the market, >> >we do not anticipate any major problems. We have had >> >customers report success, but SPSS has never been tested >> >under this system, and therefore we cannot make any >> >guarantees about its performance. Most of the problems >> >customers have reported can be resolved by following the >> >steps given below. At this time, we have not encountered >> >any insurmountable problems due to this system. However, >> >SPSS for the Macintosh is not officially certified to run >> >under system 7.5.5 at this time. >> > >> >Note: These files do not cause problems for everyone, so >> >should only follow these steps if you have encountered >> >difficulties. >> > >> >1) Start the Mac with the shift key held down. This will >> >disable your extensions and control panels. >> >2) Open your system folder. Open the Extensions folder. >> >Pull out the "SPSS IOCV Module" and the "SPSS Translate >> >Extension" and place them on the desktop. >> >NOTE: These files may not be present in the non-PowerMac >> >versions of SPSS. >> >3) Restart the computer normally (do not hold down the >> >shift key). >> >4) Place the SPSS extensions back into the Extensions >> >folder before starting the SPSS program. >> >5) Before shutting off your computer, take the SPSS >> >extensions back out. (It is usually easiest to keep them >> >on the Desktop). >> > >> >The "SPSS Translate Extension" is an extension to the >> >operating system that allows SPSS to transparently open >> >SYSTAT for the Macintosh files. It is an "Easy Open" >> >filter that is automatically recognized and used when >> >the user double-clicks a SYSTAT file or drops a SYSTAT >> >file onto SPSS. If you do not use Systat files on your >> >machine, you may delete this file. >> > >> >The "SPSS IOCV Module" library/code fragment is a set of >> >routines that are shared between the Statistical code and >> >the graphical user interface of the Data Editor. These >> >are written in FORTRAN for displaying numerical data. >> >"IOCV" stands for Input/Output Conversion. It's purpose >> >is to make sure that a floating point number is displayed >> >in a consistent manner in both the editor and the output, >> >based on the selected display format. This extension is >> >necessary to run SPSS. >> > >> > >> >---------- >> >From: Lance[SMTP:lanceo@RICE.EDU] >> >Sent: Friday, January 31, 1997 8:54 AM >> >To: Multiple recipients of list SPSSX-L >> >Subject: SPSS 6.1 PowerMac >> > >> >I am with the Information Technology group at Rice University, and we >> >support a lab of 18 PowerMacs used for classes that teach using SPSS >> >6.1. My question is that have you experienced any major difficulties >> >with running 6.1 under 7.5.5. We are experiencing some very strange >> >occurances with this program. >> > >> >There have been several occasions when a student has tried to run the >> >program, it gives a return error of " Can't find Base Statistics 1" >> >which is a SPSS document located in the SPSS folder located in the >> >Preferences folder. Once a user clicks the "OK" button, the program >> >quits and then stangely writes a SPSSMac.INI preferences file into the >> >application folder. This is the same SPSSMac.INI which is also located >> >in the SPSS preferences folder. If a user tries to run SPSS again >> >without throwing the SPSSMac.INI file away from inside the application >> >folder, everything gets erased from the SPSS app folder except for the >> >application itself. These machines all run under 7.5.5 and have 24mb >> >ram. >> > >> >If you have experienced anything strange like this please email me back, >> >we would appreciate it. >> > >> > >> > >> > >> >