st: Re: Unwanted pause after -shell- in do-file

["Michael Blasnik" <michael.blasnik@verizon.net>]

I'm not certain, but I think the proper question might be "why does Windows 
XP behave this way?" or even "Why does Stata/Transfer behave this way?".

After all, the delay occurs outside of Stata (it is a delay in a winXP 
command window, not within Stata).  The change in behavior after opening and 
closing an initial window may also have to do with winXP.  You might want to 
try running the same Stata/Transfer command line from a "run" prompt in 
winXP, outside of Stata, and see if the same problem emerges.

Michael Blasnik
michael.blasnik@verizon.net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Friedrich Huebler" <huebler@rocketmail.com>
To: <statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu>
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 4:04 PM
Subject: st: Unwanted pause after -shell- in do-file



> I have Stata 8.2 and Windows XP. When I use -shell- to call a
> Stat/Transfer command file from a Stata do-file, I get a pause
> lasting two to three seconds. During this pause, an empty blue
> command window with the title "C:\WINDOWS\System32\cmd.exe" is
> displayed. After the pause, the Stat/Transfer command file is
> processed and the DOS window closes. Here is the command that causes
> the pause:
>
> shell conversion.stc
>
> The pause occurs most of the time I run the do-file, but not always.
> I found that I can avoid the pause if I open the DOS window once
> before the Stat/Transfer command file is called. With the following
> lines in the do-file, the DOS window opens and disappears
> instantaneously and the Stat/Transfer conversion proceeds without
> pause.
>
> shell exit
> shell conversion.stc
>
> I would appreciate any insights into why Stata behaves this way.
>
> Friedrich
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