mbostock/por — explained in plain English
Analysis updated 2026-08-03 · repo last pushed 2016-08-25
Build a web app that lets researchers upload and visualize SPSS survey data.
Import archived statistical files from SPSS or PSPP into a modern dashboard.
Process large datasets stored in the Portable File Format without running out of memory.
| mbostock/por | anefzaoui/minecraft-server-manager | boneskull/promwrap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last pushed | 2016-08-25 | — | 2020-07-21 |
| Maintenance | Dormant | — | Dormant |
| Setup difficulty | easy | moderate | easy |
| Complexity | 2/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 |
| Audience | developer | general | developer |
Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.
This is a tool that helps programs read data files saved in a special format called the Portable File Format, which is used by SPSS and PSPP, two well-known applications for statistical analysis. SPSS is widely used in academia, government, and research to store datasets for surveys, experiments, and other studies. Sometimes researchers export their data into this portable format so it can be moved between different computers or software versions. If you're building a web app or a data pipeline and need to pull information out of one of these files, you need a way to decode the format. That's what this tool does, it translates the file's contents into a form your program can use. The "streaming" part matters when you're dealing with large datasets. Instead of waiting to load an entire file into memory all at once, the parser processes the data in a continuous flow, reading piece by piece. This means even very large files can be handled without overwhelming your system's resources. The tool is written in JavaScript, so it fits naturally into projects built on that language. Who would use this? Imagine you're a founder building a platform that lets researchers upload and visualize their survey data. Or a product manager at a company that needs to import archived statistical files into a modern dashboard. If those files come from SPSS or PSPP in the portable format, this parser is the bridge that gets the data into your system. The README doesn't go into detail beyond the basic purpose, so specifics about performance, configuration options, or setup steps aren't available. The project appears to be a focused, single-purpose utility, it does one job and doesn't try to do anything beyond parsing this particular file format.
A JavaScript tool that reads data files saved in the Portable File Format used by SPSS and PSPP statistics software, processing large files efficiently piece by piece without overwhelming memory.
Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript.
Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2016-08-25).
Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.
Mainly developer.
This repo across BitVibe Labs
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