st: Re: follow-up: trouble expanding a macros

["Michael Blasnik" <michael.blasnik@verizon.net>]

You just have too many quotes.  The -display- command can deal with multiple 
quote-delimited strings pushed up against each other, but the -use- command 
cannot.  Try:

use  `dir'withlag_2sls.dta, clear

or:

use " `dir'withlag_2sls.dta", clear

The latter syntax would allow you to have spaces in the file name.  Another 
recommendation is that you use / instead of \ in file paths to avoid 
potential problems with macro expansion (if your file name were a local 
macro as well).

Michael Blasnik
michael.blasnik@verizon.net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Kraut" <robert.kraut@cmu.edu>
To: <statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu>
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2006 1:57 PM
Subject: st: follow-up: trouble expanding a macros



> All,
>
> I am still having trouble using a macro to refer to a windows directory:
> Explicitly naming the directory & file in a use statement works works. 
> E.g.,
>
>
> > use F:\0_stat.data\0_homenet.data\0_freshmen\transition\withlag_2sls.dta, 
> > clear
> I can define the macro, and display seems to indicate that my definition
> is correct:
>
> > local dir F:\0_stat.data\0_homenet.data\0_freshmen\transition\
> > di  "`dir'""withlag_2sls.dta"
> > F:\0_stat.data\0_homenet.data\0_freshmen\transition\withlag_2sls.dta
> However, I still get an error when I add the file name, either
> surrounding the filename in quotes or not:
>
> > use " `dir'""withlag_2sls.dta", clear
> > invalid '"withlag_2sls.dta'
> > r(198);
> >
> > use " `dir'"withlag_2sls.dta, clear
> > invalid 'withlag_2sls.dta'
>  > r(198);
>
> Defining the macro using quotes around the directory names does not seem
> to help. Again, the macro seems to expand correctly using the display
> command, but not with the use command.
>
>  > local dir "F:\0_stat.data\0_homenet.data\0_freshmen\transition\"
>
> > . di "`dir'""withlag_2sls.dta"
> > F:\0_stat.data\0_homenet.data\0_freshmen\transition\withlag_2sls.dta
> > . di "`dir'""withlag_2sls.dta"
> > F:\0_stat.data\0_homenet.data\0_freshmen\transition\withlag_2sls.dta
> >
> > . use "`dir'""withlag_2sls.dta", clear
> > invalid '"withlag_2sls.dta'
> > r(198);
> Any suggestions?  I must not be understanding something fundamental
> about expanding macros.
>
> Robert Kraut
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