Re: Roots

Posted by Stan Gorodenski on Nov 15, 2019; 5:26pm
URL: http://spssx-discussion.165.s1.nabble.com/Roots-tp5738554p5738561.html

I don't know if there is any demand, but I think the square root of -1
is used in electronics. I'm not into this so I really don't know. I did
not pose this question because I have an application for it. I was just
curious since it seems that sophisticated software packages like SPSS
and SAS should be able to do it. I just sent an email to join the SAS
discussion group and will ask them if SAS can do it. I suppose one could
write a routine to return a -1 if the the denominator of the exponent is
an odd number.
Stan

On 11/15/2019 10:05 AM, Rich Ulrich wrote:

> I wonder - Is there any demand for the exception-coding
> that would be necessary?  How many people write code
> where they want to take the fractional root of a negative
> number, where the fraction is the reciprocal of an odd integer?
> ( Note, the fraction cannot be expressed EXACTLY on a binary
> computer. How is that accommodated?)
>
> The natural programming solution to non-integer roots is
> to use logs.  I suppose if there is an area where the problem
> comes up, specialized programs for that area might do it.
> I suspect the efficient solution might use a special subroutine
> call rather than an in-line expression.
>
> --
> Rich Ulrich
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* SPSSX(r) Discussion <[hidden email]> on behalf of
> Bruce Weaver <[hidden email]>
> *Sent:* Friday, November 15, 2019 11:35 AM
> *To:* [hidden email] <[hidden email]>
> *Subject:* Re: Roots
> https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SSLVMB_26.0.0/statistics_reference_project_ddita/spss/base/syn_transformation_expressions_domain_errors.html
>
>
>
> Kirill Orlov wrote
> > See DOMAIN ERRORS paragraph in Command Syntax Reference.
> >
> >
> > 15.11.2019 4:53, Stan Gorodenski пишет:
> >> compute z = (-1)**(1/3).
> >
> > =====================
> > To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
>
> > LISTSERV@.UGA
>
> >  (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
> > command. To leave the list, send the command
> > SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
> > For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
> > INFO REFCARD
>
>
>
>
>
> -----
> --
> Bruce Weaver
> [hidden email]
> http://sites.google.com/a/lakeheadu.ca/bweaver/
>
> "When all else fails, RTFM."
>
> NOTE: My Hotmail account is not monitored regularly.
> To send me an e-mail, please use the address shown above.
>
> --
> Sent from: http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/
>
> =====================
> To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
> [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
> command. To leave the list, send the command
> SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
> For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
> INFO REFCARD
> ===================== To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a
> message to [hidden email]
> <mailto:[hidden email]> (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text
> except the command. To leave the list, send the command SIGNOFF
> SPSSX-L For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the
> command INFO REFCARD

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD