Tiberius - Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Tiberius?
• Do I need to know anything about neural networks?
• What operating system is required?
• What format must my data be in?
• What is MDAC?
• What is UDL?
• How do I load SAS data?
• How do I load SPSS data?

What is Tiberius? top
Tiberius is a piece of software that will allow you to investigate relationships between data. It attempts to find models that will map a set of independent variables onto a dependent variable.
It does this by using a neural network, specifically a multilayer perceptron.

Do I need to know anything about neural networks to use Tiberius? top
No. All you need is an inquisitive mind. Tiberius is not designed to be a 'black box' that spits out models, but a tool that will provide visual clues to help the modeller understand the data and build superior models.
It is also designed to lead you through the process, so you are never wondering 'so how do I start then'.

What operating system is required? top
Windows 95+

What format must my data be in? top
Tiberius can read data directly from most standard formats such as text files, Excel, Access, dBase, SQL Server, SAS, SPSS and Oracle. Tiberius uses MDAC and UDL.

What is MDAC? top
Microsoft Data Access Comopnents - this is a technology developed by Microsoft that allows access to many forms of data. See the link on the 'Download' page.

What is UDL? top
If you just have data in Excel or Access then don't worry about UDLs
A Universal Data Link is basically a text file with a set of instructions on how to connect to a particular data source. Creating a universal data link is easy.
From the Tools menu, select 'Create Data Link'.

How do I load SAS data? top
It is possible to connect directly to your SAS files, although you require SAS/Base and the SAS/Share data provider installed - you cannot just open a SAS file that someone provides you with.
The main advantage of connecting directly to SAS file is that it lets you have thousands of inputs, rather than being limited to 255 if using Access or Excel. If you have smaller data sets then it is simpler to use SAS to convert them to Access.

To enable Tiberius to connect directly to SAS files then proceed with the following steps:

1. Download and install the SAS Share data provider from here. If MDAC 2.7 is not installed it will ask for you to install it - get it from here.

2. Download and install the SAS ODBC drivers from here.

3. Add 1 line to your TCP/IP services file by following the instruction here.
(remember the server name you added to this file - the default in the example is sdplserv)

4. Start up Tiberius and select TOOLS>>CREATE DATA LINK. Press the 'create' button.

5. In the 'Provider' tab, select 'SAS SHARE Data Provider 9.1'.

6. In the 'Connection' tab, type in the name of the server created in step 3 as the 'data source'.

7. In the 'All' tab, make sure that 'Local Server=1' and that the SAS executable, working directory and SAS release are correct for your system. Also make sure that in the SAS Parameters, the server name (the name in the brackets) as created in step 3 is correct. It should look something like -initstmt %sasodbc(sdplserv) -icon -nologo

8. Test the connection with the button on the 'Connection' tab.

9. Press 'OK' and specify a name and location to save the UDL file.

10. Any SAS files you wish to access must be in a folder that has a permanent libref set. To do this, open SAS and right click in the libraries window and choose 'new'. Check the 'enable at start up' box when you specify a new library location.

11. In Tiberius, select 'New' and select the UDL file just created. This single UDL file will give access to all SAS data sets.

note: To load data into Tiberius, PC SAS should not be currently open. You will see it appear at the bottom of the screen.

12. Now you will probably have to wait for a while as the SAS drivers gather information about all the SAS files you have in your active libraries (be patient - it will eventually finish).

This wait only needs to happen the first ever time SAS is used. Subsequently, if no new SAS datafiles have been created, press 'no' when promted to re-scan the available files. Alternatively, edit the list of available files from the tools>>SAS files menu in Tiberius.

If you have the the default MAPS as an active library, then the waiting time can be considerbly reduced by removing it as an active library (it is not required unless you do mapping - and contains many data files).
To remove the MAPS library you just need to comment out the following line in your sasv?.cfg file:
-MAPS !sasext0\maps
You can find your configuration file in the SAS root directory (For 8 installs this is usually c:\program files\sas institute\sas\v8)

If the waiting time is still excessive, disconnect some of your other active libraries.

13. Select the required file from the drop down list box and continue as normal.

When finished, close PC SAS in the usual way.

How do I load SPSS data? top
To read SPSS data files the 'SPSS Data Access Pack' needs to be installed. This is found on the SPSS installation disk in the ‘Merant’ folder, or it can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.spss.com/pub/web/SDAP2.5/setup.exe(60mb). You do not need a licence for SPSS itself - just the free data access pack.