Richard Williams
> Something I don't believe has been asked yet: Are the file
> formats of
> Stata 8 and Stata 9 identical? I hope so. If not, somebody
> once proposed
> that the last update of an older version should include the
> ability to
> convert files from the new version. I think that is a very good idea.
I believe they are still in the same format since the format for Stata 8 datasets is called format-113 (see help dta) and http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?dta hints that the format remains the same in version 9.
Still, I am not sure how the new 32,000 character limit on value labels now affects the format. I presume Stata 8 would not be able to properly read version 9 sets that make use of these longer value label strings.
I am fairly certain the facility for -label language- introduced in Stata 8.2 did not require a new data format since the language feature is implemented through characteristics.
Patrick
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