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st: Re: repeat do-file over multiple files


From   "Allan Stubbe" <[email protected]>
To   <[email protected]>
Subject   st: Re: repeat do-file over multiple files
Date   Tue, 6 Mar 2012 20:21:21 +0100

Thank you very much both Stas and Daniel
It works and I learned more about Stata so your help is very appreciated.

Best regards
Allan Stubbe

-----Oprindelig meddelelse----- From: Daniel Bela
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2012 1:48 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: st: repeat do-file over multiple files

Dear Allan,

The same do-file should be run on all 256 files and saved as 256 new
files.
And lastly the 256 new files should be combined using append to one
file.

from my point of view, this seems to be quite cumbersome. In addition to
earlier suggestions, you could achieve this preserving the sort order of
observations the following way:

---- begin statacode ----
   clear
   cd "/Users/Stata/ProjectX/"
   local filelist: dir "." files "*.dta", respectcase
   local num=0
   local appendlist
   /* work on every file and temp-save it */
   foreach file of local filelist {
       use "`file'"
       tempfile file`++num'
       display as text in smcl  "working on file number {it:`num'}..."
       /* you could also -do- an external do-file here; note that this
do file should not -use- or -save- anything, this already happened!
       collapse <...>
       */
       display as text in smcl  "... finished working on file number
{it:`num'}"
       save `file`num''
   }
   /* concatenate files */
   forvalues filenum=1/`num' {
       if `filenum'==1 use `file`filenum''
       else local appendlist: list appendlist | file`filenum'
   }
   append using `appendlist'
---- end statacode ----

My main point is: It would be more straightforward if you concatenated
the files in the first place, and afterwards did your data preparation;
for example:

---- begin statacode ----
   clear
   cd "/Users/Stata/ProjectX/"
   local filelist: dir "." files "*.dta", respectcase
   /* concatenate files */
   local firstfile=`"""'+"`: word 1 of `filelist''"+`"""'
   local otherfiles: list filelist - firstfile
   use `firstfile'
   append using `otherfiles', generate(source)
   /* you now have a variable "source" identifying groups of
observations from each file;
       work on every generated group instead of single files;
       note that most other data preparation commands support the
-bysort- prefix, doing the same as by() for collapse
   */
   /* you could also -do- an external do-file here; note that this has
to perform every operation by(`source')
   collapse <...>, by(source)
   */
   drop source
---- end statacode ---

Regards

Bela

--
Daniel Bela
National Educational Panel Study (NEPS)
Data Center

postal address:
Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg, NEPS
96045 Bamberg
GERMANY

visitor's address:
Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, NEPS
Wilhelmsplatz 3, Room 112, 96047 Bamberg

phone:     +49 951 8633428
facsimile: +49 951 8633405
website: http://www.neps-data.de/
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