Richard Herrell
>
> Nick is absolutely right that part of the problem is simply
> not seeing how
> to do it in Stata. I know I'd use Stata more if I didn't
> simply have to
> face learning how to do something in a new language when I
> could do it in
> my sleep in SAS. Every time I spend time working in Stata
> I'm impressed
> by how well it's put together but end up returning to SAS for data
> management.
>
> One example of something I couldn't see how to do in Stata: In SAS I
> frequently use if ... then/else if ... then/else structures
> in the data
> step. For example, in SAS I'd write:
>
> if x=0 then y=1;
> else if 1 < x < 10 then y=2;
> else if 11 < x < 20 then y=3;
> else y=.
>
> I know I can write a series if...then statements in Stata,
> but writing a
> structured statement that ends when the first true
> condition is met is
> more efficient code, and I find I seem to have a hard time
> getting all the
> conditions met correctly in Stata when the conditions get
> complicated.
There is more than one way to do it, but I
think slow and steady is best here:
gen y = .
replace y = 1 if x==0
replace y = 2 if x > 1 & x < 10
replace y = 3 if x > 11 & x < 20
-inrange()- could be used for conditions
defining closed intervals such as 1 <= x <= 10,
but your example has open intervals.
What's crucial to SAS users coming to Stata
is the distinction between the -if- command
and the -if- qualifier explained at
http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/lang/ifqualifier.html
Nick
[email protected]
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