A percent format (with notional syntax) might look something like this:
With format %2.0p .15 would display as 15
%3.1p .154 15.4
%2.0ps .15 15%
%2.0pbs .15 15 %
%3,1pbs .151 15,1 %
So that p signals percent, s an explicit sign and b an explicit blank
before the sign.
I believe that this would solve Rich's problem completely. I don't
understand Frank's comments to the contrary.
Of course, that is all a "would". Only StataCorp can do that, or
something similar.
Meanwhile, I intend to update -mylabels- on SSC to allow user-specified
prefix and suffix text. That is one thing that can be done as a step in
the same direction.
Incidentally, I also disagree with Frank, very mildly, on the broadening
of this thread. Martin's comments seemed to me a fair expression of a
defensible point of view that was entirely consistent with Rich's
original question.
Nick
[email protected]
Richard Goldstein
I think that if Stata had an automatic way to turn proportions (mean of
a 0/1 variable) to percents, with the percent sign (as an option I
guess), that would have completely solved my problem
Since my client is insisting on the presence of the % sign, the simple
solution (multiply by 100) sent by Amanda does not work for me
Martin Weiss
> Well, obviously I hit a sore spot with my "straw man", given that it
> attracted a few replies... Maybe I should have turned that into a new
thread
> though, to keep Rich`s other concerns alive. Sorry for that.
Frank de Libero
> Rich originally asked for help not only to display "%" but much more.
That's
> how I read his message (below). Then Martin (see below Rich's message)
> introduces what seems to be a straw man:
>
> [Why should users be forced] go to such lengths for a mundane task
like
> labeling with percentages...
>
> And the thread then went adrift given the general frustration
(including
> mine) about not having an enhanced -format- that includes "%". But as
I read
> Rich's original post, he was asking for a method that helped automate
the
> placement and value of the label, and then attaching a "%". The
"clever
> solutions" were not so much about displaying a "%" as they were about
where
> to display it and automatically display the value. A simple change in
the
> -format- command or equivalent would not solve all that. I think the
> subsequent aspersions on Stata are unfair and stray from the original
> question.
Martin Weiss
> All these clever solutions have a funny tendency to remind me of one
thing:
> a software that takes prides in its graph capabilities should not
force
> users to go to such lengths for a mundane task like labeling with
> percentages...
Richard Goldstein
> I need to produce a sizable number of bar graphs for a client. The
> client wants the y-axis to be labeled as, e.g., "15%" rather than as,
> e.g., .15. The range of proportions for these graphs varies quite a
bit
> (from a max of less than .05 to a max of over .2) so I don't want to
> force them all to be the same.
>
> After seeing a graph, it is easy enough to use the ylabel option to
get
> what I want. Given that I am generally willing to live with Stata's
> automatic choice of tick marks, is there a way to automatically get
> labels in the form I want (e.g., "15%") rather than the way Stata
wants
> (e.g., .15)?
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