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From | Nick Cox <n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk> |
To | "'statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu'" <statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu> |
Subject | RE: st: RE: RE: scalar do not allow -if- |
Date | Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:39:17 +0000 |
I agree in terms of my own programming. The original question was focused on saving scalars as results, in which case temporary names that disappear when a program has finished are of no use. There is a middle way. Within a -program- (declared as such) use temporary names for scalars as here, and then when all is done use -return- or -ereturn- to define scalars as r() or e() class results. A broader discussion is accessible at SJ-6-2 dm0021 . Stata tip 31: Scalar or variable? Problem of ambiguous names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G. I. Kolev Q2/06 SJ 6(2):279--280 (no commands) tips for avoiding abbreviation conflicts with variables when naming scalars Nick n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk Maarten buis --- Nick wrote: > the code here optimistically assumes no clash between scalar > and variable names. > > Wrapping with -scalar()- means being always safe and never > sorry. An alternative solution that I often prefer (mostly because I am used to it) is: tempname w1 w2 w3 scalar `w1' = ... scalar `w2' = ... scalar `w3' = ... * * 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/