  The statistical properties of a complete, flux limited sample of 197 long
gamma--ray bursts (GRBs) detected by BATSE are studied. In order to bring forth
their main characteristics, care was taken to define a representative set of
ten parameters. A multivariate analysis gives that ~70% of the total variation
in parameter values is driven by only three principal components. The variation
of the temporal parameters is clearly distinct from that of the spectral ones.
A close correlation is found between the half-width of the autocorrelation
function (tau) and the emission time (Tem); most importantly, this correlation
is self-similar in the sense that the mean values and dispersions of both tau
and Tem scale with the duration of the burst (T90). It is shown that the
Amati-relation can be derived from the sample and that the scatter around this
relation is correlated with the value of tau. Hence, tau has a role similar to
that of the break in the afterglow light curve (Tb) in the Ghirlanda-relation.
In the standard GRB-scenario, the close relation between a global parameter
(Tb) and a local one (tau) indicates that some of the jet-properties do not
vary much for different lines of sight. Finally, it is argued that the basic
temporal and spectral properties are associated with individual pulses, while
the overall properties of a burst is determined mainly by the number of pulses.
