De:
NADUG@yahoogroups.com [mailto:NADUG@yahoogroups.com] Em nome de mlamias Enviada em: quarta-feira, 25 de março de 2009 12:41 Para: NADUG@yahoogroups.com Assunto: [NADUG] Other software similar to Dimensions?
Hi, I was wondering if anyone on the group
might be able to elaborate on their experiences using survey software similar
to Dimensions, but from companies other than SPSS? I'd like to know what other
software you have been using, and it would be ideal if you could provide
comparisons in functionality to functionality currently available in the
Dimensions product line?
We have been using Dimensions for quite some time now, but due to various
factors, we are considering moving to an alternative platform for our survey
research lifecycle.
Any product comparisons would be greatly appreciated.
Hi, I was wondering if anyone on the group might be able to elaborate on their
experiences using survey software similar to Dimensions, but from companies
other than SPSS? I'd like to know what other software you have been using, and
it would be ideal if you could provide comparisons in functionality to
functionality currently available in the Dimensions product line?
We have been using Dimensions for quite some time now, but due to various
factors, we are considering moving to an alternative platform for our survey
research lifecycle.
Any product comparisons would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Hi Zabi,
Did you ever manage to resolve this issue. If not, let me know and
I'll take another look at this again
Kind regards
Rich
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "Zabi" <zsalauddin@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Rich,
>
> Thanks for the reply, yes i got it's an error in creating a custom
> chart type, i don't know how you created your chart type, when i
> recreated it in Excel 2003 it alerts same error message but chart
> type is been used in the output, but i "guess" due to this error
msg
> displayed in mrStudio, some of the formatting stuff present in
custom
> chart type are not being taken care in the output.
>
> Thanks,
> --- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "spssrich" <richnwilson@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "Zabi" <zsalauddin@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I am new to Dimensions. I am using mrStudio/TOM for tabulation
> > > requirement. I need to report the results in custom chart
types,
> when
> > > i do that it displays an error message:
> > > Export error(): Unable to get the MajorUnit Property of the Axis
> > > Class: Exception Occured.
> > >
> > > This error displays only when you access custom chart types
> created in
> > > excel.
> > >
> > > Please help!
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Zabb
> > >
> >
> > Hi Zabb,
> > Without seeing your script, the C:\Documents and
> > Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlusrgal.xls
> file
> > and knowing what version of Excel you are using, it would be hard
> to
> > troubleshoot this.
> >
> > That being said, can you copy the following code into a mrs
script:-
> >
> > Dim TableDoc,Table
> > Set TableDoc = Createobject("TOM.Document")
> >
> > With TableDoc
> > .DataSet.Load("C:\Program Files\SPSS
> > Dimensions\DDL\Data\Quanvert\Museum\qvinfo", "mrQvDsc")
> >
> > With .Tables
> > set Table= .AddNew("Table" + CText
> > (TableDoc.Tables.Count), "gender*age")
> > SetProperty(Table.Properties, "ChartType", "SPSS Demo
> > Bar")
> > End With
> >
> > .Populate()
> >
> > With .Exports.mrHtmlExport
> > .Properties["OverwriteOutput"] = True
> > .Properties["LaunchApplication"] = True
> > .Export()
> > End With
> > End With
> >
> > Sub SetProperty(Properties, Name, Value)
> > Dim Property
> > Set Property = Properties.FindItem(Name)
> > If IsNullObject(Property) Then
> > Set Property = Properties.CreateProperty()
> > Property.Name = Name
> > Property.Value = Value
> > Properties.Add(Property)
> > Else
> > Property.Value = Value
> > End If
> > End Sub
> >
> > I will email the SPSS Demo Bar custom chart I have and if you can
> copy
> > this into your C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application
> > Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlusrgal.xls file and, assuming you have the
> DDL
> > installed locally, can you run this script and let me know if
this
> > works.
> >
> > This script does work for me, I am using 5.5 Patch 1 and Excel
2003
> SP3.
> >
> > If this does work for you, switch the custom chart name and see
if
> that
> > works. If it doesn't then, there must be something wrong with the
> > custom chart you created. Did you create this from an original
> export ?
> > If not follow the DDL link: DDL.chm::/charts_custom.htm to do
this
> (To
> > use this DDL link, just right click on DDL title bar and paste
the
> URL
> > into the "Jump to URL".
> >
> > If this does work (my script with your custom chart), if may be
> > something to do with your script.
> >
> > Kind regards
> > Rich Wilson
> >
>
Hello,
I thought you might be interested in this page that we have added to
our website. It's a Page dedicated to tools that others have written
to help them work with Dimensions.
http://www.smarterdimensions.com/Downloads.html
You can Download, Rate and Comment on them, also if you have a tool
that you would like to get added to the list the drop us an email and
will get it added to the list.
Regards
The Smarter Dimensions Team
So the workaround would look something like this.
Metadata:
Q1_LOOP "" loop
{
Row1 "Row1",
Row2 "Row2",
Row3 "Row3",
Row4 "Row4",
Row5 "Row5"
} fields -
(
COL_LOOP "" loop
{
Col1 "Col1",
Col2 "Col2",
Col3 "Col3",
Col4 "Col4"
} fields -
(
Q1 ""
long;
) expand;
) expand;
Routing:
Q1_LOOP[..].COL_LOOP.Categories.Filter = {Col2,Col3,Col4,Col1}
Q1_LOOP[..].COL_LOOP.Categories.Order = OrderConstants.oCustom
Q1_LOOP.Ask()
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, Bret Hodge <mailhodge@...> wrote:
>
> The only ordering that works on question filters is normal, random,
and rotate.
>
> The asc, desc, and custom orderings only work with categories. So
for your question the only custom ordering you could do would be on
defining how the rows are displayed
>
>
> A work around is to change your four inner questions to 1
categorical grid with 4 iterations with one long question defined
inside the loop. Then apply the custom ordering to the grid
iteration's categories. Although, I don't know how that will affect
your displaying of them.
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: msqrd1979 <msqrd1979@...>
> To: NADUG@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 9:17:12 PM
> Subject: [NADUG] QuestionFilter oCustom
>
>
> Trying to custom order columns in grid. I know this is a documented
> bug by SPSS. But, I am wondering if anyone has found a perhaps
> undocumented way to archive this. I am using mrStudio 4.0.
>
> Metadata:
> Q1_LOOP "Question text blah blah blah" loop
> {
> Row1 "Row 1",
> Row2 "Row 2",
> Row3 "Row 3",
> Row4 "Row 4",
> Row5 "Row 5"
>
> } fields
> (
> Col_1 "Column 1" long [1 .. 10];
>
> Col_2 "Column 2" long [1 .. 10];
>
> Col_3 "Column 3" long [1 .. 10];
>
> Col_4 "Column 4" long [1 .. 10];
>
> ) expand;
>
> Routing:
> Q1_LOOP[..]. QuestionOrder = OrderConstants. oCustom
> Q1_LOOP[..]. QuestionFilter = "Col_3,Col_1, Col_2,Col_ 4"
> Q1_LOOP.Ask( )
>
The only ordering that works on question filters is normal, random, and rotate.
The asc, desc, and custom orderings only work with categories. So for your question the only custom ordering you could do would be on defining how the rows are displayed
A work around is to change your four inner questions to 1 categorical grid with 4 iterations with one long question defined inside the loop. Then apply the custom ordering to the grid iteration's categories. Although, I don't know how that will affect your displaying of them.
From: msqrd1979 <msqrd1979@...> To: NADUG@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 9:17:12 PM Subject: [NADUG] QuestionFilter oCustom
Trying to custom order columns in grid. I know this is a documented
bug by SPSS. But, I am wondering if anyone has found a perhaps
undocumented way to archive this. I am using mrStudio 4.0.
Trying to custom order columns in grid. I know this is a documented
bug by SPSS. But, I am wondering if anyone has found a perhaps
undocumented way to archive this. I am using mrStudio 4.0.
Metadata:
Q1_LOOP "Question text blah blah blah" loop
{
Row1 "Row 1",
Row2 "Row 2",
Row3 "Row 3",
Row4 "Row 4",
Row5 "Row 5"
} fields
(
Col_1 "Column 1" long [1 .. 10];
Col_2 "Column 2" long [1 .. 10];
Col_3 "Column 3" long [1 .. 10];
Col_4 "Column 4" long [1 .. 10];
) expand;
Routing:
Q1_LOOP[..].QuestionOrder = OrderConstants.oCustom
Q1_LOOP[..].QuestionFilter = "Col_3,Col_1,Col_2,Col_4"
Q1_LOOP.Ask()
Hi Group,
My tables created using axis specification are not being sorted by
columns. In the axis specification i have used multiple variables to
create a summary tables. The variables being used are categorical.
The syntax i used is..
Tabledoc.tables.AddNew("Table103","axis({base() [Ishidden =
true],q3a 'Iced tea in bottles or cans'expression('q3_1 =
{_1_Dunkin_rsquo_Donuts_carries_this_beverage }')} ) as axis1_
+ axis({base () [Ishidden = true], q3b 'Freshly brewed iced
tea'expression('Q3_2 =
{_1_Dunkin_rsquo_Donuts_carries_this_beverage}')}) as axis2_
+ axis({base () [Ishidden = true], q3c 'Coolatta'
expression('Q3_3 =
{_1_Dunkin_rsquo_Donuts_carries_this_beverage}')}) as axis3_
+ axis({base () [Ishidden = true], q3d 'Smoothies'
expression('Q3_4 =
{_1_Dunkin_rsquo_Donuts_carries_this_beverage}')}) as axis4_
+ axis({base () [Ishidden = true], q3e 'Hot tea'
expression('Q3_5 =
{_1_Dunkin_rsquo_Donuts_carries_this_beverage}')}) as axis5 *
Gender", "Summary Table")
Tabledoc.table103.SortColumn = "Gender{base}"
Please let me know how this type of tables can be sorted by
descending.
Thanks,
Zabi
Hi Rich,
Thanks for the reply, yes i got it's an error in creating a custom
chart type, i don't know how you created your chart type, when i
recreated it in Excel 2003 it alerts same error message but chart
type is been used in the output, but i "guess" due to this error msg
displayed in mrStudio, some of the formatting stuff present in custom
chart type are not being taken care in the output.
Thanks,
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "spssrich" <richnwilson@...> wrote:
>
> --- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "Zabi" <zsalauddin@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > I am new to Dimensions. I am using mrStudio/TOM for tabulation
> > requirement. I need to report the results in custom chart types,
when
> > i do that it displays an error message:
> > Export error(): Unable to get the MajorUnit Property of the Axis
> > Class: Exception Occured.
> >
> > This error displays only when you access custom chart types
created in
> > excel.
> >
> > Please help!
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Zabb
> >
>
> Hi Zabb,
> Without seeing your script, the C:\Documents and
> Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlusrgal.xls
file
> and knowing what version of Excel you are using, it would be hard
to
> troubleshoot this.
>
> That being said, can you copy the following code into a mrs script:-
>
> Dim TableDoc,Table
> Set TableDoc = Createobject("TOM.Document")
>
> With TableDoc
> .DataSet.Load("C:\Program Files\SPSS
> Dimensions\DDL\Data\Quanvert\Museum\qvinfo", "mrQvDsc")
>
> With .Tables
> set Table= .AddNew("Table" + CText
> (TableDoc.Tables.Count), "gender*age")
> SetProperty(Table.Properties, "ChartType", "SPSS Demo
> Bar")
> End With
>
> .Populate()
>
> With .Exports.mrHtmlExport
> .Properties["OverwriteOutput"] = True
> .Properties["LaunchApplication"] = True
> .Export()
> End With
> End With
>
> Sub SetProperty(Properties, Name, Value)
> Dim Property
> Set Property = Properties.FindItem(Name)
> If IsNullObject(Property) Then
> Set Property = Properties.CreateProperty()
> Property.Name = Name
> Property.Value = Value
> Properties.Add(Property)
> Else
> Property.Value = Value
> End If
> End Sub
>
> I will email the SPSS Demo Bar custom chart I have and if you can
copy
> this into your C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application
> Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlusrgal.xls file and, assuming you have the
DDL
> installed locally, can you run this script and let me know if this
> works.
>
> This script does work for me, I am using 5.5 Patch 1 and Excel 2003
SP3.
>
> If this does work for you, switch the custom chart name and see if
that
> works. If it doesn't then, there must be something wrong with the
> custom chart you created. Did you create this from an original
export ?
> If not follow the DDL link: DDL.chm::/charts_custom.htm to do this
(To
> use this DDL link, just right click on DDL title bar and paste the
URL
> into the "Jump to URL".
>
> If this does work (my script with your custom chart), if may be
> something to do with your script.
>
> Kind regards
> Rich Wilson
>
Programming time is so wildly variable it is hard to estimate. I would say that programming in Dimensions doesn't seem to be any faster/slower than any other language. Most of the studies we program are quite complex and wouldn't be possible in any system that didn't offer an advanced scripting mode.
Dimensions is admittedly verbose, but with step-by-step debugging, code completion and other features, the time to deliver a complete project is probably about the same.
We have a couple of systems for generating survey scripts. One is a custom built script generator called JobBuilder. It allows users to select from a library of templates and then prompts for things like product name, competitor name, etc. It produces a survey script, HTML templates, JavaScript, and a set of DMS and MRS scripts. This works well for templated products (copy tests, concept tests, etc) but not so well for ad hoc surveys.
For ad hoc surveys we have developed a set of Java based macros for the JEdit text editor. These work in a similar manner to the Word capture product but are much more sophisticated. The programmers can import a questionnaire, select sections and hit a few buttons to create survey metadata. This metadata can then be added to a generic project produced from job builder.
We are currently looking at the Author and are interested in the PES Library and Wizards but have made no decisions yet.
----- Original Message ---- From: "Zotter, E. David" <david@...> To: "NADUG@yahoogroups.com" <NADUG@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 3:43:58 PM Subject: [NADUG] average time to program a survey.
Hi folks…one more question.
I’m trying to get a sense of how long the average survey takes to program in mrScript for your teams…..
I’ve heard anywhere from 2 to 5 days, depending on the type of questionnaire.
What steps have you taken to automate the process? I know some groups are using code automation tools extensively. Are any of you using the library/wizard features yet?
Thanks for all the feedback to my previous questions.
What is the largest number of concurrent interviews per
engine that your cluster has handled?
Some claim they can handle hundreds, some claim up to a thousand per engine.
David -
Short & easy surveys might take a couple hours, long & complicated ones
could take close to a week, but the vast majority are done in 1-2
days.
All of our programming is done in mrStudio by a dedicated team of
programmers. We use Word Capture as well as scripts to clean
formatting such as special characters. Without a good native libary
solution we rely on internally stored common code. We are also working
at improving our standard questionnaire document so the layout is more
conducive to conversion to MDD.
Thomas
I’m trying to get a sense of how long the average
survey takes to program in mrScript for your teams…..
I’ve heard anywhere from 2 to 5 days, depending on the
type of questionnaire.
What steps have you taken to automate the process? I know
some groups are using code automation tools extensively. Are any of you
using the library/wizard features yet?
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "Zabi" <zsalauddin@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I am new to Dimensions. I am using mrStudio/TOM for tabulation
> requirement. I need to report the results in custom chart types, when
> i do that it displays an error message:
> Export error(): Unable to get the MajorUnit Property of the Axis
> Class: Exception Occured.
>
> This error displays only when you access custom chart types created in
> excel.
>
> Please help!
>
> Thanks,
> Zabb
>
Hi Zabb,
Without seeing your script, the C:\Documents and
Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlusrgal.xls file
and knowing what version of Excel you are using, it would be hard to
troubleshoot this.
That being said, can you copy the following code into a mrs script:-
Dim TableDoc,Table
Set TableDoc = Createobject("TOM.Document")
With TableDoc
.DataSet.Load("C:\Program Files\SPSS
Dimensions\DDL\Data\Quanvert\Museum\qvinfo", "mrQvDsc")
With .Tables
set Table= .AddNew("Table" + CText
(TableDoc.Tables.Count), "gender*age")
SetProperty(Table.Properties, "ChartType", "SPSS Demo
Bar")
End With
.Populate()
With .Exports.mrHtmlExport
.Properties["OverwriteOutput"] = True
.Properties["LaunchApplication"] = True
.Export()
End With
End With
Sub SetProperty(Properties, Name, Value)
Dim Property
Set Property = Properties.FindItem(Name)
If IsNullObject(Property) Then
Set Property = Properties.CreateProperty()
Property.Name = Name
Property.Value = Value
Properties.Add(Property)
Else
Property.Value = Value
End If
End Sub
I will email the SPSS Demo Bar custom chart I have and if you can copy
this into your C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application
Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlusrgal.xls file and, assuming you have the DDL
installed locally, can you run this script and let me know if this
works.
This script does work for me, I am using 5.5 Patch 1 and Excel 2003 SP3.
If this does work for you, switch the custom chart name and see if that
works. If it doesn't then, there must be something wrong with the
custom chart you created. Did you create this from an original export ?
If not follow the DDL link: DDL.chm::/charts_custom.htm to do this (To
use this DDL link, just right click on DDL title bar and paste the URL
into the "Jump to URL".
If this does work (my script with your custom chart), if may be
something to do with your script.
Kind regards
Rich Wilson
>>
However, our current model of recovering costs by tracking completes seems to
unfairly punish those that take time to author efficient scripts and manage
their projects well versus those that don't.
We try to deal with this by using
“total variables collected”, instead of completes. The idea
being that a longer study could equal that of 4 or 5 smaller ones.
>>
Regarding your customized load-balancing script, did you completely forgo the
other SPSS provided criteria with your per-engine session limits, or is that in
addition to?
Good question, I’ll have to look at the
other settings – it has been a while and I try to forget this sort of
info as quickly as possible. ;-)
With the default, we were finding the first
app server to be the most loaded all the time….and less responsive than
when the projects were more distributed across more app servers. Hence
the reason we tried to create a ceiling for each engine (of course, we can
change that ceiling on the fly).
Ideally – you’d want all
hardware sharing the burden on the load equally. Not one box handling 75%
of the load and the remaining 3 with 25%. I’m hopeful that 5.6
might take care of this a little better.
>>
Not to pry, but I was curious about your decision to go with virtual hosts with
only two VMs each.
We had 12 gigs to allocate to each virtual
app server. As you say, we could have split this into more virtual app
servers with less memory allocated to each.
In load testing, more virtual app servers
required more OS overhead (read: additional OS overhead for each virtual
server). It takes more effort for VMWARE to manage that many more OS’s,
plus we would take a memory hit by needing to allocate more RAM to each additional
OS. We wanted as much RAM as possible allocated to engines.
We decided to load up as many engines per
app server as we could on a single OS.
The virtualization is nice b/c we can
change the ratio of web to app servers if needed – though, so far, we
haven’t needed to do this (suspend app, load up web, etc).
In the second example, we’re trying
to figure out what the VMWARE overhead is by not using it. We’re
constantly trying to understand the complete cost with hardware/mgmt included.
In the second cluster, we’re paying less from our managed hosting
provider (with less hosts)…and we’re foregoing the vmware licenses.
Having 2 production clusters is nice because
we always have one to upgrade over an extended period of time.
Historically, we tried to do the “let’s upgrade it over the weekend”
plan…. and….that didn’t quite work out so well. ;-)
-David
From:
NADUG@yahoogroups.com [mailto:NADUG@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Mike
Gates Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 3:12 PM To: NADUG@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [NADUG] Re: how many engines are you running on your
typical online/web cluster for mrinterview?
I
absolutely love the idea of capacity on demand, especially if we had the
ability to somehow track resource utilization by project. I realize
that the perfect formula for tracking stuff like this doesn't exist and/or is
overly complex. However, our current model of recovering costs by
tracking completes seems to unfairly punish those that take time to author
efficient scripts and manage their projects well versus those that don't.
Regarding
your customized load-balancing script, did you completely forgo the other
SPSS provided criteria with your per-engine session limits, or is that in
addition to?
Not
to pry, but I was curious about your decision to go with virtual hosts with
only two VMs each. As we take the more risky approach of hosting a wide
variety of VMs on ESX clusters, I was curious if you've stumbled across an
inherent flaw with the virtualization approach (other than the fact
that virtualization doesn't magically create server resources out of
thin air ;-).
-
Mike
--- On Wed, 9/10/08, Zotter, E. David <david@...>
wrote:
From: Zotter, E. David
<david@...>
Subject: RE: [NADUG] Re: how many engines are you running on your typical
online/web cluster for mrinterview?
To: "NADUG@yahoogroups.com" <NADUG@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, September 10, 2008, 5:05 PM
To clarify:
Cluster 1 – version 4.5:
One of our clusters has 9 engines per
app server for a total of 36.
This setup is sitting on 4 physically
very large servers with a ton of RAM (not including DB Cluster). Each
physical server is hosting two virtual servers (1 web and 1 app) via VMWARE.
We actually limited each engine to 50
interviews for a total of 1800, in an effort to better distribute the load
across all available hardware.
The cluster doesn’t seem to bring
engines online when they should, so we often see the first app server
struggling the most unnecessarily….when the engines towards the end are
hardly used at all.
This cluster has really performed
extremely well. The only time there are issues is with an occasional
project with a 13-20 meg MDD which seems to throw the cluster into a tail
spin every once in a while.
Cluster 2 – verison 5.5:
The other has 4 engines per app server
for a total of 8.
This one has 2 physical web and 2
physical app (not including DB Cluster).
We’ve limited each engine is to
200 per engine for a total of 1600
Both clusters are using Enterprise
versions of OS and SQL.
We’re somewhat trying to
understand the best mix. The second cluster is to understand how this
performs without the VMWARE layer.
What I’d really like to see is a
cloud solution, where I can deploy and suspend web or app servers on the
fly..attach them to the cluster when needed, etc.. Much like what http://www.gogrid. com/
does…
The thing that stinks now is that I have
to plan for the peak loads, which is extremely difficult to do with
mrinterview (as it entirely depends on the mix of projects, the size of the
MDD files, and so on). It would be great if I could pay for capacity on
demand like a utility. I bet we’re only a few years away
from this.
-David
From:
NADUG@yahoogroups. com [mailto:NADUG@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of ko_mike.gates Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 12:34 PM To: NADUG@yahoogroups. com Subject: [NADUG] Re: how many engines are you running on your typical
online/web cluster for mrinterview?
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups. com, "Zotter, E. David"
<david@...> wrote:
>
> How many engines are you running on your typical online/web
cluster for mrinterview?
>
> One of our clusters has 9 engines per app server for a total of 36
and the other has 4 engines per app server for a total of 8.
>
> We're trying to figure out if it is better to have more engines
doing less work each or less engines doing more work each.
>
>
> I'm curious to hear what others are doing.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -David
>
Good question David. We've deployed a couple different
configurations at this point, although if I'm honest, I can't say we
have a lot of solid reasoning behind the choices we've made.
We currently haven't extended beyond six engines per app server yet
(total number of engines per cluster varies typically from 18 to
24). One factor that has acted as an artificial threshold of sorts
is the need to use an Enterprise-level OS for servers with more than
4GB. But if I thought I could deploy 16 engines on a single server
with no downside, the extra costs for the Enterprise OS would be a
no-brainer to me.
We are following the general guideline communicated to us long ago
by SPSS to allocate 1GB of physical RAM per engine. With the use of
virtualization, we've been able to take advantage of that more
readily, but still face the OS memory limitation if we deployed with
the Standard OS.
The key driver for adding engines at this point seems to be memory,
memory, and memory. Some engines will struggle with a relatively
low number of live interview sessions because of a huge per-session
memory footprint attributed to a project or two. This potential for
variance at the project-level is very frustrating when trying to
project the capacity of a given cluster.
Do you segment out your app servers from the other tiers? How many
app servers are you using in your cluster configurations?
I absolutely love the idea of capacity on demand, especially if we had the ability to somehow track resource utilization by project. I realize that the perfect formula for tracking stuff like this doesn't exist and/or is overly complex. However, our current model of recovering costs by tracking completes seems to unfairly punish those that take time to author efficient scripts and manage their projects well versus those that don't.
Regarding your customized load-balancing script, did you completely forgo the other SPSS provided criteria with your per-engine session limits, or is that in addition to?
Not to pry, but I was curious about your decision to go with virtual hosts with only two VMs each. As we take the more risky approach of hosting a wide variety of VMs on ESX clusters, I was curious if you've stumbled across an inherent flaw with the virtualization approach (other than the fact that virtualization doesn't magically create server resources out of thin air ;-).
- Mike
--- On Wed, 9/10/08, Zotter, E. David <david@...> wrote:
From: Zotter, E. David <david@...> Subject: RE: [NADUG] Re: how many engines are you running on your typical online/web cluster for mrinterview? To: "NADUG@yahoogroups.com" <NADUG@yahoogroups.com> Date: Wednesday, September 10, 2008, 5:05 PM
To clarify:
Cluster 1 – version 4.5:
One of our clusters has 9 engines per app server for a total of 36.
This setup is sitting on 4 physically very large servers with a ton of RAM (not including DB Cluster). Each physical server is hosting two virtual servers (1 web and 1 app) via VMWARE.
We actually limited each engine to 50 interviews for a total of 1800, in an effort to better distribute the load across all available hardware.
The cluster doesn’t seem to bring engines online when they should, so we often see the first app server struggling the most unnecessarily….when the engines towards the end are hardly used at all.
This cluster has really performed extremely well. The only time there are issues is with an occasional project with a 13-20 meg MDD which seems to throw the cluster into a tail spin every once in a while.
Cluster 2 – verison 5.5:
The other has 4 engines per app server for a total of 8.
This one has 2 physical web and 2 physical app (not including DB Cluster).
We’ve limited each engine is to 200 per engine for a total of 1600
Both clusters are using Enterprise versions of OS and SQL.
We’re somewhat trying to understand the best mix. The second cluster is to understand how this performs without the VMWARE layer.
What I’d really like to see is a cloud solution, where I can deploy and suspend web or app servers on the fly..attach them to the cluster when needed, etc.. Much like what http://www.gogrid. com/ does…
The thing that stinks now is that I have to plan for the peak loads, which is extremely difficult to do with mrinterview (as it entirely depends on the mix of projects, the size of the MDD files, and so on). It would be great if I could pay for capacity on demand like a utility. I bet we’re only a few years away from this.
-David
From: NADUG@yahoogroups. com [mailto:NADUG@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of ko_mike.gates Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 12:34 PM To: NADUG@yahoogroups. com Subject: [NADUG] Re: how many engines are you running on your typical online/web cluster for mrinterview?
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups. com, "Zotter, E. David" <david@...> wrote: > > How many engines are you running on your typical online/web cluster for mrinterview? > > One of our clusters has 9 engines per app server for a total of 36 and the other has 4 engines per app server for a total of 8. > > We're trying to figure out if it is better to have more engines doing less work each or less engines doing more work each. > > > I'm curious to hear what others are doing. > > Thanks, > > -David >
Good question David. We've deployed a couple different configurations at this point, although if I'm honest, I can't say we have a lot of solid reasoning behind the choices we've made.
We currently haven't extended beyond six engines per app server yet (total number
of engines per cluster varies typically from 18 to 24). One factor that has acted as an artificial threshold of sorts is the need to use an Enterprise-level OS for servers with more than 4GB. But if I thought I could deploy 16 engines on a single server with no downside, the extra costs for the Enterprise OS would be a no-brainer to me.
We are following the general guideline communicated to us long ago by SPSS to allocate 1GB of physical RAM per engine. With the use of virtualization, we've been able to take advantage of that more readily, but still face the OS memory limitation if we deployed with the Standard OS.
The key driver for adding engines at this point seems to be memory, memory, and memory. Some engines will struggle with a relatively low number of live interview sessions because of a huge per-session memory footprint attributed to a project or two. This potential for variance
at the project-level is very frustrating when trying to project the capacity of a given cluster.
Do you segment out your app servers from the other tiers? How many app servers are you using in your cluster configurations?
One of our clusters has 9
engines per app server for a total of 36.
This setup is sitting on 4
physically very large servers with a ton of RAM (not including DB Cluster).
Each physical server is hosting two virtual servers (1 web and 1 app) via
VMWARE.
We actually limited each engine
to 50 interviews for a total of 1800, in an effort to better distribute the
load across all available hardware.
The cluster doesn’t seem
to bring engines online when they should, so we often see the first app server
struggling the most unnecessarily….when the engines towards the end are
hardly used at all.
This cluster has really
performed extremely well. The only time there are issues is with an occasional
project with a 13-20 meg MDD which seems to throw the cluster into a tail spin
every once in a while.
Cluster 2 – verison 5.5:
The other has 4 engines per app
server for a total of 8.
This one has 2 physical web and
2 physical app (not including DB Cluster).
We’ve limited each engine
is to 200 per engine for a total of 1600
Both clusters are using Enterprise versions of OS and SQL.
We’re somewhat trying to understand the best mix. The
second cluster is to understand how this performs without the VMWARE layer.
What I’d really like to see is a cloud solution, where I can
deploy and suspend web or app servers on the fly..attach them to the cluster
when needed, etc. Much like what http://www.gogrid.com/
does…
The thing that stinks now is that I have to plan for the peak
loads, which is extremely difficult to do with mrinterview (as it entirely
depends on the mix of projects, the size of the MDD files, and so on). It
would be great if I could pay for capacity on demand like a utility.
I bet we’re only a few years away from this.
-David
From:
NADUG@yahoogroups.com [mailto:NADUG@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ko_mike.gates Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 12:34 PM To: NADUG@yahoogroups.com Subject: [NADUG] Re: how many engines are you running on your typical
online/web cluster for mrinterview?
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com,
"Zotter, E. David" <david@...> wrote:
>
> How many engines are you running on your typical online/web
cluster for mrinterview?
>
> One of our clusters has 9 engines per app server for a total of 36
and the other has 4 engines per app server for a total of 8.
>
> We're trying to figure out if it is better to have more engines
doing less work each or less engines doing more work each.
>
>
> I'm curious to hear what others are doing.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -David
>
Good question David. We've deployed a couple different
configurations at this point, although if I'm honest, I can't say we
have a lot of solid reasoning behind the choices we've made.
We currently haven't extended beyond six engines per app server yet
(total number of engines per cluster varies typically from 18 to
24). One factor that has acted as an artificial threshold of sorts
is the need to use an Enterprise-level OS for servers with more than
4GB. But if I thought I could deploy 16 engines on a single server
with no downside, the extra costs for the Enterprise OS would be a
no-brainer to me.
We are following the general guideline communicated to us long ago
by SPSS to allocate 1GB of physical RAM per engine. With the use of
virtualization, we've been able to take advantage of that more
readily, but still face the OS memory limitation if we deployed with
the Standard OS.
The key driver for adding engines at this point seems to be memory,
memory, and memory. Some engines will struggle with a relatively
low number of live interview sessions because of a huge per-session
memory footprint attributed to a project or two. This potential for
variance at the project-level is very frustrating when trying to
project the capacity of a given cluster.
Do you segment out your app servers from the other tiers? How many
app servers are you using in your cluster configurations?
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "Zotter, E. David" <david@...> wrote:
>
> How many engines are you running on your typical online/web
cluster for mrinterview?
>
> One of our clusters has 9 engines per app server for a total of 36
and the other has 4 engines per app server for a total of 8.
>
> We're trying to figure out if it is better to have more engines
doing less work each or less engines doing more work each.
>
>
> I'm curious to hear what others are doing.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -David
>
Good question David. We've deployed a couple different
configurations at this point, although if I'm honest, I can't say we
have a lot of solid reasoning behind the choices we've made.
We currently haven't extended beyond six engines per app server yet
(total number of engines per cluster varies typically from 18 to
24). One factor that has acted as an artificial threshold of sorts
is the need to use an Enterprise-level OS for servers with more than
4GB. But if I thought I could deploy 16 engines on a single server
with no downside, the extra costs for the Enterprise OS would be a
no-brainer to me.
We are following the general guideline communicated to us long ago
by SPSS to allocate 1GB of physical RAM per engine. With the use of
virtualization, we've been able to take advantage of that more
readily, but still face the OS memory limitation if we deployed with
the Standard OS.
The key driver for adding engines at this point seems to be memory,
memory, and memory. Some engines will struggle with a relatively
low number of live interview sessions because of a huge per-session
memory footprint attributed to a project or two. This potential for
variance at the project-level is very frustrating when trying to
project the capacity of a given cluster.
Do you segment out your app servers from the other tiers? How many
app servers are you using in your cluster configurations?
Hi,
I am new to Dimensions. I am using mrStudio/TOM for tabulation
requirement. I need to report the results in custom chart types, when
i do that it displays an error message:
Export error(): Unable to get the MajorUnit Property of the Axis
Class: Exception Occured.
This error displays only when you access custom chart types created in
excel.
Please help!
Thanks,
Zabb
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone here has used an OLE/ODBC Data Adapater for
connecting to the mrData model and exporting the data via ODBC, rather
than using OLE via mrStudio. If you have would you mind passing along
information about what adpater you used and if it's not too much to ask
for, the price your organization paid for it.
Thanks.
--Mark
Location: Flexible (Minneapolis, MN;
Princeton, NJ; or Media, PA)
Job Code: JR-PM-OPS
Company Summary:
Headquartered
in New York, GfK Custom Research North America (www.gfkamerica.com) is
part of the GfK Group (www.gfk.com), the
world's fifth largest market research company. GfK Custom Research North
America combines the global resources of the GfK Group with the local knowledge
of North America's leading research and consulting companies delivered by more
than 700 employees in the US and Canada. Beyond our sector-specific experts, specialty
practice areas and research centers of excellence, we deliver unmatched
knowledge designed to help our clients grow their business.
By offering
access to several of the world's largest databases combined with a full-range
of ad-hoc research services, GfK Custom Research North America delivers proven,
state-of-the-art solutions developed from a 360° view of each client's market.
These include GfK Roper Reports®, GfK Starch® Ad Readership Studies, GfK Roper
Public Affairs & Media public release surveys and more.
This
position is responsible for providing effective and efficient task execution in
the areas of questionnaire programming, for all assigned studies to ensure they
are executed within study time and budget parameters, as well as company
quality standards for all assigned studies.
Can perform duties on all assigned studies with no supervision and guidance
from other project team members or management. Understands study requirements
and can execute against those plans and requirements. Gathers input from
others in Operations to generate recommendations for self and for others when
study is deviating from set schedules and/or budgets.
The programming tool is Dimensions, which is an SPSS suite of tools which
utilize MRScript to accomplish custom logic and is the tool used to deploy our
end-to-end survey solutions. We will also be considering VB Script and .NET
programmers with no Dimensions experience. A person entering the role is
required to become expert in the SPSS Dimension product, particularly Mr
Studio.
The candidate will be responsible for both (a) Managing the technical aspects
of online market research execution, mainly projects off shored to various
partners in India, as well as (b) assisting with process improvement and
automation initiatives. Using the SPSS Dimension platform to program surveys,
manage data and associated deliverables, and develop custom features. The
position will work closely with Client Service teams and programming
teammates. The key day-to-day activities include: Managing projects that have
been off shored to India. Programming, quality assurance, data manipulation,
and project communication/coordination. Candidate should have, or expect to
gain, an overall understanding of market research products and procedures. The
role also requires a technically-adept person who is detailed-oriented,
process-driven, and able to handle multiple responsibilities simultaneously.
The person applying for this position should have good communication skills,
both verbal and written.
Work
on assigned studies following specifications and established standards to meet
the data requirements and reporting needs of the respective study. Specific
study work includes:
·Manage
the full execution process for projects being off shored to India.
·Program
questionnaires using Dimensions software following design, format, and logic as
provided.
·Able
to work with the questionnaire author effectively to address issues and/or make
recommendations that will improve the performance of data collection.
·Provide
quality assurance.
·Provide
project communication, and coordination with the Client Service team, and
Researchers.
·Provide
trouble shooting on projects.
·Handle
multiple-projects simultaneously.
·Become
expert in the SPSS Dimension product, and work closely with programming teammates.
·Provide
technical support to more junior members of staff.
Additional
areas of responsibility include:
·Serve
as in-house MRInterview Dimensions and complementing technology expert.
·Maximize
all MRInterview functionality for better business performance.
·Support/train
and develop existing programmers in MRInterview Dimensions; serve as technical
in-house contact person.
·Educate
internal staff and clients on best practices for using the MRInterview
Dimensions product.
·Recommend,
develop, and implement new programs to meet client requirements, and create
work-flow efficiencies.
Experience & Skill Responsibilities:
·Advanced
working knowledge of Dimensions software utilizing VB Script. We will also be
considering VBScript and .NET programmers with no Dimensions experience.
·Advanced
working knowledge of the entire operations process and tools currently in use,
understand how the components of the system work together, and particular
expertise in how data is formatted during data collection
·Ability
to take project specifications and requirements and execute tasks to meet them
·Effective
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·Solid
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·Solid
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·Ability
to work under pressure and ensure specified deadlines are met
·Responsibility
for self-development with particular emphasis on sample management and data
collection techniques
·Advanced
Microsoft Office skills including Access, Excel, Outlook and Word
·3+
years of working experience in the marketing research industry in a technical
function with a highly successful track record
·Well
developed and demonstrated record of successful technical services skills,
within MR environment.
·Demonstrated
understanding of market research data layouts
Education:
·College
Degree in an IT related field
Application
Procedures:
We offer a very competitive salary
commensurate with your experience and a full benefits package. Please
submit your resume and cover letter via email to hr@... .
Your submission must include Job CodeJR-PM-OPS in the subject line
of your email and provide salary requirements in order to be considered.
All,
Thanks to Rich and Tyler for their helpful posts. I have implemented
the following code, but it seems to not work. I'm wondering if this
is a bug. I'm running mrStudio 4.5. The code below does not seem to
update the IOM.Properties["SectionNumber"].Value from "2" to "1" when
I use the previous button after viewing Q3.
Metadata(en-US, Question, Label)
Section1 "Section A"
info;
Section2 "Secction B"
info;
Q1 "This is my Q1 question text" text;
Q2 "What is your first name?"
text;
Q3 "What is your last name?"
text;
End Metadata
Routing(Web)
Dim SectionHeader[11], Label[11], i, SectionName[11]
'LIST ALL SECTION INFO QUESTIONS BELOW
set SectionHeader[1]=Section1
set SectionHeader[2]=Section2
set SectionHeader[3]=NULL
set SectionHeader[4]=NULL
set SectionHeader[5]=NULL
set SectionHeader[6]=NULL
set SectionHeader[7]=NULL
set SectionHeader[8]=NULL
set SectionHeader[9]=NULL
set SectionHeader[10]=NULL
Sub OnInterviewStart(IOM)
Dim Property
Set Property = IOM.Properties.CreateProperty()
Property.Name = "SectionNumber"
Property.Value = 1
IOM.Properties.Add(Property)
End Sub
Sub OnBeforeQuestionAsk(Question, IOM)
Dim i
For i=1 to 10
if IOM.Properties["SectionNumber"].Value=i then
IOM.Banners[..].Style.Color = "#E5E5E5"
IOM.Banners[..].Style.Font.Size=8
IOM.Banners[..].Style.Font.Family="Helvetica"
IOM.Banners[i-1].Style.Color = "#007D90"
End if
Next
End Sub
for i=1 to 10
if not SectionHeader[i].IsNullObject() then
if SectionHeader[i].Label <> "" then
SectionName[i]="SideBanner" + CTEXT(i)
End if
IOM.Banners.Add(SectionName[i], SectionHeader[i].label)
End if
Next
IOM.LayoutTemplate="Template_DefaultALT.htm"
Set IOM.Properties["SectionNumber"].Value=1
Q1.Ask()
Q2.Ask()
Set IOM.Properties["SectionNumber"].Value=2
Q3.Ask()
End Routing
I actually just tried Option GlobalVariables in the routing and it doesn't seem to work in 4.0 (perhaps would in a later version). Looks like it is meant for mrScript files not survey routing. So, you will need to go with a different option like case data or a property as mentioned before.
Tyler
--- On Sun, 7/20/08, mlamias <mlamias@...> wrote:
From: mlamias <mlamias@...> Subject: [NADUG] Re: IOM Global Variable To: NADUG@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, July 20, 2008, 3:38 PM
Just so I understand this, Option GlobalVariables makes ALL variables
declared global and not just selected variables?
I can see why this would be problematic. Why would anywone want to
declare all variables as global? Is there no option to indicate
specific variables as global?
Thanks.
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups. com, "thegonz14" <thegonz14@. ..> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Doing this is not advisable as it can be confusing especially if you
> try to reuse variable names. In general, global variables are seen
as
> a poor programming practice. It would be better to use a metadata
> question or to add a property with a value to the IOM.Properties
> collection as part of OnInterviewStart to be accessible as
a "global"
> variable.
>
> Dim myProp
> Set myProp= IOM.Properties. CreateProperty( )
> myProp.Name = "VariableName"
> myProp.Value = 0
> IOM.Properties. Add(myProp)
>
> Then, you can access the value of this property anywhere in your
> routing or subs/functions with this syntax:
>
> IOM.Properties[ "VariableName" ]
>
> However if you do still want to do this you can declare this as the
> first line of your routing:
>
> Option GlobalVariables
>
> That will make routing dim variables accessible in subs/functions.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Tyler
>
> --- In NADUG@yahoogroups. com, "mlamias" <mlamias@> wrote:
> >
> > I am trying to find out how to set a global variable in my
Dimensions
> > Script in the routing section using mrStudio. I have declared a
> > variable, SectionNumber, using:
> >
> > Dim SectionNumber
> >
> > But I want to make this a global variable so that I can use it
> > throughout the script. I've looked in the DDL documentation and
found
> > little about declaring global variables outside of dms scripts.
> >
> > What I'm trying to do is refer to a global variable in the
> > OnBeforeQuestionAsk Event -- not a question defined in the
metadata
> > section.
> >
> > Does anyone have any suggestions?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
>
Just so I understand this, Option GlobalVariables makes ALL variables
declared global and not just selected variables?
I can see why this would be problematic. Why would anywone want to
declare all variables as global? Is there no option to indicate
specific variables as global?
Thanks.
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "thegonz14" <thegonz14@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Doing this is not advisable as it can be confusing especially if you
> try to reuse variable names. In general, global variables are seen
as
> a poor programming practice. It would be better to use a metadata
> question or to add a property with a value to the IOM.Properties
> collection as part of OnInterviewStart to be accessible as
a "global"
> variable.
>
> Dim myProp
> Set myProp= IOM.Properties.CreateProperty()
> myProp.Name = "VariableName"
> myProp.Value = 0
> IOM.Properties.Add(myProp)
>
> Then, you can access the value of this property anywhere in your
> routing or subs/functions with this syntax:
>
> IOM.Properties["VariableName"]
>
> However if you do still want to do this you can declare this as the
> first line of your routing:
>
> Option GlobalVariables
>
> That will make routing dim variables accessible in subs/functions.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Tyler
>
> --- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "mlamias" <mlamias@> wrote:
> >
> > I am trying to find out how to set a global variable in my
Dimensions
> > Script in the routing section using mrStudio. I have declared a
> > variable, SectionNumber, using:
> >
> > Dim SectionNumber
> >
> > But I want to make this a global variable so that I can use it
> > throughout the script. I've looked in the DDL documentation and
found
> > little about declaring global variables outside of dms scripts.
> >
> > What I'm trying to do is refer to a global variable in the
> > OnBeforeQuestionAsk Event -- not a question defined in the
metadata
> > section.
> >
> > Does anyone have any suggestions?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
>
Hi, Tyler,
Thanks for the suggestion. This is actually what I ended up doing
before your suggestion. I think adding a property works quite well
and this is what I'll use.
Thanks again.
Mark
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "thegonz14" <thegonz14@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Doing this is not advisable as it can be confusing especially if you
> try to reuse variable names. In general, global variables are seen
as
> a poor programming practice. It would be better to use a metadata
> question or to add a property with a value to the IOM.Properties
> collection as part of OnInterviewStart to be accessible as
a "global"
> variable.
>
> Dim myProp
> Set myProp= IOM.Properties.CreateProperty()
> myProp.Name = "VariableName"
> myProp.Value = 0
> IOM.Properties.Add(myProp)
>
> Then, you can access the value of this property anywhere in your
> routing or subs/functions with this syntax:
>
> IOM.Properties["VariableName"]
>
> However if you do still want to do this you can declare this as the
> first line of your routing:
>
> Option GlobalVariables
>
> That will make routing dim variables accessible in subs/functions.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Tyler
>
> --- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "mlamias" <mlamias@> wrote:
> >
> > I am trying to find out how to set a global variable in my
Dimensions
> > Script in the routing section using mrStudio. I have declared a
> > variable, SectionNumber, using:
> >
> > Dim SectionNumber
> >
> > But I want to make this a global variable so that I can use it
> > throughout the script. I've looked in the DDL documentation and
found
> > little about declaring global variables outside of dms scripts.
> >
> > What I'm trying to do is refer to a global variable in the
> > OnBeforeQuestionAsk Event -- not a question defined in the
metadata
> > section.
> >
> > Does anyone have any suggestions?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
>
Hi Mark,
I can think of a couple of ways to go:-
1) If you want to store the value in the case data you could do the
following:-
Metadata(en-US, Question, label)
Q1 "Q1" categorical [1] {Yes,No};
Q2 "Q2" categorical [1] {Yes,No};
SectionNumber "Section Number" long;
End Metadata
Routing(Web)
SectionNumber=1
Q1.Ask()
SectionNumber=2
Q2.Ask()
Sub OnBeforeQuestionAsk(Question,IOM)
If (IOM.Questions["SectionNumber"].Response=1) Then _
Debug.MsgBox("Only appears before Q1")
End Sub
End Routing
2) Of if you wanted to use a temporary variable on the fly, you could
do something like this:-
Metadata(en-US, Question, label)
Q1 "Q1" categorical [1] {Yes,No};
Q2 "Q2" categorical [1] {Yes,No};
End Metadata
Routing(Web)
IOM.Info.User9=1
Q1.Ask()
IOM.Info.User9=2
Q2.Ask()
Sub OnBeforeQuestionAsk(Question,IOM)
If (IOM.Info.User9=1) Then _
Debug.MsgBox("Only appears before Q1")
End Sub
End Routing
Obviously this assumes you're not using I.User9 on the URL for this
survey.
I think the better option 1) would probably be more applicable as you
have the value stored in the case data.
Let me know if this helps
Kind regards
Rich (Wilson)
--- In NADUG@yahoogroups.com, "mlamias" <mlamias@...> wrote:
>
> I am trying to find out how to set a global variable in my
Dimensions
> Script in the routing section using mrStudio. I have declared a
> variable, SectionNumber, using:
>
> Dim SectionNumber
>
> But I want to make this a global variable so that I can use it
> throughout the script. I've looked in the DDL documentation and
found
> little about declaring global variables outside of dms scripts.
>
> What I'm trying to do is refer to a global variable in the
> OnBeforeQuestionAsk Event -- not a question defined in the metadata
> section.
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions?
>
> Thanks.
>