Stata 7: Why do I receive an error message when I click on a large dataset?

When you double-click a Stata dataset, sometimes you will receive an error message that says “no more room to add observations”.

When you double-click a filename, Windows uses the command line stored in the file type association for that file with Stata.

The command line can be used to allocate memory to Stata upon startup. If you receive an error message that says “no more room to add more observations”, then the amount of memory being allocated to Stata in this command line is less than the size of the file that you are opening.

An example of a such a command is

        C:\STATA7\WSTATA.EXE /k1000 use "%1"

The number following the “k” is the amount of memory being allocated to Stata (in kilobytes).

To change this command line:

• Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and find the Stata data file that you wish to open.
• Click the file once only (or highlight it), and then go to the View menu and choose Folder Options...
• In the Window that appears, choose the File Types tab.
• In the Registered file types: box locate Stata Dataset, click it once, and then click the Edit... button.
• Another window will appear, and there will be a box labeled Actions: with an entry for open. Click open once and then click the Edit... button.
• You can now edit the command line.