R devel - Sep 2007 - Hyball in R? (Factor analysis & exploratory SEM)

Dear all,

Hyball is a free, DOS program for factor analysis and exploratory
structural equation modeling (SEM), with some distinct capabilities. For
a brief introduction and overview see
 http://www.psych.ualberta.ca/~rozeboom/READHYBL.TXT
(A list of more formal references is at the end of this e-mail.)
The program itself is available from
 http://www.psych.ualberta.ca/~rozeboom/

The program was developed by Bill Rozeboom, and I recently inquired if
he had ever considered translating it into an application package for R.
He informed me that he is retired, and can no longer manage new
adaptations of Hyball. So I am writing the list to see if anyone else is
interested in such a project? (Perhaps some of the individuals who
developed the existing factor analysis and/ or SEM packages in R?) All
of the source code, written in Lahey LF90 Fortran, can be obtained by
downloading and unpacking the HYPAK.EXE file --a self-extracting
ZIP-file-- from the above url. (The source code will be in the files
with extension FOR.)

For those of you wondering why I am not undertaking this project, the
answer is quite simple: Because it is far beyond my capabilities. To
paraphrase an old Dilbert cartoon, I wasted my college years drinking
beer and studying psychology, instead of something useful like computer
science ;-)
Bill however, says that he could be of some limited assistance.

If any one is interest, please let either me <Chris at Rudypark.net> or
Bill know. Again, the program files can be obtained from Bill's website.
If you encounter problems downloading the HYPAK.EXE file, let me know
and I can try to e-mail you a copy. I can also provide copies of the
articles listed below, in the form of .pdf files.

Thank you.

Chris

----------------------------
References
	Rozeboom, W. W. (1991a). Hyball: A method for subspace-constrained factor
rotation. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 26 (1), 163-177.
	Rozeboom, W. W. (1991b). Theory and practice of analytic hyperplane
optimization. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 26 (1), 177-197.
	Rozeboom, W. W. (1992). The glory of suboptimal factor rotation: Why local
minima in analytic optimization of simple structure are more blessing than
curse. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 27 (4), 585-599.
	Rozeboom, W. W. (2000, October). Rotation to recover factors lacking pure
indicators. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Multivariate
Experimental Psychology (SMEP).
	Rozeboom, W. W. HYBLOCK: A routine for exploratory factoring of
block-structured data. Unpublished Manuscript. [Included in the Hyball package
in as .PDF file.]