Thanks to Kit Baum, one new package, -isvar-,
and one old package revisited, -nmissing-,
are now downloadable from SSC.
Each requires Stata 8 (and so will work
in Stata 9 too).
The posting of these packages arises from
a recent thread started by Amadou Diallo.
-isvar- takes a list of names and divides
them into those that are variable names in
the current dataset and those that aren't.
This may be useful if you want to know all
at once which of various names are indeed
variable names, and then to work with those.
The purpose of -nmissing- is to count and report
the number missing, either in variables
(the default) or in observations, that is,
either column-wise or row-wise. Optimists
who prefer to regard the glass as half-full,
not half-empty, can use the complementary
program -npresent- in the same package.
The -nmissing- package was first published
in STB-49 in 1999 and then updated in the
Stata Journal in 2001 and 2003. The
latest update converts the program to
rclass so that r(varlist) is left behind
in memory, in case it might be useful.
This update arises from a question from
Eric (Ric) Uslaner some time ago.
The update will be published formally
in the Stata Journal 5(4) in December,
subject to editorial approval, which
I guess is likely. However, as the
topic is timely, Kit has agreed to host
the package on SSC for the time being.
Nick
[email protected]
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