Statalist


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

AW: -varabbrev- setting [was: st: re: question about "testparm"]


From   "Martin Weiss" <[email protected]>
To   <[email protected]>
Subject   AW: -varabbrev- setting [was: st: re: question about "testparm"]
Date   Sun, 1 Feb 2009 20:41:37 +0100

Re abbreviations, I received a private message with pretty much the same
thrust as Kit`s and Michael`s. A few months ago, Svend Juul posted about
this issue and there was no clear decision as to the acceptability or
non-acceptability of abbreviations. I have only been bitten once by them
(and it was immediately obvious to me), but if a clear majority of
Statalisters objected to this pratice, then that would give me food for
thought :-)

BTW, how come I a) have never heard of this autocompletion thing in the
command window b) do not quite get the "YMMV" thing? 


HTH
Martin


-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] Im Auftrag von Michael Hanson
Gesendet: Sonntag, 1. Februar 2009 20:35
An: [email protected]
Betreff: Re: -varabbrev- setting [was: st: re: question about "testparm"]

On Feb 1, 2009, at 2:05 PM, Kit Baum wrote:

> I deplore the use of abbreviated variable names in posted examples.  
> IMHO -set varabbrev on- is a terrible idea (whether or not it is  
> the official default*), and examples should run with it off.


I concur.  For new, inexperienced, and/or occasional users, having - 
varabbrev on- is (in my experience teaching with Stata) a recipe for  
avoidable confusion, errors and lost time.  I'd like to join Kit and  
encourage those who post examples to Statalist -- particularly  
examples aimed at less-than-power users -- to avoid variable name  
abbreviations.

Use of the [Tab] key for variable name completion in the Command  
window largely mitigates any benefits from -varabbrev on-, in my  
experience.  YMMV.

Hope this helps,
Mike

*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/


*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/



© Copyright 1996–2024 StataCorp LLC   |   Terms of use   |   Privacy   |   Contact us   |   What's new   |   Site index