PHEW!!!<div>very nice, david. and very clear. thank you.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 4:52 PM, David McFarlane <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mcfarla9@msu.edu">mcfarla9@msu.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"><br>
Rick,<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>
>David McFarlane wrote:<br>
> > And if you do purchase EP2 Pro, make sure to save your new programs<br>
> > in the non-Pro format unless you really use Pro features. There is a<br>
> > way to make that the default if you look through the program, that is<br>
> > how I always set it up (has to be done for each user account, though).<br>
> > -- David McFarlane, Professional Faultfinder<br>
><br>
>Hi David,<br>
><br>
>This comment puzzled me a little--maybe you also explain this elsewhere,<br>
>as you do for EP2 v EP2Pro, but if not I'd like to understand why you<br>
>suggest the above. Is it for purposes of sharing scripts, or is there a<br>
>pborlem or risk with using the EP2Pro format? Currently, I use the<br>
>latter b/c Eprime always badgers me on whether I want to save the EP2<br>
>file as EP2Pro (by the way, do PST take feedback still on EPrime? Or<br>
>better yet, read this list? I am hopeful that the final v2 will fix some<br>
>serious bugs and annoyances--for example, I can't see how to stop EPrime<br>
>by default on opening popping up a dialog box asking what I want to do).<br>
<br>
</div>Your response gives me the opportunity to address a number of issues,<br>
so this may take awhile and may bore a lot of people on the list, but<br>
here goes...<br>
<br>
In short...<br>
<br>
This has been addressed in part at<br>
<a href="http://groups.google.com/group/e-prime/browse_thread/thread/a1b59b9a2103e0ec/f83c8690dc977c08?lnk=gst&q=non-pro#f83c8690dc977c08" target="_blank">http://groups.google.com/group/e-prime/browse_thread/thread/a1b59b9a2103e0ec/f83c8690dc977c08?lnk=gst&q=non-pro#f83c8690dc977c08</a><br>
,<br>
<a href="http://groups.google.com/group/e-prime/browse_thread/thread/faaccb1853426a7/62e06e022997663d?lnk=gst&q=non-pro#62e06e022997663d" target="_blank">http://groups.google.com/group/e-prime/browse_thread/thread/faaccb1853426a7/62e06e022997663d?lnk=gst&q=non-pro#62e06e022997663d</a><br>
,<br>
<a href="http://support.pstnet.com/forum/Topic884-12-1.aspx" target="_blank">http://support.pstnet.com/forum/Topic884-12-1.aspx</a> ,<br>
<a href="http://support.pstnet.com/forum/Topic914-13-1.aspx" target="_blank">http://support.pstnet.com/forum/Topic914-13-1.aspx</a> , and<br>
<a href="http://support.pstnet.com/forum/Topic897-12-1.aspx" target="_blank">http://support.pstnet.com/forum/Topic897-12-1.aspx</a><br>
(I found these by going to the E-Prime Google Group and PST Forum and<br>
running a search on "non-pro", but then I knew what I was looking<br>
for). It is about sharing scripts, no other risk with the EP2 Pro<br>
format. PST does still take feedback on EP2, you will need to<br>
register using you license number and then post your concerns at the<br>
PST Forum (<a href="http://support.pstnet.com/forum/" target="_blank">http://support.pstnet.com/forum/</a> ), or submit a Web<br>
support request. PST staff do take a look at this e-mail list, as<br>
evidenced by their occasional replies. The main staff seem to be<br>
Brandon Cernicky and Matt Lenhart. Of the two, Brandon seems the<br>
more senior member. I will give you a few tips here about changing<br>
the E-Prime settings to avoid annoyances.<br>
<br>
<br>
At length...<br>
<br>
Although I have said this elsewhere, I will lay it out again here. I<br>
will use "EP2-base" to refer to the edition of EP2 that is *not* Pro<br>
(see Footnote 1). Based on my own tests and confirmation with PST staff:<br>
<br>
- An .ebs2 (E-Run) file generated by EP2-base *will* run in E-Run 2 Pro.<br>
- An .ebs2 file generated by EP2 Pro *will* run in E-Run 2 base, at<br>
least if it does not use any Pro features (I did not test any Pro features).<br>
- An .es2 (E-Studio) file made in EP2-base *will* open in E-Studio Pro.<br>
- Now the bad news: An .es2 file made in Pro will *not* (repeat,<br>
*not*) open in E-Studio 2 base.<br>
<br>
So the problem comes only if you ever want to collaborate on<br>
*developing* (not just running) EP2 programs with another lab. If<br>
you have EP2-base, and your collaborator sends you an E-Studio (.es2)<br>
file that has been saved in the Pro format, then you will<br>
not be able to open it for viewing, editing, or running, even if the<br>
program does not use any Pro features. If they send you the<br>
E-Run/E-Basic (.ebs2) file then you can still run the experiment (as<br>
long as it does not use any Pro features), but you still cannot view<br>
the code let alone edit it. Vice versa if you use EP2 Pro and your<br>
collaborator uses EP2-base.<br>
<br>
Thus my strategy to always spend the extra money to get EP2 Pro, *and<br>
then*, whenever writing a new experiment, making sure to save the<br>
program using the EP2-base file format.<br>
That provides the broadest compatibility between the two editions of<br>
EP2. If you do find that you need some feature from Pro, you can<br>
always convert the EP2-base program to the Pro file format and go<br>
from there. But so far once a .es2 file is saved in the Pro format<br>
there is no way to convert it back to EP2-base format (although PST<br>
could always provide that capability in a later revision).<br>
<br>
Now, how to follow this strategy? The full story gets complex, but I<br>
will give some setup details at the end to simplify this.<br>
<br>
The rules go like this:<br>
(1) Once loaded into E-Studio, File > Save will continue to save an<br>
EP2 file in its current format, whether Pro or base (however, if you<br>
want to be extra careful you can always use File > Save As... and<br>
look at "Save as type").<br>
(2) As you have found when you open an existing EP2-base file, by<br>
default EP2 Pro will ask whether you want to maintain the EP2-base<br>
file format or convert it to the Pro file format. (Nothing<br>
interesting or useful happens when you open an existing EP2 Pro file.)<br>
(3) When you start E-Studio, or start a new program (File > New), EP2<br>
Pro will bring up a dialog box ("New E-Prime 2.0 Experiment") of<br>
template files in both Pro and EP2-base formats.<br>
<br>
So in short you want to start files in the EP2-base format, and then<br>
maintain that without any annoyances or opportunities for mistakes.<br>
<br>
Let's start with rule (3). When you start E-Studio or start a new<br>
program (File > New), what appears in the template dialog box are<br>
just ordinary EP2 files that sit in a special directory, namely<br>
C:\Program Files\PST\E-Prime 2.0\Templates\ (may be somewhere else<br>
depending on your setup, but you get the idea). You may put whatever<br>
EP2 files you like there, and they will be added to the templates<br>
dialog box when you start E-Studio or start a new program. I like to<br>
remove the "Basic.es2" and "Basic (Professional).es2" files and leave<br>
the "Blank.es2" and "Blank (Professional).es2" files. If you want to<br>
make it harder to start a new program in the Pro format, just remove<br>
all the "...(Professional).es2" files from the Templates<br>
folder. Remember, you can always convert them to Pro later if<br>
needed. Once you load any EP2-base format file, rule (1) takes over,<br>
and you are set. (Note that clicking cancel from the template dialog<br>
does the same as selecting "Blank (Professional).es2", even if that<br>
file has been removed.)<br>
<br>
Now on to rule (2). By default, when you open an existing EP2-base<br>
file EP2 Pro will ask whether you want to maintain the EP2-base file<br>
format or convert it to the Pro file format. You will want to select<br>
Maintain and click OK. But before you do this, if you select "Always<br>
perform this operation when opening E-Prime 2.0 files" then it will<br>
change a program setting so that you will not be nagged again (I will<br>
come back to this). Rule (1) takes over again after you load the<br>
EP2-base file without converting, and you are all set.<br>
<br>
Now to make this easy and less prone to mistakes: Go to Tools ><br>
Options, and in the General tab, go down to E-Prime 2.0 Professional<br>
Conversion. Make sure that under "When loading..." it says "Maintain<br>
the E-Prime 2.0 file format", and make sure that "Always perform this<br>
conversion action without prompting" is checked. (Hmm, I suppose I<br>
could have just said that without the long-winded explanation, but<br>
where is the fun in that?) You still have to remember to load an<br>
EP2-base file template whenever you start a new program from scratch<br>
(File > New), but this setting will stop the nags for existing EP2-base files.<br>
<br>
As long as I have gone this far, I might as well lay out the full set<br>
of settings changes I make every time I set up EP2 Pro. Perhaps<br>
others would like to contribute their own favorite setup<br>
options. For each tab of the Tools > Options dialog,<br>
- General:<br>
- E-Prime 2.0 Professional Conversion:<br>
- Maintain the E-Prime 2.0 format<br>
- Always perform this conversion action without prompting -- checked<br>
- Structure<br>
- Allow Structure Branches to Collapse -- checked<br>
- Toolbox<br>
- Show the toolbox item large icons -- unchecked<br>
- Script<br>
- Use ScriptSense... -- unchecked (already the default)<br>
- AutoUpdate<br>
- Routinely check for updates... -- unchecked (don't like<br>
updates in the middle of studies)<br>
<br>
<br>
My apologies for a long reply of limited interest,<br>
-- David McFarlane, Professional (and long-winded) Faultfinder<br>
<br>
<br>
[Footnote 1] PST uses "E-Prime 2 Professional" to refer to the Pro<br>
edition of EP2, and just "E-Prime 2" to refer to the edition that is<br>
*not* Pro. I find this confusing, as it provides no way to refer to<br>
E-Prime 2 without referring specifically to one or the other<br>
edition. As a native speaker of English, I find it more natural to<br>
use "E-Prime 2" when I do not wish to specify an edition. I can then<br>
use "E-Prime 2 Professional" or "EP2 Pro" to refer to the Pro<br>
edition, but then how do I refer to the edition that is not<br>
"Professional"? I tried using "EP2 non-Pro", but that is hard to<br>
keep straight and it is too easy to slip and leave off the "non",<br>
which then drastically changes the meaning of my sentences. PST<br>
staff themselves sometimes resort to saying EP2 "standard". However,<br>
that implies that the non-Pro edition is in fact the "standard" that<br>
researchers should use unless they specifically need Pro, whereas I<br>
feel that the true "standard" edition is Pro and the non-Pro edition<br>
is a limited-purpose edition. I might call it EP2 Basic, but that<br>
could get confusing as "Basic" is also the name of the underlying<br>
programming language. Perhaps "EP2 Limited", or "EP2 Elements"<br>
(following Adobe). So far I like "EP2-base", to indicate that it is<br>
the starting edition that forms the basis or foundation for the full<br>
"Professional" edition. I also toyed with "EP2 Junior" just because<br>
I like the diminutive tone of that, but then thought that went a bit<br>
too far. So for now, I will try "EP2-base".<br>
<div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div>
<br>
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