Release Notes - IBM SPSS Modeler 16.0

Content

For a list of new features in the latest SPSS Modeler release, see the topic “New Features in IBM SPSS Modeler 16.0” in the online help.
System requirements and installation

For information regarding requirements and installation, see: http://www.ibm.com/software/analytics/spss/products/modeler/requirements.html.

Unable to start the installer from the automatically started launch pad.

If auto start is turned on, the launch pad will start automatically when the DVD is inserted into a Windows machine. In some cases users will not be able to start the installer by clicking the launch buttons on the automatically started launch pad screen. If this happens close the running launch pad, browse to the DVD content, right click on Launchpad64.exe and select "Run as administrator". After the launch pad has started click on the desired launch buttons on the launch pad screen and the installer will start as normal.

Windows - run as administrator

If you are installing on a Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 operating system, you must use "Run as Administrator" by first right-clicking on the executable.

IBM Cognos TM1
IBM Cognos TM1 10.2 Fix Pack 1, or later, is required before Modeler can import and export Cognos TM1 data.

Single sign-on for data sources

You can now connect to databases from IBM SPSS Modeler using single sign-on. If you want to create a database connection using single sign-on, you must first use your ODBC management software to

properly configure a data source and single sign-on token. Then when connecting to a database in IBM
SPSS Modeler, IBM SPSS Modeler will use that same single sign-on token and the user will not be
prompted to log on to the data source.

However, if the data source was not configured properly for single sign-on, IBM SPSS Modeler will
prompt the user to log on to the data source. The user will still be able to access the data source after
providing valid credentials.

For complete details about configuring ODBC data sources on your system with single sign-on enabled,
see your database vendor documentation. Following is an example of the general steps that may be
involved:

1. Configure your database so it can support Kerberos single sign-on.
2. On the IBM SPSS Modeler Server machine, create an ODBC data source and test it. The DSN connection should not require a user ID and password.
3. Connect to IBM SPSS Modeler Server using single sign-on and begin using the ODBC data source

created and validate in step 2.

Additional requirements that may be needed to enable you to use single sign-on are:

• Users are able to run Modeler Server as a local system service.
• Any users who are authenticating to Modeler Server are designated as local users on the Windows Server machine.
• You do not require different groups based on roles.

Known problems

At time of publication, the following issues were known:

Tree model scoring - differences between Modeler 15 and 16

Tree models (C5, C&RT, CHAID, or Quest) built in Modeler 15 did not create the correct PMML information for missing value handling. This means that if the model is exported in PMML to be scored elsewhere it will not validate or score correctly. This has been corrected in Modeler 16.

In order to score these models correctly in Modeler 16 we recommend that any models built in Modeler version 15 or earlier are rebuilt using Modeler 16.

SPSS Modeler Entity Analytics

• Consideration for Windows - User Access Controls


If you are not logged in as the Administrator account, then your user needs to be a member of the Administrator group and you must "Run as Administrator" during installation.

For more information, see: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/db2luw/v10r5/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.db2.luw.admin.sec.doc%2Fdoc%2Fc0051954.html





• Membership of administration groups


If you intend to run administrative tasks, for example to create or delete a repository, you will need to run as administrator.

For more information, see: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/db2luw/v10r5/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.db2.luw.qb.server.doc%2Fdoc%2Fr0007134.html

Windows - Add your account to the DB2ADMNS group.

UNIX - Add your account to the db2iadm1 group; for example: usermod -G db2iadm1 user.

In addition you have to log out and log back in to your account, or reboot, before these changes take effect.
• Updating EA Beta release to main EA 16.0 release on Windows 7


If you are uninstalling Modeler 16.0 EA Beta and then installing the full Modeler Premium 16.0 release, a number of errors may be reported for the EA/DB2 installation. In this case, please follow the steps below to clean the EA/DB2 installation on the machine after you uninstall the Modeler 16 EA Beta.

1. From the DB2 administration window, run DB2stop

2. Delete the following folders and their subfolders:

• C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\IBM DB2 DB2COPY1 (default)
• C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\IBM DB2
• C:\ProgramData\IBM\DB2
• C:\Program Files\IBM\SQLLIB
• C:\DB2_G2
• C:\Program Files\IBM\SPSS\Modeler\16\Database

3. Amend the registry (using: Start > run > regedit) by deleting following keys:
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IBM\DB2
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\DB2

4. Install the full Modeler Premium 16.0 release.
• Installing EA using an existing DB2 installation


If you already have DB2 installed you can use that and do not need to install the DB2 that is provided with Modeler Premium.

NOTE: If you install EA on UNIX without installing DB2 you should manually amend the shell scripts as follows.

In the templates folder:

For createg2.sh, removeg2.sh, and startg2.sh change {USERHOMEDIRECTORY} to the DB2 user home directory.

In the g2 folder:

For executeg2.sh change {INSTALLPATH} to the DB2 installation path.



• Non-Latin character data not supported


Data in non-Latin characters is not supported for Entity Analytics in this release. Where the data consists of a mixture of records in Latin (i.e., Western European) and non-Latin character sets, only the entities for the Latin data will be resolved.
• Incorrect number of fields detected when running Streaming EA node


You may encounter an error of the form "Incorrect number of fields detected in the server data model" when running the Streaming EA node. This can happen if you have edited the repository configuration since creating the Streaming EA node. Editing the configuration in these circumstances can have the effect of changing the number and names of the fields output from the node. To resolve the issue, open the Streaming EA node and click the Refresh button. Doing so causes the number and names of the output fields to be recalculated.
• Repositories not removed when Entity Analytics is uninstalled


Before uninstalling Entity Analytics, note that any repositories that were created are not removed when Entity Analytics is uninstalled. These repositories will be available if Entity Analytics is later reinstalled.

To delete a repository, follow the instructions in the "Entity Analytics tasks" section of the Entity Analytics User Guide. Use the procedure "Deleting an entity repository" or "Deleting a repository when unable to connect to it" as appropriate.

Note that the delete_repository.bat or delete_repository.sh scripts are actually located in the "<modeler_install_dir>/ext/bin/pasw.entityanalytics" directory and not the ".../tools" directory as stated in the User Guide.

Also note that DB2 is not uninstalled when you uninstall EA. For details on how to uninstall DB2 see: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/db2luw/v10r5/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.db2.luw.qb.server.doc%2Fdoc%2Fc0059726.html

Database import and export

• SQL Server support with the Data Access Pack driver.

The ODBC configuration for SQL Server must have the "Enable Quoted Identifiers" ODBC connection attribute set to “Yes” (the default for this driver is "No"). On UNIX this attribute is configured in the system information file (odbc.ini) using the "QuotedId" option.

• In Database Caching with IBM DB2.

When attempting to cache a node in a stream which reads data from a DB2 database, you may see the error message “A default table space could not be found with a pagesize of at least 4096 that authorization ID TEST is authorized to use”. To configure DB2 to enable in-database caching to work properly in SPSS Modeler, the database administrator should create a "user temporary" tablespace and grant access to this tablespace to the relevant DB2 accounts. We recommend using a pagesize of 32768 in the new tablespace, as this will increase the limit on the number of fields that can be successfully cached.

• Database errors with IBM DB2 for z/OS.

When running streams against DB2 for z/OS, you may experience database errors if the timeout for idle database connections is enabled and set too low. In DB2 for z/OS version 8, the default has changed from no timeout to 2 minutes. The solution is to increase the value of the DB2 system parameter IDLE THREAD TIMEOUT (IDTHTOIN), or reset the value to 0.

• Scoring some models with confidences enabled using generated SQL returns a database error message on DB2 z/OS.


Scoring a subset of algorithms, with confidences enabled, using generated SQL can return an error on execution. The issue is specific to DB2 for z/OS; to fix this, use the Modeler Server Scoring Adapter for DB2 on z/OS.
• Database bulk loaders.

In order to use the bulk loading feature of the Database export node, you need to install Python on the same machine as SPSS Modeler (or if using SPSS Modeler Server, on the same machine as the server). The "python_exe_path" parameter must be set in the options.cfg file. You can install Python from the SPSS Modeler Client, SPSS Modeler Server or SPSS Modeler Solution Publisher product DVDs.

• Some aggregation results can differ between SQL pushback and native modes with Oracle.

When running a stream containing an Aggregate node, the values returned for 1st and 3rd Quartiles when pushing back SQL to an Oracle database may differ from those returned in native mode.

Modeling nodes

• Record ID field.

Passing a non-numeric Record ID field into a modeling algorithm may cause a stream to execute slowly. The Record ID field is not a requirement for modeling, so we recommend filtering out the field.

• Logistic Regression.

Binomial Logistic Regression does not allow strings longer than 8 characters. You can avoid this problem by encoding strings before passing them to the algorithm.

If temporary disk space is low, Binomial Logistic Regression can fail to build, and reports an error. When building from a large data set (10GB or more), the same amount of free disk space is needed. You can use the environment variable SPSSTMPDIR to set the location of the temporary directory.


• Cox regression.

On scoring a Cox regression model, an error is reported if empty strings in categorical variables are used as input to model building. Avoid using empty strings as input.

Modeler Batch - Cognos BI and TM1 password visible in log

If a stream containing a Cognos node (either BI or TM1) is run in Modeler Batch, and the Cognos connection details (including the password) are passed as a slot parameter from the command line, the Batch log will contain the Cognos password in plain text.

Model nuggets

• Settings information.

For some models, Settings information may not be displayed in the information sidebar of the model nugget if split fields are used. Settings information can be accessed from the modeling node as follows. For auto modeling nodes, open the modeling node and choose Expert tab > click the Model parameters column > Specify > Expert tab of Algorithm settings dialog box. For single modeling nodes, open the modeling node and choose Build Options tab > Ensembles.

Excel export node

• Memory required increases with number of rows when exporting to Excel 2003.

Exporting a large number of records (tens of thousands) to an Excel 2003 (.xls) file can fail with the message "Insufficient memory for JVM - please increase in jvm.cfg". However, increasing the value of the Java heap size may not cure the problem. Try exporting fewer records at a time. The problem does not occur when exporting to Excel 2007/2010 (.xlsx) format.

SPSS Modeler Server on UNIX

• Insufficient virtual memory in multithreaded AIX environments.

In a multithreaded AIX environment, it is possible for workloads that formerly completed successfully to fail with insufficient memory owing to a change to the startup scripts for SPSS Modeler Server, SPSS Modeler Solution Publisher and SPSS Modeler Solution Publisher Runtime Library. To avoid this problem, remove the following line from the startup script:

MALLOCOPTIONS=multiheap

Integration with IBM SPSS Collaboration and Deployment Services

• Storing SPSS Modeler streams in SPSS Collaboration and Deployment Services.

No unlock checkbox is available when storing streams in the Collaboration and Deployment Services repository. Unlock is the default when storing streams. To lock or unlock an object, choose Tools->Repository->Explore, navigate to the object, and right-click on its name to display the context menu.


• Incomplete output for Gains graph from Evaluation node.

In Deployment Manager, on running a job containing a stream with an Evaluation node set to produce a Gains graph, the graph output may be incomplete if the system is running under Oracle Weblogic 11g using the Oracle JRockit JRE. To avoid this problem, use the IBM JRE.



• When installing the Modeler Adapter on Collaboration and Deployment Services 5.0 the install returns success even when errors have occurred.

There are some known scenarios where a Modeler Adapter install will fail, but the failure will not be properly reported back to the user performing the install. Review the Modeler Adapter install log and "packageManager" logs in the Collaboration and Deployment Services log directory (<CDS_Home>/log) and take appropriate action.

• Execution branches missing in Job Editor.

Some execution branches\datasources of a stream with a terminal supernode and no external connections are missing in the Collaboration and Deployment Services Job Editor.

• Modeler Adapter may not work with C&DS and Jboss Community Edition.

If you attempt to install the SPSS Modeler 16.0 Adapters with C&DS 5.0.2 and the Application Server Jboss 6.0 Community Edition, the C&DS server may not start. We suggest you use Jboss Commercial Edition (EAP) 6.0 instead.

• Some Text Analytics nodes do not not work with C&DS Scoring.

You cannot use the File List, File Viewer, Translate, or Web Feed, nodes in Text Analytics for scoring within a C&DS Scoring configuration.

Integration with IBM SPSS Statistics

• Generating non-English output.

When generating output in languages other than English, it is advisable to specify the language in the Syntax.



• The 'Launch application' option of a Statistics Export node does not open the data set when working in distributed mode.


When running Modeler and Statistics together in Server mode, writing the data out and launching a Statistics session does not automatically open a Statistics client showing the data set read into the active data set. The workaround is to manually open the data file in Statistics client once it is launched.

Multi-byte data

• Inserting multibyte data into Teradata from SPSS Modeler Server.

To insert multibyte data into a Teradata database from SPSS Modeler Server, use the following configuration:

1. Run the server in Unicode.

2. Set the Teradata user default character set to UNICODE using tdadmin.

3. Configure CharacterSet=UTF8 (UNIX DSN), or set the Session Character Set to UTF-8 (Windows DSN).

4. Ensure that there are only ASCII characters in the column names.


• String Collation.

In this release, string sorting and comparison use the ICU 4.8.1 collation service for the system locale. Japanese collation does not distinguish half-width from full-width Katakana.

Accessibility

• Graphs.

The screen reader is not able to read graphs, so these are not accessible to visually-impaired users.

TM1 data import

Not all data is imported from TM1 to Modeler if the dimension before the measure dimension only has one element.

Modeler Administration Console

If you use the Modeler Administration Console with Modeler Server in Windows, you need to add a "log" directory under the Modeler Server installation path. The default installation path is: C:\Program Files\IBM\SPSS\ModelerServer\16.

SPSS Modeler Text Analytics

• Backward compatibility with previous Text Mining for Clementine versions.

Text models created in Text Mining for Clementine v11.1 cannot be edited or executed in Text Analytics 16.0.



• Cancelling an extraction can take a long time when working with very large data sets.

Multiple Interactive Workbench sessions can cause sluggish behavior. Text Analytics and Modeler share a common Java run-time engine when an interactive workbench session is launched. Depending on the number of Interactive Workbench sessions you invoke during a Modeler session - even if opening and closing the same session - system memory may cause the application to become sluggish. This effect may be especially pronounced if you are working with large data or have a machine with less than the recommended RAM setting of 4GB. If you notice your machine is swapping memory, it is recommended that you save all your work, shut down Modeler and re-launch the application. Running Text Analytics on a machine with less than the recommended memory - particularly when working with large data sets or for prolonged periods of time - may cause Java to run out of memory and shut down. It is strongly suggested you upgrade to the recommended memory setting or larger (or use Text Analytics Server) if you work with large data.



• The whole record from Excel file is not processed.

Create an .xlsx or a .sav file as a workaround.



• Scoring on rules is different in TA depending on whether you load a TAP from Text Analytics directly or whether you load a TAP from TAfS

Use TAPs made within TA as the ones made in TAfS may be created using a different version of the linguistic resources.



• PDF filter related problem.

To use PDF or Office filters with the product you should download and install these filters yourself. Starting with Acrobat Reader 8.x the PDF filter was included with the reader so you don't need to do a separate download. Versions of Acrobat from 10 onwards no longer have this filter so use no higher a version than Acrobat 9.



• Linux on x64 - openMP support requires the customer to install a separate package.

Linux Red Hat x64 support.

For Red Hat Linux, openMP support requires the package "libgomp-4.4.4-13.el5", which is available from the RedHat website: https://rhn.redhat.com/network/software/search.pxt

Linux SuSe x64 support.

For SuSe11, openMP support requires the package "libgomp43 4.3.3_20081022", which is available from the SuSe website: http://www.suse.com/LinuxPackages/packageRouter.jsp?product=server&version=11&service_pack=&architecture=i386&package_name=index_group.

The package is for the GNU compiler collection OpenMP runtime library, and is available from the section titled: "Development/Libraries/Parallel".


• The Template Editor does not open on Vista and returns an error.

As a post installation step for Vista 64 to correct this it is necessary to give the users group modify permission for the "tmwb_16.db file" located in: <ALLUSERSPROFILE>\IBM\SPSS\TextAnalytics\16\<folder>.

An example of the location of this file is: C:\ProgramData\IBM\SPSS\TextAnalytics\16\tmwb_16.db.

• Client memory exhausted after many repeated Interactive Workbench extractions.

Modeler Client can run out of memory after multiple Text Analytics Interactive Workbench sessions have been run without restarting the application. Monitor the memory usage in the status line and, if running low, close and re-open Modeler Client.

• Text Analytics Japanese Adapter - Prerequisite.

The Text Analytics Japanese Adapter installer requires the presence of Modeler Adapter. Please ensure the Modeler Adapter is installed on your machine before you install the Text Analytics Japanese Adapter.

• DB2 instance configuration settings - Modeler Scoring Adapter for Text Analytics.

For the Modeler Scoring Adapter for Text Analytics (TA UDF) on the DB2 LUW AIX platform in BLU mode you may need to amend your DB2 instance settings as follows:

1. Set the following system parameter values for db2instance(db2inst1):


data seg size (kbytes, -d) unlimited

2. Ensure the DB2 instance is set as BLU mode and the database organization is set as column. For example:

DB2_WORKLOAD=ANALYTICS ---for the db2 instance
DFT_TABLE_ORG = COLUMN ---for the selected database.

3. Restart the db2instance.

Related information

Technical Support is available to maintenance customers. Customers may contact Technical Support for assistance in using IBM Corp. products or for installation help for one of the supported hardware environments. To reach Technical Support, see the IBM Corp. web site at http://www.ibm.com/support. We recommend that you check the support site for updates.

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