Re: st: Help: Stata wont save a file!

[Ron�n Conroy <rconroy@rcsi.ie>]

Andrew.A.King@dartmouth.edu wrote:
> I have been working on a file all day and just tried to save it.  I use:
>
> . save "C:\Documents and Settings\Andrew.King\Desktop\AK_data_work.dta"
>
> and I get:
>
> unrecognized command:  save
> r(199);
The implication is that Andrew lost a lot of work. This highlights the 
importance of being able to reconstruct any changes you make to a data 
file.

One solution, in this case, would be to right-click the review window 
and get Stata to save all the commands. Or, if Stata was in a wobbly 
state, to save the commands to the clipboard and paste them into some 
other application.

Ultimately, however, the solution is to build a do-file as you work. 
Each time I make a significant addition to the do-file, I re-run it from 
the beginning to make sure that the results are exactly as I thought. 
All changes to the original data are commented, and any rationale that 
needs explaining likewise. That way, if I should be bisected by the 
tram, anyone can follow the progress of the data from raw file to final 
dataset. I know this sounds goody-goody, but it is, as we say in Gaelic, 
c�all ceannaithe (wisdom that came at a price).



Ronan M Conroy (rconroy@rcsi.ie)
Senior Lecturer in Biostatistics
Royal College of Surgeons
Dublin 2, Ireland
+353 1 402 2431 (fax 2764)
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