FORMAT=FAME

Fame is a time-series database management program provided by SunGard (www.sungard.com/fame). It is a Time Series Database format for input and output, and is supported by the Professional versions of WinRATS and (on certain platforms) UNIX. In addition to needing the proper version of RATS, you also need a license for the Fame software on the same platform.

RATS Instructions

data(format=fame)	read series from Fame into memory
store(convert=fame)	copy series from Fame to RATS format
copy(format=fame)	write series to Fame file

Interface Operations

On the Data/Graphics menu (for Pro versions), there’s a Data Browser>Fame Database operation. This opens a Series Window showing the contents of the file. You can drag and drop series from that into the Series Window or a RATS Data File window.

Details

Fame databases can be either local (accessed as standard operating system files) or server. There are slight differences in how you use them. Local databases are files with a .DB extension that you read like any other file:

cal(m) 1970:1

open data c:\fame\util\driecon.db

data(format=fame) 1970:1 2003:7 ipsb50001 cusa0

For server access, just use the base name of the database on the OPEN DATA, and include the additional option SERVER=server spec on the DATA or STORE instruction. The server spec is a string with the port, followed by the server node, followed by (if necessary) the user id and password. These are separated from each other by the | character. For instance:

cal(q) 1980:1

open data driecon

data(format=fame,server="5555|booker") 1980:1 2010:2 gdp gicv

You can only add series to a local database. Use the APPEND option on the OPEN COPY instruction to add to an existing file (rather than create a new one):

open(append) copy write.db

copy(format=fame) / x y z

Fame Objects Supported by RATS

RATS can read Fame objects with combinations of SERIES/FORMULA class, NUMERIC/BOOLEAN/PRECISION type, and all frequencies except UNDEFINED. All series created by RATS are written into Fame files as objects with SERIES class and PRECISION type. Missing values, which appear as NC, ND and NA in Fame data bases are translated into %NA in RATS. Missing values in RATS are converted to NA when exporting to Fame data bases.

Symbolic Name Conversion Between RATS and Fame

RATS and Fame place different restrictions on symbolic variable names, so RATS will not accept some variable names which are legal in Fame. To deal with this problem, RATS allows you to create a “lookup table”—a file containing a RATS name and an associated Fame name for one or more series.

The lookup table file must be an ASCII text file containing two columns of text separated by at least one space. The first column on each line is a RATS series name, while the second column is the associated Fame name.

Using Lookup Tables

To use a lookup table, you must open the lookup file with an OPEN FAME instruction, before executing your DATA or COPY instruction (FAME is a reserved I/O unit name).

On a DATA instruction, you must list only legal RATS series names. Normally, RATS searches the Fame data base for the specified series. If you have opened a lookup table, however, RATS first looks for the series names in the lookup table. For names that do appear in the table, RATS searches the Fame data base using the associated Fame name, rather than the RATS name. The series, if found, is then read into memory using the RATS name. For series not listed in the table, RATS searches the Fame data base using the RATS name.

Similarly, when writing data using COPY, any series that appear in a lookup table will be written using the “Fame” name, rather than the RATS name.

A lookup table should be a text file with two columns. The RATS name should be the first item on each line, followed by the Fame name (separated by at least one space). If the second column is omitted, the Fame name will be the same as the RATS name (equivalent to not including the name in the file). Anything after the second column is ignored, so you can add comments after the Fame name if you like. The order of series listed in a lookup table file is irrelevant. Both RATS and Fame are case-insensitive to series names, so mixed cases are legal in the lookup table. All lower case characters are converted to upper case.