decision systems, inc.

Beta Version 1.01 Frequently Asked Questions and Comments

DSIGOM Beta v. 1.01 What is GOM? order faqs technical support Jackson Systems Development HOME

Could not see the whole screen



• Question

When I ran the software, part of the screen was not available to me.

• Response

Please make sure you are using "Small Fonts" as your screen display settings.

Defining more than 6 possible outcomes



• Question

I am using the DSIGoM beta version and am having some difficulty defining outcome sets which have more than six outcomes. In the "define GoM outcome sets" window, once six outcomes are entered for a particular set, the only way that I have discovered to add more outcomes is to update the set and then define the next outcome. I am able to define one additional outcome for a set each time I update the set. Do you have any solutions for this?

• Response

Sorry for the inconvenience. This problem will be corrected for the next release.


Invalid format statement



• Question

I used the spreadsheet as my data file. When I submitted the project for a run, I received the Invalid Format message. ???

• Response

This was due to a missing comma in the format statement. For this version, please open the .dir file and modify the format statement at the end of the file. When this is done, restart the process through the Project Status screen.
• Question

The data file for my project is in ASCII format. When I submitted the project for a run, I received the Invalid Format message in the project verification screen.

• Response

With a non-spreadsheet data file, the software will require the user to supply a format statement. The format statement can be defined in the Text screen.

Different number of variables displayed during the Makeaux process



• Question

I noticed that the number of variables displayed by the MAKEAUX process was different from my project. The run was then terminated during the Iteration process with a BAD DATA message.

• Response

Please make sure you had provided a long name for every variable. For the next release, our software will assume the long name when it is missing.

Bad Data for Observation



• Question

I received "Bad Data" message when I submitted a run.

• Response

This message also displays the observation and question number of the bad data. Please verify that the answer is defined as a possible outcome for the question.

Print results of the run



• Question

How do I print the results? I can't seem to do it through the PRINT function under the Project menu.

• Response

The print function is to print the setup of the project. The result of the GoM run is in the .rpt file. This file can be opened by any software that supports RichText format.

The followings were suggested by Jesse Riggan at CDS of Duke University.

"In the format line the ID variable needs to be skipped. This is confusing since you can define the ID variable in the program, without any effect on the latter variables."

"The documentation should note that the program is extremely sensitive to case, extra spaces, etc. in filenames and such."

"When you are entering variables it would be nice if the program would do a frequency on the variable and then ask how you want each value to be identified. You could then attach a previously defined format to it or customize one. This would eliminate the problem of undefined values turning up later, and if a value is out of range it will (should) be obvious at that point." (Suggested by Marvin Mulder at CDS of Duke University)

"I think it would be helpful to have the ability to copy outcome sets from one project to another within the DSIGOM application - I was able to do this successfully by just copying the .set file, but I think this feature would be appreciated by users." (Suggested by Karin Willert from University of South Carolina)

Many thanks to our Beta users who have not only reported "bugs" but also made comments and suggestions that will be the baseline of our next release. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Please email them to feedback@dsisoft.com. Thanks in advance.