--- Andrzej Niemierko <[email protected]> wrote:
> Indeed, using double solved this annoying and important
> problem (the numbers are id numbers of patients).
In case of id numbers with 9 digits or less you can better use the long dataformat, since this
will ensure that your id will always remain an integer. (if your id number is an integer, which is
usually the case)
> I think that double (not float) should be a default setting in
> STATA. Saving some memory is an important issue for only a
> small percentage of problems.
I don't agree. In most cases precision of more than 8 digits is only an issue for id numbers.
Variables are usually not measured that precise, so the fourth or fith digits are usually random
noise. So saving 18 digits by default just means saving a lot of random noise. Moreover I'd say
that "that small percentage of problems where saving memory counts" occurs approximately equally
often on statalist as issues with precision.
HTH,
Maarten
By the way, in the statalist FAQ you can read that: "Stata is an invented word, not an acronym,
and should not appear with all letters capitalized: please write �Stata�, not �STATA�."
http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/statalist.html#spell
-----------------------------------------
Maarten L. Buis
Department of Social Research Methodology
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Boelelaan 1081
1081 HV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
visiting adress:
Buitenveldertselaan 3 (Metropolitan), room Z214
+31 20 5986715
http://home.fsw.vu.nl/m.buis/
-----------------------------------------
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