Download pdf guide - VSN International

PrefaceiiASReml is one of several user interfaces to the underlying computational engine.Genstat in its REML directive and the asreml class of S language functions(Butler et al. 2007) available for S-Plus (ASReml-S) and R (ASReml-R) use thesame engine. These are available from VSN (http://www.vsni.co.uk) and havegood data manipulation and graphical facilities.The focus in developing ASReml has been on the core engine and it is freelyacknowledged that its user interface is not to the level of these other packages.Nevertheless, as the developers interface, it is functional, it gives access to everythingthat the core can do and is especially suited to batch processing and runningof large models without the overheads of other systems. Feedback from users iswelcome and attempts will be made to rectify identified problems in ASReml.The guide has 15 chapters. Chapter 1 introduces ASReml and describes the conventionsused in this guide. Chapter 2 outlines some basic theory while Chapter3 presents an overview of the syntax of ASReml through a simple example. Datafile preparation is described in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 describes how to inputdata into ASReml. Chapters 6 and 7 are key chapters which present the syntax forspecifying the linear model and the variance models for the random effects in thelinear mixed model. Chapters 8 and 9 describe special commands for multivariateand genetic analyses respectively. Chapter 10 deals with prediction of linearfunctions of fixed and random effects in the linear mixed model and Chapter 11presents the syntax for forming functions of variance components. Chapter 12demonstrates running an ASReml job features available and Chapter 13 gives adetailed explanation of the output files. Chapter 14 gives an overview of the errormessages generated in ASReml and some guidance as to their probable cause. Theguide concludes with the most extensive chapter which presents the examples.Briefly, the improvements in Release 2.00 include more robust variance parameterupdating so that ’Convergence Failure’ is less likely, extensions to the syntax,inclusion of the Matérn correlation model, ability to plot predicted values, improvementsto the Analysis of Variance procedures, improvements to the handlingof pedigrees and some increases in computational speed.The data sets and ASReml input files used in this guide are available fromhttp://www.vsni.co.uk/products/asreml as well as in the examples directoryof the distribution CD-ROM.They remain the property of the authors or ofthe original source but may be freely distributed provided the source is acknowledged.The authors would appreciate feedback and suggestions for improvementsto the program and this guide.