st: RE: RE: data management updating a panel dataset

[Howard Lempel <HLempel@brookings.edu>]

Massimiliano emailed me off-list to let me know that the solution Nick and I proposed for his problem will not work because his data is not in electronic format.  Massimiliano can still avoid Excel.

It sounds like the -tsappend- command, which can add one year to a panel dataset, might be helpful.  Massimilaino can then use a loop and -replace- to fill in the new data.  An example (unfortunately using monthly data) follows:

********Begin example***********
* set up
webuse tsappend2, clear

* Data goes through Jan. 2000 and has three cross-sectional units
xtdescribe 
describe

*Add observation for Feb. 2000
tsappend, last(2000m2) tsfmt(tm)

*Create local lists with new updated values for each cross-sectional unit
local eupdates ".1 .2 .3"
local xupdates ".05 .1 .15"
local yupdates "15 20 25"

foreach var in e x y {
	forval i = 1/3 {
		*Replace variables with the appropriate data for Feb. 2000
		local `var'update: word `i' of ``var'updates'
		replace `var' = ``var'update' if t2==tm(2000m2) & id==`i'
		}
	}
list if t2==tm(2000m2)
********************* End Example*****************

Hope this helps.
Howie



-----Original Message-----
From: Volpi, Massimiliano [mailto:malp@nerc.ac.uk] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 10:07 AM
To: Howard Lempel
Subject: RE: RE: data management updating a panel dataset

Dear Howard,

thanks for answering my question in statalist.

I will have to edit the data in Excel, simply because they are not available as electronic file, but only on paper.
The reason I tried to avoid this, is that the last time I copied data by hand I had a few problems: I left empty spaces after the identifying names, but then Stata obviously treated the strings as different. Will have to pay attention to this.

Anyway I wanted to check I was not overlooking anything and your and Nick's answer reassured me I am not.

Thanks a lot.

Best Regards

Massimiliano



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu [mailto:owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu] On Behalf Of Volpi, Massimiliano
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 5:47 PM
To: statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu
Subject: st: data management updating a panel dataset

Dear Statalisters,

I would like to update a panel dataset in Stata, for which a further year of observations has become available.
I would like to tell Stata to generate new observations and then edit them within Stata.
This would seem to me as a better option than listing the identifying variables, copying them as table, editing them in Excel and then appending the new to the old data base, which is the only alternative I see.
Any suggestion on how to do it? Or is there a reason for not doing so?
I am using Stata10.1

Many thanks

Massimiliano

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