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MINITAB may be operated either by choosing from menus or by making session commands. What follows is a selection of session commands that cover the material presented in the book. Readers not using MINITAB will probably find the hints using commands more revealing than those using menus.

To make the commands understandable we use a convention that the command word and arguments, if any, appear in upper case words and letters. We also insert explanatory words in lower case which are not part of the command and must not be entered into the computer. In fact, MINITAB accepts text in both upper and lower case and does not differentiate. Also, only the first four letters of a command word need be entered.

The following symbols are used:

• C denotes a column which must be typed with a C in front, such as C3, or be named.
• K denotes a constant which can be a number, such as 1.2, or a stored constant, such as K4, or be named.
• E denotes either a column or a constant.
• M denotes a matrix which must be typed with an M in front, such as M11, or be named.
• ( ) Round brackets are used in some commands.
• [ ] Square brackets enclose optional parts of commands or optional arguments.
• # The hash sign precedes comments which explain commands. They are not to be entered into the computer.

Many commands may be followed by subcommands. In this case the initial command line is terminated by a semi-colon ‘;’ and the subcommand is put on the next line which is terminated by a stop ‘.’.Additional subcommands may be inserted, followed by a semicolon, but the final subcommand is terminated by a stop. In the table subcommands are either put on the same line as commands, to save space, with appropriate punctuation, or inset on the next line without punctuation. Commas may be introduced into the table to clarify descriptions but are not part of a command.

The list is a small selection of the commands available. The commands are given in what is usually their simplest form. In particular, C may often be replaced by C…C.
Thus in the list is:

HISTOGRAM C
Not only is
HISTOGRAM C1
allowable, but also
HISTOGRAM C! C2 C3
which will produce graphs for each of the three columns.

The HELP facility in MINITAB is very good. Further information on the commands may be found there.

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