MOST POPULAR QUESTION: First use of iDA results in a message box saying: 'Your software has expired'.

1. Where do I find the datasets that come with the iDA software?
2. How do I register the student version of iDA so I may use the software for 180 days?
3. As an instructor, where can I find supplemental materials?
4. Why do I get the Error "Over 250 classes were formed"?
5. I click on the iDA dropdown menu and nothing happens. 
6. The Greek edition of MS Windows occasionally causes a GP fault when using iDA. 
7. A "Winword" error message appears during a mining session. 
8. Re-rule doesn't work with the student edition. 
9. Confusion matrix displays incorrectly. 
10. First use of iDA results in a message box saying: 'Your software has expired'.
11. How do you remove iDA from the toolbar?
12. ESX works fine but the neural networks do not run.

1. Where do I find the datasets that come with the iDA software?

Once the software is installed, the datsets can be found in the directory c:\iDA\samples.

2. How do I register the student version of iDA so I may use the software for 180 days?

The registration process is easy and is demonstrated in Section 4.4 of the text.  Pages 115 and 116 give the specific instructions. The registration code for your product is given in the lower left portion of the CD that accompanies the text.

3. As an instructor, where can I find supplemental materials?

Instructors that have adopted the text for classroom use can download supplements for the text at the Addison-Wesley Web site. Contact your Addison-Wesley representative to find out how to gain access to these supplements.

4. Why do I get the Error "Over 250 classes were formed"?

This error is most likely a directory and/or path problem. For example, suppose your computer supports two logical drives (drive C and drive D). Also, suppose that Microsoft Office is installed on the D drive. In this case, the programs used by iDA install on drive D. By default, the samples directory containing the datasets for data mining are installed on the C drive. However, iDA requires that all datasets presented for data mining reside on the logical drive containing the iDA .dll files (in this case drive D). Therefore, any attempt to mine a dataset housed on the C drive results in an error. The problem is easily resolved. Simply copy the samples directory from its current location to the logical drive (drive D in this case) containing the iDA software programs.

If you do not have two logical drives or the explanation above (referring to what is there now) does not help you solve your problem, and you are opening Excel by double clicking on the data file you wish to mine, try first opening Excel. Follow this by loading the data to be mined into a new spreadsheet.

5. I click on the iDA dropdown menu and nothing happens. 

There are several scenarios where this might happen. First, left click on any cell containing valid data and try again. If this still results in no response from the system, exit Excel and try once more.

If the problem is still present and you have installed iDA from the CD that comes with the book, the problem could be with the security software. This problem is seen with some installations of Office XP. The fix is simple. Go to the Infoacumen Web site (www.infoacumen.com) and download the latest version of iDA. This latest version does not require you to enter a passcode but does limit your usage to the same 180 day time period as the original software.

Another possibility is in situations where two logical drives exist where iDA is installed on one drive (ex. the C: Drive) and MS Excel and Word reside on a second drive (ex. the D: Drive). If this is the case, uninstall iDA and re-install it on the logical drive where Excel and Word exist. Excel, Word and iDA must all be installed on the same logical drive for the software to work correctly.
 

6. The Greek edition of MS Windows occasionally causes a GP fault when using iDA. 

In the early steps of the process of Unsupervised clustering, the default value for the Real-valued tolerance setting of "1.0" must be changed to "1,0" since the decimal point in Greek notation is the comma (,) instead of the dot (.).

7. A "Winword" error message appears during a mining session. 

An iDA user reviewed their "Dr. Watson" log to discover a MS Word add on called "EndNote" was being used by students to facilitate bibliography creation. Disabling this add on allowed the iDA mining session to complete without crashing.

8. Re-rule doesn't work with the student edition. 

The re-rule feature was erroneously included as a feature in the student edition of the software that accompanies the text. As a result, depending on your combination of Windows and MS Office software, it may not operate properly. A fix can be found by downloading the latest version of iDA and reinstalling.

9. Confusion matrix displays incorrectly. 

For users using Excel XP on a Windows XP platform. The confusion matrix may not display correctly. Installing service pack 2 for Excel may fix the problem. A fix can be found by downloading the latest version of iDA and reinstalling.

10. First use of iDA results in a message box saying: 'Your software has expired'.

If your using a non-US version of MS Excel (or maybe even a non-US MS Windows), download the iDA Excel add-in iDA.xla and replace the one residing on you harddrive at,

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Library\ESX\ida.xla.

If your already using a US version of MS Excel, try the following,

(a) First, run the uninstall program. You do this by going to the iDA
directory and double clicking on the uninstall icon. If the iDA directory is
not removed, delete the directory manually.

(b) Next,  you must locate and delete the ESX directory. It will likely be
located in:

                program files\microsoft office\office 10\library

   This directory contains several files including iDA.xla, RuleMaker.dll,
preprocessor.dll, etc.....

  You must delete the directory. If you have trouble finding this directory,
let us know and we will help you.

(c)  Finally, download and install the latest version of iDA installiDA.exe.
 

11. How do you remove iDA from the toolbar?

    i) Right-click iDA.
   ii) Select Customize.
  iii) Drag iDA into the Customize window.

12. ESX works fine but the neural networks do not run?

Two possibilities exist.

Possibility 1: The neural networks require Java to be installed on your computer. To see if Java is installed on your computer, open a DOS window and type:
java

You should get several lines of output indicating proper usage of the Java software. If you get one or two lines of output indicating that you have typed an unrecognizable command Java is likely not installed on your machine. Visit the Web site:

http://java.sun.com

to download and install a free copy of Java. Also, the CD that comes with the textbook "Data Mining A Tutorial-Based Primer" contains a copy of the Java installation file.

Possibility 2: If Java is installed on your machine, the problem is with the CLASSPATH environment variable. To

view the contents of this variable, open a DOS window and type:
set

You will either see a statement that starts with the word CLASSPATH = or the variable will not be present. If the variable is NOT present and you are running Windows XP, do the following:

1. Double click on My Computer.
2. Under system tasks, click on "View system information."
3. The System Properties window will appear. Click on Advanced.
4. Click on "Environment Variables."
5. Under "System Variables" click on "New".
6. In the variable name box type CLASSPATH 7. In the variable value box simply type a period (.) Click on "OK" and/or "Apply" as the case may be to exit.

If the CLASSPATH variable is present follow these steps:

1. Double click on My Computer.
2. Under system tasks, click on "View system information."
3. The System Properties window will appear. Click on Advanced.
4. Click on "Environment Variables."
5. Click on the CLASSPATH variable.
6. Click edit and add a period followed by a semicolon to the beginning of the variable value. So, if the classpath variable value previously appeared as:
c:\xyz

it will now appear as:
.;c:\xyz

7. Click on "OK" and/or "Apply" as the case may be to exit.

In either case, this forces Java to look at the current directory to locate the class files to be used.

Appendix A of your text offers answers to other frequently asked questions. If you are having problems with the software, please e-mail us with your problem at support@infoacumen.com.