We've created a new mac installer for iNZight, and we need people to test it and let us know that it works before rolling it out officially. We've also added some new features in the latest version, 3.2.
New mac installer
We are well aware that installing iNZight on a mac can be a painful process if it doesn't work first time around, and this can be particularly troubling for students with assessments due. I've been working on a new, updated, hopefully-more-robust installer for iNZight on the mac, and I'm at the point where I need a few users to try it out "in the real world", in particular anyone who already has R 3.3 or higher installed.
If you'd like to help me out, download the installer linked below, and follow the (hopefully simple) instructions.
- Download the installer: iNZightVIT-mac-installer.dmg
- Go to your Downloads folder and double click
iNZightVIT-mac-installer-2.0.
In most cases, this will open a window containing an installer you can double-click, and launch the iNZightVIT installer.
If not, go to your Desktop and you'll find iNZightVIT Installer, which you can double-click to open, and then double-click to run the installer within.
NOTE: you may need to right-click the installer and choose "Open" to allow it to run.
A note for R users: if you already have R installed, use the 'Customize' button on the second page of the install wizard and deselect "R", otherwise it will install the latest version of R (3.4.3) — of course, you can update if you want to. - After installation, it is highly recommended you restart your computer to avoid potential problems running iNZight.
-
Finally, head to Applications > iNZightVIT,
and double-click iNZight. The first time will take a few minutes (allow 10-15 if your network is slow)
while the remaining dependencies are downloaded and installed, after which time
iNZight will open - a great excuse to grab yourself a coffee (or something stronger
if you're doing this in the evening).
NOTE: you may need to right-click iNZight and choose "Open" to allow it to run. - Email me to let me know everything worked, or if not, what went wrong. Include screenshots of anything you think might help. In both cases, please include your operating system information (Apple-icon in the top-left > About this Mac).
In other news: iNZight 3.2
The last release of iNZight (v3.2) happened recently, and while it doesn't include any major changes that you may notice, there are a few things worth noting.
- Importing data
The import data window has been updated to provide a preview of files, and make it easier to load non-english files (for example, european files using a comma as a decimal separator).
The old import is still available, so if you have trouble with the new one, you can find it a little further down on the File menu: Import data (pre 3.1 version)
- Time series and model fitting
Recently, the interfaces for these modules were updated to make them easier to use. In the latest release, some of the graphics for time series have been updated. The remaining graphs will be updated over time.
- Interactive HTML graphs
A feature new in a previous release, and still being constantly updated by one of our summer students, is the ability to export your plots as interactive HTML webpages. You can access this by going to Save Plot (either in the toolbar, or the Plot menu) and from the dropdown choose Interactive HTML.
- Code writing
To help bridge the gap between learning to visualize and explore data, and learning to code in R, we have begun rolling out code writing functionality throughout iNZight. The main place you'll find this is in the data and variable menus: nearly all of the functions there have been re-written using tidyverse, and after manipulating your data, you can see the code history by clicking Advanced > Show R Code History.
- A list of all changes can be found here.
That's all for now! Let us know what you think about the changes, if you run into any problems, or if you have any suggestions for new features. We always try to put user requests first, especially when time is a very limited resource!
Regards, Tom and Chris.