I would like to automate the processing of some data files. First, I
create a macro that contains a list of all data files. Then I try to
exlude one or more files from the list. For example, let's say my
directory contains these data files, in addition to some other files:
france 2002.dta
germany 2001.dta
united states 2002.dta
With the commands below I create a list of files and then try to
remove the listing for the United States.
. local files: dir . files "*.dta"
. di `files'
france 2002.dtagermany 2001.dtaunited states 2002.dta
. local files2 = subinstr(`files',"united states 2002.dta","",.)
. di "`files2'"
france 2002.dta
Is the way I create the list of files correct? Why does the macro
"files2" only contain France? Finally, why do I have to use compound
quotes to list the content of the macro "files2"?
One solution I came up with is to add an -if- condition to my loop
but I would like to understand how I can remove the United States
from the macro "files" before the -foreach- loop.
. foreach file of local files {
. if "`file'" != "united states 2002.dta" {
. ...
. }
. }
Many thanks in advance,
Friedrich Huebler
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