Genstat is a very general computer program for statistical analysis, with all the facilities of a general-purpose statistics package. All the usual analyses are readily available using the standard Genstat commands, or directives. However, Genstat is not just a collection of preprogrammed commands for selecting from fixed recipes of available analyses. It has a very flexible command language, which you can use to write your own programs to cover the occasions when the standard analyses do not give exactly what you want, or when you want to develop a new technique. Most users will need to do this only occasionally, since the standard facilities in Genstat are extremely comprehensive. However, the ability to extend Genstat removes the temptation, that occurs with some other packages, to use an inappropriate or approximate technique when an unusual set of data has to be analysed. Programs can be formed into procedures, to simplify their future use or to make them easily available to other users. You can use Genstat either interactively, or in batch, or via a conversational menu system. Menus are available for many simple analyses, and the system is written using the Genstat language itself, so that it is easy to customize and extend....
