Let's say that I want to write an eclass program for fitting a
particular truncated distribution via ML. I need a way to tell my ml
lf evaluator what the left-hand and right-hand truncation points are.
I understand three ways to pass information to ml lf evaluators:
1. Hardcoding values or variable names in the evaluator itself
2. Specifying dependent variables in the -ml model- statement and
accessing $ML_y1, $ML_y2, etc.
3. Storing the information in global macros (e.g., -global DO_it = 1-)
and accessing them in the evaluator (e.g., $DO_it)
Hardcoding is unworkable for building reusable do and ado files.
Using dependent variables is unattractive because dependent variables
carry their own semantic freight.
I dislike using globals because of concerns about name collisions (and
a general aversion to them as a matter of programming taste).
Are there other methods that I could use to pass this info along?
Thanks!
Michael Manti
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