[Feature Request]: Open new jasp files in old jasp versions

[mlapcn]

JASP Version

0.18.3

Commit ID

No response

JASP Module

Descriptives

What analysis are you seeing the problem on?

Descriptives

What OS are you seeing the problem on?

macOS Intel

Bug Description

A bug happened with this error:

This analysis terminated unexpectedly.

Error in as.character.factor(x): malformed factor

Stack trace

To receive assistance with this problem, please report the message above at: https://jasp-stats.org/bug-reports

I built a file in version 19.1.3 and tried to run a descriptive statistic in version 18.3. The error happened in this 18.3 version only (both in MacOS and Windows). I just asked for a descriptive statistic of two categorical variables. I know that you cannot change 18.3, but maybe this is a compatibility issue that you can solve in newer versions. We are in a faculty that they only upgrade the versions of Jasp once or twice a year, so for us is very important compatibility between older and newer versions.

BUG JASP.zip

Expected Behaviour

a descriptive table

Steps to Reproduce

1. open the file in version 18.3
2. run descriptives of Prof and genero

...

Log (if any)

No response

More Debug Information

No response

Final Checklist

• I have included a screenshot showcasing the issue, if possible.
• I have included a JASP file (zipped) or data file that causes the crash/bug, if applicable.
• I have accurately described the bug, and steps to reproduce it.

[tomtomme]

You cannot Open files created in newer jasp in older versions of jasp.

[mlapcn]

Previously, the file couldn't be opened, but now it works, so it seemed like the compatibility issue between versions had been resolved. Based on this response, it seems that it hasn't. However, it would be very important to address this issue because for those who teach and conduct research at the same time, being able to update JASP and take advantage of improvements while still using the computers available on campus for students in classrooms without constantly updating the software would be crucial. At our university, this is not feasible at all, making it very difficult to manage, as students use personal computers with different versions while campus computers run others. Converting to CSV results in the loss of labels and all variable settings. Therefore, ensuring compatibility between versions would be extremely important.

[tomtomme]

I know your pain exactly.
My students have to update constantly too. That is their homework even.

I do know software at all that can open files from newer versions. Imagine Microsoft Word 1995 should open a File from Word 2006. How should that be possible when Word added signifikant new Features?
Same with jasp 0.18 to 0.19

Some Version jumps are small and do Not make Changes to the File Format, but currently Work on the data edit functions lead to frequent Updates.

I am Not a jasp Developer, so I may be wrong here, but this is the best of my knowledge

[boutinb]

As @tomtomme , we take care about backward compatibility (an older JASP file run on a newer version of JASP), but not about forward compatibility. Forward compatibility would make really difficult to bring new features.