Re: st: have string macro default in syntax

[Nick Cox <njcoxstata@gmail.com>]

This is easy; just not easy with -syntax- alone.

Note that this discussion is one where the distinction between syntax
in general and the command -syntax- helps clarity considerably. That
is to say, the Statalist -cmdname- convention is not designed to be
fussy or a trap for new users, but an aid to comprehension.

syntax [, stat(str)]
if "`stat'" == "" local stat "percent"

This achieves the same goal; if the user specified nothing the default
is "percent".

Note that the option -stat()- must be made genuinely optional; if it
is compulsory there can be no question of a default.

I leave on one side the questions of where your program gets its
variable names from and why pie charts are anybody's default!

Nick

On Tue, Sep 25, 2012 at 2:40 PM, tashi lama <ltashi32@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>     I looked through the documentation for syntax. I don't think stata can do this but I would like to post anyway...
>
> here is my adofile
> /*begin hh.ado*/
>
> program hh
>    syntax, stat(str)
>    .......
>    graph pie varname, by(varname) plabel(_all `stat')
> end
>
> hh, stat(sum) will give me sum
> hh, stat(percent) will give me percent
>
> I would like to( if possible) have hh draw a pie chart with "percent" as default and draw "sum" if included in the arguments. Something like this....
>
> hh     //give me percent by default
> hh, stat(sum)    //give me sum
>
> Can stata do this?? Any help will be appreciated//
*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/