Session Logs Tutorial for SPM

How Did I Get That Model?
Session Logs in SPM

Dan Steinberg
Salford Systems
http://www.salford-systems.com

December 2012

SPM Version Numbers

• Salford Systems has begun offering SPM 7.0 to all of our
customers (as of November 30, 2012) and from this date
forward our videos and instructional materials will make use
of the SPM 7 application
• The SPM interface was designed to be as similar as
possible to the SPM 6 series of software meaning that you
can follow along for much of the presentation with that
version (or with version 6 generations of the standalone
engines
• We will clearly point out features, options, and controls that
are unique to 7
• The current video and blog is largely relevant to SPM 6 and
you will not require SPM 7 for most of its content
© Copyright Salford Systems 2012

How Did I Get That Model or Result?

• In the course of interactive data analysis modelers typically
modify many model setup controls and options
• Many modelers will also alter the data they use
– Construction of new variables during the session
– Focusing on specific subsets of the data (segments)
– Using SELECT statements or DELETE records via the built-in
Salford BASIC programming language
• After a long session of changing this and that you might find
that you have lost track of exactly what you have done
• You might not realize this until you save work and come
back to again after a long weekend or after a hiatus of
several weeks


How SPM Can Help You

• SPM and its predecessor standalone data mining products
CART, MARS, TreeNet, and RandomForests all maintain an
audit trail of every session
• The audit trail is a set of commands that were generated
either by you or by the GUI (Graphical User Interface) on
your behalf as you conducted your session
• The audit trail does not record pure GUI actions you might
have taken such as viewing the Variable Importance ranking
or resizing a window
• The audit trail records all file open and save actions and
commands that set up or run a model


The Command Log

• For the log of your current session the simplest way to
review it is to click on the command log icon on the toolbar
– The “L” circled in red below


Clicking on the “L” icon brings up a text file


Understanding the Command Log

• Often you do not need to pay any attention to most of this file as it is
devoted to setting up default options
• Instead you will want to focus on essentials such as
– USE the command connecting you to your data
– MODEL the command identifying your target
– KEEP the command listing the predictors you are using
– Here are our commands related to the setting up of a regression tree
using the BOSTON.CSV Boston housing data set


Saving and Retrieving Command Logs

• You do not have to worry about saving the command logs as they
are saved for you automatically
• However, you should make your own decision as to where your
logs will be saved
• We recommend that you to to the EDIT menu and select Options


Alternatively, select the check mark toolbar icon

This brings up the same
dialog as does the EDIT
..Options menu item

Then select the Directories
tab


Select a convenient location for Temporary Files

In addition to temporary work files we also permanently store command logs for
every session in this location.
Windows will default to a possibly awkward location so we advise changing it

SPM 7 automatically navigates to the stored logs

In version 6 applications you will need
to navigate to this location manually if
you wish to open one of the past
session logs

Select this item in SPM 7 to reveal
the log archives as shown on the next
screen


Directory Listing of Past Session Logs

These are all plain text files with a .TXT extension and have names beginning with
CTRXmmdd where mm=month and dd=date of creation. The remainder of the name is
randomly generated. Files of size 2KB are for sessions that just opened and closed SPM

Session Logs Are Permanent

• We do not ever delete session logs but you might want to
both selectively delete some sessions including the ones in
which next to nothing was done
• You might also want to rename important logs so that you
can tell what they are about
• Session logs are updated after each command is generated
either by you directly from the command line or via the
commands that the GUI generates for you
• Session logs are generally complete but may lack the very
last command issued if the application of the Operating
System subsequently crashed
• Session logs are critical for diagnosing problems as well as
for determining exactly what you did to obtain a result

Command Logs and Groves

• SPM stores all models in a special form we call a grove.
Groves may optionally be saved and transferred from one
machine to another including between Windows and
Linux/UNIX platforms
• Groves store model information and the entire command log
up to the point at which the model in question was
generated
• If you build three consecutive models
– The first model grove will contain the command log up to the point
that the first model was built
– The second model grove will contain the command log relevant to
both the first and the second models
– The third model grove will contain the command log for al three
models built

Command Log from GUI (Grove)

We can access all commands issued in the session up to the creation of this
model. These commands are saved in the grove file.

GUI Grove Based Command Log Display:
TreeNet Model
• If a model’s main results are being displayed you will always
see a “Commands” button towards the bottom of the display

“Commands” button is available for CART, MARS, GPS, and TreeNet models.
Reveals same information as command log up to the moment model was created
Commands available at any future time from the grove if it is saved

Hints on Trouble Shooting

• Since the command logs contain literally every command
issued either by you directly or by the GUI on your behalf it
serves as a source of information for explaining unexpected
results
• Some common causes unexpected results include
– A SELECT command being active or inactive
– BASIC commands deleting some records, setting certain predictors
to missing, or altering some predictors
– Analysis type being changed from Classification to Regression
– An active LIMIT command preventing a CART tree from growing as
large as expected or desired
– Model setup controls altered such as CART growing method or
number of nodes in TreeNet trees, etc.


Session Logs Tutorial for SPM

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