Specifying output data file location?

[David McFarlane]

At 1/21/2010 04:08 PM Thursday, David McFarlane wrote:
>As discussed below, the StartupInfo file facility promises the 
>answer for EP2.  This was announced at least as far back as Oct 2007 
>(see http://support.pstnet.com/forum/Topic609-6-1.aspx ), but no 
>details have been forthcoming since then.  I myself have a Web 
>Support request about this very issue going back to Dec 2008, at 
>which time Matt said that the StartupInfo file would "be available 
>in an upcoming build" when a public editor became available (a 
>"public editor"!?  why not just use a plain old text file that we 
>can view and edit as we like??), and that he would notify me when 
>this happened.  Over a year later, and I have not seen any such 
>notice.  Perhaps it's time for me to update my support request.

OK, I did some legwork and at long last got the following response 
from Matt at PST:

"The public build that includes the StartupInfo Editor (2.0.8.73) was 
just released in December. Anyone can get it via the Download section 
on the support site or via 
http://www.pstnet.com/e-prime/support/getep2.asp. Note that this is 
available in E-Prime 2.0 Professional only.

"The StartupInfo Editor functionality is documented in the New 
Features Guide, available through the E-Prime 2.0 folder on the 
Windows Start menu.

"Basically, the StartupInfo Editor is an easy way to edit 
*.startupinfo files, which are XML-based. You don't have to use the 
editor, however, and the *.startupinfo files can be edited through 
Notepad or some other text editor. You can also make changes to the 
files through E-Prime (e.g., to increment a subject number for the 
next run, etc). The syntax for doing this is provided in the New 
Features Guide."


I responded to Matt (with slight revisions) as follows:

Thanks.  To be fair to you folks, I see now that Brandon posted this 
in a pinned topic on the Forum, and I had read that post but forgot 
about it.  OTOH the threads discussing this issue were left hanging, 
and that is what set me off here.  Now here are some questions.

- Very glad to hear that we can in principle make a StartupInfo file 
with any text editor.  So, do I need to install EP2.0.8.73 just to 
read the documentation, or is there some other way for me to get the 
documentation so I can get started exploring StartupInfo files?  I 
have downloaded 2.0.8.73, but unfortunately I am not at liberty to 
upgrade from 2.0.8.22 just yet, and it seems silly to need to upgrade 
just to read some documentation.  Surely you can do better that 
that.  Perhaps you could attach a version of the latest "New Features Guide".

- Once we have made a proper StartupInfo file (using any appropriate 
editor) will it work in earlier versions of EP2 (e.g., 2.0.8.22), or 
non-Pro editions, or even EP1 versions that generate script referring 
to the StartupInfo file (you can bet I will test this out myself at 
some point, but I would prefer some advanced hints from you)?

- That's all very nice that PST supplies documentation of new 
features in, well, the "New Features Guide".  But I read the "New 
Features Guide" when we first got EP2 and saw it as just another 
marketing brochure to highlight features new to EP2 from EP1, so I 
would never think to look at it again for technical documentation of 
features added in updates within EP2.  What you need is a simple 
"What's New" text file with a complete revision history that geeks 
like me would actually look at.

- Looking beyond the StartupInfo file to broader issues, how can we 
get automated notices of E-Prime developments?  Sure, the PST 
Newsletter is a good start, but that does not come out often enough 
(only quarterly) and is more a marketing tool that an instrument for 
useful technical updates.  E.g., I would like a notice whenever a new 
article gets added to the KB so that I can keep up to date.  And 
please do not suggest using RSS, I have tried RSS and found it useless.

-- David McFarlane, Professional Faultfinder
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over 
public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."  (Richard Feynman, 
Nobel prize-winning physicist)

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "E-Prime" group.
To post to this group, send email to e-prime at googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to e-prime+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/e-prime?hl=en.