st: variable starting point in 'forvalues'

[Gijs Dekkers <gd@plan.be>]

Dear all,

This novice Stata-user is wondering whether or not he can have a 
'forvalues'-do loop with a variable starting point.

Consider the following example, which works fine:
******************
example 1
******************

global cntryno1 = 4

if ($cntryno1==2 | $cntryno1==13) {
   local waveno 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
}
else {
   if ($cntryno1==14) {
       local waveno 3 4 5 6 7 8
   }
   else {
       if ($cntryno1==15) {
       local waveno 4 5 6 7 8
       }
       else local waveno 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
   }
}

foreach i of local waveno {
ALL KINDS OF COMMANDS
}

Basically, this little program applies 'all kinds of commands' for a 
local macro i, which goes from 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 (depending on cntryno1) 
up to 8. It seems to work fine, which could be expected, for I more or 
less copied it from prof. Baum's fine lecture "a little bit of Stata 
progamming...'.

'Problem solved', you might say 'let's get back to work'. However, 
curious as I am, and given that the above vectors 'waveno' share most 
figures, I want to know whether I could also have used a 'forvalues'-do 
loop.

Consider the second example, which does NOT work.
******************
example 2
******************
* start
if ($cntryno1==2 | $cntryno1==13) {
   local start 2
}
else {
   if ($cntryno1==14) {
       local start 3
   }
   else {
       if ($cntryno1==15) {
       local start 4
       }
       else local start 1
   }
}

* the start-macro here does only contain the starting value of the 
vector 'waveno' and the other integers up to 8 come from the 
'forvalues'-do loop.

forvalues i = $start/8 {
use d$cntryno1`i'.dta, clear
ALL KINDS OF COMMANDS
}

The macro 'start' is not accepted, and Stata returns an error code 
'invalid syntax'. (How) can I use the macro 'start' in a 'forvalues' 
do-loop?

Thanks,

Gijs

--
dr. Gijs Dekkers
Federal Planning Bureau
Kunstlaan 47-49
1000 Brussels, Belgium
++32/(0)2/5077413
fax  7373 
gd@plan.be, gijs.dekkers@soc.kuleuven.be



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