Re: st: number of dates in x axis

[Maria Ana Vitorino <vitorino@wharton.upenn.edu>]

Thanks. My code is a little more complicated than the example so I  
didn't want to burden you with it. But I understand your position.
I think the issue has to do with the formatting of the date  
variable...I can't seem to get it to work.
This is what I'm getting:

. generate date1=date(date,"MY")

. format date1 %tm

. list date1 date in 1

     +------------------+
     |  date1      date |
     |------------------|
  1. | 3469m3   Aug2009 |
     +------------------+

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,
Ana


On May 24, 2011, at 2:18 PM, Nick Cox wrote:

> % sacrificial line.
>
> Nick
> n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nick Cox
> Sent: 24 May 2011 19:16
> To: 'statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu'
> Subject: RE: st: number of dates in x axis
>
> Please: I want to see the _exact_ code you typed. No commentary, no  
> paraphrase, no speculation. If you want to debug your code yourself,  
> feel free to do so. If you want me to try to debug your code, I am  
> happy to try, but that means your code, not your thoughts about what  
> might be wrong with your code.
> Nick
> n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu [mailto:owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu 
> ] On Behalf Of Maria Ana Vitorino
> Sent: 24 May 2011 19:11
> To: statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu
> Subject: Re: st: number of dates in x axis
>
> I tried your code again (this time by pasting it into the do-file
> editor instead into the command window) and it worked. But my version
> is not working (I still get the invalid label specifier message).
> Could it be because my time variable has gaps? Also, how can one setup
> the "11" in your for loop without having to make mental calculations
> regarding the number of months?
> Thanks for the help!
> Ana
>
>
> On May 24, 2011, at 1:31 PM, Nick Cox wrote:
>
> > Yes. Show me the _exact_ code you typed.
> >
> > Nick
> > n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu [mailto:owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu
> > ] On Behalf Of Maria Ana Vitorino
> > Sent: 24 May 2011 18:29
> > To: statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu
> > Subject: Re: st: number of dates in x axis
> >
> > Thanks Nick.
> > I tried running your example but I got the error message "invalid
> > label specifier, :  15341 15400 15461 ..."
> > Any suggestions?
> > Thanks!
> > Ana
> >
> > On May 24, 2011, at 4:20 AM, Nick Cox wrote:
> >
> > > There is relevant material at
> > >
> > > Stata 7: How can I get "nice" date labels on a graph?
> > >
> > > http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/graphics/nicedate.html
> > >
> > > StataCorp have added this annotation:
> > >
> > > "Note: This FAQ is relevant for users of releases prior to Stata 8.
> > > For Stata 8 see update from 12 September 2003."
> > >
> > > In fact the techniques there do remain useful for some problems.
> > >
> > > Here's an example with different data. Here I decide that I want
> > > labels every 2 months from 1 January 2002 to 1 January 2003. I loop
> > > over the dates and put them in a bag, namely a local macro.
> > >
> > > sysuse xtline1
> > > xtset person day
> > >
> > > forval i = 1(2)11 {
> > > 	local thisdate = mdy(`i', 1, 2002)
> > > 	local mydates `mydates' `thisdate'
> > > }
> > >
> > > local thisdate = mdy(1,1,2003)
> > > local mydates `mydates' `thisdate'
> > >
> > > xtline calories, overlay xlabel(`mydates', format(%d_m_Y) ang(v))
> > >
> > > See also
> > >
> > > SJ-7-4  gr0030  . Stata tip 55: Better axis labeling for time  
> > > points/
> > > intervals
> > >      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> > > N. J. Cox
> > >      Q4/07   SJ 7(4):590--592                                 (no
> > > commands)
> > >      tip on labeling graphs for time points and time intervals
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 4:45 AM, Maria Ana Vitorino
> > > <vitorino@wharton.upenn.edu> wrote:
> > >
> > > > I have the following data:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >  +------------------------+
> > > >  | Person   Weight      Date    |
> > > >  |------------------------|
> > > > 1. |  Name1       50      17988  |
> > > > 2. |  Name1       55      18110  |
> > > > 3. |  Name1       50      18141  |
> > > > 4. |  Name1       45      18171  |
> > > > 5. |    ...        .      . |
> > > >  |------------------------|
> > > > 6. |  Name2       85      18110 |
> > > > 7. |  Name2       88      18171 |
> > > > 8. |  Name3       68      17988 |
> > > > 9. |    ...        .                       . |
> > > > 10. |     ..        .      .                 |
> > > >  |------------------------|
> > > > 11. |  NameN        .               . |
> > > >  +------------------------+
> > > >
> > > > The labels for the date variables are the months' names (plus year)
> > > > (e.g.
> > > > "jan2006", "feb2007", etc)
> > > >
> > > > If I do something like:
> > > >
> > > > xtline Weight , overlay  i(Person) t(Date) xlab(, valuelabel)
> > > >
> > > > The month names show up on the xaxis BUT only every 6 months or so.
> > > > How can
> > > > I control the number of "ticks" (AND month names ) that show up on
> > > > the
> > > > x-axis? (suppose I want a tick every 2 months or even every month)
> > *
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