st: strange foreach loop result

["Airey, David C" <david.airey@vanderbilt.edu>]

.

I'm getting a really strange foreach loop result I don't understand.

In the first code snippet on fictitious data, I get what I want. In the second code snippit on the real data I get a strange result for when the condition:

if `var' == slope local myvar 1

is evaluated when `var' is slope. It produces the result myvar==4, when it should return myvar==1.

Anyone have a clue where my error is?


clear
set obs 10
gen a = 1
gen b = 2
gen c = 3
gen d = 4
foreach var of varlist a b c d {
	if `var' == a local myvar 1
	if `var' == b local myvar 2
	if `var' == c local myvar 3
	if `var' == d local myvar 4
	display "`var'", "`myvar'"
}

produces:

a 1
b 2
c 3
d 4


use result_pilot.dta, clear
keep slope lower upper ed50
foreach var of varlist slope lower upper ed50 {
	if `var' == slope local myvar 1
	if `var' == lower local myvar 2
	if `var' == upper local myvar 3
	if `var' == ed50 local myvar 4
	display "`var'", "`myvar'"
}

produces:

slope 4 <--weird, should be slope 1
lower 2
upper 3
ed50 4


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