It seems like nothing in the underlying c library is checking for valid names in stata. Stata figures out where each variables values are in the file using the delimiters same as before. Get a list of variable names in the data set using nick coxs findname package. If you have a large class, your member variables better have clear names as you want to know what the variable represents when youre buried in code half way down the file. Throughout, bold type will refer to stata commands, while le names, variables names, etc. A stata variable name can contain up to 32 characters in any version of stata small, stataic, statase, or statamp. The compute variable window will open where you will specify how to calculate your new variable. The rules are more flexible for sas variable names than for other language elements. This article is part of the stata for students series. Variable names for spss data files the analytical group.
The first letter however must be a letter or underscore. The minimum abbreviations are underlined in help and manuals e. Thus, this upgrade is suitable for users who have run into these restrictions. Inputting your data into stata stata learning modules. You can also use stata to rename the column headers. If the same mata functions are used by the syntax internally, then this can explain the above behavior. The issue behind most limits is memory, but my strong impression is that the issue with variable names is just space to show results.
Variable names should be letters, numbers, and underscores. Names id female race ses schtyp prog read write math. Imagine even a modest increase in variable name length to 64 characters. The value labels are converted to format library entries as they are read with the import procedure. In this article youll learn how to create new variables and change existing variables. To be prototypical in the stata world, any delimiters should be replaced be a single underscore and names converted to lowercase. Stata module to rename variables, with option of using variable labels to create new variable names, statistical software components s457846, boston college department of economics. Fullname of variables in a model is there a way to force the display of the full variable names when a model results in stata 10. The simple solution is to rename the column headers in excel to something like y2001, y2002, etc. Here we use the generate command to create a new variable representing population younger than 18 years. This section is a gentle introduction to programming stata. The name of the new variable that will be created during the computation. Can you please provide a minimal reprex reproducible example.
The limit on length of variable names is in recent versions of stata 32 characters and not adjustable. Stata module to compare variable name lists in two. As programmers, we shouldnt be using notation for our variable names. Basics of stata this handout is intended as an introduction to stata. In case of a data frame, the colnames function lets. If the same mata functions are used by the syntax internally, then this can explain.
Note that column names must satisfy the requirements for stata variable names column names must not start with a number, for instance, and should not exceed eight characters in length. Normally, stata pauses to display output after a certain number of lines and waits for any key to be pressed in order to continue. Some of these values need to be editted before they can be used as var names. In a previous blog entry, i talked about the new stata command putexcel and how we could use putexcel with a stata commands stored results to create tables in an excel file after the entry was posted, a few users pointed out two features they wanted added to putexcel retain a cells format after writing numeric data to it. The name of the format is also associated with a variable in the sas data set. Rename variables with illegal character stata stack overflow. The second data step uses the macro variable to create a new variable that is a copy of age. A variable name may contain only the digits 0 to 9 and upper or lower case english alphabets a to z. Im trying to rename them all, but so far nothing works, perhaps because the name is invalid. An introduction to stata instructions for lab 1 statistics 111 probability and statistical inference lab objective to become familiar with the software package stata. How do you use the commands rename, renpfix, and renvars to rename variable names.
It tells stata nothing other than the variable names. The length of a sas name depends on the element it is assigned to. The procedures used in sas, stata, r, spss, and mplus. A dependent variable precedes a set of independent variables. The stata manual is clear about what a variable name may be, see 11. To access the variable names, you can again treat a data frame like a matrix and use the function colnames like this. This module should be installed from within stata by typing ssc install renvarlab.
If str is a string array or cell array of character vectors, genvarname returns a string array or cell array of character. Names id female race ses schtyp prog read write math science socst. As someone that programs in stata, using global macros hurts my eyes, but i guess that if you use stata only to analyse data it does little harm. Default type is float, single precision real number. Date type is deal with the string type and conversion functions. These variable names can be changed with the generate, dns, and ip options.
As an asside, allvar does not seem like a right name for that local macro. Simply type a name for the new variable in the text field. If you are new to stata we strongly recommend reading all the articles in the stata basics section. The name of the format includes its associated variable name modified to meet the requirements of format names. If set more off is used within a do file, it will be valid only for the commands executed from this do file.
Note that obviously you cannot use variable lists here. I discuss macros and loops, and show how to write your own simple programs. Lab procedures stata gives us an enormous advantage over people who learned about and performed statistical analyses back in the precomputer days. Note that the macro variable has the same name as the original variable. The goal of a reprex is to make it as easy as possible for me to recreate your problem so that i can fix it. Stata kellogg school of management northwestern university. To compute a new variable, click transform compute variable. The length statement restricts the label in the name literal to 32 characters so that it will be a valid sas variable name. Transformations that result in a name that is the same as the old name are ignored.
Since we didnt list variable names, stata knew that method3. Hello, i am trying to figure out how to use values in row 1 as variable names. Not all characters in the keyboard, however, are allowed in naming variables. Programming stata grs website princeton university. Stata is available on the pcs in the computer lab as well as on the unix system. Variable names for spss data files the following rules apply to variable names when editing an spss data file in wincross. Title rename rename variable syntaxmenudescriptionremarks and examplesreferencesalso see syntax rename old varname new varname menu data data utilities rename groups of variables description rename changes the name of existing variable old varname to new varname. Hence the following are the reserved words that may not be used as survey solutions variable names.
The following are examples of valid variable names. On april 23, 2014, statalist moved from an email list to a forum. Although the website for the hlm software states that it can be used for crossed designs, this has not been confirmed. Dont name it z when its a class variable representing a named object, say, a phone bill. Using single characters for variable names in loopsexceptions. So, the file is being written with variable column names like behavior drag which is illegal in stata. When invoking the command est2tex later, the option collabels will allow you to change the column names in the final table. This is a large subject and all i can hope to do here is provide a few tips that hopefully will spark your interest in.
Use row 1 as variable names sas support communities. Construct valid variable name from string matlab genvarname. Variables in a data frame in r always need to have a name. Statase is a version of stata that can handle up to 32,766 versus 2,047 for stataic variables in a dataset, strings of up to 244 characters versus 80 characters, matrices of up to 11,000 by 11,000 elements versus 800 by 800. This comparison is only valid for completely nested data not data from crossed or other designs, which can be analyzed with mixed models. Steve mcconnell in code complete had great advice for verboseness of variable names, it all depends on the scope and use of the variable. Illegal characters in stata variable names statalist. Stata does not accept numeric variable names, so import excel has to use the excel column name c, d, for the variable names instead of 2001, 2002. I have something a fondness for ridiculous variable names, so its useful to be able to check whether my latest concoction is legitimate. This post demonstrates how to create new variables, recode existing variables and label variables and values of variables. Variable names can be 2 characters, but stata often. Stata to check that all the list elements are legal names of variables that dont.
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