st: forward vs backward slash in path names

["Sascha O. Becker" <so.b@gmx.net>]

Dear statalisters,

I always thought that the "/" (slashes) can be either forward or 
backward - Stata doesn't distinguish between them.

However, in the following case, they produce very different results:

foreach file in comp cons fami {;
   capture use "$root/orig/`file'1976";
   foreach num of numlist 1978(2)2004 {;
      capture append using "$root/orig/`file'`num'";
   };
};

works fine.

However, the backslash version "$root\orig\`file'`num'"
reads orig\`file'`num' as "orig`file'`num'" (a file which does not 
exist), i.e. seems to ignore the backslash altogether.

Why is that?

Best, Sascha

--

Dr. Sascha O. Becker
Department of Economics
Main Office, Economics Building
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Dr. Dept. 0508
La Jolla, CA 92093-0508, USA
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