No, on this detail you are wrong and version
is not an issue.
So long as you follow my example and issue
tempname foosum
then after
su foo, meanonly
scalar `foosum' = r(sum)
is as valid as can be.
You are correct that you can do what
looks the same thing by
sum foo, meanonly
scalar foosum = r(sum)
but to do that is to live more dangerously.
If you do this, sooner or later you will
get burned, or bitten, by use of the same name in
different programs or use of identical
or similar names for scalars and variables.
The problem is aired in the manuals and
rehearsed once more in a Tip by G. Kolev
in Stata Journal 6(2), to appear next
month.
Nick
[email protected]
b. water
> Thank you Nick for your alternative suggestion.
>
> In Stata 8.2, scalar `foosum' = r(sum) is an invalid syntax
> but checking on-line help showed valid syntax as scalar
> foosum = r(sum). This suggestion worked for my purpose and as
> you alluded, shorter than tabstat.
Nick Cox
> > > note that if the problem
> > > is picking up a sum for future use, then -tabstat- is
> > > a long way round.
> > >
> > > tempname foosum
> > > su foo, meanonly
> > > scalar `foosum' = r(sum)
> > >
> > > is more direct, with no hidden interpreted code,
> > > as in -tabstat-.
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