help capture
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Title
[P] capture -- Capture return code
Syntax
capture [:] command
capture {
stata_commands
}
Description
capture executes command, suppressing all its output (including error
messages, if any) and issues a return code of zero. The actual return
code generated by command is stored in the built-in scalar _rc.
capture can be combined with {} to produce capture blocks, which suppress
output for the block of commands.
Remarks
capture is useful in do-files and programs because their execution
terminates when a command issues a nonzero return code. Preceding
sensitive commands with the word capture allows the do-file or program to
continue despite errors. Also do-files and programs can be made to
respond appropriately to any situation by conditioning their remaining
actions on the content of the scalar _rc.
capture can be combined with noisily to display the output and any error
messages regardless of the return code. For example,
. capture noisily regress y x
will either display an error message and store the return code in _rc or
display the output and store a return code of zero in _rc.
Also see
Manual: [P] capture
Help: [P] break, [P] confirm, [P] noisily
