Re: st: programming loops efficiently

[Alex Armand <a.armand@ucl.ac.uk>]

If you want a variable stating the person with max hours for each observation (row) then this code should produce what you need.

For simplicity I would rename variable Vh01-Vh09 into Vh1-Vh9.
________________________________
* This defines the variable that contains the person with maximum
	
	gen max = 1
	gen maxhr = Vh1 	

* Loop control for others
	
	forvalues x = 2/24 {

		replace max = `x' if Vh`x'  > maxhr
		replace maxhr = Vh`x'  if Vh`x'  > maxhr
	
	}
________________________________

Alex


Il giorno 14/nov/2012, alle ore 10.53, Breeze, Elizabeth ha scritto:

> I am creating some variables and I am sure that my syntax is needlessly long where there is a repeat pattern to the commands.
> 
> I have variables  Vh01-Vh25 which give the number of hours worked by persons number 01-25 respectively.
> I want to find which person worked maximum hours and what that maximum was
> egen maxhr = rowmax(Vh01-Vh25)  gives me the maximum number of hours 
> 
> Is there a quick way to find the person number with the max no. hours by taking advantage of those last two digits of Vh01-Vh25? 
> I can do it with many lines of syntax but am sure there must be a neater way using some form of loop. 
> Each record in the dataset concerns one interviewee and persons 01-25 are people who work for the interviewee
> 
> A further complication is that more than one person may work that maximum number of hours.
> 
> Also is there an equivalent to rowmax that gives the second to largest value in the series?
> 
> Grateful for any tips.    I am not a programmer
> 
> Elizabeth Breeze
> 
> 
> *
> *   For searches and help try:
> *   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
> *   http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/
> *   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
> 






*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/