Michael,
Thank you for replying to my post. Below is an actual copy of my Stata
results window, after the do-file with the fs command rolled to the
end without executing. Remember that we started here:
. ***************** CALL DO-FILES SPECIFIC TO EACH ${paper} HERE
.
. fs prototype/${paper}/*.do
local dofiles=r(files)
foreach k of local dofiles {
do "prototype/${paper}/`k'"
}
clear
di "goodbye"
end of do-file
So I went to the command window and copied the fs line into it, as shown
below:
. fs prototype/${paper}/*.do
dna_step1_target.do dna_step3_report1.do dna_step5_report2.do
dna_step2_snapshot1.do dna_step4_snapshot2.do
Clearly, it worked. Next, I declared the local eenie:
. local eenie r(files)
Then I checked to see that it showed what I thought it would:
. di `eenie'
"dna_step1_target.do" "dna_step2_snapshot1.do" "dna_step3_report1.do"
"dna_step4_snapshot2.do" "dna_step5_rep
ort2.do"
And it did, but look:
. local x: word count `eenie'
. di `x'
1
Even though `eenie' seems to have five distinct words delimited by
quotes, it only has one. The quotes are somehow embedded in it. So I
tried evaluating the r(files) expression, like in `meenie' below:
. local meenie=r(files)
. di `meenie'
dna_step1_target.dodna_step2_snapshot1.dodna_step3_report1.dodna_step4_snapshot2.dodna_step5_report2.do
Now the thing clearly looks like it's one uninterrupted word, but it's
not. Look:
. local y: word count `meenie'
. di `y'
5
So with the risk that it would truncate the content of the ${paper}
folder to 244 characters, using the = sign looked like a good idea at
the time. Now I will move on to trying out Joseph Coveney's syntax and
see how that works. The 244 character limitation is not binding now,
but it might be in the future. I want to avoid it if I can. This reply
was just for the entertainment of the interested parties. I think it's
at least curious how Stata looks like it does one thing, and does
another.
Thanks again to all,
Gabi
