Ben Jann, as author of -estout-, may well want to respond
to this, but I'll make a few general comments on the issue.
Specifically, -estout- as currently on SSC
specifies -version 8.2- and my guess is that Ben
meant exactly that when he wrote it. Whether the file
you talk about is the issue I don't know: more likely
it is just the first thing to go wrong given your
partial installation.
In general, even if you are a Stata programmer and able
and willing to modify programs to suit, it is far, far
better to fix problems like yours by upgrading. That
is a counsel of perfection for those who can't find
the money, but in this case the update from 8 to 8.2
is free.
Someone wrote to me that he had modified a
program of mine back to -version 7-: it no longer
worked, and he wanted to know why. I'm afraid that my reaction
was that he was now responsible for fixing the broken code
on his machine, or faced with the fact that he
needed to upgrade if he wanted to use my program
(and many, many others that require a later
version of Stata).
A similar question arose almost exactly a month ago,
and I repeat with minor modifications some comments made then:
The Statalist FAQ implies that once you modify a
program, it is then yours and you are responsible
for it!
In general, the idea of -version- is that the
specified version represents the minimum
requirements needed by the command to work.
But it is also possible for a programmer to specify,
whether by accident or design, either a version that
is higher than this or a version that is lower
than this. This could arise for all sorts of
reasons. Here are three examples. They are far
from exhaustive.
1. A programmer is developing a program under
Stata 9. They thus believe that it works under
Stata 9. They have no time or interest in
going back to Stata 8, or another version,
to check that it would also work under that
version. Perhaps it will, perhaps it won't, but
they can't be bothered to check that out.
2. A programmer could set say -version 8-
and then accidentally use some
feature of version 9 -- and not notice
that -version 9- is required. This
is the opposite of #1.
3. Perhaps the help file was developed for
a later version. That is, the program might
work in an earlier version, but the help file
won't show properly because it uses a later
version of SMCL.
Otherwise put, programmers are busy people
too and often make short-cuts or consider
their own convenience.
Nick
[email protected]
Radu Ban
> I started using the -estout- program on my work desktop but now I have
> problems when I try to install/run it on my personal laptop. My laptop
> is not connected to the internet so I have to copy the files manually,
> which I think may be why it's not working.
>
> First, does it work with a Stata version less than 8.2? I have 8.0 on
> my laptop. I installed the program on my laptop (by copying the files
> over) and I went ahead and assumed that it works with 8.0 so I changed
> the version line in the estout.ado from 8.2 to 8.0.
>
> Now it gives me an error message "tab defaults not available (file
> estout_tab.def not found)". So I copied the estout_tab.def(and the
> other 3 .def files) from my desktop to my laptop. But it keeps giving
> the same error message "file estout_tab.def not found" although the
> file is there (i.e. in the C\Stata8\ folder). What I am doing wrong?
>
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