st: Unable to create local macro in modified ado-file (xtreg_fe.ado)

[Bert Lloyd <bert.lloyd.89@gmail.com>]

Dear Statalist,

I am trying to make some slight modifications to xtreg_fe.ado and am
having problems creating local macros inside the ado-file.

When I try to create a local macro, it does not seem to be recognized
within the ado-file.

As an example, if I insert the following lines at an arbitrary location

local my_test_local Hello
noisily di 	"*****************"
noisily di 	"local my_test_local contains"
noisily di "`my_test_local'"
noisily di 	"*****************"

I get the following output:

*****************
local my_test_local contains

*****************

I have experimented with enclosing Hello in double-quotes, evaluating
with the = operator, etc., none of which seems to make a difference.

Interestingly, the same problem does not occur when creating scalars:

scalar my_test_scalar = 1234
noisily di 	"*****************"
noisily di 	"scalar my_test_scalar contains"
noisily di 	my_test_scalar
noisily di 	"*****************"

produces

*****************
scalar my_test_scalar contains
1234
*****************

Also, there seems to be no problem accessing local macros that have
already been defined in the original xtreg_fe.ado. For example, line
178 of the original ado-file creates the local macro nobs:

local nobs = e(N)

If I then add
noisily di 	"*****************"
noisily di 	"local nobs contains"
noisily di 	"`nobs'"
noisily di 	"*****************"

I get the following

*****************
local nobs contains
1000
*****************

(1000 is the right number in my little simulation).

I have uploaded xtreg_fe_modified.ado, which is identical to
xtreg_fe.ado except for the modifications discussed above, here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/57392331/xtreg_fe_modified.ado

Note that the modifications begin at line 180 and end at line 195.

A simple do-file that creates simulated data and calls
xtreg_fe_modified.ado, is uploaded here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/57392331/test_xtreg_fe_modified.do

Any advice appreciated and many thanks in advance.

 - BL
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