# Modes of working

Gretl Manual: Gnu Regression, Econometrics and Time-series Library
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# Chapter 3. Modes of working

# Command scripts

As you execute commands in `gretl`, using the GUI and filling in dialog entries, those commands are recorded in the form of a "script" or batch file. Such scripts can be edited and re-run, using either `gretl` or the command-line client, `gretlcli`.

To view the current state of the script at any point in a `gretl` session, choose "View command log" under the File menu. This log file is called `session.inp` and it is overwritten whenever you start a new session. To preserve it, save the script under a different name. Script files will be found most easily, using the GUI file selector, if you name them with the extension "`.inp`".

To open a script you have written independently, use the "File, Open command file" menu item; to create a script from scratch use the "File, New command file" item or the "new script" toolbar button. In either case a script window will open (see Figure 3-1).

Figure 3-1. Script window, editing a command file

The toolbar at the top of the script window offers the following functions (left to right): (1) Save the file; (2) Save the file under a specified name; (3) Print the file (under Windows or the gnome desktop only); (4) Execute the commands in the file; (5) Copy selected text; (6) Paste the selected text; (7) Find and replace text; (8) Undo the last Paste or Replace action; (9) Help (if you place the cursor in a command word and press the question mark you will get help on that command); (10) Close the window.

When you click the Execute icon or choose the "File, Run" menu item all output is directed to a single window, where it can be edited, saved or copied to the clipboard.

To learn more about the possibilities of scripting, take a look at the `gretl` Help item "Script commands syntax," or start up the command-line program `gretlcli` and consult its help, or consult Chapter 13 in this manual. In addition, the `gretl` package includes over 70 "practice" scripts. Most of these relate to Ramanathan (2002), but they may also be used as a free-standing introduction to scripting in `gretl` and to various points of econometric theory. You can explore the practice files under "File, Open command file, practice file" There you will find a listing of the files along with a brief description of the points they illustrate and the data they employ. Open any file and run it to see the output.

Note that long commands in a script can be broken over two or more lines, using backslash as a continuation character.

You can, if you wish, use the GUI controls and the scripting approach in tandem, exploiting each method where it offers greater convenience. Here are two suggestions.

- Open a data file in the GUI. Explore the data — generate graphs, run regressions, perform tests. Then open the Command log, edit out any redundant commands, and save it under a specific name. Run the script to generate a single file containing a concise record of your work.

- Start by establishing a new script file. Type in any commands that may be required to set up transformations of the data (see the `genr` command in Chapter 13 below). Typically this sort of thing can be accomplished more efficiently via commands assembled with forethought rather than point-and-click. Then save and run the script: the GUI data window will be updated accordingly. Now you can carry out further exploration of the data via the GUI. To revisit the data at a later point, open and rerun the "preparatory" script first.

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The gretl toolbar |  | Saving script objects