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Guidelines for Vendors
Integrated with Dataplot The version of the Handbook on the NIST web site is integrated with the Dataplot statistical software. Dataplot is a free, downloadable statistical software package maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. It can be used both within the Handbook and independently of the Handbook and is able to perform a significant proportion of the analyses described in the Handbook.
Integration with Other Statistical Software Although we have currently chosen to integrate only the non-commercial statistics package, Dataplot, with the Handbook, we are aware that many organizations have established software standards and need for software support that may preclude the exclusive use of Dataplot. We also recognize that the value of the Handbook will be greatly increased if it is integrated with as many of the statistical programs widely available in industry, government, and academia as possible. Although we at NIST and SEMATECH are not in a position to undertake this integration ourselves, we would like to encourage any statistical software providers who are interested to integrate their software with the Handbook. This web page provides guidelines for that task.
What Needs to be Done The following sections provide guidelines for integrating your software with the Handbook. We anticipate that a vendor of statistical software would want to establish a site for displaying a specialized version of the Handbook that is integrated with the software package or individual pages of special interest to its clients. Sections and features of the Handbook which may provide opportunities for vendors to feature their software are outlined below.
  1. What parts of the Handbook are likely to be of most interest for software integration.
  2. Integrating your software with the Handbook.
  3. What NIST/SEMATECH will provide.
  4. Links from the NIST web site to a vendor's site.
  5. Vendors responsibilities.

Features of Interest to Software Vendors There are several portions of the Handbook that may be modified.
  1. Most chapters contain a section on case studies where the Dataplot program is actively invoked by the Handbook. Specifically, each case study has a work this example yourself page. The Dataplot macros could be replaced with macros for your statistical package. In addition, the case studies also contain sample output and graphs which could be replaced with output from your package.
  2. Many other pages contain sample output from Dataplot and other software programs. In addition, reference is made on how to accomplish certain tasks in a particular package.
  3. A "WEB HANDBOOK <keyword>" command uses the Handbook as a help system from within Dataplot. For example, entering WEB HANDBOOK REGRESSION opens a browser to a page in the Handbook that discusses regression.
Integration of Software There are several approaches to integrating software with the Handbook where the software is activated by clicking on a mouse.
  1. The simplest method brings up the software, executes the macro, displays the results for some given period of time, exits the software (you might make it user controllable as to when the user exits the software), and then returns control to the Handbook.

    The advantage of this method is:

    • It should be relatively easy to implement with software packages that have a scripting or command interface.

    The disadvantages are:

    • The case studies are run in large chunks by clicking on a single macro.
    • The software needs to be installed or accessible on the user's local system.

  2. The method used by the Handbook with Dataplot is an elaboration of method (1). First, a check is made to see if the software is currently running. If so, the macro is executed. If not, the software s brought up and then the macro is executed. In either case, the software remains open. This makes it possible to execute macros successively.

    The advantages of this method are:

    • You can implement fairly involved case studies in small, manageable steps.

    The disadvantages of this method are:

    • The software needs to be installed or accessible on the user's local system
    • The implementation is more complex than for method (1).

  3. The software can be executed on a server system and the output returned to web page.

    The advantage of this method is:

    • The software does not need to be installed on the user's local system.

    The disadvantages of this method are:

    • Similar to method (1), it is more difficult to move through case studies in small steps.
    • If a site is using the Handbook heavily, it could be a burden on the server where the software is installed.
Support NIST Will Provide If you are interested in integrating your software with the Handbook, we will provide a complete copy of the Handbook.

We are also willing to provide the Tcl/Tk and Expect scripts used by Dataplot. These scripts implement the entire Dataplot graphical interface, not just the Handbook integration (the Handbook integration is actually a small part of the scripts). A similar ability could possibly be implemented using Perl or other Web scripting facilities as well.

We cannot guarantee any additional support beyond this.

Requests should directed to Alan Heckert.

Links from NIST to the Vendor On request, we will provide a link from the official NIST web site to your site for displaying analyses and software tools that are related to the Handbook. However, NIST does not endorse any commercial products or software and a disclaimer to that effect will appear when the reader leaves the NIST site.
Vendors Responsibilities If you choose to develop pages of your own that follow the format of the Handbook or make use of data or analyses from the Handbook, please give proper credit to the source and to be careful not to imply that your views, analyses, software products, etc. are endorsed by NIST.
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