# Options, arguments and path-searching

Gretl Manual: Gnu Regression, Econometrics and Time-series Library
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# Chapter 12. Options, arguments and path-searching

# gretl

`gretl` (under MS Windows, `gretlw32.exe`)[1]

— Opens the program and waits for user input.

`gretl` `datafile`

— Starts the program with the specified datafile in its workspace. The data file may be in native `gretl` format, CSV format, or BOX1 format (see Chapter 4 above). The program will try to detect the format of the file and treat it appropriately. See also the Section called Path searching below for path-searching behavior.

`gretl --help` (or `gretl -h`)

— Print a brief summary of usage and exit.

`gretl --version` (or `gretl -v`)

— Print version identification for the program and exit.

`gretl --english` (or `gretl -e`)

— Force use of English instead of translation.

`gretl --run` `scriptfile` (or `gretl -r` `scriptfile`)

— Start the program and open a window displaying the specified script file, ready to run. See the Section called Path searching below for path-searching behavior.

`gretl --db` `database` (or `gretl -d` `database`)

— Start the program and open a window displaying the specified database. If the database files (the `.bin` file and its accompanying `.idx` file — see the Section called Binary databases in Chapter 4) are not in the default system database directory, you must specify the full path.

`gretl --dump` (or `gretl -c`)

— Dump the program's configuration information to a plain text file (the name of the file is printed on standard output). May be useful for trouble-shooting.

Various things in `gretl` are configurable under the "File, Preferences" menu.

- The base directory for `gretl`'s shared files.

- The user's base directory for `gretl`-related files.

- The command to launch `gnuplot`.

- The command to launch GNU R (see Appendix D).

- The command with which to view TeX DVI files.

- The directory in which to start looking for native `gretl` databases.

- The directory in which to start looking for RATS 4 databases.

- The host name of the `gretl` database server to access.

- The IP number and port number of the HTTP proxy server to use when contacting the database server, if applicable (if you're behind a firewall).

- The calculator and editor programs to launch from the toolbar.

- The monospaced font to be used in `gretl` screen output.

- The font to be used for menus and other messages. (Note: this item is not present when `gretl` is compiled for the `gnome` desktop, since the choice of fonts is handled centrally by `gnome`.)

There are also some check boxes. Checking the "expert" box quells some warnings that are otherwise issued. Checking "Tell me about gretl updates" makes `gretl` attempt to query the update server at start-up. Unchecking "Show gretl toolbar" turns the icon toolbar off. If your native language setting is not English and the local decimal point character is not the period ("`.`"), unchecking "Use locale setting for decimal point" will make `gretl` use the period regardless.

Finally, there are some binary choices: Under the "Open/Save path" tab you can set where `gretl` looks by default when you go to open or save a file — either the `gretl` user directory or the current working directory. Under the "Data files" tab you can set the default filename suffix for data files. The standard suffix is `.gdt` but if you wish you can set this to `.dat`, which was standard in earlier versions of the program. If you set the default to `.dat` then data files will be saved in the "traditional" format (see Chapter 4). Also under the "Data files" tab you can select the action for the little folder icon on the toolbar: whether it should open a listing of the data files associated with Ramanathan's textbook, or those associated with Wooldridge's text.

Under the "General" tab you may select the algorithm used by `gretl` for calculating least squares estimates. The default is Cholesky decomposition, which is fast, relatively economical in terms of memory requirements, and accurate enough for most purposes. The alternative is QR decomposition, which is computationally more expensive and requires more temporary storage, but which is more accurate. You are unlikely to need the extra accuracy of QR decomposition unless you are dealing with very ill-conditioned data and are concerned with coefficient or standard error values to more than 7 digits of precision.[2]

Settings chosen in this way are handled differently depending on the context. Under MS Windows they are stored in the Windows registry. Under the `gnome` desktop they are stored in `.gnome/gretl` in the user's home directory. Otherwise they are stored in a file named `.gretlrc` in the user's home directory.

### Notes

[1] | On Linux, a "wrapper" script named `gretl` is installed. This script checks whether the `DISPLAY` environment variable is set; if so, it launches the GUI program, `gretl_x11`, and if not it launches the command-line program, `gretlcli`.
[2] | The option of using QR decomposition can also be activated by setting the environment variable `GRETL_USE_QR` to any non-NULL value.

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