Friedrich Huebler
> This is an excerpt from a larger data set:
>
> sex rg5 order tmax mmax fmax
> Male 72.2 2 74.9 72.2 74.9
> Female 74.9 1 74.9 72.2 74.9
>
> I want to draw a simple bar graph that indicates the value for each
> sex. The problem is that I cannot find a way for Stata to draw the
> value for Female (74.9) rounded to one decimal place. Instead, the
> number 74.90000000000001 is drawn.
>
> #delimit ;
> local textpos1 = tmax/100*20;
> local textpos2 = tmax/100*50;
> local mvalue = round(mmax,.1);
> local fvalue = round(fmax,.1);
> graph bar rg5,
> over(sex, sort(order) gap(0) axis(off))
> bar(1, bcolor(0 153 255) blcolor(white))
> yscale(r(0 `max(tmax)') off) ylabel(minmax, nogrid)
> outergap(0) plotr(m(zero))
> graphregion(color(white) margin(zero))
> text(`textpos1' 25 "Girls", size(20) color(white))
> text(`textpos1' 75 "Boys", size(20) color(white))
> text(`textpos2' 25 "`fvalue'%", size(20) color(white))
> text(`textpos2' 75 "`mvalue'%", size(20) color(white))
> legend(off);
>
> When the line
>
> local fvalue = round(fmax,.1);
>
> is changed to
>
> local fvalue = round(fmax,1);
>
> a rounded value is displayed. When 74.8888 is substituted
> for 74.9 in
> fmax, it is possible to round to two or three decimal
> places, but not
> to one decimal place. How can I make Stata display exactly 74.9 in
> the graph?
At root this is not a graphics issue at all.
It is, to at least some of us, an old friend: the precision issue
when you attempt to hold decimals in binary form.
There is a run-down at [U] 16.10
"Precision and problems therein"
and an FAQ which at first seems to be on a different issue at
http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/data/mod.html -- but
it is pertinent.
Everyone recalls when reminded that computer software
is based on binary arithmetic, but naturally most of
the time we want to do our numerics with decimal input
and output. A lot of very smart work has been put into
hiding the details in
decimal input at high level
|
binary input at low level
|
manipulations at low level
|
binary output at low level
|
decimal output at high level
from our eyes (and from our minds), but they can bite (byte?)
at times.
Given 72.2, for example, what does Stata make of it? To
Stata it is more like this hexadecimal number, and
you can see that Stata is straining to get
as close as it can:
. di %21x 72.2
+1.20ccccccccccdX+006
The story is easier to follow if we use a
near equivalent decimal format
. di %21.18f 72.2
72.200000000000003000
Imagine you're in fact conversing with Stata here:
"OK, Stata my love, I have a number here, 72.2, can you deal with
that?"
"Well, sweetie, the best approximation I can give you
is the binary equivalent of (about)
72.200000000000003000. Is that going to be
close enough?"
(The undocumented
. set conversation on
will produce more talkative output in Stata
9 onwards.)
Similarly with 74.9:
. di %21.18f 74.9
74.900000000000006000
Some decimals map easily to binaries,
like something + 1/2
. di %21.18f 74.5
74.500000000000000000
or something + 1/4
. di %21.18f 74.25
74.250000000000000000
or something + 1/8
. di %21.18f 74.125
74.125000000000000000
and so forth -- but not all, as both Friedrich's examples
show.
Note that -round(,)- here makes no
difference. -round(,)- maps numbers
to numbers, and gains nothing here:
. di %21.18f round(74.9,0.1)
74.900000000000006000
(It is as if you're saying to Stata,
"Try harder!", but it is already doing the
best it can do.)
-round(#,1)- naturally always produces
a number that can be held exactly as binary,
subject to the limits on very large numbers.
This sounds bad in general, but the remedy is
that you must get Stata to
think of the thing to be displayed as
a string. Here is one way
local mvalue : di %2.1f mmax[1]
and here is another
local mvalue = string(mmax[1], "%2.1f")
Incidentally, in your code, you have statements
like this:
local textpos1 = tmax/100*20
Beware: this is a source of bugs. -tmax- is
a variable; in this context Stata is going
to treat this as
local textpos1 = tmax[1]/100*20
which is what you want in this case. However,
it is Bad Style, or so I suggest.
This is, I suggest, Nice Style:
su rg5, meanonly
local textpos1 = r(max)/100*20
local textpos2 = r(max)/100*50
So you don't need the extravagance
of holding a constant repeatedly
in a variable.
Similarly, your
`max(tmax)'
is a guess at Stata syntax, but it is
isn't legal syntax really. By a series of
little accidents you should get exactly
what you want, as Stata is going to
treat this as a reference to
`max'
which (from your example) doesn't exist.
The "(tmax)" then gets ignored as trailing garbage.
In context, the whole thing then becomes
r(0 )
which is OK here.
(I went through a similar story on macro names in a reply
to Deborah Garvey on 29 August.)
Nick
[email protected]
*
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
