File Types

RPF (RATS Program File)

RPF is the extension for a RATS Program File. This is a plain text file with RATS instructions and comments (lines beginning with *). The RPF file is the main organizer for a block of calculations; a particular project will have one or more RPF files. RATS executes the instructions on the RPF and produces output which typically goes to text and graphics windows on the computer on which it is run. However, output can also be routed to one or more files of various types such as plain text, graphics formats like EPS, spreadsheet formats and TeX tables.

SRC (Procedure file)

SRC (short for SouRCe) is the extension used for a procedure file. A procedure file is a plain text file of RATS instructions (usually heavily commented) which functions like a single RATS instruction. Most calculations in RATS are done using procedures since they are more flexible: because they are plain text files, they can be changed easily and can be altered by the end user. The built-in instructions and functions in RATS generally are designed to handle calculations which benefit from being written directly in the (C++) programming language due to length (QZ factorization is over 10000 lines), complexity of calculation (the state-space modeling routines in RATS can detect and handle non-stationary initial conditions) or to reduce calculation time with optimizations (the built-in GARCH instruction is about four times faster than the equivalent calculation done by more basic instructions).

RPRJ (RATS PRoJect)

This is file type introduced with RATS version 11 which allows you to bundle RATS program files, source files, data files and (if you want) output, report and graph files into a single file.

An RPRJ is a standard zip with an included header with overall information about the project (name, author, description and a space for a URL for detailed help) and a listing of the contents. With the new project files, you will be able to download a fully functioning sample program directly without having to unzip it yourself. And our examples will have the link to the detailed description as well.

PRG (Program file; obsolete)

PRG is an older extension for a program file. We now use RPF instead, but the two have identical uses. We phased out the use of PRG for several reasons:

•PRG is used by quite a few programs besides RATS, with each trying to become the default executable to open the file on a double-click. RPF, on the other hand, is unique to RATS.

•PRG is an (obsolete) extension for a Windows "batch" files, but some e-mail systems reject attachments with .PRG extensions out of fear that they might be executables.

RAT (RATS data file)

RAT is the extension used for the RATS binary data format. This is a specialized format which is designed primarily for handling time series data with (possibly) different frequencies, start and end dates. It can handle any mix of series which are monthly, quarterly, annual, daily, weekly, (regular) intraday, and other formats which have a regular number of periods per week, per year, years per observation or days per observation. It's a random access format which can quickly locate data in a data set with possibly many thousands of series.