Table of Contents

Downloading Xlispstat

Last Resort

If all else fails, bring a floppy disk to class. On it, you should write the type of computer you have (eg Mac or PC). I'll return it to you with xlispstat on it.

Or, try it yourself...

The starting point for downloading Xlispstat is here, You should then go to "pub/xlispstat" to obtain your version.

You'll notice that several different versions of the program are available. Roughly speaking, each version represents an upgrade. This means that some versions won't run on your computer, even though they should. Remember, to the computer industry, "upgrades" are rarely what we could call improvements, and are often designed to get you to buy a new computer.

With this in mind, if your first attempt doesn't work, delete it from your harddrive or floppy , and try another version. You might find it helpful to read the "ReadME" file for general information. For the Mac, see macintosh/read me. Similar read me files in the msdos directory and the mswin directories should help some.

More Help

From our statistics computer guru:
in answer to the question, which file should i download? You need to obtain two self extracting archive files: the appropriate application for your system and the support files. The support files are in xlispstat-3-??-files.sea.hqx, where ?? corresponds to the current minor release number, and the applications are

'XLISP-STAT 3.?? PPC' in xlispstat-3-??-ppcapp.sea.hqx
'XLISP-STAT 3.?? 881' in xlispstat-3-??-881app.sea.hqx
'XLISP-STAT 3.?? 020' in xlispstat-3-??-020app.sea.hqx
'XLISP-STAT 3.?? GEN' in xlispstat-3-??-genapp.sea.hqx
it seems that both the appropriate application and the support files are contained in one compressed file. the latest version is 3-44. the four choices are for different mac architectures. they are:

ppcapp for the new powerpc macintoshes.
881app for macs that have the 68881 math coprocessor. those include the SE/30, IIfx and i think the IIci.
020app for Macs like the Quadras and some of the higher end performas.
(confusing isn't it, well, apple is now paying the price for confusing us all with so many models)

it might be that the problem your student is having is that he selected an inappropriate version. if you like i can suggest which one to get if you can supply me with the model macintosh he is using.

p.s. i noticed that it's hard to determine the name of the file in the ftp directory mentioned above because the names are truncated. if you put the cursor over the link the full name appears at the bottom of the browser (at least in the netscape browser).

And then there's a correction:
the 020app version is not for the machines i mentioned earlier. this version is for M68020 machines. the LCs, classic Macs, and some earlier laptops are in this group.

as for the Quadras and higher end Performas. they use the M68040 chip and they would be able to run the 881app version



After you've downloaded...

 ...you need to tell Netscape where to find the xlispstat. When you are visiting the Statistics Department's homepage, and you click on a link that runs xlispstat, Netscape searches through your harddrive to find what's called a "helper" file -- in this case its xlispstat. You need to tell Netscape where to look. Follow these steps:

For the Mac


For the PC

The directions are nearly the same as for the Mac.
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