Re: st: RE: New command in SSC: -checkfor2-

[Jean-Benoit Hardouin <jean-benoit.hardouin@orscentre.org>]

Dear Amadou,
I find several drawbacks in the programing of -checkfor2- :
     - the use of "anything" instead of "varlist" in the syntax command 
avoids to use list of variables as var1-var10 or var*
     - the idea to use a global macro variable is, from my mind, a bad 
idea (I prefer a "return" command)
     - the "red" characters concerns by convention the error messages 
and are not adapted to an output
     - the "outputs" as string are not very easy to read when we have 
full of variables (why not a table)
     - the smcl syntax in the hlp file is uncorrect to format the 
paragraphs: the result is not very nice
     - the classical way to present the hlp file is to separate the 
description of the options and the syntax (in 2 parts)
I hope this help !
The idea of your command is good, but your command is not very easy to 
use !

/*Amadou, pas de probl�me si tu as besoin d'aide en fran�ais pour 
am�liorer ta commande !*/

Jean-Benoit Hardouin


*******************************************
Jean-Benoit Hardouin
Regional Health Observatory - Orl�ans - France

Biostatisticien
Observatoire R�gional de la Sant� du Centre
BP 2439
1, rue Porte Madeleine
45032 Orl�ans Cedex 1
t�l : 02 38 74 48 80
fax : 02 38 74 48 81
Email : jean-benoit.hardouin@orscentre.org
*********************************************



adiallo5@worldbank.org a �crit :


> A long way to go before becoming a good stata programmer.
>                                                                                 
> Thanks to Nick.                                                                 
> I will make the necessary corrections today and resubmit.                       
> You've made two very good observations. And I really need                       
> that kind of remarks to help me improve my first steps as                       
> a real stata programmer.                                                        
> I am so used of nmissing that I guess I've used it without even                 
> noticing it.                                                                    
> In the same token, working with DHS data usually require sorting                
> data before attempting many managements.                                        
> I guess there also, my old reflexes just prompted up, without even              
> noticing.                                                                       
> Again, thanks for your good remarks. In the future, I'll be more                
> cautious to these kind of details.                                              
> Amadou.                                                                         
>                                                                                 
>
>
>
>                                                                                                                                               
>                      "Nick Cox"                                                                                                               
>                      <n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk>           To:       <statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu>                                              
>                      Sent by:                         cc:                                                                                     
>                      owner-statalist@hsphsun2.        Subject:  st: RE: New command in SSC: -checkfor2-                                       
>                      harvard.edu                                                                                                              
>                                                                                                                                               
>                                                                                                                                               
>                      09/19/2005 01:05 PM                                                                                                      
>                      Please respond to                                                                                                        
>                      statalist                                                                                                                
>                                                                                                                                               
>                                                                                                                                               
>                                                                                                                                               
>
>
>
> Note that -checkfor2- runs the user-written command -nmissing-
> which would need to be installed separately if a user had
> not previously installed that. The help file makes
> a cross-reference to this program but does not spell out
> that it is required.
>
> As it happens, it is not clear why -nmissing- is used at
> all, as it is only employed to pick up the number of
> missings which could, and indeed should, be done much
> more efficiently and directly with a -count-.
>
> Another detail that is worthy of note is that -checkfor2-
> -sort-s on each variable in turn. This is not documented,
> appears unnecessary for what the program does, and is
> indeed a misfeature as in general -checkfor2- will
> change the sort order of your data. I think it is a
> good principle that Stata commands should only change
> the sort order of your data when that is a purpose
> of the command and is also explicitly documented.
>
> Nick
> n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk
>
> adiallo5@worldbank.org
>
>  
>
> > Thanks to Prof. Baum, a new Stata command is available from the SSC
> > archives:
> >
> > -checkfor2- A Stata module to check whether a variable exists
> > or not in a
> > dataset.
> >
> > Description:
> >
> > checkfor2 is a routine to check for existence of a list of
> > variables within a
> > (usually big) data set.
> > checkfor2 searchs through the data whether the variable
> > exists. If it does not,
> > a message is issued.
> > If it does, the program looks for missings structure.
> > Finally, if requested, the
> > program stores the
> > available variables in a macro for future use. A tolerance
> > level for missings
> > could also be set.
> > To install the package, type:
> >
> >   .ssc install checkfor2
> >    
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