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help for ^findobs^					       STB-28: ip10
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Finding an observation number
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    ^findobs^ [ ^if^ exp ] [ ^in^ range ] [^,^ ^i^nstance^(^#^)^ ]


Description
-----------

^findobs^ displays the observation number of the ^#^-th observation that satisfies
specified ^if^ and ^in^ conditions.  By default, ^findobs^ displays the number of the
first observation that satisfies the conditions.  The observation number also
is stored in the global macro ^S_1^.  If the Stata time series library is
installed in the ado-path, ^findobs^ will detect it and display the date of the
target observation along with its observation number.  If the occurrence cannot
be found or results in an impossible observation number, ^findobs^ displays
nothing and stores a missing value in ^S_1^.


Option
------

^i^nstance^(^#^)^ specifies which occurrence is the target observation.  For example,
    ^instance(3)^ indicates the observation number of the third occurrence that
    satisifies the conditions should be displayed and stored.  Negative numbers
    indicate that occurrences should be counted starting from the end of the
    data set.  ^instance(0)^ displays the number of the observation preceding
    the first occurrence.  ^instance(-0)^ displays the number of the observation
    following the final occurrence.


Example
-------

 . ^findobs if income>100000, instance(3)^


Author
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        Sean Becketti
        Stata Technical Bulletin
        stb@@stata.com


Also see
--------

    STB:  STB-28 ip10, STB-24 sts7.6
On-line:  help for @ts@ (if installed)