st: Re: adding a filename extension

[Kit Baum <baum@bc.edu>]

I understand why Stata might use this algorithm, but if I had  
designed it, I would not have done it that way... "looking forward  
for a period" fails miserably on any of my files with names like  
directors.tenure.proxy.sep2005.dta, which are perfectly legal under  
*nix variants. Searching BACKWARD from the end of the filename would  
be a much better way to determine whether there is a file extension.  
(That does not preclude Stata making a mistake with a file  
lacking .dta, but then it is the user's problem, not Stata's).

Kit Baum, Boston College Economics
http://ideas.repec.org/e/pba1.html


On Oct 11, 2005, at 2:33 AM, Allenwrote:


> Stata determines whether or not a file has an extension in the same
> way across all operating systems.  It starts at the beginning of
> the filename and looks forward for a period.  If one is found,
> then Stata determines the file has an extension and will not add
> one.
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