Patrick Sturgis
> I have two vectors of variables, X and Z. I wish to copy
> the values of each
> of the elements of Z to the corresponding (in terms of
> variable order)
> element in X. Would the 'foreach' command be most suitable
> for this purpose
> or would something simpler suffice? Thanks in advance,
I guess that a vector of variables Z is a set of variables.
In the easiest case you have some simple naming like
Z1 ... Z42.
To copy that to X1 ... X42 you can go
forval i = 1/42 {
gen Z`i' = X`i'
}
(for -gen- read -replace- if that is what you want).
For a messier case with irregular suffixes like
Zbill, Zvince, Zalan, Zpat, Zbobby, Zchinh, Zken, etc.
for which you want the corresponding
Xbill, Xvince, Xalan, ...
one way of doing it is
foreach v of var Z* {
local new : subinstr local v "Z" "X"
gen `new' = `v'
}
See -whelp macro-.
Sometimes with just a few suffixes it can be
easiest just to go
foreach s in bill vince alan {
gen X`s' = Z`s'
}
Nick
[email protected]
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