re: st: RE: executable out of date

[Kit Baum <baum@bc.edu>]

<>
Allan said

Executable and ado can get out of step quite easily.  The executable is
one large file so may not download successfully over the internet, or
the "update swap" may fail.  Or the user might have clicked "update ado
only".


The thrust of Uli Kohler's remarks is that Stata should be smart enough to disallow undesirable outcomes. We have already been told that Stata downloads new ado-files to a holding area, moves them into place and only then removes the earlier versions, so that you can't end up half-updated. This is akin to the database notion of 'rollback' where a partially-successful change can be 'rolled back' to avoid inconsistency.

This same logic should be applied to executable vs ado-file updates. If an executable update is available, it and the associated ado-file update should be performed together or 'rolled back' if they cannot both be made. Admittedly the 'update swap' may fail, but Stata should then be able to figure out that it is in an inconsistent state and issue an error message. Being able to update both over the internet is great, but the process should IMHO be more bulletproof than it currently is.

Kit Baum   |   Boston College Economics & DIW Berlin   |   http://ideas.repec.org/e/pba1.html
                              An Introduction to Stata Programming  |   http://www.stata-press.com/books/isp.html
   An Introduction to Modern Econometrics Using Stata  |   http://www.stata-press.com/books/imeus.html


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