The Calico Stat Programs:
-
Calico Statistical Spreadsheet
- A spreadsheet-type statistics program which can calculate basic descriptive
statiscs, plot histograms, time series plots, scatter plots, bar charts, and do
linear regressions. Screenshots
Pisgah Calculator
- A calculator for various probability distributions, including binomial, poisson,
hypergeometric, negative binomial, normal, Student T, and Chi Square distributions.
Includes a graph to illustrate the probability found. Can do inverse calculations
for continuous distributions. Screenshots
Randsburg Random Number Generator
- A "toy" linear congruential generator for uniform random numbers. The user can adjust the parameters
to discover which values give reasonable (pseudo) random numbers. Includes the ability to plot lags.
Screenshots
IMPORTANT NOTE: The links above use Java Web Start.
These programs were compiled under Java version 1.4.0, and need
the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.4.0 or newer to run.
The JRE is available from
Sun .
Java Web Start
Each of these programs is available through Java Web Start, which
is a Sun software system to install applications over the web. The choice
to distribute the programs this way instead of applets was governed by two
considerations: the size of the programs, and interactions with the Java
security model. Calico is about 800k in size, and Pisgah is 200k. Both Calico
and Randsburg use system resources (printing, openening and saving files).
This is achieved by using Java Web Start services, which provides
a Java security "sandbox". The user is asked each time a file is opened, saved, or printed.
Using Java Web Start,
the application is only downloaded once unless an update is detected. By
using "signed jars", a program can be given system
resources at the user's discretion.
Problems:
Java Web Start is currently a separate program (it will reportedly be integrated
into JRE 1.4.1), which must be downloaded from Sun. Supposedly if the system
is not installed on your computer, you will be given a link to the Sun Java
Web Start page to download the program.
The use of the "sandbox" services is somewhat cumbersome and complicated. At present,
editing and saving a provided data file does not work.
Alternative Ways to install the program
The programs are available as executable jar files. These files should
be downloaded ("save to disk").
The Java Run Time environment (JRE) 1.4.0 or newer is required to
run these. The calico program (for example) may be run either by typing java -jar calico.jar
or clicking on the jar file in MS Windows (assuming JRE installed).
Acknowledgments
I have used the colt library
for the mathematical underpinning of the programs.
Several of the data sets came from statlib.
Source Code and Documentation
Jar file format:
JavaDoc code documentations
Links