Mac installation

• Stata is displaying graphs using the old scheme even though the setting is for the new scheme.
• Some of Stata’s commands do not work.
• Should I create an alias for the Stata application?
• Can I make an alias of Stata’s ADO folder?

Stata is displaying graphs using the old scheme even though the setting is for the new scheme.

You most likely did not move your old Stata 7 directory to the trash when you installed Stata 8. Move your Stata directory to the trash and empty it; then reinstall.

Some of Stata’s commands do not work.

There is a problem with the read permissions of the contents of the Stata folder. To fix this,

• Login with an account that has administrator access.
• Open the Terminal application (located in /Applications/Utilities).
• Change to the Stata directory,

            cd /Applications/Stata

• As administrator, make sure the permissions setting script is executable,

            sudo chmod u+x setrwxp

• Execute the script as administrator,

            sudo ./setrwxp

If the previous suggestion does not work, another possibility is that Stata has not been completely installed. Stata is completely installed when the installer notifies you that installation was successful.

Another possibility is that the ado folder is missing. If this is the case, reinstall Stata.

Should I create an alias for Stata?

No, double-clicking an alias for Stata has the same effect as clicking the Stata icon to start it. This, in effect, makes Stata’s directory the current working directory. Just use Stata.do.

Double-clicking an alias of Stata.do has the same effect as double-clicking the original Stata.do file (i.e., it makes the location of the Stata.do file the current folder). This is most likely what you want to do.

Can I make an alias of Stata’s ADO folder?

It depends on what your intentions are. If it is to quickly get to Stata’s ado folder (assuming it is in Stata’s folder), sure. If the intention is to put Stata’s ado folder in a location other than Stata’s folder and then create the alias to it in Stata’s folder, then no. Stata will not follow the alias, so most of Stata’s commands will not work.