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Re: st: Problem with the time
From
Guido Lüchters <[email protected]>
To
[email protected]
Subject
Re: st: Problem with the time
Date
Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:54:25 +0200
Dear Nick
yes this is completely clear
but sometimes i am thinking: what if there was one internal date
representation within stata
On the other hand: the stata form is most flexible in respect to
import date values
like study-time in any unit
so pros/cons
But this time i was just not prepared
many thanks
Guido
On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 5:18 PM, Nick Cox <[email protected]> wrote:
> Right and wrong.
>
> -year()- expects an argument in days. So you are quite right on that.
>
> But -- and this is fundamental -- in Stata a format is just how data
> are displayed. It is not what the data are, or how they are stored.
>
> A format is irrelevant to numeric operations, just relevant on display.
>
> This is a very common confusion, perhaps because the word "format"
> tends to be used in so many ways for different software and computing
> purposes.
>
> So, for example, here is a daily date with a format that shows only the year:
>
> . di %td_CY mdy(4,13,2011)
> 2011
>
> That is not perverse; it is not only possible but sometimes the answer
> to a question.
>
> Numeric data are not defined by their format! This might seem
> pedantry, but it is common to see people imagining on this list that
> changing a format changes a numeric value, and that is not true.
>
> It is true that in something like string(1.234, format("%2.1f")) the
> format determines the result, but in the more common case of numeric
> data it is best to keep value and format separate in your mind.
>
> Nick
>
> On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 4:05 PM, Oliver Jones
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Hi,
>> maybe the function year just can handle the format %td correctly?
>>
>> dis year(0)
>>
>> gives the expected result of 1960 which is Statas base year.
>> And then
>>
>> dis year(366)
>>
>> gives the year 1961.
>>
>> But I can't help more...
>>
>> Best
>> Oliver
>>
>> Am 13.04.2011 16:45, schrieb Guido Lüchters:
>>>
>>> Hi Statalist
>>>
>>> anybody knows
>>>
>>> why
>>>
>>> gen x=year(ym(1951,1))
>>>
>>> gives
>>> 1959 ?
>>>
>
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