Windows and Files - MINITABcms3.minitab.co.kr/board/minitab_data/1...However, you can create a Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) link between cells that will let cells update when other

Windows and Files

Table Of Contents

Copyright © 2003–2005 Minitab Inc. All rights reserved. 3

Table Of Contents Minitab Windows.................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Windows ........................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Rename Graph................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Rename Worksheet.......................................................................................................................................................... 5

Data Window.......................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Data Window Overview .................................................................................................................................................... 7 General information on working in the Data Window ....................................................................................................... 7 Data Window Troubleshooting Tips ................................................................................................................................. 8 Entering and Editing Data ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Editing Cells, Columns, and Rows ................................................................................................................................. 10 Moving Around the Data Window................................................................................................................................... 12 Cut, Copy, and Paste Features ...................................................................................................................................... 12 Using Data...................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Date/Time Data .............................................................................................................................................................. 19 Formatting Columns ....................................................................................................................................................... 23 Generating Patterned Data with Autofill ......................................................................................................................... 24

Session Window and Reports.............................................................................................................................................. 29 Session Window............................................................................................................................................................. 29 Selecting (Highlighting) Text in the Session Window ..................................................................................................... 29 To copy Session window output to the Data window ..................................................................................................... 29 To print blocks of Session window text .......................................................................................................................... 29 To print individual command output from the Project Manager...................................................................................... 30 To print the entire Session window ................................................................................................................................ 30 Using Session Commands ............................................................................................................................................. 30 To enter commands in the Session window................................................................................................................... 30 To enable or disable command language ...................................................................................................................... 30 To change Session window editing modes .................................................................................................................... 30 To enable or disable the session command prompt by default ...................................................................................... 30 Saving the Contents of the Session Window ................................................................................................................. 31 To make Session window output editable or read-only by default ................................................................................. 31 To save the Session window at any time ....................................................................................................................... 31 Saving or Discarding Automatically ................................................................................................................................ 31 Session window size and overflow................................................................................................................................. 32 To change the text limit on the Session window ............................................................................................................ 32 Using Fonts in the Session Window............................................................................................................................... 32 To change your default Session window font options .................................................................................................... 33 Creating Reports in a Word Processor........................................................................................................................... 33 To create a report using copy and paste........................................................................................................................ 33 To create a report with text and graph files .................................................................................................................... 33 Creating Reports for the World Wide Web ..................................................................................................................... 34 Interrupting Commands or Macros................................................................................................................................. 34

Project Manager................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Project Manager ............................................................................................................................................................. 35 History folder .................................................................................................................................................................. 35 To save the contents of the History folder...................................................................................................................... 36 To print or copy the contents of the History folder.......................................................................................................... 36

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Creating Reports in ReportPad ...................................................................................................................................... 36 To append graphs and Session window output to the ReportPad folder ....................................................................... 36 Save Report As .............................................................................................................................................................. 36 To save a report file to use in another application.......................................................................................................... 37 Copy/Move to Word Processor....................................................................................................................................... 37 Related Documents - Add Link....................................................................................................................................... 37 Related Documents - Link to File ................................................................................................................................... 37 Worksheets folder and subfolders.................................................................................................................................. 38 Project Manager - Set Description - Column.................................................................................................................. 39 Project Manager - Set Description - Constant ................................................................................................................ 39 Project Manager - Set Description - Matrix .................................................................................................................... 39

Window Menu ...................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Window Menu................................................................................................................................................................. 41 Working with Windows Using the Keyboard................................................................................................................... 41 Refresh ........................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Close All Graphs............................................................................................................................................................. 41 Cascade ......................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Tile.................................................................................................................................................................................. 42 Minimize All .................................................................................................................................................................... 42 Restore Icons ................................................................................................................................................................. 42 Arrange Icons ................................................................................................................................................................. 42

Opening, Importing, Saving, and Printing Files ................................................................................................................... 43 File Overview.................................................................................................................................................................. 43 File Types ....................................................................................................................................................................... 43 New ................................................................................................................................................................................ 44 Open Project................................................................................................................................................................... 45 Close Project .................................................................................................................................................................. 46 Save Project ................................................................................................................................................................... 46 Save Project As.............................................................................................................................................................. 47 Project Description ......................................................................................................................................................... 48 Open Worksheet............................................................................................................................................................. 49 Save Current Worksheet ................................................................................................................................................ 58 Save Current Worksheet As........................................................................................................................................... 59 Worksheet Description ................................................................................................................................................... 62 Close Worksheet ............................................................................................................................................................ 63 Query Database (ODBC)................................................................................................................................................ 63 Open Graph.................................................................................................................................................................... 75 Other Files ...................................................................................................................................................................... 76 Save [Window] As .......................................................................................................................................................... 83 Print [Window] ................................................................................................................................................................ 85 Print Setup...................................................................................................................................................................... 86 Exit.................................................................................................................................................................................. 87

Index .................................................................................................................................................................................... 89

Minitab Windows


Minitab Windows Windows The main Minitab window can contain four types of sub-windows: One or more Data windows that show columns of data. There is one Data window for each worksheet in the project. A Session window that displays your results. Graph windows for high-resolution graphs created by Minitab's graph commands.

A Project Manager, which contains:

• A Session folder for managing session window output.

• A History folder that lists commands you have used in your session. You can re-execute commands by copying them from the History folder and pasting them into the Command Line Editor.

• A Graph folder for managing, arranging, and naming your graphs.

• A ReportPad folder for creating, arranging, and editing, reports of your work.

• A Related Documents folder for quickly accesing project-related, non-Minitab files for easy reference.

• A Worksheets folder that displays a summary of the columns, stored constants, matrices, and designs used in the current worksheet.

You also have access to the Toolbar and the Status Bar.

Controlling Windows You can open and minimize Minitab windows just as you would other windows in your operating system. You can also control Minitab windows with commands on the Window menu.

Rename Graph Right-click on top left corner of graph (live linking icon), choose Rename

Dialog box items List box: type a name for your graph title bar.

Rename Worksheet Right-click on top left corner of a worksheet (worksheet icon), choose Rename

Dialog box items List box: type a name for your worksheet title bar.

Data Window


Data Window Data Window Overview Window > Worksheet*** Displays your current worksheet in a spreadsheet format, with rows and columns that intersect to form individual cells.

Note A worksheet can contain up to 4000 columns, 1000 constants, and up to 10,000,000 rows depending on how much memory your computer has.

In the Data window you can

• enter columns of data into the worksheet

• name, resize, and format columns

• move quickly to different cell locations

• cut, copy, or paste cells to and from the Clipboard See General information on working in the Data window for more information on how to work in the Data window. For general information on how to move around the Data window, see Moving around the Data window.

One Data Window for Each Worksheet You can have many worksheets open at a time, and each worksheet will have its own Data window. Information on each worksheet is displayed in the Worksheet folder of the Project Manager − see Worksheet folder.

Tip To zoom in or out to increase or decrease the size and number of cells displayed in the data window, press [Ctrl] while scrolling your mouse wheel when the Data window is active.

The Data Window Is Not a Spreadsheet Although the Data window has rows and columns, it is not a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3. In Minitab, cells contain values that you type or generate with commands. Cells do not contain formulas that update based on other cells. For example, if you want column C3 to equal the values in C1 plus the values in C2, you would use the Calculator (Calc > Calculator) to generate the values for C3. If you change the values in C1, C3 does not change until you use the Calculator again or use some other command to change C3's contents. However, you can create a Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) link between cells that will let cells update when other cells change. See Recalculating Minitab Columns Automatically.

General information on working in the Data Window To enter data columnwise, click the data entry direction arrow to make it point down. After you type a value and press [Enter], the active cell moves down. To enter data rowwise, click the data entry direction arrow to make it point to the right. After you type a value and press [Enter], the active cell moves right. To enter data within a block, highlight a block of cells. After you type a value, the active cell moves to the next cell in the block. Press any arrow key to unhighlight the block. To jump to the beginning of next column or row, press [Ctrl]+[Enter]. When the data entry direction arrow points down, pressing [Ctrl]+[Enter] moves the active cell to the top of the next column. When the data entry direction arrow points right, pressing [Ctrl]+[Enter] moves the active cell to the beginning of the next row. To select one or more columns, click the column number at the top of the column, or drag across several column numbers. You cannot select non-contiguous columns. To select one or more rows, click the row number, or drag across several row numbers. You cannot select non-contiguous rows. To change the width of one or more columns, select the column(s), point to the top of a line dividing two columns until the cursor becomes a two-sided arrow. Press the mouse button and drag the line. To correct a value, click the cell, type the correct value, and press [Enter]. Or, double-click the cell, then delete and retype text to make the changes. To undo/redo a change:

• If you have just typed a new value in a cell, and have not yet pressed [Enter], press [Esc] or [Ctrl]+[Z] to restore the previous value of the cell. If you decide to reinstate the changed value, press [Ctrl]+[Z] again.

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• If you have just changed a cell, and pressed [Enter], select Edit > Undo (or press [Ctrl]+[Z]) to restore the previous value of the cell. Selecting Edit > Redo (or pressing [Ctrl]+[Z]) at this point will reinstate the changed value in the cell (undo the last undo).

To zoom in or out to increase or decrease the size and number of cells displayed in the Data window, press [Ctrl] while scrolling your mouse wheel when the Data window is active.

Data Window Troubleshooting Tips My column is all numbers, yet Minitab insists it is a text column. Minitab identifies a column as either text or numeric based on the first value you enter in the column. If you enter a non-number (other than an * or a currency symbol Minitab recognizes) as the first cell of a column, Minitab considers that to be an text column, even if you erase the value later. The easiest way to change a column from text to numeric is to use the Data > Change Data Type commands.

Entering and Editing Data Typing and Editing Data Overview If your data is not already stored in a file, Minitab makes it is easy to enter data into the Data window. You can type data or copy and paste it from other applications. Once your data is in the Data window, it is also easy to edit it. You can correct individual observations in cells, or rearrange the columns and rows to get your data ready for analysis. You can select cells, rows, and columns, then delete them, insert new ones, or move them around. Columns can be customized in various ways. You can name them, write descriptions of them, apply fonts, resize them, and even hide unused columns. Finally, you can apply formats to your columns of data. The column's format depends on its data type: numeric, date/time, or text. The data type is set when you first enter the data. For each data type, you can change the way data is displayed. For example, numeric columns can show just the number of decimal places that you like, and date/time columns can show dates and times in forms such as "January 1, 1999" or "1/1/99."

Note Minitab dialog boxes only accept date/time data in their default formats. These defaults can change depending on the Windows Control Panel Regional Settings. See default date/time format for more information.

Data window editing vs. manipulation commands You can duplicate the results of some of the procedures in this section by using the manipulation commands described in Manipulating Data. For example, you could duplicate some of the copy and paste functionality by using the Data > Stack > Columns command. Copying and pasting using the mouse can be quicker and easier than filling out the manipulation dialog boxes. However, the commands in Manipulating Data allow you to perform complex actions that would be difficult or tedious to replicate in other ways. For example, not only can Data > Stack > Columns stack the contents of multiple columns on top of each other, but the command also allows you to simultaneously create a column of subscripts (identifier codes) so you can see which values in the new column came from which source column.

The choice of which methods to use−Data window editing commands or manipulation commands−depends on the complexity of your task.

Typing Data into the Data Window To enter a value in a Data window cell, just click on the cell, type a value, and press Enter. You can enter multiple values in any order you wish: column by column, row by row, or in blocks.

Data Window


When you type an entry into an empty column, Minitab assigns a data type to the column: numeric, text, or date/time. If the data type is not numeric, Minitab also adds an identifier next to the column number: D for date/time data and T for text data. For details, see Entering data automatically assigns a data type to the column.


Entering Data Automatically Formats the Column When you type an entry into an empty column, or copy and paste data from another application into an empty column, Minitab assigns a data type to the column, and adds an identifier next to the column number. The data type assigned depends on what you type:

When you enter... The type is set to... Identifier Example a number, an ∗, or any currency symbol that Minitabrecognizes followed by a number.

Numeric Nothing C20

characters that match a default date/time format (such 1/31/97 or 11:10:14.22 PM)

Date/time −D C20−D

any other characters Text −T C20−T


• All data in one column must be all the same type, either all numeric, all date/time, or all text. Minitab treats numbers and dates that appear in a text column (such as a street address or month name) as text. In numeric or date/time columns, Minitab will not allow you to enter an invalid value.

• Minitab does not display currency data, but if you enter a value into a blank worksheet column that begins with a currency symbol ($), Minitab formats the column as numeric and removes the currency symbol. See Data with Currency Symbols for more information.

• You can convert a column from one data type to another by choosing Data > Change Data Type.

To correct a value in a cell • To delete the old value and enter a new one, click the cell, type the correct value, and press <Enter>.

• To change a portion of the cell contents, double-click the cell, then use the arrow, <Backspace> and <Del> keys to make the changes.

To enter a number in exponential notation In a cell in a numeric or empty column, type three elements: a number (which can be an integer or decimal number), the letter E (which substitutes for multiplying by 10), and the exponent. For example, the number 3200 is equal to 32 x 10**2 or 3.2 x 10**3, so you could type 32E2 or 3.2E3.

Note Entering a number using exponential notation does not necessarily mean that the number will display in that

Windows and Files


notation. To explicitly set that format, see To change column format to exponential. For general information on very large and very small numbers and exponential notation, see Using Numeric Data.

To enter data columnwise 1 Click the data entry direction arrow to make it point down. 2 Enter your data, pressing [Tab] or [Enter] to move the active cell. Press [Ctrl]+[Enter] to move the active cell to the top

of the next column.

To enter data rowwise 1 Click the data entry direction arrow to make it point to the right. 2 Enter your data. Press [Ctrl]+[Enter] to move the active cell to the beginning of the next row.

To enter data within a block 1 Highlight the area you want to work in. 2 Enter your data. The active cell moves only within the selected area. 3 To unselect the area, press an arrow key or click anywhere in the Data window.

To undo/redo a change If you have just typed a new value in a cell, and have not yet pressed <Enter>, press [Esc] or [Ctrl]+[Z] to restore the previous value of the cell. If you decide to reinstate the changed value, press [Ctrl]+[Z] again. If you have just changed a cell, and pressed [Enter], choose Edit > Undo (or press [Ctrl]+[Z]) to restore the previous value of the cell. Choosing Edit > Redo (or pressing [Ctrl]+[Z]) at this point will reinstate the changed value in the cell (undo the last undo).

Editing Cells, Columns, and Rows Editing Cells The tasks in this section specify operations for active cells. Active cells have a dark rectangle around them.

To correct a value in a cell Do one of the following:

• Click the cell, type the correct value, and press [Enter].

• If you have just typed a new value in a cell, and have not yet pressed [Enter], press [Esc] to restore the previous value of the cell.

• If you have just cut or pasted some data, choose Edit > Undo to undo that cut or paste.

Clearing, Deleting, and Inserting Cells

To... Do this clear a cell (erasing its contents) Highlight the cells and choose Edit > Clear Cells.

In a numeric column, Minitab inserts ∗ in a cleared cell (unless it is the last cell in a column).

delete one or more cells (and move other rows in the column up)

Select the cells, then choose Edit > Delete Cells or press <Delete>

insert one or more cells above the active cell

Select the cells, then choose Editor > Insert Cells.

Naming Columns To name a column 1 In the Data window, click a column name cell.

Data Window


2 Type the name. Names cannot • be longer than 31 characters • begin or end with a blank space • include the symbol ' or # • start with or consist entirely of the symbol ∗ • be repeated: that is, you cannot use the same name for two columns in the same worksheet.

3 Press [Enter].

Note In some graphs and Session window output, long column names will be truncated to the first 8 letters.

When you modify the format characteristics of a column, you are only changing the way that column is displayed in the Data window−you are not modifying the underlying value. For example, if the number in a cell is 1.2345678 and you change the format to display only two decimals, all calculations will still use 1.2345678.

To delete columns (moving other columns over) 1 Select one more columns by clicking the column number or dragging across several column numbers. 2 Choose Edit > Delete Cells.

To erase the contents of columns (without moving other columns) 1 Select one more columns by clicking the column number(s).

2 Choose Edit > Clear Cells.

Or choose Data > Erase Variables

To insert columns 1 Select one or more columns. 2 Choose Editor > Insert Columns. Columns are inserted to the left of your selection. If you selected two columns, Minitab inserts two columns. If you selected three columns, Minitab inserts, three columns, and so on.

To move columns 1 Select one or more columns. 2 Choose Editor > Move Columns. 3 Select one of the following:

• Before column C1 moves the selected columns to before C1. • After last column in use moves the selected columns to after the last non-empty column • Before column moves the selected columns to before whatever column you select in the list box.

4 Click OK.

Editing Rows

To insert rows 1 Select one or more rows. 2 Choose Editor > Insert Rows. Rows are inserted above your selection. If you selected two rows, Minitab inserts two rows. If you selected three rows, Minitab inserts three rows, and so on.

To delete rows (and move other rows up) 1 Select one or more rows. 2 Choose Edit > Delete Cells. Or Choose Data > Delete Rows.

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To erase the contents of rows (without moving other rows) 1 Select one or more rows. 2 Choose Edit > Clear Cells.

Moving Around the Data Window Moving Around the Data Window When you use your mouse to click on a cell, it becomes the active cell. You can also use the menus and your keyboard to move the cursor and make other cells the active cell.

To move the active cell... Do this

to any location Choose Editor > Go To

one cell over Press an arrow key

to the edge of the visible portion of the Data window

Press [Ctrl]+ an arrow key

to the beginning of the worksheet Press [Ctrl]+[Home]

to the last used worksheet cell Press [Ctrl]+[End]

to the beginning of the next row or column (depending on the data entry direction arrow)

Choose Editor > Go To > Next Row/Column, or press [Ctrl]+[Enter]

To change the direction of the data entry direction arrow (this changes the behavior of the [Enter] and [Ctrl]+[Enter] keys)

Click the data entry direction arrow, or choose Editor > Worksheet > Change Entry Direction

back to the active cell when it is located off the display

Choose Editor > Go to > Active Cell

to the next cell down (if the data entry arrow is pointing down) or across (if the data entry arrow is pointing right)

Press [Enter]

Selecting (Highlighting) Areas of the Data Window You can perform a variety of actions on cells, rows, and columns in the Data window. Before performing an action, you often select the area you want to affect. If you do not select a row or column before doing an operation that affects the entire row or column (such as insert column), the column that contains the active cell is considered selected. The active cell is always selected or is part of a selected area.

To select... Do this

a block of cells drag across the cells.

one or more entire rows drag across the row numbers.

one or more entire columns drag across the column numbers.

all the cells choose Edit > Select All Cells.

To open a new (empty) Data window 1 Choose File > New. 2 Select Minitab Worksheet and click OK.

Cut, Copy, and Paste Features Copying and Pasting Data Copying and pasting is a quick way to exchange data between Minitab windows or between Minitab and other applications.

Data Window


Using the Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste commands, you can copy from and paste to the Data window from a variety of sources:

• cells, rows, and columns in the same Data window

• cells, rows, and columns in another Data window

• documents in another application, such as a spreadsheet package or a word processor

• text in the History folder

• text in the Session window−see Copying Session Window Output into Your Worksheet

Other ways to copy data The Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste commands copy Data window cells that are contiguous, that is, next to each other. But there are other methods for copying other types of data. You can use the Data > Copy command to copy:

• Columns and rows that are not contiguous.

• Matrices into matrices or columns.

• Stored constants into constants or columns.

• Worksheets into worksheets. To copy and paste data "links" that update automatically, use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). See Using Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). For information on copying graphs, see the Embedded Graph Editor Overview.

To copy cells, rows, or columns from the Data window 1 Select the cells you want. See Selecting Areas of the Data Window. 2 Choose Edit > Copy Cells or press [Ctrl]+[C].

To paste cells by inserting 1 Click on a cell. 2 Choose Edit > Paste Cells. 3 A dialog box appears. Choose Insert above the active cell, shifting cells down to make room, and click OK. 4 After you use a paste command, if the data are separated by tabs, Minitab automatically puts each value into its own

cell. But if the data are separated by spaces, Minitab displays a dialog box that shows the first line of data and asks how Minitab should interpret the spaces. Do one of the following: • If the line of data looks right, click Use spaces as delimiters. • If you would prefer to paste all the data into one column, click Paste as a single column.

When Minitab copies cells to the Clipboard, it separates each cell by a tab, and each row by a return. You can paste either tab-delimited or space-delimited data into the Data window.

You can also paste data using DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) When pasting in the Data window, you can paste data that is separated by tabs or spaces. Data copied from Minitab's Data window, most spreadsheet packages, and word processor tables are tab-delimited. Data copied from Minitab's Session window (see Copying Session Window Output into Your Worksheet) and the body of word processing documents are space-delimited.

To paste cells by replacing 1 Select the same number of cells that are on the Clipboard. 2 Choose Edit > Paste Cells or press [Ctrl]+[V]. 3 After you use a paste command, if the data are separated by tabs, Minitab automatically puts each value into its own

cell. But if the data are separated by spaces, Minitab displays a dialog box that shows the first line of data and asks how Minitab should interpret the spaces. Do one of the following: If the line of data looks right, click Use spaces as delimiters. If you would prefer to paste all the data into one column, click Paste as a single column.

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Copying and Pasting Missing Values In the Data window, missing values in text columns are blanks and missing values in numeric columns are represented by an asterisk (∗). You can control how Minitab translates missing values when it imports from and exports to the Clipboard.

How Missing Values Are Translated Text Numeric Date/Time

From the Clipboard to Minitab

Characters that = Clipboard setting character import as

blanks ∗ ∗

Blanks import as blanks ∗ ∗

From Minitab to the Clipboard

Characters that = Clipboard setting character export as

unchanged unchanged unchanged

Blanks or missing export as blanks Clipboard setting character

Clipboard setting character

How the Clipboard settings character affects data types A string of data is imported as numeric if the data are all numbers except for the Clipboard settings character or currency symbols that Minitab recognizes. Likewise, a string of data is imported as date/time if all the data except the Clipboard setting character match one of the pre-set date/time formats. The string is imported as text if it contains any non-number characters besides the Clipboard settings character or currency symbols that Minitab recognizes. For example, say that the Clipboard settings character is set to "m." Three columns of data would be interpreted like this:

Clipboard data Interpreted as this column type

numeric text date/time

1 2 m 3

1 2 ∗ 3

1 2 m 3 x

1 2

3 x

10/15/95

m 10/16/97

10/15/95 ∗

10/16/97


Using Data Using Data Overview Analyses, of course, begin with data. You can enter data into Minitab in various ways, edit the data values, save the data in a variety of formats, and print your output. Before working with data, you should become familiar with some of the terminology and concepts used in Minitab. Here are the ways you can work with data, and other topics within Help that describe those procedures.

Entering and editing data There are many ways for you to enter data into Minitab. You can:

• type data or paste it from another application−see Entering Data into the Data Window

Data Window


• open it from files. Minitab can open many different types of files, including Excel and Lotus 1-2-3 files−see Opening, Saving, and Printing files. You can also bring in data from databases (see ODBC Overview) and unusually formatted text files (see Import Special Text (File menu)).

• generate it from within Minitab. You can create patterned data or random data.

Saving and printing data When you are finished working with the data, you can save it to use later in Minitab or another application. Or you can print a hard copy. See Opening, Saving, and Printing files.

Worksheets Overview In Minitab, all the data associated with a particular data set are contained in a worksheet. A project can have many worksheets−the number of worksheets is limited only by your computer's memory. Worksheets are not visible, but you can view your data in the Data and Session windows, and in the Worksheet folder in the Project Manager. Each worksheet will have its own Data window. There is only one Session window, but it can display information on any open worksheet.

Commands act on the current worksheet When you are working in Minitab, any command you use works on the current worksheet. The current worksheet is the worksheet associated with the active Data window. You make a window active by clicking on it, choosing it from the Window menu, or right clicking on the Worksheet folder and bringing it to the front. If no Data window is active, the command acts on the Data window that was most recently active.

Note A worksheet can contain up to 4000 columns, 1000 constants, 100 matrices, and up to 10,000 cells.

Three types of data : numeric, text, and date/time In Minitab, you can work with three types of data:

• Numeric - numbers. See Using Numeric Data.

• Text - characters that can consist of a mix of letters, numbers, spaces, and special characters, such as "Test Number 4" or "North Carolina." See Using Text Data.

• Date/Time - dates (such as Jan-1-1997 or 3/17/97), times (such as 08:25:22 AM.), or both (such as 3/17/97 08:25:22 AM). Minitab internally stores dates and times as numbers, but displays them in whatever format you choose. See Using Date/Time Data.


These types of data can be stored in three forms: columns, constants, and matrices.

Three Forms of Data : Columns, Constants, and Matrices All of the data stored in the worksheet takes one of three forms:

Referred to by Number

Form Contains... number name available

Column numeric, text, or date/time data

C + a number, as in C1 or C22

'Sales' or 'Year'

4000

Constant a single number or a text string (e.g., "New York")

K + a number, as in K1 or K93

'First' or 'Counter'

1000

Matrix a rectangular block of cells containing numbers

M + a number, as in M1 or M44

'Inverse' 100

Notes • Constant Three stored constants have default values (you can change them if you wish):

K998 = ∗ (missing), K999 = 2.71828 (e), and K1000 = 3.14159 (pi)

• Matrix See Matrices for a list of matrix functions.

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Columns, constants, and matrices are all • affected by menu and session commands

• named with the session command NAME−though columns can also be named in the Data window

• saved to a file when you choose File > Save Worksheet • summarized in the Worksheets folder

Using Numeric Data Numeric data consist of number characters (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10) and ∗, the missing value symbol (see Missing Values). The number can have positive and negative signs (+ and −) and can contain a decimal separator. If you are entering data in exponential (scientific) notation, numeric values also contain the letter E, as in 3.2E12 (see Exponential notation below). If a column or constant contains any character other than numbers, an ∗, or a currency symbol that Minitab recognizes, the entire column is formatted as text (see Using Text Data).

Very large or very small numbers In the worksheet, you may store negative or positive numbers up to +1 x 1018 (one million times one million times one million). Minitab converts any number which exceeds this limit to missing, and prints an error message indicating that this has been done. In the (unlikely) event that you have data which exceed this limit, rescale the data before entering it into Minitab. Very large or very small numbers can be entered and displayed in exponential notation (below).

Exponential notation Numbers can be entered in the Data window using decimal notation or exponential notation (also called scientific notation). The Data window can display numeric columns in decimal or exponential notation. The way you enter a number does not affect its display; the display is set by the column's format. For instructions on typing data in exponential notation, see To enter a number in exponential notation. By default, Minitab automatically changes the format of columns based on their contents. When the contents change, the format may change. For example, if a column contains a number that is very large or very small, Minitab changes the column format to use exponential notation, and all numbers will appear in that format. As long as the column contains that very small or large number, the column's format will be exponential. When that extreme number is removed, the column's format will switch back to decimal notation.

You can turn off automatic formatting and set the format of the column to use decimal or exponential notation−see To change column format to exponential.

Numerical precision Minitab stores and computes numbers in double precision, which means that numbers can have up to 15 or 16 digits (depending on the number) without round-off error. Round-off error is an unavoidable problem that can occur with any computer program. Every computer operates in binary code−strings of zeros and ones−and so must convert decimal numbers to binary numbers. When the conversion is not exact, you get round-off error. The error may or may not be significant, depending on the number of significant digits in your data and the types of computations you are doing.

Using Text Data Text data is often used to specify the levels of a categorical variables. For example, a column containing the gender of a participant in an experiment may use the text values "Male" and "Female" for the two levels of gender. Most commands where it makes sense handle text data. Rules for text data are:

• Values can be up to 80 characters long

• Values use any characters (letters, numbers, punctuation marks, blanks)

• You can store text data in columns and stored constants, but not matrices. See Using Text Data in Stored Constants. When you want to use text data in a function in which only numeric data are supported, choose Data > Code > Text to Numeric to convert the text values into numeric values. For example, if you have a column containing the gender of a participant in an experiment that has the values "Male" and "Female," you can convert all the values in the column to 1 and 2 respectively and store the results in another column.

Tip See When You Might Use the Different Code Commands.

Data Window


Using Text Data in Stored Constants • You cannot use a stored constant in a dialog box item which accepts a text string. Minitab will assume the constant

(number or name, depending on what you type) is the text string, rather than the content of the stored content. For example, if K1 contains the text string "Graph Title" and you enter K1 in Title under the label options for Graph > Scatterplot, Minitab will display "K1" as the title of your graph.

• You can use a text stored constant in all session commands that accept a text string, with two exceptions. You cannot use a text stored constant as

− a file name in CD or TYPE

− a column name in the NAME command. See the individual commands in Session Command Help for details.

• You may use text constants in a local macro. For details, see Session Command Help.

To store a text value in a constant 1 Choose Calc > Calculator. 2 In the Store result in variable text box, enter the name of the stored constant (for example, K1). 3 In the Expression text box, type the text value, enclosed in double quotes (for example, "Green"). For more details on using the Calculator, see Calculator.

Using Date/Time Data Although date/time variables appear in date/time format in the Data window, they are stored internally as numbers. Thus they can be used in any calculation or statistical procedure that accepts numbers. The internal number consists of an integer and a fraction: the integer represents the number of days since December 30, 1899; the fraction represents the fraction of the day completed. For example, the date/time value January 1, 1990 6:00 AM is stored internally as the number 32874.25 since there are 32874 days since December 30, 1899, and 6:00 AM is one quarter of a day. December 30, 1899, 12 midnight is stored as 0. Dates and times before that date and time are negative numbers. For example, December 29, 1899 12 midnight is −1. Valid date/time values range from January 1, 1000 A.D. to December 31, 4000. Calculations are always based on the internal number of the date/time variable. Some commands will display results in the Session and Graph windows as a number, and not as a formatted date/time value. Date/time values that are stored in constants display as numbers. Some commands will give you unexpected results when using date/time data. For example, consider an analysis of variance with a date/time variable as a factor. Two values in the date column, 1/1/99 and 1/1/99, may appear in the Data window to be the same value because the column is formatted to display just the date portion. But the two values may have different time portions (for example, 10:30 PM and 8:20 AM) and therefore have different internal numbers. The analysis of variance will treat each value as a different factor level.


Just as with numeric and text data, date/time data can be entered, imported, exported, and converted to another data type. Here are some other date/time functions you can perform: Format Date/Time Data in the Data Window Use Date/Time Data on Graphs Use Date/Time Data in Analyses Manipulate and Calculate with Date/Time Data

Format Date/Time Data in the Data Window You can change the format of a date/time column in the Data window to display the information you want. For example, you can change 1/31/97 to 1-31-1997 or 31-Jan-1997. For details, see Formatting Columns and Changing Data Types.


Windows and Files


Date/Time Formats Affect How Output is Displayed The variable's format in the Data window will be used when results are displayed on graphs and in Session window output. In the Session window, only the first eight characters are displayed.

Tip For less cluttered results on graphs, or for more coherent labels on Session window output, format the date/time column to show only the most significant information. For example, 01/31/1999 would display as 01/31/19 in the Session window. Instead, you could format the column to display 1/31 or 1/99.

To format a column with a default or previously-defined format 1 Select one or more columns. The columns must be empty (unformatted) or already in a date/time format. 2 Choose Editor > Format Column > Date/Time. 3 From the Current Date/Time Formats box, select a format.


Data with Currency Symbols Minitab does not display currency symbols in worksheets except in a column previously formatted as text. However, if you enter a value into a blank worksheet column that begins with a currency symbol ($), or import currency data into Minitab from another application, MInitab formats the column as numeric and removes the currency symbols. You can import currency data into Minitab using File > Open Worksheet, DDE, ODBC, or with copy/paste.

Currency symbols recognized by Minitab Minitab recognizes the currency symbols selected in the Currency tab of the Windows Control Panel Regional Options. By default, Minitab also recognizes currency symbols from the following regions:

• European Union (Euro)

• United Kingdom (Pound)

• United States (Dollar)

• Korea (Won)

• Japan (Yen)

Positive and negative currency values For positive currency values, Minitab defaults to the settings in the Currency tab of the Windows Control Panel Regional Options. Positive currency values either imported, pasted, or typed into Minitab that do not follow these settings are formatted as text.

If regional options for positive values are...

And the data are in the form...

Minitab imports the data as...

$1.25 $1.25 Numeric 1.25$ $1.25 Text

For negative values, Minitab defaults to the settings in the Windows Regional Options, and also accepts the negative values of − or ( ), but not both (-$1.25). Negative currency values either imported, pasted, or typed into Minitab that do not follow these settings are formatted as text. In addition, Minitab cannot recognize Microsoft Excel's red negative value symbol $1.25, and imports values using this symbol as positive.

If regional options for negative values are...

And the data are in the form...

Minitab imports the data as...

($1.25) ($1.25) Numeric (1.25$) ($1.25) Text

If a negative value is... Data are imported as... ($1.25) Numeric and negative -$1.25 Numeric and negative (-$1.25) Text 1.25 Numeric and positive (1.25) Numeric and negative

Data Window


Date/Time Data Date/Time Format Components The following are valid components of date/time formats:

Format Components

Displays... Example

m month as a number without leading zero (1−12) 1 = January, 2 = February, etc.

1, 2, ...

mm month as a number with leading zero (01−12) 01, 02, ...

mmm month as a three-letter name Jan, Feb, ... mmmm month as an unabbreviated name January, February d day of month as a number without leading zero (1−31) 1, 2, ...

dd day of month as a number with leading zero (01−31) 01, 02, ...

yy year as a two-digit number 99, 00, ... yyyy year as a four-digit number 1999, 2000, ... h hour without leading zero (0−23) 7, 8, ...

hh hour with leading zero (00−23) 07, 08, ... mm minute with leading zero (00−59)

Can only be used if hour (hh) is specified. 08:01, 08:02, ...

ss second with leading zero (00−59) Can only be used if minute (:mm) is specified.

08:01:01 08:01:02 ...

ss hundredths of a second with leading zero (00−99) Can only be used if seconds (:ss) is specified.

08:01:01.01 08:01:01.02 ...

AM/PM the hour using 12-hour time Can only be used if time is specified.

08:01 AM 08:01:01.02 PM

A/P am/pm a/p

Qq quarter as "Q" and a number (1−4) Q1 = January 1−March 31 Q2 = April 1−June 30 Q3 = July 1 −September 30 Q4 = October 1−December 31 "Q" is punctuation that must always come between a year number and the quarter number.

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

qQ quarter as a number (1−4) and quarter as "Q" 1Q, 2Q, 3Q, 4Q Wkw week as "Wk" and a week number without leading zero

(1−54) Wk1 = January 1 to the first Sunday in January. Wk2 = Sunday to Saturday, and so on. Wk53 = From the last Sunday in December to January 1. Because the first day of the year does not always fall on the same day of the week, in most cases neither weeks 1 nor 53 will be a full seven days. However, you'll notice that Minitab accepts values from 1-54. This is because every 28 years when January 1 of a leap year falls on a Sunday, week 1 and 54 are each one day. "Wk" is punctuation that must always come between a year number and the week number.

Wk1, Wk2, ...

Wkww week as "Wk" and a week number with leading zero (01−54)

Wk01, Wk02, ...

wWk week as a week number without leading zero (1−54) and week as "Wk"

1Wk, 2Wk, ...

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wwWk week as a week number with leading zero (01−54) and week as "Wk"

01Wk, 02Wk, ...


Default Date/Time Formats

Format Description Example

m/d/yy American date 1/5/99

d-mmm-yy International date 5-Jan-99

mmm-yy Month and year Jan-99

h:mm:ss.ss 24-hour time (military time) 23:10:14.22

h:mm:ss.ss AM/PM 12-hour time 11:10:14.22 PM

Default date (not time) components can be separated by (/), (-), or (.). All components must be separated by the same symbol. For example, 1/1/99 is valid; 1/1-99 is invalid. Default 12-hour time components can be AM/PM, am/pm, A/P, or a/p. Minitab will also recognize values that have formats that are variations of the above default formats. Some of the date/time components (such as "d" or "m") can be substituted for their longer forms ("dd" or "mm").

Any can be substituted with

d dd

m mm (month, not minutes)

yy yyyy

mmm mmmm

h hh

For example, MINITAB will recognize values in the default format of m/d/yy (such as 1/1/98) but will also recognize mm/d/yy (01/1/98) and m/d/yyyy (1/1/1998). MINITAB will recognize d-mmm-yy (1-Jan-98) but will also recognize d-mmmm-yy (1-January-98).

Note If Windows regional settings are changed, Minitab will automatically update its default date/time settings to reflect the change. Minitab will retain any original default date/time settings unless an ambiguity could be created. For instance, if the regional settings change to d.m.yy, Minitab will remove m/d/yy from the list of default date/time settings.

Creating a Custom Date/Time Format You can combine date/time components to build custom date/time formats. A format can consist of a date part, a time part, or both. Custom formats are saved when you exit Minitab. You can also select a previously defined format from the Current Date/Time Formats list box, then edit it in the New format text box.

Rules for Defining Formats Rules for... Defining Day/Month/Year Date Formats Defining Quarter and Week Formats Defining Time Formats Combining Dates and Times in One Format

Data Window


Rules for Defining Day/Month/Year Date Formats • Specify one or more of the following, in any order: day, month, year.

• Separate components with (/), (−), or (.). All components must be separated by the same symbol. For example, 1/1/99 is valid; 1/1-99 is invalid.

• A format consisting of only "mm" will be assumed to be months, not minutes.

If day/month/year components are missing Minitab always internally stores a full date which includes a month, day, and year component. When you enter a value in a column, and the column's date format does not include one of the components, Minitab assumes the following:

If format is missing this component Minitab assumes...

day the first day of the month

month the current month

year the current year

Implicit Century Minitab interprets two digit years as follows:

• 00 to 29 as 20xx (for example, 1/1/20 would be interpreted as 2020).

• 30 to 99 as 19xx (for example, 1/1/56 would be interpreted as 1956).

Rules for Defining Quarter and Week Formats • Quarter (Qq) and week (Wkw) components can only be used in combination with year components−not with day,

month, or time components. Quarters and weeks cannot be used together.

• The "Q" and "Wk" are punctuation that must always come between the year number and the quarter/week number; for example, yyQq and wWkyy are valid, but yyqQ and Wkwyy are invalid.

If quarter or week components are missing Minitab always internally stores a full date which includes a month, day, and year component. When you enter a quarter or week value in a column, you cannot specify a day or month, and year components are optional. When components are missing, Minitab assumes the following:

If format is

Minitab assumes... For example, when

you type...

Minitab stores

Qq the first day of the quarter, the first month in the quarter, and the current year

Q1 January 1st of the current year

Wkw the first day of the week, the month that the week falls in, and the current year

Wk1 January 1st of the current year

To define a date/time format 1 Select one or more columns. The columns must be empty (unformatted) or already in a date/time format. 2 Choose Editor > Format Column > Date/Time. 3 In the New format text box, type a new format using the date/time components and following the rules for defining

components. Click OK.

Rules for Defining Time Formats • Specify one or more of the following, in this order: hour, minute, second, and hundredth of a second. Larger time unit

components must appear to the left of smaller time unit components. For example, hh:mm is valid, but mm:hh is invalid.

• Components must be contiguous: hours next to minutes, minutes next to hours or seconds, etc. For example, hh:mm and mm:ss are valid, but hh:ss is invalid.

• Components are always separated as follows: hh:mm:ss.ss AM/PM Notice that a period must separate seconds from hundredths of seconds, and a space must precede AM/PM.

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• A format consisting of only "mm" will be assumed to be months, not minutes.

• A format consisting of only "ss" will be assumed to be seconds, not hundredths of seconds.

Combining Dates and Times in One Format • The date part must always appear first.

• A space must separate the date part from the time part.

Deleting a Date/Time Format 1 Select an empty column. 2 Choose Editor > Format Column > Date/Time. 3 Select a format from the Current Date/Time Formats scroll list. 4 Click Delete. 5 Click Cancel.

Note You can only delete default formats for the length of your session; when you restart Minitab, the default formats will be back again.

Use Date/Time Data on Graphs Place labels on control charts and time series plots Place date/time labels on the x-axis with quality control charts and Time Series Plot. For details, see quality control charts graphics options for control charts and Time Series Plot. Use a date/time variable on the x and/or y axis for a plot See the Scatterplot command. Make a chart, histogram, and boxplot on a date/time column For general details on creating these graphs, see Bar Charts, Histograms, and the Boxplots command. Use a date/time variable as a categorical variable Any graph that can use a categorical variable can use a date/time variable. For example, you could do a chart or boxplot with a date/time variable as a categorical variable.


Use Date/Time Data in Analyses Use a date/time variable in any analyses that use categorical variables For example, date/time data could be used in analysis of variance, cross tabulation, or descriptive statistics. Use a date/time variable in analyses that use continuous data In cases where date/time data are considered continuous, the Session window output displays the internal number of the date/time value, not the Data window format.


Manipulate and Calculate with Date/Time Data • Subset your data based on a date/time variable See Subset Worksheet (Data menu).

• Extract components of a date/time variable Use Data > Extract from Date/Time > To Numeric or Data > Extract from Date/Time > To Text to take a portion of a date/time variable and store it in another column. For example, perform an analysis by month by extracting the month name of each date/time value−"Feb" from 2/3/95 and 2/15/99, "Mar" from 3/5/95 and 3/24/99, etc.

• Create mathematical expressions with special date/time functions Use Calc > Calculator to return the current date or time, or to evaluate an expression that involves a date/time value.

• Create a column of patterned date/time data Use Autofill or Calc > Make Patterned Data > Date/Time Values.

Data Window


Formatting Columns Formatting Columns There are three data types: numeric, text, and date/time (for more discussion of these types, see Data Overview). If a column contains data, the column must be one of those three types. Once a column has a data type, you can specify format characteristics for that column. For example, a numeric column can be set to display two decimal places or three. If a column is empty, you can begin typing and Minitab will automatically assign a data type and format based on the characters you type into that first cell. You can also assign data types and formats to empty columns, and any data you enter in that column will display in the format you choose. You can change a column's data type. When you change the data type of a column that contains data, that data is converted from one type to another. For example, when you convert a numeric column to a text column, a number (such as 1.23) becomes a text string ("1.23"). Text strings cannot be analyzed in most statistical procedures. Once a column has a data type, Minitab can automatically assign a format, or you can assign a specific format. By default, Minitab automatically changes the format of columns based on their contents. When the contents change, the format may change. For example, say that you have a column of numbers that all have one digit after the decimal (as in 3.2, 4.3, 5.4). If you type a number with four significant digits after the decimal (as in 1.1234), Minitab changes the column format to use four decimal places, and all numbers will appear in that format (3.2 will appear as 3.2000). When that four-digit number is removed, the column's format will switch back to a single decimal place. If you like, you could then set the column to always display four digits after the decimal. Date/time columns have additional formatting issues, which are covered in Formatting Date/Time Columns.

Note When you modify the format characteristics of a column, you are only changing the way that column is displayed in the Data window−you are not modifying the underlying value. For example, if the number in a cell is 1.2345678 and you change the format to display only two decimals, all calculations will still use 1.2345678.

To change column format to exponential 1 Click in the column you want to format. 2 Choose Editor > Format Column > Numeric. 3 Choose Exponential. 4 In Number of decimal places, type the number of decimal places you want to display before the E, then click OK.

For example, you could display 3.2E3 (one decimal place) or 3.20E3 (two decimal places).

To change the data type of a non-empty column 1 Click in the column you want to change and choose Data > Change Data Type. 2 Choose the conversion type you want. 3 Complete the dialog box and click OK.

To change the number of decimals displayed in a numeric column 1 Click in the column you want to format. 2 Choose Editor > Format Column > Numeric. 3 Choose Fixed. 4 In Number of decimal places, type the number of decimals and click OK.

To format an empty column 1 Click in the column you want to format and choose Editor > Format Column. 2 Choose Numeric, Text, or Date/Time. 3 Complete the dialog box (for Numeric or Date/Time) to your specifications and click OK.

Windows and Files


Generating Patterned Data with Autofill Generating Patterned Data Overview The commands for generating patterned data fill columns with patterned data. You can easily fill columns with numbers, text, or date/time values that follow a pattern, such as:

• 1 through 100

• five sets of 1, 2, and 3

• 1/1/97, 1/2/97, 1/3/97, ...

• yes, no, maybe, ... This is very useful for entering factor levels for analysis of variance designs. With numbers and date/time values, the patterns can be equally spaced, such as 10 20 30, or 12:00 AM, 6:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 6:00 PM. You can also specify patterns that are not equally spaced, such as 10 20 50, or 6:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM, 4:00 PM. Minitab gives you several methods of creating patterned data:

• Autofill fills user-defined columns with equal or unequally spaced patterns of numbers, text, or dates/times, based on already existing data. Autofill is the quickest, easiest, and most interactive method of creating patterned data. You also can define a custom text list so that you can Autofill cells with a predefined series of text values.

• Clipboard Replication fills large groups of cells with patterned data using the Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste commands by allowing users to copy a section of data (for example, 1, 2, 3, ...) and paste repeating blocks of the copied data over a larger area of cells.

• Make Patterned Data fills a column with equal or unequally spaced patterns of numbers, text, or dates/times. The Make Patterned Data command is not as easy to use as the Autofill command, but it does allow you to more easily create large data sets with repeated values.

• Make Indicator Variables creates indicator or dummy variables, which are typically used for regression analysis.

Creating Patterned Data with Autofill You can easily create a variety of different data patterns with Autofill. By highlighting existing data cells and clicking and dragging with the mouse, you can:

• fill cells with a pattern of values (1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, ... )

• fill cells with a series of values (1, 2, 3, ... , 100)

• delete values in cells Autofill's functionality changes depending on the number of data cells selected, the type of data present, and whether or not the [Ctrl] key is active. In all cases, multiple columns can be selected, although differences in data type between columns can affect how Autofill behaves.

To Autofill cells 1 Highlight one or more cells in

one or more columns. 2 Place the mouse cursor over

the Autofill handle in the lower-right corner of the highlighted cells. When the mouse is over the handle, a cross symbol (+) will appear. For some tasks, you can hold [Ctrl] down to change the way Autofill operates. When you hold [Ctrl] down, a superscript cross will appear above the Autofill cross symbol (++). For details on Autofill functionality, see To create patterned data with Autofill.

Autofill handle

Data Window


3 Left click and drag outside the highlighted cells to create patterned data, and inside the selection to delete cells (if more than one cell is highlighted).

Note When Autofill is activated, Minitab's status bar provides feedback on Autofill's current operation.

For details on Autofill functionality, see To create patterned data with Autofill. You also can use Define Custom Lists to create a user defined pattern for text data if you want to generate a series of text values with Autofill.

Note Because data in Minitab are column oriented, you can use Autofill to fill one or more columns with patterned data (dragging up or down), but you cannot create patterned data across rows (dragging horizontally).

To create patterned data with Autofill Autofill's functionality changes depending on the number of data cells selected, the type of data present, and whether or not the [Ctrl] key is active. Choose one of the following: To Autofill cells (general behavior) To repeat a single value To create a series of values from a single value To create a series of values based on two or more existing values To create a text series from a custom list To repeat a pattern of values

Note For Autofill functionality that is specific to the data type, see Numeric (Autofill behavior), Date/Time (Autofill behavior), and Text (Autofill behavior).

To Autofill cells (general behavior) 1 Highlight one or more cells in

one or more columns. 2 Place the mouse cursor over

the Autofill handle in the lower-right corner of the highlighted cells. When the mouse is over the handle, a cross symbol (+) will appear. For some tasks, you can hold [Ctrl] down to change the way Autofill operates. When you hold [Ctrl] down, a superscript cross will appear above the Autofill cross symbol (++). For details on Autofill functionality, see To create patterned data with Autofill.

Autofill handle

3 Left click and drag outside the highlighted cells to create patterned data, and inside the selection to delete cells (if more than one cell is highlighted).

Note When Autofill is activated, Minitab's status bar provides feedback on Autofill's current operation.

To repeat a single value For numeric and text data For date/time data For example:

1, 1, 1, ... blue, blue, blue, ... 1/1/99, 1/1/99, 1/1/99, ...

1 Highlight one cell. 2 Drag to fill cells with the

repeated value.

1 Highlight one cell. 2 Press the [Ctrl] key and drag

to fill cells with the repeated value.

Windows and Files


To create a series of values from a single value For numeric data

For date/time data and text data that includes integers

For example: from 1, make 1, 2, 3, ... ,100 from 1/1/99 make 1/1/99, 1/2/99, 1/3/99, ... , 2/3/99 from day1, make day1, day2, ... , day100

1 Highlight one cell. 2 Press the [Ctrl] key. 3 Drag to fill cells with the new

series.

1 Highlight one cell. 2 Drag to fill cells with the new

series.

To create a series of values based on two or more existing values For any data type For example:

5, 10, 15, ... ,100 1/31/98, 2/28/98, 3/31/98, ... 10:30am, 10:33am, 10:36am, ...

1 Highlight two or more cells. 2 Drag to fill cells with a series of

predicted values.

To create a text series from a custom list For any data type For example:

Mon, Tue, Wed, ... , Sun Qtr1, Qtr2, Qtr3, Qtr4 Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, ... , Dec

1 Highlight one or more cells. 2 Drag outside the selection to fill

cells with the next predicted item in a custom list or subset of a custom list.

To repeat a pattern of values For any data type For example:

1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, ... red, green, blue, red, green, blue, ... Jan-99, Feb-99, Jan-99, Feb-99, ...

1 Highlight the cells containing the desired pattern.

2 Press the [Ctrl] key. 3 Drag outside the selection to fill

cells with the repeated pattern.

Numeric (Autofill behavior) If your data is numeric, several behaviors occur when using Autofill to create patterned data. The following chart outlines the behaviors, assuming your cells are filled with numeric data:

Numeric Autofill Behavior

If... Then Autofill... One cell is highlighted repeats the value in subsequent cells One cell is highlighted and the [Ctrl] key is pressed down

adds (drag down) or subtracts (drag up) 1 unit per cell

Date/Time (Autofill behavior) If your data is date/time, several behaviors occur when using Autofill to create patterned data. The following chart outlines the behaviors, assuming your cells are filled with date/time data:

Date/Time Autofill Behavior

If... Then Autofill... One cell containing only date data is highlighted determines the smallest date unit and adds (drag

down) or subtracts (drag up) 1 unit per cell One cell containing only time data is highlighted adds (drag down) or subtracts (drag up) 1 hour per

cell One cell containing both date and time data is highlighted

adds (drag down) or subtracts (drag up) 1 day per cell

Two or more cells are highlighted and the data is monthly For example: 2/28/03, 3/31/03...

adds (drag down) or subtracts (drag up) 1 month per cell

Data Window


Two or more cells are highlighted and the data is yearly For example: 1/2/03 1/2/03...

adds (drag down) or subtracts (drag up) 1 year per cell

Two or more cells are highlighted and the data is not monthly or yearly data

predicts subsequent values based on the selected values Missing values are not included in the prediction

Text (Autofill behavior) If your data is text, several behaviors occur when using Autofill to create patterned data. The following chart outlines the behaviors, assuming your cells are filled with text:

Text Autofill Behavior

If... Then Autofill... Two or more cells containing text with evenly spaced integers are highlighted For example: Day5, Day10

predicts subsequent values based on the selected values

Two or more cells containing text with non-evenly spaced integers are highlighted For example: Day1, Day3, Day10

repeats the pattern in subsequent cells

Two or more cells containing text in a custom list are highlighted

continues the custom list, going forward (drag down) or backwards (drag up) Custom list values that are reversed (for example, Dec, Nov) will be continued in reverse order (Oct, Sep).

Two or more cells containing text in a subset of a custom list are highlighted For example: Jan, Mar, May, Jul

continues the subset of the custom list, going forward (drag down) or backwards (drag up)

Define Custom Lists Editor > Define Custom Lists Use to define your own custom lists of ordered text data for use with the Autofill command. Autofill will automatically recognize and continue custom lists in the order in which they are defined. For example, Strongly Disagree, Disagree, No Opinion, Agree, Strongly Agree. Minitab comes with the following default set of pre-defined custom lists (these cannot be edited or deleted):

• Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, ... , Saturday

• Sun, Mon, Tue, ... , Sat

• January, February, March, ... , December

• Jan, Feb, Mar, ... , Dec

Dialog box items Custom lists: Choose a new list to define or choose an existing list to edit or delete. Define a list (one value per line): Add values in order to a new list or edit or reorder an existing list. <Add List> <Delete List> <Replace List>

Tip To display an entire list, place your mouse over a partially hidden list in Custom lists.

Clipboard Replication With Clipboard replication, you can easily fill large groups of worksheet cells with patterned data by copying a section of data (for example 1, 2, 3... ) and pasting repeating blocks of the copied data over a larger area of cells. Any data type or mix of data types can be copied and used to fill a larger selection of cells.

To use Clipboard replication 1 Highlight one or more cells in a Data window.

Windows and Files


2 Right-click and select Copy Cells. 3 Highlight any number of data cells. 4 Right-click and select Paste Cells. The original pattern of copied data will be repeated throughout the highlighted area.

Note If the paste region is smaller than the copied region, Clipboard replication truncates the data and fills only the paste region.

Session Window


Session Window and Reports Session Window Window > Session The Session window displays the text output generated by your analyses and other work.

• You can edit and format text as you would in a word processor: add comments, cut, copy, and paste, change fonts, or find and replace numbers and text.

• You can save and print Session window text, or combine Session window text and Minitab graphs in ReportPad or a word processor to create complex reports.

• You can display the command language used to create the output, and type Session commands in at the active MTB> prompt. Command language is generated when you use most menus and dialog boxes (called menu commands), and when you type command language directly in the Command Line Editor or the Session window (called session commands. You can intersperse menu commands and session commands, or just use one or the other, as you prefer.

For details on turning these options on, see Disabling and Enabling Commands . For more information on session commands, choose Help > Session Command Help.

Selecting (Highlighting) Text in the Session Window As well as the standard ways to select text in a Windows environment (such as dragging the mouse or using [Shift]+ a navigation key), the Session window offers three other methods that you may find useful:

To Select ... Do This ... all the contents in the Session window Choose Edit > Select All. an entire line or group of lines Drag along the left margin. a rectangle (or column) While holding down <Alt>,

drag the mouse to form a rectangle.

Tip The rectangle selection option is especially useful for copying columnar output to paste into the Data window or a spreadsheet. For details, see To copy Session window output to the Data window.

To copy Session window output to the Data window Sometimes you may want to store some command output in the worksheet when a command does not have an option for storage. For example, Stat > Tables > Cross Tabulation and Chi-Square prints information in the Session window, but doesn't store results in a column, constant, or matrix. 1 Highlight the desired text in the Session window. 2 Choose Edit > Copy or right-click and choose Copy. 3 In the Data window, place your cursor in the cell that is the top left corner of the area you want to paste to. For

example, if you highlighted text in the Session window that is two columns wide and three rows long, place your cursor in a cell that has one blank column to the right and two blank rows below.

4 Choose Edit > Paste. 5 A dialog box appears:

• To paste the data across columns (one value in the first column, one value in the next column, etc.) click the Use Spaces as Delimiters button.

• To paste all the data in one column, click the Paste as a Single Column button.

To print blocks of Session window text 1 Select text in the Session window. 2 Choose File > Print Session Window. 3 Make sure Print range is set to Selection, then click OK.

Windows and Files


To print individual command output from the Project Manager 1 Select one or more command output titles from the Session folder in the Project Manager. 2 Right-click on the selected titles. 3 Select Print.

To print the entire Session window 1 Make the window active. 2 Choose File > Print Session Window and click OK.

Using Session Commands Minitab's functions are accessible through menus as well as through a command language. You can intersperse the two, or just use one or the other, as you prefer. We call these menu commands and session commands. Session commands are a useful alternative to menu commands, especially when making macros to automate repetitive analyses. Most session commands are simple, easy to remember words, like PLOT, SAVE, or SORT. You can type commands in two places:

• the Session window

• the Command Line Editor

To enter commands in the Session window 1 Choose Editor > Enable Commands

2 Type commands at the MTB> prompt in the last line of the Session window.

3 If the command has subcommands, end the command line with a semicolon.

4 Type subcommands at the SUBC> prompt. Put a semicolon (;) after each subcommand. Put a period (.) after the last subcommand.

5 Press [Enter] to execute a command. Use [Ctrl]+[Enter] to insert a blank line.

To enable or disable command language Choose Editor > Enable Commands

• Check the menu item to make the command prompt active and to display all subsequent commands.

• Uncheck the menu item to disable the command prompt in the Session window and hide all subsequent commands.

Note The History folder always stores commands as they are generated, whether command language is enabled or disabled. See History folder.

To change Session window editing modes You can change modes back and forth throughout a session.

• To set the Session window to Editable, choose Editor > Output Editable. If Output Editable is checked, you do not have to do anything.

• To set the Session window to read-only, choose Editor > Output Editable. Output Editable is unchecked, you do not have to do anything.

To enable or disable the session command prompt by default You can save your current setting so that it will be in effect the next time you use Minitab. 1 Choose Tools > Options > Session window > Submitting Commands. 2 Under Command Language, click Disable or Enable. 3 Click OK.

Session Window


Saving the Contents of the Session Window You can save the Session window at any time. If the session has been a long one, however, the Session window may not contain the entire contents of the session, since it can only hold a maximum of 15,000 lines at one time by default. See Session Window Size and Overflow.

To make Session window output editable or read-only by default You can have Minitab start each session in the mode you prefer by doing the following: 1 Choose Tools > Options > Session Window > Output. 2 If you want output to be read-only, check the Output should be Read-Only checkbox. If you want output to be

editable, uncheck it.

To save the Session window at any time 1 With the Session window active, choose File > Save Session Window As. 2 In File name, type a name.

3 Under Save as type, choose Minitab Session (∗.TXT), Rich Text Format (∗.RTF), Web Page (*.HTM, *.HTML), or List File (*.LIS).

4 In Title, type a title to display in the Web page title bar. Available only if you are saving the file as a Web page. 5 Click Save.

Tip If you want to save only a portion of the Session window contents, highlight the text you want, then follow the steps above.

Saving or Discarding Automatically To save automatically You can change your preferences so that when you exit Minitab or overflow the Session window, the session contents are automatically saved to a file called SESSION.TXT. This is a text file, which contains no fonts. 1 Choose Tools > Options > Session Window> Output. 2 Under On Session Window Overflow, choose one of these options:

• Save to file "session.txt" The file SESSION.TXT will be saved in your main Minitab directory (for example, C:\Program Files\Minitab14). You will not be prompted for a file name on exit or when overflow occurs. Minitab then saves the contents to this same file, every session.

• Prompt for file name Minitab will prompt you for a file name to use to save the Session window contents. 3 Click OK.

To change your settings for overwriting or appending to session files When a session file is saved automatically, the new text can overwrite or append to the existing file contents. You control the way the file is saved by changing your Session window settings. 1 Choose Tools > Options > Session Window> Output. 2 Under When Saving on Overflow, choose one of these options:

• Overwrite file contents Minitab will erase the old contents of the file and replace them with the new text. • Append to file contents Minitab will add the new text to the end of the file. Note that if you choose this option in

combination with Save to file "session.txt", over time you may create a very large session file. 3 Click OK, then click Save.

To discard automatically You can change your preferences so that when you end a session or overflow the Session window, Minitab automatically erases the session contents. Minitab will not prompt you or warn you that the contents are being erased. 1 Choose Tools > Options > Session Window> Output. 2 Under On Session Window Overflow, choose Discard contents. 3 Click OK, then click Save.

Windows and Files


Session window size and overflow To conserve your system's memory resources, only so much text is kept in the Session window. The default is 15,000 lines. When the Session window reaches that maximum number of lines, the contents are said to "overflow." You can set the number of lines the Session window contains, up to the maximum of 60,000 lines (See To change the text limit on the Session window. ). You can also choose how Minitab should respond when the Session window overflows.

How Minitab handles overflow by default When the window overflows, by default Minitab will prompt you to save the Session window contents to a file or discard them.

• If you choose to save, the first half of the Session window contents are saved to a file you designate, and then removed from the Session window.

• If you choose discard, half of the contents will be removed from the Session window without being saved. After you choose to save or discard once, Minitab will not prompt you to choose again until you exit Minitab and start again. If the Session window overflows again, contents will either be saved to the same session file or discarded as before. Contents will also be saved as part of your project when you exit Minitab. By default, saved contents are appended to the session file. On overflow, Session window contents are saved in text format, even if the dialog box lists Rich Text Format (RTF) as an option.

Other ways Minitab can handle overflow You can edit your preferences to change how Minitab handles Session window overflow. Instead of prompting you for a file name, Minitab can automatically save the overflow text to a file named SESSION.TXT. You can also choose whether Minitab appends the overflow text to the session file you are saving to (whether that file is SESSION.TXT or a file name you choose when prompted), or overwrites the text in that session file. Finally, you can choose for Minitab to automatically discard the overflow text (See Saving or Discarding Automatically). The overflow is not saved, and you continue working with the remaining contents of the Session window.

To change the text limit on the Session window If you are having performance or memory problems with your system, you may want to reduce the number of lines. 1 Choose Tools > Options > Session Window > Output. 2 In Number of Lines, type the desired number of lines. You can choose from 1,000 to 60,000 lines. 3 Click OK.

Using Fonts in the Session Window Each line in the Session window has one font associated with it. Thus an entire line is always in one font. There are three types of lines: Input/Output (I/O), Title, and Comment. You can customize the font used by each line to be any font of any size that is available on your system. For example, your Title Font could 14-point Garamond Bold and your Comment Font could be 12-point Zapf Chancery Italic. You can also apply a font style to existing text in the Session window, regardless of its default font. For example, you could highlight several lines of regression output and apply the Comment Font. For more information, see To apply font styles to existing text. Here are descriptions of the three font styles and when they are used by the Session window:

• I/O Font Commands you type and output generated by commands is put in the I/O font. This font is always a monospaced font, such as Courier. In monospaced fonts, all characters have the same width, so tabular and columnar output line up evenly. When you change the I/O font, the font dialog box only displays the monospaced fonts that are available on your system.

• Title Font Most commands that generate output in the Session window also generate a title for the output. Minitab automatically puts the title in Title Font.

• Comment Font If you have set your Session window output to Editable, you can place your cursor anywhere in the Session window and type text. If you start typing on a blank line, Minitab automatically applies the Comment Font to what you type. If

Session Window


you are typing on a line that already contains text, Minitab applies the font already in use on that line. If the Session window output is set to read-only, you can still apply the Comment Font to text. For more information on output settings, see Making Output Editable or Read-Only.

To change your default Session window font options The I/O, Title, and Comment Font settings that you select with Editor > Apply Font stay in effect only during the current session; when you exit and start Minitab again, the Session window fonts will return to their default settings. To save your current Session window font selections for future sessions, do the following: 1 Choose Tools > Options >Session Window. 2 Choose I/O Font, Title Font, or Comment Font. 3 Adjust the font, style, or size and click OK.

Creating Reports in a Word Processor When it is time to present the results of your analyses, you may want to create a report in a word processor, such as WordPerfect or Microsoft Word. Word processors allow you more flexibility and formatting options than Minitab's Session window or ReportPad folder. You can copy and paste Session window output or graphs into a word processor or, if you have already created a report in the ReportPad folder, you can copy or move the entire contents of the ReportPad folder to a word processor with one command. To copy the contents of the ReportPad folder to a word processor 1 Make sure the word processor application and Minitab are running. 2 Right-click on the ReportPad folder. 3 Choose Copy to Word Processor.

To create a report using copy and paste 1 Make sure the word processor application and Minitab are running. 2 In the Session window, select the text you want. See Selecting Text. 3 Copy the text using Edit > Copy . 4 In the word processor, choose the paste command (usually Edit > Paste).

The fonts will appear in the word processor just as they do in the Session window. 5 Copy and paste any graphs by following these three steps:

• Right-click on the graph and choose Copy Graph. • Choose Edit > Copy Graph. • In the word processor, choose the paste command (usually Edit > Paste). Depending on the word processor you are using, the graph will be pasted as an OLE object, a metafile drawing, or a bitmap. For details, see Copying and Pasting Graphs.

To create a report with text and graph files 1 In the Session window, select the text you want. See Selecting Text. 2 Save the selection as a Rich Text Format (RTF) file. See To save the Session window at any time. 3 Save any graphs in a file format that is understood by your application.

• With the Graph window active, choose File > Save Graph As. • Under Save as type, choose an appropriate file type.

Most Windows word processors can import Windows bitmap (BMP) files. Macintosh word processors can import Tagged Image Format (TIFF or TIF) files.

• In File name, enter a name. Click Save. 4 In the word processor, import the text and graphics files. See your application's documentation for details.

Tip Use your word processor's tables feature to place text and graphs side-by-side. Create a table with one row and two columns. Place the Session window text in the one column and the graph in other. Or, create more complex tables, placing text and graphs wherever you like.

Windows and Files


Creating Reports for the World Wide Web You can save Minitab's Session window output, ReportPad folder contents, and worksheets as web page (*.htm, *.html) files for use on the World Wide Web.

• For information on saving part or all of the Session window in web page (*.htm, *.html) format see File > Save Session Window.

• For information on saving part or all of a worksheet in web page (*.htm, *.html) format see Saving a worksheet as a web page.

• For information on saving the ReportPad folder contents in web page (*.htm, *.html) format see Creating Reports in ReportPad.

Interrupting Commands or Macros To interrupt the display of output from a command or the execution of a macro, press [Ctrl]+[Break]. In a macro, Minitab finishes executing the current command, then exits the macro. Display of output is halted as soon as possible.

Project Manager


Project Manager Project Manager The Project Manager contains folders that allow you to navigate, view, and manipulate various parts of your project. By right-clicking on either the folders or the folder contents, you can access a variety of menus that allow you to manage Session window output, graphs, worksheets, command language, and related project areas.

Folder Contains Use to...

Session folder

a list of

• all Session window output by command

• all graphs

manage Session window output. For instance:

• jump to Session window output

• copy, delete, rename, or print Session window output or graphs

• append Session window output or graphs to the ReportPad

History folder

all the commands you have used

• repeat complex command sequences

• use commands to create macros

Graph folder

Graph folder

manage your graphs. For instance:

• arrange, rename, title, or remove your graphs

• append graphs to the ReportPad

ReportPad folder

the ReportPad basic word processing tool

• create, arrange, or edit reports of project work

• move ReportPad contents to a more powerful word processing program for further editing and layout

Related Documents folder

a list of program files, documents, or internet URLs that are related to your Minitab project

quickly access project-related, non-Minitab files for easy reference

Worksheet folder

The Columns, Constants, Matrices, and Design subfolders for each open worksheet

view summaries of worksheet information, including:

• column counts, missing values, column descriptions

• constants

• matrices

• design summary

History folder Window > Project Manager, then click on History folder The History folder displays all session commands, without the output. This folder provides a convenient overview of what you have done in your session. If you use the Data window to change the worksheet, a note is generated in the History folder. You cannot change the contents of the History folder.

Windows and Files


Here are some useful things to do with the History folder:

• Select command(s) in the History folder, then open the Command Line Editor. The command(s) you selected will automatically appear in the Command Line Editor, where you can quickly re-execute them.

• Create a Minitab macro for repeating an analysis by first working through the steps using the menus and dialog boxes, then copying the resulting session commands from the History folder, pasting into a word processor. See Creating a Simple Macro in Session Command Help.

To save the contents of the History folder 1 Click on the History folder in the Project Manager. 2 Right-click and choose Save History As.

To print or copy the contents of the History folder You can print or copy the entire folder or just a section. Make the folder active, then do the following:

To print... • the entire folder, right-click and choose Print History

• a block of text, highlight the block of text using [Shift]+ the arrow keys, then right-click and choose Print. The Selection option is already set in the Print dialog box.

To copy... • the entire folder, choose Edit > Select All, then right-click and choose Copy

• a block of text, highlight the block of text using [Shift]+ the arrow keys, then right-click and choose Copy

Creating Reports in ReportPad You can quickly create reports of your data and output in the Project Manager ReportPad folder. All of Minitab's graphs and Session window output can be appended to the ReportPad folder by placing your cursor somewhere on the output you want to append, right clicking on the output, and selecting:

• Append Section to Report (to add sections of the Session window)

• Append Selected Lines to Report (to add lines that you have highlighted in the Session window)

• Append Graph to Report (to add a graph) You can fully edit all output in the ReportPad folder, and you also can add your own text (such as user comments and notes) and titles to the report. You can save the contents of the ReportPad folder as an RTF (rich text format) file that you can import into other applications, or as an HTML file to use as a Web page or in Web-based applications. From the ReportPad folder, you can edit and print the reports, or open and edit them in a word-processing program for enhanced formatting options.

To append graphs and Session window output to the ReportPad folder 1 Do one of the following:

• Right-click on the Graph window you want to append to the ReportPad. • Place the cursor in the Session window section you want to append to the ReportPad and right-click. • In the Session or Graphs folder, highlight the graphs or Session window output titles you want to append to the

ReportPad contents. 2 Choose Append to Report.

Save Report As Right-click on the ReportPad folder and choose Save ReportPad As.

Dialog box items Save in: Choose a folder.

Project Manager


File name: Enter a file name. Save as type: Save as a Rich Text Format (*.RTF) or Web Page (*.HTM, *.HTML) file. Title: Add a title to a web page titlebar.

To save a report file to use in another application 1 Right-click on the ReportPad folder. 2 Choose Save Report As. 3 In File name, type a name. 4 In Save as type, choose Rich Text Format (*.RTF) or Web Page (*.htm; *.html). 5 In Title (Web page only), type a title to display in the Web page title bar. 6 Click Save.

Note To save just a section of the ReportPad, highlight that portion before saving.

Copy/Move to Word Processor Right-click on the ReportPad folder and choose Copy to Word Processor or Move to Word Processor. Copy or move the content of the ReporPad folder to a word processing program. You must have a word processing program open to use Copy to Word Processor or Move to Word Processor. Copy to Word Processor automatically copies the content of the ReportPad folder to an open word processing program and leaves the content of the ReportPad intact. Move to Word Processor automatically moves the content of the ReportPad folder to an open word processing program, removing the contents of the ReportPad folder.

Dialog box items Save in: Choose a folder. File name: Enter a file name. Save as type: The only file type you can choose is Rich Text Format (.rtf). Save: When you save your file, the contents of the ReportPad will be copied or moved to an open word processing program.

Related Documents - Add Link Window > Project Manager, right−click on the Related Documents folder > Add Link Add links to non-Minitab files or web page internet addresses that are related to your Minitab project for easy reference. You also can add a description for your related documents.

Dialog box items File or web page name: Enter a path to a file or a web page internet address. Description: Enter text here.

Related Documents - Link to File ... > Add Link > Browse for File Browse for non-Minitab files to add to your Related Documents folder.

Dialog box items Look in: Choose a drive and folder to look in. File name: Enter a file name. File of type: Pick from the list of file types that Minitab can open. Open: Click to add a file to the Related Documents folder.

Windows and Files


Worksheets folder and subfolders Window > Project Manager, then click on the Worksheet folder The Worksheet folders and their subfolders (Columns, Constants, and Matrices) contain an automatically updated summary of the current worksheet: columns, stored constants, and matrices. They are especially useful to help you keep track of variables if you have a large worksheet. The Worksheet folders' subfolders provide the following information:

Constants, matrices, and design summaries are each displayed in their own separate subfolders within the Worksheet folder.

Note Clicking on a worksheet folder or its contents makes that worksheet the active worksheet in Minitab. If you are in the middle of a command sequence, clicking on a worksheet folder will not make a worksheet active.

Columns For each column containing data, the Columns subfolder displays the column name, column ID, number of rows, number of missing values, column type, and column description. A T under Type marks text columns, a D under Type marks date/time data, and an N under Type marks numeric data. For example:

Name Id Count Missing Type Description Farmers C1 24 0 T Variety C2 4 0 N Field C3 24 0 N Test Date C4 24 2 D

Constants For each constant containing data, the constant name, the constant ID, the value of the constant, and the description of the constant. For example:

Name Id Value Description ***Unnamed*** K1 3.5 YldMean K2 2.95542

There is one exception: By default, Minitab assigns the values of missing, e, and pi to the last three stored constants: K998 = ∗; K999 = 2.71828; and K1000 = 3.14159. To reduce clutter, Minitab does not list these constants in the Constants subfolder.

Matrices For each matrix, the matrix name, the matrix Id, the number of rows in the matrix, the number of columns in the matrix, and the matrix description. For example:

Name Id Rows Columns Description Xmat1 M1 20 10

Designs The Design subfolder displays Factors, Runs, Blocks, Base Design, Replicates, and Center points, as well as the display order and display units, and the factors and their uncoded levels.

Note Constants and matrices are named with the NAME session command or by entering a name in the Name column in the Project Manager.

Project Manager


Project Manager - Set Description - Column Right click on a Column in the Columns subfolder, choose Set Description. Description for___: Enter text here.

Project Manager - Set Description - Constant Right click on a Constant in the Constants subfolder, choose Set Description. Description for___: Enter text here.

Project Manager - Set Description - Matrix Right click on a Matrix in the Matrices subfolder, choose Set Description. Description for___: Enter text here.

Window Menu


Window Menu Window Menu Cascade - arranges all open Minitab windows so that they overlap with each title bar visible (if possible) Tile - arranges all open Minitab windows so they fit next to each other on the desktop and do not overlap (if possible) Minimize All - reduces all open windows to icons and places them at the bottom of the screen Restore Icons - opens all icons into windows, sized as they were when last reduced to icons within the session Arrange Icons - arranges icons along the bottom of the Minitab window Refresh - redraws the graph in the active window Close All Graphs - closes all Graph windows Update All Graphs Now - updates all Graph windows Session [Ctrl]+[M] - switches you to the Session window, where you can enter session commands and/or view analysis results Project Manager - switches you to the Project Manager window, where you can manage windows, graphs, worksheets, related documents, and project information. Worksheets and Graphs - all open Graph and Data windows are listed at the bottom of the Window menu. Click on any window name to activate the window and bring it to the front of Minitab. See Multiple Graph Windows Limit for important information on graphs.

Working with Windows Using the Keyboard To switch between Minitab windows, press [Ctrl]+[F6] to switch to the next window, or Session window [Ctrl]+[M] Data window [Ctrl]+[D] (pressing multiple times cycles through all open Data windows) Project Manager [Ctrl]+[I] For a list of available default shortcut keys, see Shortcut Keys. For a map of all currently assigned shortcut keys, including custom user-assigned keys, see Help > Keyboard Map. To assign custom shortcut key, or to delete a Minitab default shortcut key assignment, see Tools > Customize > Keyboard.

Refresh Window > Refresh Refreshes (redraws) the active window. This can be useful in some (rare) instances where a window has not been updated for some time and you want to make sure the window shows the current contents.

Close All Graphs Window > Close All Graphs Allows you to delete all high-resolution Graph windows. Minitab can retain at most 200 Graph windows at a time. Ordinarily, Minitab discards older Graph windows as necessary to avoid exceeding this limit. Use Tools > Options > Graphics > Graph Management to set how many graphs Minitab can have open at once (maximum 200, default is 100) and to set Minitab to prompt you to save unsaved graphs or graphs you have edited. The number of graphs that can be open before you are prompted with the message depends on the limit set in the graphics options. If the number of Graph windows produced by a single command or a single Minitab macro file exceeds the options setting, then Minitab pauses to allow you to view, save, print, and discard Graph windows before continuing. You can use this command when Minitab pauses in this manner. Close a single graph window as you would any other window on your operating system.

Cascade Window > Cascade Arranges all open Minitab windows so that they overlap with each title bar visible (if possible).

Windows and Files


Tile Window > Tile Arranges all open Minitab windows so they fit next to each other on the desktop and do not overlap (if possible). Occasionally, some Minitab windows overlap due to a minimum size requirement.

Minimize All Window > Minimize All Reduces all open windows to icons and places them at the bottom of the screen. Functions like a minimize button which is found at the right of the title bar.

Restore Icons Window > Restore Icons Opens all icons into windows, sized as they were when last reduced to icons within the session.

Arrange Icons Window > Arrange Icons Arranges icons along the bottom of the Minitab window.

Opening, Importing, Saving, and Printing Files


Opening, Importing, Saving, and Printing Files File Overview Use the file menu to open, close, save, print, or run the various file types that Minitab can use.

Minitab file types that contain data Two of the main file types you will use contain data:

• Projects—contain worksheets, along with Session window output, and graphs

• Worksheets—contain all your data: columns, constants, and matrices You can have multiple worksheets open in one project. When you open a project file, all the worksheets that were inside that project when you last saved are available to you. When you save a project, the worksheets are saved within that project file. You can add worksheets to your project by copying data from a file using File > Open Worksheet. Note that data are copied. That means that when you change the data within a project, you do not affect the original file. You can open a project, change data, and save the project over and over, and the original file will not be affected. You can also save a worksheet as a separate file that can be used in other Minitab projects or other applications. See File > Save Current Worksheet (As). Most of the time, the data files you will bring into your project and save from your project will be Minitab worksheets. Those worksheets may be stand-alone files (files with the extension MTW), or parts of a project (MPJ) file. You can preview a project file to see a list of all the worksheets in the file, and can use File > Open Worksheet to open one or more worksheets from that project to add to your current project.

Non-Minitab file types that contain data You can also open and save data files in the formats of many applications, like Excel and Lotus 1-2-3. See Opening Files from Other Applications. To exchange data with other applications, such as mainframe computer programs, you can open and save text files. Finally, you can exchange data with versions of Minitab on other platforms using Minitab portable worksheets (MTP files). See Exchanging data with other Minitab versions and other computer platforms.

ODBC and special text files Much of the time, you will exchange data with other applications by using Open Worksheet and Save Worksheet. However, there are many software programs that have file types that Minitab does not understand. You may need to get data from large databases, or from applications that can only share data with other programs using plain text. To import data from database files, you can use the File > Query Database (ODBC) command, which imports data using ODBC. ODBC stands for Open DataBase Connectivity, a protocol that is used by many applications. With ODBC, you can import data from a database file, such as one saved by Microsoft Access, Oracle, Sybase, or SAS. You can import the entire database file, or just the subset of data you are interested in. To exchange data with other types of applications, use File > Import Special Text and Export Special Text. Minitab can import text files that are formatted in unusual ways: you tell Minitab how to interpret characters and lines, and the program will place the data correctly. You can also export text files in custom formats, so the other application receives data in the form it can understand.

Note You can also exchange data with applications using Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). DDE allows you to establish a link with the other application. When data in the source program change, the data can be automatically updated in Minitab. DDE has other uses as well. See Overview of DDE.

Non-data file types Other non-data file types in Minitab include files that contain graphical output (MGF), text or web output from the Session window (TXT, LIS, HTM, HTML), ReportPad folder (RTF, HTM, HTML), or History folder (TXT, MTJ), or macro files that contain executable Minitab commands (MAC, MTB). See File types for a complete list.

File Types While working with Minitab, you may use many different types of files. At a minimum, you will probably use Minitab saved worksheet (MTW) files, Minitab graphics (MGF) files, and saved session (TXT) files. Each file type has a default extension (which you can modify if you want to). If you type a file name without an extension, Minitab adds the default extension. For a description of a file type and general information on opening and saving, choose one of the file types below:

Windows and Files


Files that Store Data Minitab project (MPJ) Minitab worksheet (MTW) Minitab 13, 12, 11, or 10 worksheet (MTW) Portable worksheet (MTP) Text file (DAT, TXT) Excel file (XLS) Lotus 1-2-3 files (WK?) Quattro Pro file (WB1, WQ1) dBASE/FoxPro file (DBF) Web Page (HTML)

Files that Store Minitab Output Minitab Project (MPJ) Minitab Graphics Format (MGF) Saved session file (TXT, LIS) Rich text format file (RTF) History file (TXT, MTJ) Web Page (HTML)

Files that Store Macros %Macro file (MAC) Exec file (MTB) STARTUP.MAC STARTUP.MTB

New New File > New You can create a new worksheet or new project.

Dialog box items Minitab Worksheet: Opening a new worksheet adds an empty worksheet to the current project. An empty Data window will appear. Minitab Project: Opening a new project closes the current project. If your current project has been changed since it was last saved, Minitab will prompt you to save all or part of the project before closing it.

To open a new project Closes the current project and opens a new one. 1 Choose File > New. 2 Choose Minitab Project and click OK.

To open a new worksheet Adds an empty worksheet to the current project. An empty Data window will appear. 1 Choose File > New. 2 Choose Minitab Worksheet and click OK.



Open Project Open Project File > Open Project Opening a new project closes the current project. If your current project has been changed since it was last saved, Minitab will prompt you to save all or part of the project before closing it.

Dialog box items Look in: Enter a drive and folder. File name: Enter a file name. Files of type: Choose Minitab Project (MPJ)..

To open a project 1 Choose File > Open Project. 2 Select a directory and file. 3 If you like, use any of the dialog box options, then click Open.

Open Project − Description File > Open Project > Description You can view comments and information stored in the project file project.

Dialog box items Project: The name of the project file. Location: The directory in which the project is located (supplied automatically). If the project has not been saved, Location will show the current directory. Creator: The author or owner of the project (optional). Date(s): The date the project was created. (optional). Comments: Description of the project, commands used to analyze the data, or any other comments (optional).

Project Preview File > Open Project > Preview File > Open Worksheet > select a project file > Preview File > Open Worksheet > select a project file > Open File > Open Graph > select a project file > Open Lists the worksheets and graphs contained in the selected project file. You can preview and see descriptions of worksheet files. When you reach this dialog box through the File > Open Worksheet command, the Available Items list displays only the worksheets contained in the project file. See To preview a worksheet file. When you reach this dialog box through the File > Open Graph command, the Available Items list displays only the graphs contained in the project file.

Dialog box items Available Items: The list of worksheets and graphs.

Previewing Projects and Worksheets Previewing shows you the contents of a file before you open it. The preview dialog box has different capabilities, depending on the type of file you have selected to preview:

• When you select a Minitab project file, previewing shows you which worksheets and graphs are contained in the file. Those worksheets can in turn be previewed. You can also view descriptions for each worksheet. If you are previewing the project file from File > Open Worksheet or File > Open Graph, you can open up to five worksheets or many more graphs from within the project file by selecting them and clicking OK.

• When you select a Minitab worksheet file, previewing shows you the columns of data in that file.

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• When you select a non-Minitab file, previewing shows you how Minitab will interpret the rows and columns. If you want the rows and columns to be interpreted differently, click Options to change how Minitab will read the file.

To preview the contents of a project file 1 To preview the contents of a project, do one of the following:

• Choose File > Open Project.

• Choose File > Open Worksheet or File > Open Graph, then under Files of type, choose Minitab Project. 2 Select a project file and click Preview. 3 If you like, highlight a worksheet in the list and do the following:

• To preview the worksheet, click Preview. See Open Worksheet - Preview.

• To see a description of the worksheet, click Description. See Open Worksheet - Description. If the worksheet does not have a description, the button will be disabled.

4 Click OK.

Close Project Closing Projects In Minitab, a project of one type or another is open at all times. The project may be a new project or a project file that was saved earlier. There is no "Close Project" command. To close a project, you open a new project, open a saved project, or exit Minitab.

Note If you close a project before saving it, Minitab will prompt you to save the project.

To close a project 1 Do any of the following:

• Choose File > New > Minitab Project.

• Choose File > Open Project.

• Choose File > Exit.

Note If you close a project before saving it, Minitab will prompt you to save the project.

Save Project Save Project File > Save Project Saves the current project in a Minitab Project (MPJ) file. If the project has been saved before, Save Project saves the file with the current file name without displaying a dialog box. If the project has not been saved before, Save Project opens the Save Project As dialog box. When you save the project, you save all the information about your work:

• the contents of all the windows, including − the columns of data in each Data window − the stored constants, matrices, and design objects (used with the design of experiments commands) that are

summarized in the Worksheet folders − the complete text in the Session window and History folder − each Graph window

You can limit which of these items are saved by setting options in the <Options> subdialog box.

• the description of each project created with File > Project Description, or by clicking on the Project folder in the Project Manager

• the description of each worksheet created with Editor > Worksheet > Description



• the size, location, and state of each window

• the contents of each dialog box you used

To save a project 1 Choose File > Save Project (As). 2 In File name, enter a name for the project. 3 If you like, use any of the dialog box options, then click Save.

Save Project As Save Project As File > Save Project As Saves the current project in a Minitab Project (MPJ) file with a different name.

Note If the project has not been saved before, choosing File > Save Project also opens this dialog box.

When you save the project, you save all the information about your work:

• the contents of all the windows, including − the columns of data in each Data window − the stored constants, matrices, and design objects (used with the design of experiments commands) that are

summarized in the Worksheet folders − the complete text in the Session window and History folder − each Graph window You can limit which of these items are saved by setting options in the <Options> subdialog box.

• the description of each project created with File > Project Description, or by clicking on the Project folder in the Project Manager

• the description of each worksheet created with Editor > Worksheet > Description

• the size, location, and state of each window

• the contents of each dialog box you used

Dialog box items Save in: Choose a folder. File name: Enter a file name. Save as type: The only file type you can choose is Minitab Project (MPJ).

Save Project As − Description File > Save Project As > Description You can create and edit comments and information about the current project file. This description can be viewed before the project file is opened, or while the project is opened.

Dialog box items Project: The name of the project file (supplied automatically). Location: The directory in which the project is located (supplied automatically). If the project has not been saved, Location will show the current directory. Creator: The author or owner of the project (optional). Date(s): The date the project was created. (optional). Comments: Description of the project, commands used to analyze the data, or any other comments (optional). You can create and edit the description of an open project at any time by clicking on the Project folder in the Project Manager.

Tip If you have commands you use frequently with this data, you can copy them from the History folder and paste them here. (Press [Ctrl]+[V] to paste.)

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Save Project As − Options File > Save Project As > Options Specifies which parts of the project are saved in the project file.

Dialog box items Save worksheets and the following components: Choose to include worksheets and to optionally include additional components.

Session window content: Check to include the current contents of the Session window. Graphs: Check to include the current open Graph windows. Dialog settings: Check to include the current settings of dialog boxes. When you re-open the project file and open a

dialog box, the dialog box will contain the previously used settings. Project Manager content: Check to include the current contents of the Project Manager.

Save worksheets only: Choose to include only worksheets in the saved project. Save these choices as defaults: Check to have these parts saved every time you save a project.

Project Description Project Description File > Project Description You can create and edit comments and information about the current project file. This description can be viewed before the project file is opened, or while the project is opened.

Dialog box items Project: The name of the project file (supplied automatically). Location: The directory in which the project is located (supplied automatically). If the project has not been saved, Location will show the current directory. Creator: The author or owner of the project (optional). Date(s): The date the project was created. (optional). Comments: Description of the project, commands used to analyze the data, or any other comments (optional).

To create a description for the current project 1 Choose File > Project Description or File > Save Project (As) > Description or click on the Project folder in Project

Manager. 2 Enter information in Creation, Date(s), and Comments, then click OK. If you are creating a project description in the

Project Manager, you do not have to click OK.

More You can also view descriptions of other project files − see To view descriptions of projects.

To view descriptions of project files You can view descriptions for other files when you are about to open those files. 1 Choose File > Open Project. 2 Select the file and click Description. You will not be able to edit the description. Click OK when you are finished. You can view the description of an open project at any time by clicking on the Project folder in the Project Manager.

More You can also edit descriptions − see To create a description for the current project.



Open Worksheet Open Worksheet File > Open Worksheet Right-click on the Worksheets folder in the Project Manager Copies data from a file into the current project. When you open a file, you copy the contents of the file into the current Minitab project. Any changes you make to the file while in the project will not affect the original file. You can open a new, empty worksheet or a Minitab worksheet (MTW) file at any time. You also can open worksheets that are stored in saved Minitab projects by choosing a Minitab project file (MPJ) in the Open Worksheet dialog box. Clicking Open brings up a preview dialog containing a list of worksheets stored in the project, from which you can select one or more worksheets to add to your current project. You can also open other types of files that contain data, such as

• non-Minitab files, such as Excel worksheets, Lotus 1-2-3 worksheets, and text files. See Opening Files from Other Applications.

• files from other older releases of Minitab, including versions of Minitab on other platforms. See Exchanging data with other Minitab versions and other computer platforms.

More Another easy way to copy data from a file into the worksheet is to open the file in Windows, copy it to the Clipboard, then paste it directly into Minitab's Data window. See Cut, copy, and paste features.

Dialog box items Look in: Select a drive and folder to look in. File name: Enter one or more file names. File type: Pick from the list of file types that Minitab can open. Merge: Select to add the columns of data to the current worksheet. See Merging worksheets . Open: Select to create a new worksheet and displays the data in its own Data window. This is the default.

To open a Minitab worksheet (MTW) file 1 Choose File > Open Worksheet. 2 Select a directory and file. 3 If you like, use one or more of the available dialog box options, then click Open.

A message box will appear, telling you that a copy of the content of this file will be added to the worksheet. 4 If you do not want this message to appear every time you open a file, check Do not display this message again.

Click OK.

To open a Minitab worksheet contained in a Minitab project 1 Choose File > Open Worksheet. 2 In Files of type, choose Minitab Project. 3 Select a directory and a project file. 4 Click Preview or Open. 5 Under Available items, select a worksheet. 6 If you like, click Preview or Description. Click OK. 7 In the Open Worksheet dialog box, click Open. 8 Select a worksheet to be opened and click OK.

A copy of the content of this file will be added to the current project When you open a worksheet or graph file, the file's contents are copied into the project. That means that when you change the data or graph contents within a project, you do not affect the original file. You can open a project, change data or graphs, and save the project, and the original file will not be affected. By default, Minitab displays a message informing you that a copy of the content is being added to your project each time you open a worksheet or graph . Check Do not display this message again if you do not wish to receive this message when opening worksheets or graphs. If you choose Do not display this message again, you can reset the option to have the message displayed.

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Dialog box items Do not display this message again: Check to have Minitab open subsequent worksheets (or graph files) without displaying this dialog box. You must suppress the warning dialog boxes for worksheets and graphs separately. For example, say that you open a worksheet and check Do not display this message again. If you then open a graph, Minitab will display this warning dialog box again. If you then check Do not display this message again, you will not receive warning dialog boxes for worksheets or graphs.

To enable the adding content warning message after it has been disabled When you disable the open worksheet or open graph add content warning message, the message will not reappear unless you use Minitab options to enable the warning message again.

To enable the adding graph content message 1 Choose Tools > Options > Graphics > Graph Management. 2 Check When I open a graph, remind me that a copy is added to the project. 3 Click OK.

To enable the adding worksheet content message 1 Choose Tools > Options > Data Window > General. 2 Check When I open a worksheet, remind me that a copy is added to the project. 3 Click OK.

To open a portable worksheet 1 Choose File > Open Worksheet.

2 In Files of type, choose Minitab Portable (∗.mtp). 3 Select the directory and file. Click Open.

To open a non-Minitab file 1 Choose File > Open Worksheet. 2 In Files of type, choose the type of file you are looking for: Excel, 1-2-3, Text, etc. 3 Select a directory and file. Click Preview. 4 Change any of the preview settings and click OK. For details, see To Preview a Non-Minitab File. 5 Click Options. 6 Change any of the options and click OK. For details, see To Set options for non-Minitab files . 7 If you like, preview the file again. The data should appear as you want it. Click OK. 8 Click Open. If a message box appears telling you that a copy of the file contents will be added to the worksheet, click

OK.

Open Worksheet − Description File > Open Worksheet > Description File > Open Worksheet > Preview > Description (when opening a worksheet contained in a project file) Displays worksheet comments. The description is available only if you are opening a Minitab worksheet that contains comments. The dialog box items cannot be edited when opening a worksheet. Use File > Worksheet Description or Editor > Worksheet > Description to edit the description for a worksheet that is currently open in your project.

Note You can view the descriptions of worksheets that are contained within project files. Choose File > Open Worksheet, select a project file, then click Preview. A list of available worksheets will appear. Select one of the worksheets, and click Description.

Dialog Box Items Worksheet: The name of the worksheet file. Location: The directory in which the worksheet is located (supplied automatically). If the worksheet has not been saved, Location will show the current directory. Creator: The author or owner of the data set (optional).



Date(s): The date the data was created. (optional). Comments: Description of the data set, commands used to analyze the data, or any other comments (optional).

Note You can view and edit the description of any open worksheet at any time by clicking on the worksheet folder in the Project Manager.

To view descriptions of worksheet files You can view descriptions for other files when you are about to open those files. 1 Choose File > Open Worksheet. 2 If the worksheet is contained in a project file, select the project file and click Preview. The Project Preview dialog box

will appear that contains a list of available worksheets. 3 Select the worksheet file and click Description. You will not be able to edit the description. Click OK when you are

finished.

Note You can view and edit the description of any open worksheet at any time by clicking on the worksheet folder in the Project Manager

Note You can also edit worksheet descriptions − see Worksheet Description (Editor menu).

Open Worksheet − Options File > Open Worksheet > Options Window > Project Manager > Worksheets > right-click and choose Open Worksheet > Options Allows you to specify how columns will be named, where to begin reading data, column delimiters, and conversion of missing value codes.

Dialog box items Variable Names Instructs Minitab how to name columns. If there are fewer variable names than columns, Minitab will leave the extra columns unnamed. If there are more names than columns, Minitab will name the extra columns with the names provided and set them as text columns. If there are duplicate column names, Minitab adds the characters "_0" to the second name, "_1" to the third name, and so on, to distinguish among the duplicate names. If the names are already at least eight characters long, Minitab drops the end characters and adds a sequence number as the last character of the name.

None: Choose to instruct Minitab not to interpret any data in the file as variable names. Automatic: Choose to assign the first row of data Minitab finds to be variable names. Even if the first row is all numbers, if Automatic is selected, those numbers will be used as column names. Use row: Choose to enter the row number that contains the variable names you want Minitab to read. For example, if you enter 2, Minitab uses whatever is in row 2 as variable names.

First Row of Data Allows you to specify where to begin reading data. Automatic: Choose to begin reading data from the first available row. If you choose a specific row for variable names, the first row under the names is considered the first available row. Any previous rows are lost. If you do not choose a variable names row, Minitab begins reading data from the first row in the file. Use row: Choose to specify which row to begin reading data from and then enter the row number in the box.

Number of data rows: Enter a number to read a portion of the file. For example, if you enter 50, Minitab reads only the first 50 rows beginning with the first row of data. By default, Minitab reads all rows from the file into the current worksheet, and this box is blank. Ignore blank data rows: Check to skip over blank data rows. If this option is unchecked, Minitab will read blank data rows as missing values. Decimal Separator Allows you to choose the symbol used to separate the integer portion and decimal portion of a number.

Period: Choose to denote the decimal with a period. Comma: Choose to denote the decimal with a comma.

Field Definition These options apply to text files only, and allow you to specify the format used to read the file. Minitab interprets two separators in a row as missing data. Minitab ignores extra spaces in a row if you read the file with any single character separator other than a space.

Free format: Choose to open a file where the columns of data are separated by one or more tabs or blank spaces.

Windows and Files


Single character separator: Choose when the columns of data are separated by one character only. Then choose the character separating the columns in your file:

Tab: Choose when the columns of data are separated by a <Tab>. Comma: Choose when the columns of data are separated by a comma. Semicolon: Choose when the columns of data are separated by a semicolon. Space: Choose when the columns of data are separated by a single space. None: Choose to read the entire file into a single column. Custom: Choose if the columns are not separated by a character listed above and enter your own in the box.

Text Delimiter This option applies to text files only. Minitab can read a text column whether or not it is enclosed by a delimiter. A delimiter is necessary only if you want to read a value that includes embedded column separators into one column. Further, it is not necessary to enclose each value in a text column with delimiters. You could enclose just one value in a column in double quotes and Minitab would read it properly. See Example of a Text Delimiter .

Double Quote: Choose when the columns of data are separated by a double quote. Single Quote: Choose when the columns of data are separated by a single quote. None: Choose to have text that is separated by a blank entered into its own column. Custom: Choose if the columns are separated by a character other than those listed above and enter your own in the box.

Convert Missing Allows you to change a value in the file you are opening to a different value once Minitab reads the data into the worksheet. Minitab uses ∗ for missing numeric values, and a blank space for missing text values. The file you are opening may follow different conventions.

Text Variable: Enter the text value you would like to change to missing in the From box and the value you would like to change it to in the To box. You may enter any value up to 80 characters long in the From or To box. Numeric or Date/Time Variable: Enter the number or the date/time value you would like to change to missing in the From box and the value you would like to change it to in the To box. For example, suppose you are opening a file that contains −99's for missing values in numeric columns. Enter −99 in From, and * under To. That will convert all occurrences of −99 to ∗ in the Minitab worksheet.

To set options for non-Minitab files 1 In the Open Worksheet dialog box, click Options. 2 Under Variable Names, choose one of the following:

• None tells Minitab that no rows contain variable names. Column names in the new worksheet will be blank.

• Automatic tells Minitab to assign the first row of data it finds to be variable names. Even if the first row contains all numbers, if Automatic is selected, those numbers are still used as column names.

• Use row tells Minitab to use the names in a row number you provide. Use the Preview dialog box to find the correct row number, then enter that number in the text box.

3 Under First Row of Data, choose one of the following:

• Automatic tells Minitab to begin reading data from the first row after the variable names row. For example, if in step 2 you chose Use row and entered 5, Minitab will begin reading data starting with row 6. If in step 2 you choose None, Minitab will begin reading data starting with the first row in the file.

• Use row tells Minitab to use the data in a row number you provide. Use the Preview dialog box to find the correct row number, then enter that number in the text box.

4 Set any other options. Click OK.

Open Worksheet − Preview File > Open Worksheet > Preview Window > Project Manager > right-click on the Worksheets folder and choose Open > Preview File > Open Worksheet > Preview > Preview (when previewing a worksheet contained in a project file) Shows you what the worksheet will look like after you open the selected file. If you see problems with how a non-Minitab file is being read, you can give Minitab additional instructions on how to open the file in this dialog box as well as in the File > Open Worksheet > Options dialog box.

Note You can preview worksheets that are contained within project files. See To preview a worksheet file.

Using the scroll bars with your mouse, you can view all the columns and the first 100 rows of the file being opened.



Note The Preview dialog box may take several seconds to display. Elements of the file you are opening must be converted into their proper positions in the worksheet.

Dialog box items Column: Shows you the position a column will occupy in the worksheet. For non-Minitab files, you can type a different column number to change the position. If you delete the column number, Minitab will not read that column into the worksheet at all. Name: Displays the column name. If you are opening a non-Minitab file, you can type a new name here if you wish. Type: If you are opening a non-Minitab file, you can click the arrow to change the column type, but this is usually not necessary. Minitab identifies column type based on the value in the first row of data. Row: Shows the row number for each row in the file. Sheet tabs: Choose between Microsoft Excel workbook sheets. These tabs are available only when previewing Microsoft Excel files. If you have more sheets than can be displayed, use the arrow buttons to view additional sheets, or place your mouse over at the edge of the scrollbar to resize the viewing area to show additional sheets. Display data rows only: Check this box to display the data rows that will be copied to the worksheet only. The data area (the part where you can scroll) in the dialog box will show the data to be read only, not any lines above the data, such as column names, that may be in the file. If this box is unchecked, the data area includes the first 100 lines in the file.

To preview a worksheet file 1 Choose File > Open Worksheet. In the Open Worksheet dialog box, select a file. 2 Click Preview.

• If you selected a Minitab worksheet (MTW) or Minitab portable (MTP) file, you can only view the data − the columns are already set to open correctly.

• If you selected a Minitab project (MPJ) file, you will see a list of available worksheets in the Preview Project dialog box. Select one of those worksheets and click Preview.

• If you selected a non-Minitab file, you can use the Preview subdialog box to change how Minitab will interpret the data. See To preview a non-Minitab file.

3 Click OK.

To preview a non-Minitab file When opening a non-Minitab file, or when merging any kind of file (see Merging worksheets), you can use the Preview subdialog box not only to view the data, but also to change several aspects of how Minitab will interpret the data. 1 In the Open Worksheet dialog box, select a file and click Preview. 2 To preview a Microsoft Excel workbook sheet, click the Sheet tab for the appropriate sheet. These tabs are available

only when previewing Microsoft Excel files. If you have more sheets than can be displayed, click the arrow buttons to view additional sheets or press [Ctrl]+[Page

Up] and [Ctrl]+[Page Down] to move to the next or previous sheet. To resize the viewing area to show additional sheets, place your mouse over the edge of the scrollbar to activate the scroll curser, then click and drag to increase the number of displayed sheets.

Minitab opens each workbook sheet as a separate worksheet. 3 To change a column's name, type a new name in the Name row.

Minitab assumes that the first row of the file contains the column names. You can specify another row as the name row, or choose to have no column names at all − see To set options for non-Minitab files .

4 To change the data type for a column, choose Text, Numeric, or Date/Time in the Type row.

If a value in a column does not match the data type − for example, if the word "Smith" appears in a column set to Numeric − the preview window will display that value as missing, and Minitab will import the value as missing. Numeric and date/time missing values are represented by the symbol (∗); text missing values are represented by blanks.

If the preview window does not recognize a column of date/time data as being Date/Time type, you can either (a) create a new date/time format so Minitab will recognize the column, or (b) reformat the column after you open the file. For details, see Opening non-Minitab files containing date/time data.

5 To change a column's position in the worksheet, change the column number in the Column row. If you do not want to bring in a column at all, delete its column number.

6 Click OK.

Windows and Files


Merging Worksheets When you select a file, instead of putting the file's data in its own Data window, you can add columns of data to the current worksheet. If you are opening a new worksheet, you can merge two worksheets using the Merge option in the Open Worksheet dialog box. If you already have two worksheets open, you can use the Data > Merge Worksheets command. The Merge Worksheets command gives you more control over how the data in the two worksheets will be merged. See Merge Worksheets. If you use the Merge option in the Open Worksheets dialog box, data are added to the worksheet like this:

• Columns are added to the right of existing columns. If the current worksheet is empty, Merge copies data into the current worksheet, beginning with C1.

• Data are always put into new columns. Data cannot be inserted at the top or bottom of existing columns.

• When merging a Minitab worksheet file, constants, matrices, and column descriptions are ignored. Worksheet descriptions are added to the current worksheet's comments.

• If a file contains column names that duplicate column names in the current worksheet, Minitab will automatically add a numbered suffix to the name of each duplicate column that will be added. For example, MYDATA will become MYDATA_1.

You can change many of these defaults in the Open Worksheet > Preview subdialog box. Most usefully, you can choose where the added columns will go, select which columns should not be added at all, and edit the default column names.

To merge worksheets 1 In the Open Worksheet dialog box, click Merge. 2 Select a directory and file. 3 If you like, click Preview, make changes in how Minitab should interpret the file, and click OK.

In the Preview subdialog box, you can make all the changes to the merge file that could normally be made only to a non-Minitab file. For details, see To preview a non-Minitab file.

4 Click Open.

File Types that Minitab Can Open with Open Worksheet Open Worksheet can open these types of files:

Minitab saved worksheet (MTW) Lotus 1-2-3 (WK?)

Minitab portable worksheet (MTP) dBASE (DBF)

Excel (XLS) FoxPro (via dBASE format)

Quattro Pro (WB1,WQ1) Text file (TXT, DAT)

Extracting worksheets and graphs from Minitab projects Minitab project files can contain multiple graphs and worksheets. You can extract these worksheets and graphs from within saved project files and add them to your current open project by choosing a project file (MPJ) when using File > Open Worksheet or File > Open Graph. Clicking Open in either of these dialog boxes when a project file is selected brings up a preview dialog containing a list of worksheets and graphs stored in the project, from which you can select one or more worksheets or graphs to add to your current project. For information on extracting worksheets from a project file, see File > Open Worksheet. For information on extracting graphs from a project file, see File > Open Graph.

Opening Files from Other Applications You can get data not only from Minitab worksheets, but also from files created by many other applications. Minitab can directly read and write Excel, Quattro Pro, Lotus 1-2-3, and dBase files. If the data you want to use are not from an application in that list, try using a text file. Minitab can open plain text (ASCII) files, which usually have an extension of TXT (for text) or DAT (for data). Most applications can create text files, and many can import them as well. However, data in some text files may be arranged or formatted in such a way that the Open Worksheet command does not interpret them cleanly. See Limitations of Using Open Worksheet to Open Text Files.



Files created by other applications may have data arranged in ways different from the row and column format used by Minitab worksheets. For example, the data may not appear until the third row of the file, or the fifteenth column. Variable names may not always be in the first row, or be present at all. You can open the file as is, then clean it up in Minitab, or you can use options in the Open Worksheet dialog box to control how Minitab will interpret the data before you open the file. To open files from other applications, you use the same command you use to open Minitab worksheets, the File > Open Worksheet command. In the Open Worksheet dialog box, you can use two subdialog boxes to control how the data will be interpreted:

• The Preview subdialog box shows you how Minitab will interpret the file, and allows you to change column names, column data types, and the location of columns.

• The Options subdialog box lets you control many other aspects of the conversion, such as what rows contain the names and data, or what character separates columns (used in text files).

Opening a non-Minitab file may involve previewing the file, changing options, previewing again, and so on, until you see that Minitab will interpret the data exactly as you want.

Opening Non-Minitab Files Containing Missing Data Minitab uses the missing value code ∗ for missing values in numeric and date/time columns, and a blank for missing values in text columns. Of course, Minitab saved worksheets use these conventions for missing values. But other files may not. Most of the time, Minitab will interpret missing values correctly without any specific instructions from you. The easiest approach may be to open your file, check missing values to see how they were brought in, and only make adjustments if they were not read in correctly. Here are the details on how Minitab handles these values:

When missing values are denoted by a period or some other special character in a text file. Minitab determines whether a column is text, numeric, or date/time based on the first row of data. For example, if the first data value is a number, Minitab identifies the entire column as numeric. If Minitab encounters an invalid value (such as a period in a numeric column), it automatically interprets that value as missing. If Minitab wrongly identifies the column as text, you can always change the column to numeric by clicking Type in the Preview dialog box, or using one of the Change Data Type commands in the Data menu.

When missing values exist in an Excel, Quattro Pro, Lotus, or dBASE/FoxPro file. Missing values are normally denoted by blanks in spreadsheets. When Minitab opens a spreadsheet file, it automatically interprets blanks as missing values. Sometimes a zero denotes a missing value in a dBASE file. If that is the case for your file, you can use Convert Missing in the Options dialog box to change occurrences of zero's (or any other character) to missing.

When missing values are denoted by blanks in a text file. If you are reading the file using Free format, which means that one or more spaces separate columns, then Minitab cannot identify where in the row the blank cell occurs. This is because Minitab cannot distinguish between the spaces separating columns of data and the spaces indicating a blank cell. By default, Minitab will read this as an incomplete row, reading each value into the row and leaving the end values of the row as missing. There are three ways to solve this problem: 1) read the file as is and fix the incomplete rows from the Data window; 2) edit the file using Notepad or some other word processor and enclose the blank cell with a delimiter such as double quotes; or 3) use File > Other Files > Import Special Text with a user-specified format to open the file. If you are reading the file using Single character separator, Minitab interprets two separators in a row as missing and ignores blank spaces.

When missing values are denoted by a number, such as − 99, in the file. By default, Minitab will read that value as it would any other number. There are two ways you can change this: 1) bring the file into Minitab, then use one of the Code commands in the Data menu to change all occurrences of a certain number to the missing value code ∗; or 2) in the Options dialog box, under Convert Missing for Numeric or Date/Time Variable, enter −99 in the From box, ∗ in the To box.

When you want to convert missing values to something other than ∗ or blank in the Minitab worksheet. There are two ways to accomplish this:

• open the file, then use one of the Code commands in the Data menu to change all occurrences of some value; or

• in the Options dialog box, under Convert Missing, type the appropriate missing value code in the From box, and whatever you want the value to be in the worksheet in the To box.

Windows and Files


Opening non-Minitab files containing date/time data Most of the time, Minitab automatically recognizes date/time data and assigns the correct data type in the preview window. Minitab imports date/time values in the form m/d/yy for dates, h:mm:ss for times, and m/d/yy h:mm for date/times.

Note Minitab dialog boxes only accept date/time data in their default formats. These defaults can change depending on the Windows Control Panel Regional Settings. See Default Date/Time Formats for more information.

If your data is not in a format that Minitab automatically recognizes, you can edit and manipulate it after you've brought it into the worksheet. The Change Data Type commands in the Data menu are especially useful for this purpose. (See Default Date/Time Formats and Creating a Custom Date/Time Format for definitions of default and user-defined formats for date/time data.)

Text files If values in the text file are in one of Minitab's default date/time formats, Minitab automatically identifies them as date/time values in the worksheet.

Excel files If values are in one of Minitab's default or user-defined formats, Minitab automatically identifies them as date/time values in the worksheet.

Quattro Pro files Date/time values from Quattro Pro files enter the worksheet as numbers. Use Open Worksheet - Preview to change the column from numeric to date/time. Or, after you have opened the worksheet, use Data > Change Data Type > Numeric to Date/Time to change the column from numeric to date/time.

To create a new date/time format before you open the file 1 If you are in the Preview subdialog box or the Open worksheet dialog box, click Cancel. 2 Create the new date/time format. For instructions, see Creating a Custom Date/Time Format . 3 Open and preview the file again. Minitab should now recognize that the column has a type of Date/Time.

Opening Non-Minitab Files Containing Currency Data Minitab worksheets do not display currency symbols, but Minitab recognizes currency data imported from other applications (such as Microsoft Excel) and will format that data as numeric in Minitab. You can import currency data into Minitab using File > Open Worksheet, DDE, ODBC, or with copy/paste. See Data with Currency Symbols for more information.

Limitations of using Open Worksheet to open text files Text files can be formatted in as many different ways as there are software programs. You may encounter a text file that the Open Worksheet command cannot import correctly, no matter what options you select. For example, if the text file contains rows of data with no character to separate the rows into columns, the Open Worksheet command will place all the data in one column. There are several ways to work around format problems:

• Open the file as is and fix any problems in the Data window.

• Open the file in a text editor and reformat the file.

• Use the File > Other Files > Import Special Text command and specify a custom format. Custom formats can be more difficult to create, but they are very powerful.

For a list of common text format problems, and the suggested way around them, see When to use the Import Special Text command.

Numerical Precision in Minitab Minitab stores and computes numbers in double precision, which means that numbers can have up to 15 or 16 digits (depending on the number) without round-off error.



Round-off error is an unavoidable problem that can occur with any computer program. Every computer operates in binary code − strings of zeros and ones − and so must convert decimal numbers to binary numbers. When the conversion is not exact, you get round-off error. For details, see Why Round-Off Error is Unavoidable. The error may or may not be significant, depending on the number of significant digits in your data and the types of computations you are doing. For details, see How Minitab Handles Binary and Decimal Numbers.

How Minitab handles binary and decimal numbers Minitab stores and computes numbers in "double precision," which means that it can use 64 bits to represent each decimal number in the worksheet. Double precision systems accurately represent a number that is 15 or 16 digits long (depending on the number). For some numbers longer than 15 or 16 digits, no exact binary equivalent exists. The computer picks the closest binary number, then Minitab displays the decimal number that equals that binary number. For example, in any software that uses double precision, the numbers "123456789123456789" and "123456789123456788" have no exact binary equivalent, and both are displayed as the next closest number, "123456789123456780." In the Data window, you can see as many digits as the column is formatted to display - 10, 20, or even 30 digits. But only the first 15 or 16 digits will be significant or meaningful. Unless your data has more than 15 significant digits that are both accurate and meaningful, Minitab's storage will adequately represent your data. Any statistical result, however, is only as accurate as the data from which it is derived. It can be a mistake to place much importance on the last few digits of a result unless you are absolutely certain of the accuracy of your data and all underlying assumptions about distributions, etc.

Tip If you need to store a long number in its entirety, such as a social security number, and won't be using it in mathematical calculations, you should store the number as text data in a text column.

Why Round-Off Error Is Unavoidable There are an infinite number of decimal numbers. Binary numbers, however, are made up of a finite number of "bits" (each zero or one is a bit), and thus can only represent a finite range of numbers. Also, binary numbers can only exactly represent decimal numbers that are:

• (2**nth) such as 1, 2, 4, 8, etc.

• [1/(2**nth)] such as 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc.

• any combination of those elements For example, the computer can accurately represent the decimal number 0.75 because it is 1/2 + 1/4. It can represent the decimal number 3 because it is 2 + 1. But it cannot exactly represent the decimal 0.3, and so must use the binary number that is closest. The more bits that are in the binary number, the closer the computer can come to exactly representing the decimal number. While the binary number will never exactly equal 0.3, a binary number consisting of 64 bits (called "double precision") will be more accurate than a binary number with 32 bits (called "single precision").

To reformat the column after you open the file 1 Open the file. Minitab will probably interpret the column as Text. 2 Choose Data > Change Data Type > Text to Date/Time and fill out the dialog box.

Example of a Text Delimiter If text values in the file are already enclosed by double quotes or some other character, choose that character or specify your own if it is not listed. For example, suppose you open this text file:

"Stephens, Natalie B." Bass 6

"Smith, George W." Viola 32

"Harris, Cissy L." Harp 24

With the Free format option on and with Double quote selected as a text delimiter, the worksheet will look like this:

C1 C2 C3

Stephens, Natalie B. Bass 6

Smith, George W. Viola 32

Harris, Cissy L. Harp 24

Windows and Files


With the Free format option on and with None selected as a text delimiter, the worksheet will look like this:

C1 C2 C3 C4 C5

"Stephens, Natalie B." Bass 6

"Smith, George W." Viola 32

"Harris, Cissy L." Harp 24

Notice that Minitab can read a text column whether or not it is enclosed by a delimiter. A delimiter is necessary only if you want to read a value that includes embedded column separators (blanks in this example) into one column. Further, it is not necessary to enclose each value in a text column with delimiters. You could enclose just one value in a column in double quotes and Minitab would read it properly.

Example of Opening a Space-Delimited Text File Suppose the grades for a statistics course you taught are kept on a mainframe computer. The computer lab gave you the course information in a text file named STAT200.TXT that looks like this: Stat 200

Section 22

LastName Initial ID HW1 HW2 Test1 Test2 Total

Rose A. 123-45-6789 8 7 20 23 58

Fischer W. 234-56-7890 9 10 23 21 63

Peters B. 345-67-8901 5 4 15 18 42

Grayson M. 456-78-9012 7 8 21

Harris L. 567-89-0123 4 6 13 18 41

Columns are separated by at least one space. Note that Grayson's last two scores are missing. 1 Choose File > Open Worksheet.

2 Under Files of Type, select Text (∗.txt). 3 Go to the Data folder, which is in your main Minitab folder. 4 Select the file Stat200.txt. 5 Click Preview. 6 Click Cancel. 7 In the Open Worksheet dialog box, click Options. 8 Under Variable Names, click Use row and enter the number 5. 9 Under Field Definition, click Free Format. Click OK. 10 In the Open Worksheet dialog box, click Preview again. 11 Click OK. In the Open Worksheet dialog box, click Open.

Save Current Worksheet Saving Worksheets Overview When you save a project, all the worksheets in your project are also saved within the project file. But if you want to use your worksheet in another project, another application, or another version of Minitab, you can save the worksheet into a separate file. The worksheet can be saved as

• a release 14 worksheet that can be used in other Minitab projects. See Save Current Worksheet As (File menu)

• a file that can be used in another application, such as Excel. See Saving Files to Use in Other Applications.

• a file that can be used in other versions of Minitab. These other versions can be older or newer releases of Minitab for Windows, or versions of Minitab on other platforms. For details, see Exchanging Data with Other Versions of Minitab.

Note Saving a worksheet saves only the data; to save your analysis, including graphs and output in the Session window, use File > Save Project.



Save Current Worksheet File > Save Current Worksheet Saves the current worksheet in the same file and format as the file name displayed in the window title. If the current worksheet is untitled, File > Save Current Worksheet brings up a dialog box where you can specify a file type, file name and location in which to save your data. See File > Save Current Worksheet As for a description of this dialog box. Choose File > Save Current Worksheet As to rename your worksheet or save it to a new location.

Save Current Worksheet As Save Current Worksheet As File > Save Current Worksheet As, or File > Save Current Worksheet when the current worksheet is untitled, or Right-click on worksheet folder in Project Manager > Save As Saves the worksheet data in a file. To save your analysis, including graphs and output in the Session window, use File > Save Project As. Use this command if you want to rename your worksheet or save it to a new location. If your current worksheet is untitled (you see the title "Untitled Worksheet" in the title bar of the Minitab window), choosing File > Save Current Worksheet also opens this dialog box, allowing you to specify a name for your saved worksheet file.

Dialog box items Save in: Choose a drive and folder. File name: Enter a file name. Save as type: Choose a file type from the list. Save

Entire Worksheet: Choose to save an entire worksheet. Available only if you are saving the file as a Web page. Selection: Choose to save a selected portion of the worksheet. Available only if you are saving the file as a Web page.

Title: Type a title to display in the Web page title bar. Available only if you are saving the file as a Web page.

Tip If you are saving a file that is not a Minitab worksheet (MTW) or portable worksheet (MTP), you may want to use Options to give Minitab further instructions on how to save the file.

Save Current Worksheet As − Description File > Save Current Worksheet As > Description Allows you to view and/or modify comments saved with your worksheet. This button is available only if you are saving your worksheet in a Minitab format.

Dialog box items Worksheet: The name of the worksheet (supplied automatically). Location: The directory in which the worksheet is located (supplied automatically). If the worksheet has not been saved, Location will show the current directory. Creator: The author or owner of the data set (optional). Date(s): The date the data was created. (optional). Comments: Description of the data set, commands used to analyze the data, or any other comments (optional).

Note You can view and edit the description of any open worksheet at any time by clicking on the worksheet folder in the Project Manager.

Tip If you have commands you use frequently with this data, you can copy them from the History folder and paste them here. (Press [Ctrl]+[V] to paste.)

Save Current Worksheet As − Options File > Save Current Worksheet As > Options Specifies how column names, column delimiters, and missing values are converted.

Windows and Files


The Options button is not available when you are saving your data as a Minitab worksheet (MTW), Portable worksheet (MTP), or web (HTM, HTML) file.

Dialog box items Variable Names Instructs Minitab how to name columns.

None: Choose to omit column names from the saved file. Automatic: Choose to save column names in the first row of the saved file. If the columns are named, the column label will be the name. If not, the column label will be the column number, such as C1. If you are saving your worksheet in a text file, Minitab encloses the column labels with whatever delimiter is selected in the Text Delimiter field.

Convert Missing Allows you to change the missing value designation used in the saved file. By default, Minitab saves missing numeric values (denoted by ∗ in the Minitab worksheet) as blanks in text files and spreadsheet files, as zeros in dBASE files. Minitab saves missing text values (denoted by a blank cell in the Minitab worksheet) as blank cells in text files and spreadsheet files, as spaces in dBASE files.

Text Variable: Enter the text value you would like to change in the saved file in the To box and the value you would like to change it to in the From box. You may enter any value up to 80 characters long in the To box. Numeric or Date/Time Variable: Enter the numeric or date/time value you would like to change in the saved file in the To box and the value you would like to change it from in the From box. For example, suppose you are saving a file and would like to have −99 represent missing values. Enter ∗ in the From, and −99 in the To box. That will convert all occurrences of ∗ to −99 in the saved file. You can enter any number or the missing value code ∗ in the To box.

Single character separator Allows you to choose the character used to separate the columns in your file. This option applies to text files only.

Tab: Choose to separate the columns of data by a <Tab>. Comma: Choose to separate the columns of data by a comma. Semicolon: Choose to separate the columns of data by a semicolon. Space: Choose to separate the columns of data by a single space. None: Choose to have no separation between the columns of data. Custom: Choose if the character you want to separate the columns is not listed above and enter your own in the box.

Text Delimiter This option applies to text files only. Minitab will enclose all text columns in the saved text file with the delimiter you choose.

Double Quote: Choose to enclose text data in double quotes. Single Quote: Choose to enclose text data in single quotes. None: Choose if you do not want text columns enclosed with a delimiter. Custom: Choose if the columns are not separated by a character listed above and enter your own in the box.

Saving Files to Use in Other Applications If you want to use your data in another application, you can save your worksheet in the format of that application. If the application you want is not supported directly by Minitab's Save Worksheet command (such as Excel), you can save the data as a text file. Text files can be imported by many applications.

Saving worksheets containing date/time columns Suppose a worksheet column contains date and time information, for example: 8/15/99 3:30 AM. Now suppose you format the column, using Editor > Format Column > Date/Time, so that it displays in the Data window as the date only, for example: 8/15/99. When you save your worksheet as a text file, Minitab saves date/time data in the same format in which it appears in the Data window. Thus, in our example, the column in the text file would include only the characters that make up the date, "8/15/99." The column would not contain the characters "3:30 AM." When you save your worksheet as any other type of file, Minitab saves the entire date/time information. Thus in our example, if you saved the worksheet as an Excel file and opened that file in Excel, your spreadsheet would include both the date and time information: 8/15/99 3:30 AM. The date and time would display in whatever format was applied to that cell in Excel.

Saving worksheets as text files with unusual formatting When saving your worksheet as a text file with Save Worksheet As, you cannot save non-contiguous columns. You also cannot use the special format statements that allow you to (for example) create line breaks after certain columns, or combine columns into one field. If you want to do either of these operations, choose File > Other Files > Export Special Text.



Saving a worksheet as a Web page If you want to display your data in a Web page, or use them in a Web-based application, you can save all or some of your data as an HTML file. The data display with the same format as a Minitab worksheet. You can save a selected portion or all of the worksheet. If you select just a portion of the worksheet to save, the column numbers and row numbers are still displayed in the saved HTML file.

Exchanging data with other Minitab versions and other computer platforms You can open and save worksheets that are compatible with older versions of Minitab, newer versions, and even versions on other computer platforms.

Opening worksheets saved by older versions of Minitab Minitab worksheets are upwardly compatible, which means that you can always open a worksheet saved by the release of Minitab immediately previous to the current one. You can open that file just as you would a Release 14 worksheet − see To open a Minitab worksheet (MTW) file. If the file is from an even older release, try opening the file normally. If that does not work, use the same method as when exchanging data with a version of Minitab on another computer platform. See To transfer a portable worksheet.

Opening worksheets saved by newer versions of Minitab If you have a worksheet file created by a version of Minitab newer than Release 14, you can probably open the file − see To open a Minitab worksheet (MTW) file. Opening the file may generate an error message stating that there are unknown objects in the worksheet. Minitab will try to ignore unknown objects and copy the data that it does recognize, such as rows and columns. To avoid an error message, start the newer version of Minitab, save the data as a Release 14 or portable worksheet, then open the file in Minitab Release 14.

Saving worksheets compatible with an older version of Minitab You can save your worksheets as Release 13, Release 12, Release 11, or Release 10 worksheets − see To save a worksheet in Minitab Release 13 or earlier format. Project files can be saved as Release 12 or 13 format. However, graphs created in Release 14 cannot be saved in earlier formats. Also, any dialog information in your Release 14 project likewise will also not be saved in an earlier format. Some worksheet features are also new to Release 14. When you save a worksheet in an older format, features that are not compatible will not be saved. When you save the file, Minitab will warn you which features are not being saved.

Transferring portable worksheets to other computer platforms The portable worksheet format allows you to transfer worksheets from Minitab on one type of computer, such as an IBM-compatible PC, to Minitab on another computer, such as a Macintosh or mainframe. See To transfer a portable worksheet.

To save data as a Release 14 worksheet 1 Choose File > Save Current Worksheet As. 2 In File name, type a file name. 3 In Save as type, choose Minitab. 4 If you like, click Description to create a description for the worksheet. For details, see Save Current Worksheet As -

Description. 5 Click Save.

To save a worksheet in Minitab Release 13 or earlier format 1 Choose File > Save Current Worksheet As. 2 In File name, enter a file name.

If a Release 14 file of this worksheet already exists, make sure to enter a different name so that you do not accidentally overwrite the Release 13 file (remember, both files will have the extension MTW).

3 Under Save as type, choose Minitab 13, Minitab 12, Minitab 11, or Minitab 10. 4 Click Save.

Minitab will display a message dialog box telling you which Release 14 worksheet features will not be saved with the Release 13, 12, 11, or 10 worksheet.

5 Click OK.

Windows and Files


To save a worksheet in a non-Minitab format 1 Choose File > Save Current Worksheet As. 2 In File name, type a file name. 3 In Save as type, select the format you want: Excel, 1-2-3, etc. 4 Click Options. 5 Set any options. For example, to save only the data and ignore column names, set Variable Names to None. Click

OK and then click Save.

To transfer a portable worksheet 1 Choose File > Save Current Worksheet As. 2 In Save as type, choose Minitab Portable. 3 Enter a name and click Save. 4 Transfer the file to the other computer. The method you use depends on the target computer platform:

• To transfer data to a Macintosh computer, you can use a utility that comes with that operating system, PC Exchange.

• To transfer to another type of computer, you can often use FTP (file transfer protocol) software, or file conversion software. For details, see the target computer's documentation.

5 On the target computer, start Minitab and open the file (see To open a portable worksheet).

To save a worksheet as a Web page 1 Choose File > Save Current Worksheet As. 2 In File name, enter a file name. 3 In Save as type, choose Web Page (*.htm; *.html). 4 Under Save, choose Entire Worksheet or Selection (only if you have previously selected a portion of the worksheet). 5 In Title, type a title for the Web page title bar. 6 Click Save.

Worksheet Description Worksheet Description File > Worksheet Description Editor > Worksheet > Description Stores comments about your worksheet.

Dialog box items Worksheet: The worksheet name (supplied automatically). Location: The directory in which the worksheet is located (supplied automatically). If the worksheet has not been saved, Location will show the current directory. Creator: The author or owner of the data set (optional). Date(s): The date the data was created. (optional). Comments: Description of the data set, commands used to analyze the data, or any other comments (optional). These comments will be saved with your worksheet if you save it in a Minitab format.

Tip If you have commands you use frequently with this data, you can copy them from the History folder and paste them here. Press [Ctrl]+[V] to paste.

To create a description for the current worksheet 1 Make the appropriate Data window active. 2 Choose File > Worksheet Description or Editor > Worksheet > Description.



3 Enter information in Creation, Date(s), and Comments, then click OK.

Note Worksheet descriptions can be created when you save a worksheet as a Minitab worksheet (MTW) file (see Save Current Worksheet (File menu) and by clicking on the active worksheet folder in the Worksheet folder of the Project Manager.

You can also view descriptions of other worksheet files−see To view descriptions of worksheet files.

Close Worksheet Close Worksheet File > Close Worksheet Closes the current worksheet.

To close a worksheet 1 Make the Data window for that worksheet active. 2 Choose File > Close Worksheet.

Query Database (ODBC) ODBC Overview ODBC stands for Open DataBase Connectivity. ODBC lets you import data from database files. Often, you will not want to import the entire database file. Instead, you can import just the subset of data you are interested in analyzing, such as the data collected during a certain month. ODBC is a protocol shared by many applications. To use ODBC in Minitab, you may have to first install ODBC software on your system − see Setting Up ODBC . Once ODBC is set up correctly, in Minitab you can use the Query Database command to connect to the database file you want and import the subset of data you want − see Query Database (ODBC): selecting a table and fields .

Note If you run into problems, read ODBC troubleshooting tips.

How data is converted Minitab imports fields as columns of data. Records in the fields become rows in the columns. The table below shows how field types are converted to column types.

Database field type Imported as column type Notes

Memo Text

Text Values longer than 80 characters are truncated.

Numeric Currency Counter

Numeric

Yes/No Numeric "Yes" values converted to 1, "No" values converted to 0.

Logical (true/false) Numeric True values converted to 1, False values converted 0.

Date/time Date/time

The columns of database data are inserted in the current Minitab worksheet, to the right of any existing data.

Windows and Files


Query Database (ODBC) File > Query Database (ODBC) Choose the database table and fields (variables) you want to import data from.

Dialog box items Available tables: Select the table you want. (Click the down arrow to see available tables.) Selected fields: Use the arrow buttons to move the fields (variables) you want to import into this box. If you click OK without choosing the Use rows button, Minitab imports all rows into the worksheet.

Note To macro writers and advanced SQL users: You can use any SQL expression from within Minitab, using the ODBC session command (see Session Command Help for details). Use the dialog box to do a simple query, then view the History to see how the command language should look. The ODBC session command can also query more than one table at a time.

Query Database (ODBC) − Use Rows File > Query Database (ODBC) > Use rows Specify a subset of data to import

Dialog box items Use rows: Click field names, buttons, and functions to build a "where" expression to specify the subset you want. If you know the specific SQL string you want, you can type or paste it directly into this box.

Calculator buttons: For definitions of the calculator buttons, see arithmetic operations (for +, −, ∗, /, **), comparison operations (for =, <>, <, >, <=, >=), and logical operations (for And, Or, Not). Functions: To see definitions of all ODBC functions, click here.

Note To macro writers and advanced SQL users: You can use any SQL expression from within Minitab, using the ODBC session command (see Session Command Help for details). Use the dialog box to do a simple query, then view the History to see how the command language should look. The ODBC session command can also query more than one table at a time.

Setting Up ODBC To use ODBC in Minitab, you must have a the following items installed on your system:

• The 32-bit ODBC manager. Minitab will not work with the 16-bit ODBC manager that ships with some 16-bit database programs (such as Access 2.0), or that comes with older versions of Windows.

• ODBC drivers. You must have the driver for the type of database you want to connect to. These drivers are added using the driver's setup program. Drivers are not added within the ODBC manager.

• A data source. Data sources specify which database file to connect to, which driver to use for that connection, and which options to use when opening that file (such as login name and password). Data sources are defined in the ODBC manager. You can start the ODBC manager from the Windows Control Panel, or from within Minitab when you use the File > Query Database command.

If you do not have the 32-bit OBDC manager or drivers If you do not have the 32-bit OBDC manager or drivers, Minitab's ODBC features will not work. You may need help from your system administrator in finding the ODBC software and drivers. The ODBC manager is available from the Microsoft web site at www.microsoft.com. ODBC drivers can be obtained from disks supplied by your database application vendor, or from your vendor's web site.

To query a database (ODBC) 1 Make the desired Data window active. (When the query is executed, columns of database data will be added to the

right of any existing columns in this Data window.) 2 Choose File > Query Database (ODBC).

The ODBC manager dialog box will appear. This dialog box may appear differently, depending on which version of the manager you are using.

3 Pick from the list of data sources (if any exist) or create a new data source. The method you use for creating a data source depends on the ODBC manager you have installed. See your ODBC manager's documentation for details.



4 Click OK. 5 Depending on data source, you may be prompted to provide login name, password, directory, and/or file information.

Provide whatever information is requested, then click OK. (To get this information, you may need help from your system administrator.)

6 In Available tables, select the table you want (click the down arrow to see available tables). 7 Use the arrow buttons to move items from the Available fields box to the Selected fields box. Note that each

selected field will become a column in Minitab.

• and move the highlighted field

• and move all the fields to the other box

Tip If you want to select most, but not all of the fields in the database, it is quicker to click to move all the available fields to the Selected box, then click to move individual fields back to the Available box.

8 If you like, click Use rows to set conditions for which subset of the data you want to import − see To specify a subset of data to import.

Tip Depending on the amount of data you are importing and your network's performance, importing data can take a while. Once the import is complete, save your project so you can quickly retrieve the data later.

To check for the ODBC manager and drivers 1 Open the Control Panel. From the task bar, choose Start > Settings > Control Panel. 2 Make sure you have the 32bit ODBC icon.

3 To see which ODBC drivers and data sources are installed, double-click the ODBC icon. See your ODBC

documentation for details on adding drivers.

To specify a subset of data to import Instead of importing the entire database file (which may be huge), you can import just the fields (which are converted to Minitab columns) and records (rows) you are interested in. 1 In the Query Database dialog box, click Use rows. 2 In Use rows, enter an expression that defines which records from the fields will be imported (becoming rows in

Minitab). Expressions start with the keyword "where" and contain field names, logical operators (such as "And" and "=" ), ODBC functions, and values. Use this dialog box much as you would the Minitab calculator (the Calc > Calculator command). These expressions are Structured Query Language (SQL) strings. SQL is used in many database applications. If you are familiar with SQL and know the SQL string you want, you can paste it into the Use rows text box.

3 Click OK in each dialog box.

Windows and Files


Query Database (ODBC) Examples Sample expressions All of these examples are for importing data from an Access database. The syntax for other databases may be different, as noted in the syntax rules above.

To import... Use this expression records for the first quarter of 1995.

where DATE >= #1/1/95# And DATE < #4/1/95#

records for employees hired since January 1, 1990 who are in the Finance Department.

where DATE_HIRED > #1/1/90# And DEPT = 'Finance'

records logged during the last 30 days. where DATE > ({fn CURDATE} − 30)

Note that CURDATE is an ODBC function. If your ODBC driver supports that function, it should work with any database.

Syntax Rules for ODBC Queries

Caution Syntax rules vary from one database application to another; there is no standard. We provide some information here, but you may need help from your database administrator to find out the appropriate syntax to use.

Expression element Syntax rule _________________________________________________________________________

Text values For many databases, such as Microsoft Access, enclose text values in single quotes, as in 'Morristown'. (Note that this syntax differs from the rest of Minitab, where text values should be enclosed by double quotes. This syntax must follow ODBC rules, not Minitab rules.) For Oracle or SQL Server databases, enclose text values in two sets of double quotes, as in, ""Morristown""

Numeric values Do not enclose numbers, such as 300, with any special characters.

Date/time values For Access and dBASE databases, enclose dates in pound signs, as in #12/31/99#. For

other databases, see the application's documentation. Or, use a date/time function.

Field names Field delimiters vary according to the ODBC driver. If you enter the field name by

selecting it from the field list, Minitab will enclose the field in the delimiter appropriate for your ODBC driver.

Functions Enclose functions with braces and the characters "fn" as follows: {fn SQRT(128)}. This

syntax identifies the function as an ODBC function, as opposed to a function native to the database application you are importing from. If you select functions from the list, Minitab automatically adds the necessary enclosure characters.

To import data using the clipboard Another easy way to import files into Minitab is to use the Clipboard. To copy data from Lotus, Excel, or other spreadsheet packages to Minitab using the Clipboard: 1 Copy the data from your spreadsheet to the Clipboard. 2 In a Minitab Data window. 3 Click the cell where you want to begin the paste, then choose Edit > Paste Cells.



ODBC Troubleshooting Tips An error message indicates a problem with my ODBC driver This could occur if there is an incompatibility between the ODBC driver you are using and its associated data source. This occurs because the path to the data source is specified incorrectly, because you do not have the specified network drive mounted correctly, or because the ODBC driver you need is not installed or set up properly. You may need assistance from your system administrator, since the solution will probably depend on knowing details about your particular network and data source files. Something to try: Reinstall ODBC, and make sure there are no duplicate ODBC files on your computer.

Performance is slow Performance will vary depending on performance on your network while you are using ODBC and on the size of the data source file you are accessing.

Syntax error in query expression Several problems could prompt this message: (1) A selected field name contains an embedded blank space or some other illegal character. "Illegal" is defined by the ODBC driver you are using, not Minitab. (2) The "where" expression contains incorrect syntax. See the rules above, or get help from your database system administrator to correct syntax problems.

Choosing File > Query Database (ODBC) doesn't appear to do anything, OR After choosing File > Query Database (ODBC), you can select the data source and the table Query Database (ODBC) dialog box. But after you click OK, or the Use Rows button, a message says that column information is not available. These problems occur when there is an incompatibility between the ODBC driver being used and the associated data source. Ask your database system administrator to help ensure that you have the right ODBC driver installed for your database file and that the driver is set up properly.

ODBC Functions The reference for the descriptions of the ODBC functions listed below is: Programmer's Reference, Microsoft Open Database Connectivity Software Development Kit, Version 2.0, For the Microsoft Windows and Windows NT Operating Systems, Appendix F, Scalar Functions. ABS (absolute value) ACOS (arccosine) ASCII (ASCII code) ASIN (arcsine) ATAN (arctangent of a number) ATAN2 (arctangent of x and y coordinates) CEILING CHAR (text character) CONCAT (concatenate) CONVERT COS (cosine) COT (cotangent) CURDATE (current date) CURTIME (current time) DATABASE (database name) DAYNAME (day of the week) DAYOFMONTH (day of the month) DAYOFWEEK (day of the week) DAYOFYEAR (day of the year) DEGREES (number of degrees) DIFFERENCE (related to SOUNDEX) EXP (exponential value) FLOOR

Windows and Files


HOUR (hour of the day) IFNULL INSERT LCASE (lower case) LEFT (leftmost character) LENGTH (number of characters) LOCATE LOG (natural logarithm) LOG10 (base 10 logarithm) LTRIM MINUTE (minute of the hour) MOD (modulus) MONTH (month of the year) MONTHNAME (name of the month) NOW (current date and time) PI POWER (raise to a power) QUARTER (quarter of the year) RADIANS RAND (random value) REPEAT (repeat text) REPLACE (replace text) RIGHT (rightmost character) ROUND RTRIM SECOND (second of the minute) SIGN SIN (sine) SOUNDEX (sound of words) SPACE (number of spaces) SQRT (square root) SUBSTRING TAN (tangent) TIMESTAMPADD TIMESTAMPDIFF TRUNCATE (round down) UCASE (upper case) USER (user name) WEEK (week of the year) YEAR

SIGN (ODBC function) SIGN(number)

Returns −1 for a negative number, +1 for a positive number, and 0 for zero.

SIN (ODBC function) SIN(angle_in_radians) Returns the sine of the specified angle, expressed in radians.



SOUNDEX (ODBC function) SOUNDEX(text)

Returns a data source−dependent character string representing the sound of the words in text. For example, SQL Server returns a four-digit SOUNDEX code; Oracle returns a phonetic representation of each word.

SPACE (ODBC function) SPACE(number_of_spaces) Returns a text string consisting of the specified number of spaces.

SQRT (ODBC function) SQRT(number) Returns the square root of the number.

SUBSTRING (ODBC function) SUBSTRING(text, start_position, number_of_characters) Returns a text string that is derived from text1 beginning at the specified start_position for the specified number of characters.

TAN (ODBC function) TAN(angle_in_radians) Returns the tangent of the specified angle, expressed in radians.

TIMESTAMPADD (ODBC function) TIMESTAMPADD(time_interval, integer, timestamp) Returns the timestamp calculated by adding the number of time intervals specified by integer to timestamp. Valid values of time_interval are the following keywords:

SQL_TSI_FRAC_SECOND SQL_TSI_SECOND SQL_TSI_MINUTE SQL_TSI_HOUR SQL_TSI_DAY SQL_TSI_WEEK SQL_TSI_MONTH SQL_TSI_QUARTER SQL_TSI_YEAR

where fractional seconds are expressed in billionths of a second. For example, the following SQL statement returns the name of each employee and their one-year anniversary dates:

SELECT NAME,{fn TIMESTAMPADD(SQL_TSI_YEAR, 1, HIRE_DATE)} FROM EMPLOYEES

If timestamp_exp is a time value and interval specifies days, weeks, months, quarters, or years, the date portion of timestamp_exp is set to the current date before calculating the resulting timestamp. If timestamp_exp is a date value and interval specifies fractional seconds, seconds, minutes, or hours, the time portion of timestamp_exp is set to 0 before calculating the resulting timestamp. An application determines which intervals a data source supports by calling SQLGetInfo with the SQL_TIMEDATE_ADD_INTERVALS option.

TIMESTAMPDIFF (ODBC function) TIMESTAMPDIFF(time_interval, timestamp1, timestamp2) Returns the number of intervals of type time_interval by which timestamp2 is greater than timestamp1. Valid values of time_interval are the following keywords:

SQL_TSI_FRAC_SECOND SQL_TSI_SECOND

Windows and Files


SQL_TSI_MINUTE SQL_TSI_HOUR SQL_TSI_DAY SQL_TSI_WEEK SQL_TSI_MONTH SQL_TSI_QUARTER SQL_TSI_YEAR

where fractional seconds are expressed in billionths of a second. For example, the following SQL statement returns the name of each employee and the number of years they have been employed.

SELECT NAME, {fn TIMESTAMPDIFF(SQL_TSI_YEAR, {fn CURDATE()}, HIRE_DATE)}FROM EMPLOYEES

If either timestamp expression is a time value and time_interval specifies days, weeks, months, quarters, or years, the date portion of that timestamp is set to the current date before calculating the difference between the timestamps. If either timestamp expression is a date value and time_interval specifies fractional seconds, seconds, minutes, or hours, the time portion of that timestamp is set to 0 before calculating the difference between the timestamps. An application determines which intervals a data source supports by calling SQLGetInfo with the SQL_TIMEDATE_DIFF_INTERVALS option.

TRUNCATE (ODBC function) TRUNCATE(number, num_digits) Rounds the number down to num_digits. If num_digits is greater than zero, rounds down to that many digits to the right of the decimal point. If num_digits is negative, rounds down to that many digits to the left of the decimal point. If num_digits is zero, rounds down to the nearest integer.

UCASE (ODBC function) UCASE(text) Converts all lower case characters in text to upper case.

USER (ODBC function) USER Returns the user name in the DBMS.

WEEK (ODBC function) WEEK(date) Returns, as a number from 1 to 53, the week of the year represented by date.

YEAR (ODBC function) YEAR(date_exp) Returns, as a number, the year represented by date.

MINUTE (ODBC function) MINUTE(time) Returns, as a number from 0 to 59, the minute represented by time.

MOD (ODBC function) MOD(number, divisor) Returns the remainder (modulus) of the number after it has been divided by the divisor. Both number and divisor must be integers.



MONTH (ODBC function) MONTH(date) Returns, as a number from 1 to 12, the month represented by date.

MONTHNAME (ODBC function) MONTHNAME(date) Returns, in text, the name of the month represented by date.

NOW (ODBC function) NOW

Returns the current date and time as a timestamp value.

PI (ODBC function) PI Returns the constant value of pi as a floating point value.

POWER (ODBC function) POWER(number, power) Returns the value of the number raised to the specified power. Power must be an integer.

QUARTER (ODBC function) QUARTER(date) Returns, as a number from 1 to 4, the quarter corresponding to the date. Quarter 1 represents January 1 through March 31, and so on.

RADIANS (ODBC function) RADIANS(angle_in_degrees) Returns the number of radians converted from the specified angle expressed in degrees.

RAND (ODBC function) RAND(integer) Returns a random floating point value using the specified integer as the optional seed value.

REPEAT (ODBC function) REPEAT(text,number_times)

Returns a text string composed of text repeated the specified number of times.

REPLACE (ODBC function) REPLACE(text1, text2, text3) Replaces all occurrences of text2 in text1 with text3.

RIGHT (ODBC function) RIGHT(text, number_of_characters) Returns the last (or rightmost) character or characters in the text string.

Windows and Files


ROUND (ODBC function) ROUND(number, num_digits) Rounds the number to num_digits. If num_digits is greater than zero, rounds to that many digits to the right of the decimal point. If num_digits is negative, rounds to that many digits to the left of the decimal point. If num_digits equals zero, rounds to the nearest integer.

RTRIM (ODBC function) RTRIM(text) Returns the characters of text with trailing blanks removed.

SECOND (ODBC function) SECOND(time) Returns, as a number from 0 to 59, the second represented by time.

DAYOFWEEK (ODBC function) DAYOFWEEK(date) Returns, as a number from 1 to 7, the day of the week represented by date. The numbers 1 through 7 represent Sunday through Saturday, respectively.

DAYOFYEAR (ODBC function) DAYOFYEAR(date) Returns, as a number from 1 to 366, the day of the year represented by date.

DEGREES (ODBC function) DEGREES(angle_in_radians) Returns the number of degrees converted from the specified angle expressed in radians.

DIFFERENCE (ODBC function) DIFFERENCE(text1, text2) Returns a number that indicates the difference between the values returned by the SOUNDEX function for text1 and text2.

EXP (ODBC function) EXP(number) Returns the exponential value of the specified number.

FLOOR (ODBC function) FLOOR(number) Returns largest integer less than or equal to the specified number.

HOUR (ODBC function) HOUR(time) Returns, as a number from 0 to 23, the hour represented by time.

INSERT (ODBC function) INSERT(text1, start_position, number_of_characters, text2)



Deletes the specified number of characters from text1, beginning at start_position. Inserts text2 into text1, beginning at start_position.

IFNULL (ODBC function) IFNULL(exp, value) If exp is null, value is returned. If exp is not null, exp is returned. The possible data type(s) of value must be compatible with the data type of exp. Exp can be the name of a column, a number, or a date/time expression. Value can be a literal constant, where the underlying data type can be represented as a number or a date/time expression.

LCASE (ODBC function) LCASE(text) Converts all upper case characters in text to lower case.

LEFT (ODBC function) LEFT(text, number_of_characters) Returns the first (or leftmost) character or characters in the text string.

LENGTH (ODBC function) LENGTH(text)

Returns the number of characters in the text. This number includes spaces, but excludes trailing blanks.

LOCATE (ODBC function) LOCATE(text1, text2 [,start]) Returns the starting position of the first occurrence of text1 within text2. The search for the first occurrence of text1 begins with the first character position in text unless the optional argument, start, is used. If start is used, the search begins with the character position indicated by the value of start. The first character position in text2 is indicated by the value 1. If text1 is not found within text2, the value 0 is returned.

LOG (ODBC function) LOG(number) Returns the natural logarithm (to base e) of number.

LOG10 (ODBC function) LOG10(number) Returns the base 10 logarithm of number.

LTRIM (ODBC function) LTRIM(text) Returns the characters of text with leading blanks removed.

ACOS (ODBC function) ACOS(number)

Returns the arccosine of the specified angle, expressed in radians, which must be a number from − 1 to 1.

Windows and Files


ASCII (ODBC function) ASCII(text) Returns the numeric ASCII code of the first character of text.

ASIN (ODBC function) ASIN(number)

Returns the arcsine of the specified angle, expressed in radians, which must be a number from −1 to 1.

ATAN (ODBC function) ATAN(number) Returns the arctangent of the number as an angle, expressed in radians. Number is the tangent of the angle you want.

ATAN2 (ODBC function) ATAN2(x_coordinate, y_coordinate) Returns the arctangent of the specified x and y coordinates as an angle, expressed in radians.

CEILING (ODBC function) CEILING(number) Returns the smallest integer greater than or equal to the specified number.

CHAR (ODBC function) CHAR(code) Returns the text character corresponding to the specified code. Code should be between 0 and 255; otherwise, the return value is data source−dependent.

CONCAT (ODBC function) CONCAT(text1, text2) Combines text1 and text2 side by side.

CONVERT (ODBC function) CONVERT(value, data_type) Converts value to the specified data type, where data type is one of the following keywords:

SQL_BIGINT SQL_BINARY SQL_BIT SQL_CHAR SQL_DATE SQL_DECIMAL SQL_DOUBLE SQL_FLOAT SQL_INTEGER SQL_LONGVARBINARY SQL_LONGVARCHAR SQL_NUMERIC SQL_REAL SQL_SMALLINT SQL_TIME SQL_TIMESTAMP SQL_TINYINT



SQL_VARBINARY SQL_VARCHAR

For example:

{ fn CONVERT ( { CURDATE( ) }, SQL_CHAR) }

converts the output of the CURDATE function, which is normally numeric, into text.

COS (ODBC function) COS(angle_in_radians) Returns the cosine of the specified angle, expressed in radians.

COT (ODBC function) COT(angle_in_radians) Returns the cotangent of the specified angle, expressed in radians.

CURDATE (ODBC function) CURDATE Returns today's date as a date value.

CURTIME (ODBC function) CURTIME Returns the current local time as a time value.

DAYOFMONTH (ODBC function) DAYOFMONTH(date) Returns, as a number from 1 to 31, the day of the month represented by date.

DAYNAME (ODBC function) DAYNAME(date) Returns, in text, the day of the week represented by date.

DATABASE (ODBC function) DATABASE Returns the name of the database corresponding to the connection handle (hdbc).

ABS (ODBC function) ABS(number) Returns the absolute value of a number. The absolute value of a number is the number without its sign.

Open Graph Open Graph File > Open Graph Opens a Minitab graph (MGF) file previously saved by Save Graph As (File menu). Once you have opened a graph, you can print it to your printer or copy it to the Clipboard. To print the active graph window, choose File > Print Graph. To copy the active graph window to the Clipboard, choose Edit > Copy Graph.

Windows and Files


You also can open graphs that are stored in saved Minitab projects by selecting a Minitab project file from the Open Graph dialog. Clicking Open brings up a preview dialog containing a list of graphs stored in the project, from which you can select one or more graphs to add to your current project.

Dialog box items Look in: Enter a drive and folder. File name: Enter a file name. Files of type: Choose Minitab Graph (MGF) or Minitab Project (MPJ).

Note You can open graphs saved in previous versions of Minitab, although some restrictions to functionality will apply. For more information, see Accommodating Graphs from Previous Releases in What's New.

To open a graph 1 Choose File > Open Graph. 2 Under Files of type, select either Minitab Graphics Format (*.MGF) or Minitab Project (*.MPJ). 3 Select a directory and file name, then click Open. 4 If you select a Minitab Project file, Minitab then displays a list of the graphs in that project. Select a graph and click

OK.

Extracting worksheets and graphs from Minitab projects Minitab project files can contain multiple graphs and worksheets. You can extract these worksheets and graphs from within saved project files and add them to your current open project by choosing a project file (MPJ) when using File > Open Worksheet or File > Open Graph. Clicking Open in either of these dialog boxes when a project file is selected brings up a preview dialog containing a list of worksheets and graphs stored in the project, from which you can select one or more worksheets or graphs to add to your current project. For information on extracting worksheets from a project file, see File > Open Worksheet. For information on extracting graphs from a project file, see File > Open Graph.

Other Files Other Files File > Other Files > Import Special Text - reads data from a text file into the worksheet Export Special Text - exports data from the worksheet to a text file Run an Exec - executes commands that have been stored in an Exec macro file

Import Special Text Import Special Text File > Other Files > Import Special Text Reads data from a text file into the worksheet. Most of the time, the File > Open Worksheet command is the best way to open a text file. However, the Import Special Text command can do two things that the Open Worksheet command cannot. You can

• create a format statement that gives Minitab very specific instructions for interpreting the file. This can solve import problems when the text file is formatted in an odd way.

• append data from a file to the bottom of existing columns. The Open Worksheet command places data in a new worksheet, or, when used with the merge option, places data in new columns in the current worksheet.

For more information, see When to use the Import Special Text command.

Dialog box items Store data in column(s): Enter the columns into which Minitab should place the data (for example, C1-C3). Replace any existing data in these columns: Choose to replace existing values in the indicated columns with the new data. Append to any existing data in these columns: Choose to insert the imported data at the bottom of the indicated columns.



To import a special text file 1 Choose File > Other Files > Import Special Text. 2 In Store data in column(s), enter the column(s) where you want the data to be entered. 3 If you like, specify a format for how you want the data interpreted. See To give custom instructions for importing a

special text file below. 4 If you want the data to be added to the end of these columns, click Append to any existing data in these columns.

Click OK.

To give custom instructions for importing a special text file 1 In the Import Special Text dialog box, click Format. 2 In User specified format, enter a format statement. See Format Statement Syntax. Click OK in each dialog box.

When to use the Import Special Text command Do not automatically use the Import Special Text command to solve text format problems; there may be an easier way to solve the problem. Here are the three methods you can use:

• Open the file with Open Worksheet and fix any problems in the Data window.

• Open the file in a text editor and reformat the file.

• Use the File > Other Files > Import Special Text command and specify a custom format. The following table lists some common text format problems and suggests which method to use to solve them.

Note For every problem that suggests you use the Import Special Text command with a format statement, you can see an example of that format statement.

Format problem Open Worksheet command will... Suggested solution No spaces or other characters separate columns of data (columns are delimited by the number of characters in each field). For example, 12142 is meant to be five separate values.

place the entire file in one column. Use the Import Special Text command with a format statement that specifies a fixed width for each column.

Each row of data is on two or more lines.

place each line in its own row. Use the Import Special Text command with a format specifying a carriage return.

Blank cells are scattered randomly throughout a space-delimited file.

skip blanks; the next non-blank character is assumed to be the next value in the row. Skipping blanks creates rows that are shorter than the rows without blank cells. In shorter rows, remaining columns are filled with the missing value symbol (∗).

1 In a text editor, enclose blank cells with a delimiter such as double-quotes.

2 Open the file with File > Open Worksheet.

Blank cells occur at known intervals in a space-delimited file. For example, there is always a blank between first and second value, as in 85 67 32

skip blanks (described above). Open the file with File > Open Worksheet, then in the Data window insert empty columns. Or, use the Import Special Text command with a format statement that specifies a fixed width for each column.

Values in a character column contain an embedded delimiter such as a space. For example, "Jones, John Paul" (without the quotes) contains two spaces.

create a new column every time a space is encountered. For example, "Jones, John Paul" (without the quotes) would be read into three columns.

Use the Import Special Text command with a format statement that specifies exact length of the text column.

Numbers in the file that look like integers (for example, 10056) need to be interpreted as decimal numbers (100.56 or 10.056).

interpret numbers as integers. Use the Import Special Text command with a format statement that specifies decimal places for each column.

Windows and Files


Import Text From File File > Other Files > Import Special Text > OK (Opens when you click OK to indicate that you want to read data from a file.) Tells Minitab which data file you want to open.

Dialog box items To open a file, make sure the correct file type appears in the List Files of Type box. Next, select the file you want to open, browsing through drives and directories as necessary.

Import Special Text − Format File > Other Files > Import Special Text > Format Allows you to give customized instructions on how to import a text file.

Dialog box items Data Selection Allows you to read a portion of the data file. You can read the first part of a file or skip over a specified number of lines in your data file. This is useful if the data file contains header information that cannot be used by Minitab. These two options may be used in combination to import a block of rows which is in the middle of the data file.

Number of rows of data to import: Enter the number of rows you want to import. Minitab will only import the specified portion of the file. Number of lines in the file to skip: Enter the number of lines of the data file you want to skip over. Minitab will only import the specified portion of the file.

Decimal Separator Period: Click to specify that a period is the decimal separator symbol. Comma: Click to specify that a comma is the decimal separator symbol.

Blank delimited (numeric data only): Choose to import data separated by at least one space or comma. Tab delimited: Choose to import data separated by tabs.

Column names in first row: Check to read the first row as column names in tab delimited files. User-specified text columns: Minitab automatically identifies columns as numeric, date/time, or text, depending on the first data value in the column. To override this automatic checking, specify which columns are to be designated as text columns.

User-specified format: Choose to enter a format statement that specifies how to read the file. To see when a user-specified format is necessary, click here.

Format Statement Syntax When you import or export special text, you can use a format statement. Format statements are made up of one or more format items. Here are the most common format items:

Format item Stands for F Numeric data A Text (alpha) data DT Date/time data X Blanks / Carriage return

For samples of format stations, see Sample format statments.

Syntax notes

Syntax for F, A, and DT The format items F, A, and DT are always followed by a number that tells Minitab how many characters make up one column. For example, a format statement that begins with A20 means that the first 20 characters go in one column, and are given the text format. Do not put a space between the format item and the number.

Additional syntax for F : decimal places With numeric data, you can specify the number of digits before and after a decimal point. After F, specify the total number of digits in the number, type a period, then specify the number of digits in that number that should appear after a decimal. For example, F5.2 interprets the value 12345 as 123.45. F5.1 interprets 12345 as 1234.5. If your Windows regional settings are not set to United States English, use the decimal separator character for your chosen region.



Additional syntax for DT : date/time formats DT may also be followed by a date/time format, such as mm/dd/yy (to create a date like 01/29/00) or mm/yyyy (01/2000. The date/time format immediately follows the character number, as in DT8mm/dd/yy. For a list of available date/time formats, see Creating a Custom Date/Time Format.

Syntax for X A number always precedes X. The number equals the number of characters to skip.

Combining format items Separate format items with a comma. For example, A5,1X,F2 tells Minitab to read the first five characters into a text column, skip one space, and read the next two characters into a numeric column. If your Windows regional settings are not set to United States English, use the list separator character for your chosen region.

Repeating a sequence F, A, and DT may be proceeded by a number which specifies how many times to repeat that format item. For example, 5A20 means that the first 20 characters will be entered into a text column, the next 20 characters entered into another text column, and so on, until there are five columns of 20 characters. Minitab then proceeds to the next format item in the format statement. You can also repeat sequences of format statements by enclosing the sequence in parentheses, then placing the repeater number before the parentheses. For example, say that you have five columns of text data, separated by spaces, and each column contains 20 characters. The base sequence is A20,1X. To repeat this sequence five times, you would enter 5(A20,1X).

Sample format statements

Problem Example Format statement ________________________________________________________________________________

No spaces or other characters separate columns of data.

12142 should be read as five separate columns: 1 2 1 4 2

5F1

_________________________________________________________________________________


10 14 12 87 28 23 should be read as: 10 14 12 87 28 23

4(F2,1x),/,2(F2,1x)

Numbers in the file that look like integers need to be interpreted as decimal numbers.

10056 328 9687 should be: 100.56 32.8 96.87

F5.2,1X,F3.1,1X,F4.2

Blank cells occur at known intervals in a space-delimited file.

85 67 32 should be read as four values, with a missing value between 85 and 67: 85 ∗ 67 32

F2,F1,F2,F2

Values in a character column contain an embedded delimiter, such as a space.

Jones, John Paul should be read as one value: "Jones, John Paul"

A16

More sample statements

Statement Tells Minitab to

A20,10X,F5,2X,F5 read data from the first 20 spaces into a text (or alpha) column, skip 10 spaces, read from the next 5 spaces into a numeric column, skip 2 spaces, read from the next 5 spaces into a numeric column

Windows and Files


10F3,/,10F3 read data from the first 3 spaces into a numeric column, the next 3 spaces into a numeric column, and so on for 10 columns, go to the next line, and import data from every 3 spaces into 10 additional numeric columns.

DT8m/d/yy,1X,A9 read data from the first 8 spaces in the format m/d/yy into a date/time column. Skip 1 space, then read from the next 9 spaces into a text column

Note The session command INSERT has more functionality than is available from the Import Special Text menu command. See Session Command Help for details.

Export Special Text Export Special Text File > Other Files > Export Special Text Exports data in the specified columns to a text file. Most of the time, the command Save Current Worksheet As is best for saving your worksheet in a text file. But if you want to save your data in a custom (Fortran-type) format, or if you want to save non-contiguous columns, you must use Export Special Text.

More To macro writers: The session command WRITE has more functionality than is available from the Export Special Text menu command. See Session Command Help for details.

How data is exported Column names are not saved, only the data. If all columns do not fit on one line, the continuation symbol (&) is put at the end of the line and the data continues onto the next line.

When exporting columns of unequal length, Minitab adds missing value symbols (∗) to the shorter numeric column(s).

Dialog box items Columns to export: Select the columns to be written to a data file. When exporting columns of unequal length, Minitab adds missing value symbols (∗) to the shorter numeric column(s). User-supplied format: Choose to export data using a fixed format (for example, columns not separated by spaces), then enter a format statement in the box. Decimal Separator

Period: Click to select a period as the decimal separator in the new file. Comma: Click to select a comma as the decimal separator in the new file.

To export to a text file 1 Choose File > Other Files > Export Special Text. 2 In Columns to export, enter the columns you want to export. 3 If you like, in User-specified format, type the format statement that describes how you want to export the data. For

details, see Format Statement Syntax. If you do not specify a format, Minitab saves the columns of data in a file, separated by spaces.

4 If you like, choose a decimal separator of Period or Comma. Commas are used for decimal separators in some countries.

5 Click OK.

Export Data To File File > Other Files > Export Special Text > OK (Opens when you click OK if you are writing to a file rather than writing to the Session window.) Names the data file and tells Minitab where to save it.

Dialog box items To save a data file, enter the file name of your choice in the File Name box. Select the correct drive and directory if necessary to tell Minitab where to save the file.



Format Statement Syntax When you import or export special text, you can use a format statement. Format statements are made up of one or more format items. Here are the most common format items:

Format item Stands for F Numeric data A Text (alpha) data DT Date/time data X Blanks / Carriage return

For samples of format stations, see Sample format statments.

Syntax notes

Syntax for F, A, and DT The format items F, A, and DT are always followed by a number that tells Minitab how many characters make up one column. For example, a format statement that begins with A20 means that the first 20 characters go in one column, and are given the text format. Do not put a space between the format item and the number.

Additional syntax for F : decimal places With numeric data, you can specify the number of digits before and after a decimal point. After F, specify the total number of digits in the number, type a period, then specify the number of digits in that number that should appear after a decimal. For example, F5.2 interprets the value 12345 as 123.45. F5.1 interprets 12345 as 1234.5. If your Windows regional settings are not set to United States English, use the decimal separator character for your chosen region.

Additional syntax for DT : date/time formats DT may also be followed by a date/time format, such as mm/dd/yy (to create a date like 01/29/00) or mm/yyyy (01/2000. The date/time format immediately follows the character number, as in DT8mm/dd/yy. For a list of available date/time formats, see Creating a Custom Date/Time Format.

Syntax for X A number always precedes X. The number equals the number of characters to skip.

Combining format items Separate format items with a comma. For example, A5,1X,F2 tells Minitab to read the first five characters into a text column, skip one space, and read the next two characters into a numeric column. If your Windows regional settings are not set to United States English, use the list separator character for your chosen region.

Repeating a sequence F, A, and DT may be proceeded by a number which specifies how many times to repeat that format item. For example, 5A20 means that the first 20 characters will be entered into a text column, the next 20 characters entered into another text column, and so on, until there are five columns of 20 characters. Minitab then proceeds to the next format item in the format statement. You can also repeat sequences of format statements by enclosing the sequence in parentheses, then placing the repeater number before the parentheses. For example, say that you have five columns of text data, separated by spaces, and each column contains 20 characters. The base sequence is A20,1X. To repeat this sequence five times, you would enter 5(A20,1X).

Sample format statements

Problem Example Format statement ________________________________________________________________________________

No spaces or other characters separate columns of data.

12142 should be read as five separate columns: 1 2 1 4 2

5F1

_________________________________________________________________________________

Windows and Files



10 14 12 87 28 23 should be read as: 10 14 12 87 28 23

4(F2,1x),/,2(F2,1x)

Numbers in the file that look like integers need to be interpreted as decimal numbers.

10056 328 9687 should be: 100.56 32.8 96.87

F5.2,1X,F3.1,1X,F4.2

Blank cells occur at known intervals in a space-delimited file.

85 67 32 should be read as four values, with a missing value between 85 and 67: 85 ∗ 67 32

F2,F1,F2,F2

Values in a character column contain an embedded delimiter, such as a space.

Jones, John Paul should be read as one value: "Jones, John Paul"

A16

More sample statements

Statement Tells Minitab to

A20,10X,F5,2X,F5 read data from the first 20 spaces into a text (or alpha) column, skip 10 spaces, read from the next 5 spaces into a numeric column, skip 2 spaces, read from the next 5 spaces into a numeric column

10F3,/,10F3 read data from the first 3 spaces into a numeric column, the next 3 spaces into a numeric column, and so on for 10 columns, go to the next line, and import data from every 3 spaces into 10 additional numeric columns.

DT8m/d/yy,1X,A9 read data from the first 8 spaces in the format m/d/yy into a date/time column. Skip 1 space, then read from the next 9 spaces into a text column

Note The session command INSERT has more functionality than is available from the Import Special Text menu command. See Session Command Help for details.

Run an Exec Run an Exec File > Other Files > Run an Exec Runs an Exec that was created using a word processor or editor. Execs may be nested; that is, you can write one Exec that invokes another. You can nest a maximum of five Execs.

Dialog box items Number of times to execute: Specify the number of times you want to run the Exec. The opportunity to execute a macro several times is useful for simulations and looping operations.

Run Exec in File File > Other Files > Run an Exec > Select File Tells Minitab which Exec file you want to execute. See Using Macros in Macros Help for additional information. Select the file (MTB file extension) you want to open, browsing through drives and directories as necessary.

Dialog box items Look in: Enter a drive and folder. File name: Enter a file name. Files of type: Choose Exec Files (MTB).



Save [Window] As Save Graph As File > Save Graph As Window > Project Manager > select Graphs folder on left > right-click graph title(s) > Save As Use to save graphs in Minitab (MGF), or other graphics format. Graphs saved as MGF can be reopened in Minitab by choosing File > Open Graph.

Note Graphs saved in Release 14 cannot be opened in previous releases of Minitab.

Dialog box items Save in: Choose a drive and folder. File name: Enter a file name. File type: Choose a graphics format.

Save Graph As - Options Use to set the resolution for saving a graph.

Note These options do not apply to MGF or EMF, which are vector formats, and are not available for the GIF format.

Dialog box items Graph Resolution (dots per inch)

Automatic: Choose to save graphs at the resolution specified by your monitor settings. Custom: Choose to enter a custom resolution.

Resolution: Enter the desired resolution.

To save a graph 1 With the Graph window active, choose File > Save Graph As. 2 In Save as type, choose the format that can be used by the other application. To use the graph in Minitab, choose

Minitab Graph (*.MGF). 3 In File name, type a name and click Save.

To save a graph as a printer file you can save graphs to a postscript (*.EPS) or other printer file format. 1 Choose File > Print Graph. 2 In Name, select the type of printer, such as a plotter. 3 Check Print to File, and click OK. 4 In the Print to File dialog box, type a file name.

Save History As File > Save History As Window > Project Manager > right-click on History folder and choose Save History As Saves the contents of the History to a text file. One reason you might want to save the History in a file is to provide a convenient way to execute those commands in a later session. For example, you might open that file with a text editor, copy some or all of the commands to the Clipboard, then execute those commands by pasting them into the Session window. You could also use the commands as a starting point for writing a macro.

Dialog box items Save in: Choose a drive and folder. File name: Enter a file name. File type: Choose a file extension from the list. All formats are plain text, but you may want a certain extension so that the text file will be associated with the appropriate application or action. For example, saving History text to a file with an MTB extension will let Minitab recognize the file as an Exec.

Windows and Files


Save Report As File > Save Report As Project Manager > right-click on ReportPad folder > Save Report As Use to save the contents of the ReportPad to an RTF (rich text format) file that can be displayed in other applications, or as an HTML file that can be used as a Web page or used in Web-based applications. You can edit and print reports directly from ReportPad, or open and edit them in a word processing application for enhanced formatting options.

Dialog box items Save in: Choose a drive and folder. File name: Enter a file name. Save as type: Choose to save the ReportPad as a rich text format (*.RTF) file or as a Web page (*.htm; *.html). Title: Type a title to display in the Web page title bar. Available only if you are saving the file as a Web page.

Save Session Window As File > Save Session Window As Window > Project Manager > right-click on Session folder and choose Save Session Window As Saves the contents of the Session window to a text or Rich Text Format file, or as a web page. When the Session window is active, File > Save Session Window As saves the contents of the Session window in a text file or an RTF file. You can print this file or edit it with a word processor to generate a report. You also can save your Session window contents as an HTML file that can be used as a Web page or in a Web-based application. By default, the Session window can hold up to about 15000 lines at one time. You can change this default by choosing the Session window option in Tools > Options > Session Window > Output. If the Session window becomes full, Minitab either discards the first half of the window or saves it in a file, depending on how you have set up your Preferences.

Three ways to save Session window content Use the one of the following three methods to save your session in a text file:

• Save Session Window As saves the contents of the Session window. If the session has been a long one, however, the Session window may not contain the entire contents of the session, since it can only hold up to 15,000 lines at one time by default. The maximum setting is 60,000 lines.

• Tools > Options > Session Window > Output enables you to instruct Minitab to save your session, including the part that overflows the space available in the window, in a file named session.txt. Alternatively, you can instruct Minitab to prompt you to give a file name in which to store the session when the window overflows or when you exit Minitab. Both of these methods ensure that you always save a copy of your session in a file.

• The last method is the OUTFILE session command. After you execute this command, Minitab stores the session in the specified file until you execute NOOUTFILE or exit Minitab. One disadvantage of this method is that you must execute OUTFILE before you begin the session that you want to save. This method was established in an older version of Minitab. For more information on OUTFILE, see Session Command Help.

Dialog box items Save in: Choose a drive and folder. File name: Enter a file name. File type: Choose to save the file as a plain text (*.TXT or *.LIS) or rich text format (*.RTF) file, or as a Web page (*.HTM; *.HTML). Title: Type a title to display in a Web page title bar. Available only if you are saving the file as a Web page.



Print [Window] Print [Window Name] File > Print Session Window File > Print Graph File > Print History File > Print Worksheet > OK File > Print Report In the Project Manager Graph folder, highlight one or more graphs, right-click, and choose Print Prints the contents of the active window. Use File > Page Setup to adjust printing options for graphs. File > Page Setup is only available when a graph is selected. Otherwise, use File > Print Setup to adjust printing options.

Note • If you chose File > Print Worksheet, when you click OK in this dialog box, the Data Window Output Options dialog box appears.

• If you highlight multiple graphs in the Project Manager Graph folder, right-click and choose Print, the Print Multiple Graphs dialog box appears.

Dialog box items The standard Windows dialog box items appear (varies according to the version of Windows you are using: Windows 98SE, NT, 2000 or XP). For help on using this dialog box, see your system documentation.

Data Window Output Options File > Print Worksheet Window > Project Manager > right-click on the Columns folder and choose Print Controls printing of the Data window components. To save your Data window output options for subsequent Minitab sessions, use Tools > Options > Data Window > Print Options. When the Data window is active, and the cells are empty, File > Print Worksheet will be disabled.

Note If you are brushing a graph, brush markers in the Data window will not print.

Dialog box items Print Row Labels: Check to display the row numbers on the printed output. Print Column Labels (i.e. C1): Check to display the column labels on the printed output. Print Column Names: Check to display column names above each column on the printed output. Print Grid Lines: Check to print grid lines. Column Names and Labels

Left Justified: Choose to left justify column names and labels above the columns of data. Centered: Choose to center column names and labels above the columns of data. Right Justified: Choose to right justify column names and labels above the columns of data. Numeric Right Justified, Text Left Justified: Choose to right justify column names and labels of numeric columns and left justify column names and labels of text columns above the columns of data.

Title: Enter a text string that will show at the top of the printed output.

To print the Data window 1 Make the Data window active. 2 Choose File > Print Worksheet. 3 In the Data Window Print Options dialog box, select the options you want, and click OK. 4 In the Print dialog box, click OK.

Note To print a selected block of cells, first select the cells you want (see Selecting Areas of the Data Window), then print as above.

Windows and Files


To print constants and matrices 1 Choose Data > Display Data. 2 Under Columns, constants, and matrices to display, select the desired items. Click OK. 3 In the Session window, select the lines containing the constants and matrices. 4 Choose File > Print Session Window. Under Print Range, make sure Selection is selected. Click OK.

Note You can also print the contents of the Session window and the History folder. Right-click on the Session folder or History folder in the Project Manager and select Print [window/folder name]. If the Session window is active, you also can choose File > Print Session Window.

To print a graph 1 Make the Graph window active. 2 Choose File > Print Graph. You will see the standard Windows printing dialog box, which contains printing options for

your specific printer. For information on setting print options for your graph before printing, see Page Setup. 3 Click OK.

To save a graph as a printer file you can save graphs to a postscript (*.EPS) or other printer file format. 1 Choose File > Print Graph. 2 In Name, select the type of printer, such as a plotter. 3 Check Print to File, and click OK. 4 In the Print to File dialog box, type a file name.

Print Setup Print Setup File > Print Setup Allows you to define your printer specifications with the standard Microsoft Windows Print Setup dialog box. See your Microsoft Windows User's Guide for information. The settings you select will affect printing from Minitab only. They will not override settings you may have selected in other application or in your main Windows printer setup. For print setup when printing a graph, see page setup.

Page Setup File > Page Setup Allows you to define your printer specifications for graphs with the Microsoft Windows Page Setup dialog box. See your Microsoft Windows User's Guide for information. The settings you select will affect printing from Minitab only. They will not override settings you may have selected in other application or in your main Windows printer setup. Page Setup displays a page layout of the graph size relative to the printer paper size selected. Minitab scales your graph to the size of your printer paper unless you specify otherwise. You also can adjust the size of the margins around your graph. If you choose not to scale the your graph to paper size, the size of the printed graph is determined by your graph size settings. For information on adjusting the size of your graph for your current Minitab session, see Edit graph size. For information on adjusting the default size of your graph for future Minitab sessions, see Tools > Options > Graphics > Graph Size.

Dialog Box Items Page Layout: Shows the size at which your graph will print. Paper

Size: Specify a paper size. Source: Specify the paper source to use on your printer.



Orientation Portrait: Specify portrait orientation for the printed document. Landscape: Specify landscape orientation for the printed document.

Margins Left: Specify a value for the left margin of the printed page. Right: Specify a value for the right margin of the printed page. Top: Specify a value for the top margin of the printed page. Bottom: Specify a value for the bottom margin of the printed page.

Scale to paper size: Check to have your graph automatically scaled to the selected paper size.

Exit Exit File > Exit Exits you from Minitab. If there is a worksheet open that has had changes made to it, you can save it using Save Current Worksheet or Save Current Worksheet As. Minitab will prompt you to save the changes before closing the application.

Index


Index A

Access ........................................................................ 63 Querying data from................................................ 63

Adding worksheet or graph content message ............ 49 Alpha data................................................................... 15

Text data................................................................ 15 Using text data....................................................... 16

Arrange Icons (Window menu) ................................... 42 Arranging .................................................................... 41

Icons ...................................................................... 42 Windows .......................................................... 41, 42

ASCII files ............................................................. 54, 56 Autofill ......................................................................... 24 B

Binary numbers........................................................... 57 C

Calculating .................................................................. 22 With date/time data................................................ 22

Cascade (Window menu)............................................ 41 Cells

Editing.................................................................... 10 Change missing values when opening worksheet...... 51 Character delimiter...................................................... 51 Clearing................................................................. 10, 11

Cells....................................................................... 10 Columns ................................................................ 11 Rows...................................................................... 11

Clipboard..................................................................... 66 Pasting data from .................................................. 66

Close All Graphs (Window menu)............................... 41 Close Worksheet......................................................... 63

Close Worksheet (File menu) ................................ 63 Closing .................................................................. 46, 63

Projects.................................................................. 46 Worksheets............................................................ 63

Columns.................................................................. 9, 23 Automatically formatting .......................................... 9 Data form............................................................... 15 Deleting ................................................................. 11 Erasing .................................................................. 11 Formatting ............................................................. 23 Inserting................................................................. 11 Moving ................................................................... 11 Naming .................................................................. 10 Overview................................................................ 15

Combining................................................................... 49 Worksheets............................................................ 49

Comma Delimiter........................................................ 51 Commands ................................................................. 83

Interrupting ............................................................ 34 Saving session commands ................................... 83

Comment font ............................................................. 32 Comments .................................................................. 32

Selecting font ........................................................ 32 Constants ....................................................... 15, 17, 86

Data form .............................................................. 15 Printing .................................................................. 86 Text data ............................................................... 17

Copy/Move to Word Processor................................... 37 Copying and pasting....................................... 12, 14, 29

Data....................................................................... 12 Missing values....................................................... 14 Output from the Session window to the Data window

......................................................................... 29 Creating Reports in ReportPad .................................. 36 Customize................................................................... 20

Date/time format.................................................... 20 D

Data ...................................................................... 15, 54 Different types in Minitab....................................... 15

Data sources in ODBC ............................................... 64 Data window......................................................... 12, 43

Blocking a section ................................................. 12 Columns................................................................ 15 Constants .............................................................. 15 Copying and pasting ............................................. 12 Date/time............................................................... 17 Entering and editing data .................................. 8, 12 Entering data........................................................... 8 File types............................................................... 54 Files overview ....................................................... 43 Formatting columns............................................... 23 Highlights ................................................................ 7 Matrices................................................................. 15 Moving around the Data window........................... 12 Numeric................................................................. 16 Overview ................................................................. 7 Printing .................................................................. 85 Saving ................................................................... 59 Text ....................................................................... 16 Troubleshooting ...................................................... 8 Using overview...................................................... 14

Databases .................................................................. 63 Querying data from ............................................... 63

Windows and Files


Date/time data................................................. 22, 51, 56 Combining both in one format ............................... 22 Data type ............................................................... 15 Formatting ............................................................. 17 Formatting columns............................................... 23 Manipulating and calculating with.......................... 22 Opening files containing ........................................ 56 Opening worksheets.............................................. 51 Using in analyses .................................................. 22 Using introduction.................................................. 17 Using on graphs .................................................... 22

Date/time formats........................................................ 22 Combining dates and times in one ........................ 22 Creating custom formats ....................................... 20 Default formats ...................................................... 20 Deleting ................................................................. 22 Format components............................................... 19 Rules for defining................................................... 20

Day/month/year date formats...................................... 21 Defining ................................................................. 21

Days............................................................................ 19 Format ................................................................... 19

dBase........................................................ 49, 54, 59, 60 Opening files.................................................... 49, 54 Querying data from................................................ 63 Saving files ............................................................ 60 saving files as ........................................................ 59

DBF files ......................................................... 49, 59, 60 Decimal numbers .................................................. 56, 57 Default date/time formats............................................ 20 Delete Cells (Edit menu) ............................................. 11 Deleting....................................................................... 10

Cells....................................................................... 10 Columns ................................................................ 11 Date/time formats .................................................. 22 Rows...................................................................... 11

Delimiter...................................................................... 51 Descriptions .............................................. 45, 47, 48, 50

Projects...................................................... 45, 47, 48 Worksheets............................................................ 50

Dialog boxes ............................................................... 48 Settings - including or excluding when saving

projects............................................................. 48 Digits of precision........................................................ 16 Display Data................................................................ 86

Display Data (Data menu) ..................................... 86 Double quote............................................................... 51 E

Editing ......................................................................... 10

Cells ...................................................................... 10 Data................................................................... 8, 12 Rows ..................................................................... 11

Enable Commands (Editor menu) .............................. 30 Enable content message............................................ 49 Entering ...................................................................... 30

Commands in the Session window ....................... 30 Data automatically formats the column................... 9 Data in the Data window ......................................... 8

Erasing Columns................................................................ 11

Excel......................................................... 49, 54, 59, 60 Opening files ................................................... 49, 54 Saving files............................................................ 60 Saving files as....................................................... 59

Exchanging data......................................................... 61 Excluding parts of projects ......................................... 48 Execs.......................................................................... 82

History folder and.................................................. 83 Exit.............................................................................. 87

Exit (File menu) ..................................................... 87 Exiting commands and macros .................................. 34 Exponential notation................................................... 16 Export Special Text .................................................... 80

Export Special Text (File menu)............................ 80 Exporting .................................................................... 80

Data to a text file ................................................... 80 Text files................................................................ 80

Extracting worksheets and graphs from Projects . 54, 76 F

Field definition when opening files ............................. 51 Files .......................................................... 43, 45, 54, 61

Merging ................................................................. 54 Minitab................................................................... 61 Overview ............................................................... 43 Previewing............................................................. 45 Transfer to other computers.................................. 61 Types .................................................................... 43 Types that Minitab can open................................. 54

Fonts Using in the Session window ................................ 32

Format Column (Editor menu) .................................... 23 Format statements.................................... 77, 78, 79, 81 Formats ...................................................................... 22

Combining dates and times in one........................ 22 Creating custom date/time .................................... 20 Default date/time................................................... 20 Deleting date/time formats .................................... 22 Rules for defining day/month/year ........................ 21

Index


Rules for defining quarter/week............................. 21 Rules for defining time........................................... 21

Formatting............................................................... 9, 51 A column by entering data....................................... 9 Columns ................................................................ 23 Date/time columns................................................. 19 Date/time data in the Data window........................ 17 When opening files ................................................ 51

Free format ................................................................. 51 Functions .................................................................... 67

With ODBC............................................................ 67 G

Generating patterned data .............................. 25, 26, 27 Graph window............................................................. 41

Discarding.............................................................. 41 Graphs .................................................................. 45, 48

Date/time data on .................................................. 22 Discarding graph windows..................................... 41 Including or excluding when saving projects ......... 48 Previewing in projects............................................ 45

H

Headings of columns (column names)........................ 10 Highlighting areas of the worksheet............................ 12 History folder................................................... 35, 48, 83

Content - including or excluding when saving projects............................................................. 48

Overview................................................................ 35 Printing or copying contents .................................. 36 Saving.............................................................. 36, 83

Html - save as ............................................................. 61 Hundredths of seconds............................................... 19

Format ................................................................... 19 I Icons ........................................................................... 42

Restoring ............................................................... 42 Import Special Text ..................................................... 76

Import Special Text (File menu) ............................ 76 Importing ............................................................... 66, 76

Data ....................................................................... 66 Text files ................................................................ 76

Including parts of projects ........................................... 48 Input/output font .......................................................... 32 Inserting ...................................................................... 10

Cells....................................................................... 10 Columns ................................................................ 11 Rows...................................................................... 11 When pasting......................................................... 13

Internal date number................................................... 17 Interrupting commands or macros .............................. 34

K

Keyboard operations .................................................. 41 Working with windows........................................... 41

L

Lotus 123.................................................. 49, 54, 59, 60 Opening................................................................. 54 Opening files ................................................... 49, 54 Saving files...................................................... 59, 60

M

Macros.................................................................. 34, 82 Execs .................................................................... 82 Iinterrupting ........................................................... 34

Manipulating date/time data ....................................... 22 Matrices ................................................................ 15, 86

Data form .............................................................. 15 Printing .................................................................. 86 Worksheet overview.............................................. 15

Merging worksheets ............................................. 49, 54 Minimize All (Window menu) ...................................... 42 Minitab ........................................................................ 61

Exchanging data with other Minitab versions and computer platforms.......................................... 61

Missing values............................................................ 55 Cutting and pasting ............................................... 14 Opening files containing........................................ 55

Month/year/date formats ............................................ 21 Defining ................................................................. 21

Months........................................................................ 19 Moving ........................................................................ 11

Columns................................................................ 11 MTP files......................................................... 49, 59, 60 MTW files........................................................ 49, 59, 60 N

Naming ................................................................. 10, 51 Columns................................................................ 10 Variables when opening files ................................ 51

New ...................................................................... 12, 44 New (File menu).................................................... 44

New (File menu) ......................................................... 12 Data window.......................................................... 12 Worksheet ............................................................. 12

Notation ...................................................................... 16 Exponential (scientific) .......................................... 16

Number of lines in the Session window...................... 32 Numbers ..................................................................... 16

Very large and small ............................................. 16 Numeric data .................................................. 15, 23, 51

Using ..................................................................... 16 Numerical precision .................................................... 16

Windows and Files


O

ODBC.......................................................................... 67 Functions ............................................................... 67 Manager ................................................................ 64 Overview................................................................ 63 Setting up .............................................................. 64

Open Graph ................................................................ 75 Open Graph (File menu)........................................ 75

Open Project ............................................................... 45 Open Project (File menu) ...................................... 45

Open Worksheet ......................................................... 49 Open Worksheet (File menu) ................................ 49

Opening ...................................................................... 54 Files from other applications............................ 50, 54 Projects.................................................................. 45 Worksheets............................................................ 54

Oracle ......................................................................... 63 Querying data from................................................ 63

Other Files .................................................................. 76 Other Files (File menu).......................................... 76

Overflowing the Session window ................................ 32 P

Page Setup ................................................................. 86 Pasting and copying

Cells by inserting ................................................... 13 Cells by replacing .................................................. 13 Data ....................................................................... 12 missing values....................................................... 14

Patterned data ............................................................ 24 Using autofill .......................................................... 24

Pausing commands and macros ................................ 34 Portable worksheets ................................................... 61 Precision ......................................................... 16, 56, 57 Previewing .................................................................. 45

Projects.................................................................. 45 Projects and worksheets ....................................... 45 Worksheets............................................................ 52

Print Graph.................................................................. 85 Print Graph (File menu) ......................................... 85

Print History (File menu) ............................................. 85 Print Report (File menu).............................................. 85 Print Session Window (File menu).................. 29, 30, 85 Print Setup (File menu) ............................................... 86 Print Worksheet (File menu) ....................................... 85 Printing.................................................................. 85, 86

Constants and matrices......................................... 86 Data window.......................................................... 85 Setup ..................................................................... 86 Worksheets............................................................ 85

Project Description (File menu) .................................. 48 Project Manager ......................................................... 35 Projects....................................................................... 46

Closing .................................................................. 46 Descriptions .............................................. 45, 47, 48 Excluding parts when saving ................................ 48 Extracting worksheets and graphs.................. 54, 76 Including parts when saving.................................. 48 Opening................................................................. 45 Opening new......................................................... 44 Previewing............................................................. 45 Previewing worksheets in ..................................... 52 Saving ............................................................. 46, 47

Q

Quarter/week date formats ......................................... 21 Defining ................................................................. 21

Quarters...................................................................... 19 Quattro Pro ................................................................. 49

Opening files ................................................... 49, 54 Saving files...................................................... 59, 60

Query Database (ODBC) (File menu) ............ 63, 64, 66 Quote delimiter ........................................................... 51 R

Range of valid numbers ............................................. 16 Redrawing the active window..................................... 41 Refresh (Window menu)............................................. 41 Related Documents .................................................... 37

Add Link ................................................................ 37 Replacing when pasting ............................................. 13 ReportPad .................................................................. 84

Saving ................................................................... 84 Reports ....................................................................... 34

Creating for the World Wide Web ......................... 34 Creating in a word processor ................................ 33

Restore Icons (Window menu) ................................... 42 Rich Text Format (RTF).............................................. 84 Round-off error ........................................................... 57 Row numbers when opening files .............................. 51 Rows........................................................................... 11

Clearing................................................................. 11 Deleting ................................................................. 11 Editing ................................................................... 11 Inserting ................................................................ 11

RTF............................................................................. 84 Run an Exec ............................................................... 82

Run an Exec (File menu) ...................................... 82 S

SAS ............................................................................ 63 Querying data from ............................................... 63

Index


Save Current Worksheet............................................. 59 Save Current Worksheet (File menu).................... 59

Save Current Worksheet As ....................................... 59 Save Current Worksheet As (File menu)............... 59 Web page .............................................................. 61

Save Graph As............................................................ 83 Save Graph As (File menu) ................................... 83

Save History As .......................................................... 83 Save Project................................................................ 46

Save Project (File menu) ....................................... 46 Save Project As .......................................................... 47

Save Project As (File menu).................................. 47 Save Report As (File menu)........................................ 84 Save Session Window As (File menu).................. 31, 84 Save Worksheet.......................................................... 59

Save Worksheet (File menu) ................................. 59 saving.......................................................................... 59

Data window.......................................................... 59 Files as ............................................................ 59, 60 Files to use in other applications ........................... 60 graph as web page................................................ 83 History folder ......................................................... 83 Projects............................................................ 46, 47 ReportPad ............................................................. 84 Session window text .............................................. 84 Worksheet as web page........................................ 61 Worksheets.......................................... 58, 59, 60, 61 Worksheets in a non-Minitab format................ 60, 61

Saving ......................................................................... 31 Contents of the Session window ........................... 31 History folder ......................................................... 36 Session window contents ...................................... 31 Session window when it overflows ........................ 32

Scientific notation........................................................ 16 Seconds ...................................................................... 19 Selecting ..................................................................... 29

Session window text .............................................. 29 Worksheet areas ................................................... 12

Semicolon delimiter..................................................... 51 Session commands..................................................... 83

Entering in the Session window ............................ 30 Overview of using.................................................. 30 Saving in the History folder.................................... 83

Session window .................................................... 31, 48 Discarding contents ............................................... 31 Entering commands in........................................... 30 Including or excluding when saving projects ......... 48 Saving.............................................................. 31, 84 Saving when it overflows ....................................... 32

Selecting (highlighting) text ................................... 29 Text limit................................................................ 32

Set Description ........................................................... 39 Single quote................................................................ 51 Space as delimters when pasting............................... 13 Space delimiter........................................................... 51 Special text files.......................................................... 76 Stopping ..................................................................... 34

Commands and macros ........................................ 34 Stored constants......................................................... 17 Storing text in constants ............................................. 17 Sybase........................................................................ 63

Querying data from ............................................... 63 T

Tab delimiter............................................................... 51 Tabs as delimiters when pasting ................................ 13 Text delimiter .............................................................. 51 Text files ....................................... 49, 54, 56, 59, 60, 84

Exporting ............................................................... 80 Importing ............................................................... 76

Text limit on the Session window ............................... 32 Changing............................................................... 32 Data........................................................... 15, 16, 23 Data in stored constants ....................................... 17

Tile (Window menu).................................................... 42 Time formats............................................................... 21

Rules for defining .................................................. 21 Time/date data............................................................ 15

Combining both in one format............................... 22 Using introduction ................................................. 17

Title font...................................................................... 32 Titles ........................................................................... 10

Of columns............................................................ 10 Troubleshooting............................................................ 8 TXT files ......................................................... 49, 59, 60 Types...................................................................... 9, 54

Of columns........................................................ 9, 23 Of data .................................................................. 15 Of data - text ......................................................... 16 Of files ................................................................... 54

V

Variables..................................................................... 51 Names when opening files.................................... 51

Versions of Minitab..................................................... 61 Exchanging data with ............................................ 61

W

WB1 files ........................................................ 49, 59, 60 Web page. saving as ............................................ 59, 61 Week/quarter date formats ......................................... 21

Windows and Files


Defining ................................................................. 21 Weeks ......................................................................... 19

Format ................................................................... 19 Window ......................................................................... 5 Window menu ............................................................. 41 Windows ....................................................................... 5

Management commands................................. 41, 42 Minitab window types .............................................. 5 Redrawing ............................................................. 41 Using the keyboard to work with ........................... 41

WK? files......................................................... 49, 59, 60 Word ........................................................................... 33 Word processor........................................................... 33

Creating reports..................................................... 33 WordPerfect ................................................................ 33 Worksheet folder......................................................... 38 Worksheets .................49, 50, 52, 54, 59, 60, 61, 63, 76

Closing................................................................... 63 Descriptions........................................................... 50 Exchanging with other Minitab versions and

computer platforms .......................................... 61 Extracting from project files ............................. 54, 76 Merging.................................................................. 54

Opening................................................................. 49 Opening new......................................................... 44 Overview ............................................................... 15 Previewing....................................................... 45, 52 Previewing in projects ........................................... 45 Saving ............................................................. 58, 59 Saving in a non-Minitab format ............................. 60 Size ....................................................................... 15

World Wide Web......................................................... 34 Creating reports for ............................................... 34

WQ1 ........................................................................... 49 opening files .......................................................... 49 saving files ...................................................... 59, 60

WWW ......................................................................... 34 Creating reports for ............................................... 34

X

XLS files ......................................................... 49, 59, 60 Y

Year/month/day formats ............................................. 21 Defining ................................................................. 21

Years .......................................................................... 19 Format................................................................... 19