Nick - it is puzzling to you because you know that -est store- stores
the results as e() class variables, may be everybody knows that too
but I did not know that until I found that -discard- discards the -est
store- results. And I was using Stata 9.
What I knew at the time:
(1) type -ereturn list- and I'll get the list of variables that are e()'s;
(2) the results saved by -est store- are nowhere to be seen when I
typed -ereturn list-
(3) "-discard- discards all saved results (see ereturn)"
So that was how I got confused - I looked at -help discard-, from the
description I gathered (wrongly obviously otherwise I won't be writing
this) that things that can be pulled out by -ereturn list-, -sreturn
list-, -return list- would be dropped, everything else would stay.
Little that I know the -est store- stores results as hidden e()'s.
See, that's how I faltered. It would have made more sense to me if
the -discard- help file simply says that it discards everything except
the data set and the matrices. Reading the Stata 8.2 help file you've
pulled out - IMHO it's actually clearer than that of version 9's!
On 6/19/06, Nick Cox <[email protected]> wrote:
My batting average in this thread is << 1 but on this detail
I am still puzzled.
In Stata 9 the help says
discard drops all automatically loaded programs (see [U] 17.2 What is an
ado-file?); clears e(), r(), and s() saved results (see return); eliminates
information stored by the most recent estimation command and any other saved
estimation results (see ereturn); closes any open graphs and drops all
sersets (see serset); clears all class definitions and instances (see
classutil); and closes all dialogs and clears their remembered contents (see
dialog programming).
In Stata 8.2 the help says
discard drops all automatically loaded programs (see [U] 20.2 What is an ado-file?); clears e(),
r(), and s() saved results (see help return and [R] saved results); eliminates the information
stored by the most recent estimation command and any other saved estimation results (see help
estimates); closes any open graphs and drops all sersets (see help serset); clears all class
definitions and instances (see help classutil); and closes all dialogs and clears their remembered
contents (see help dialogs). Use discard when debugging ado-files.
If you are using an earlier version, you should indicate that in your
postings.
Nick
[email protected]
Ada Ma
> I wrote that warning because Zurab's post reminds me of an occassion
> where I had several sets of results saved using -est store- and then I
> came to a spot where Stata recommends that I try -discard-. I tried
> and then whoosh, a lot of stuff (more than I thought I'd bargained
> for) was gone.
>
> Most commands in Stata implement changes that are quite quickly /
> easily reversed, -discard- can potentially wipe out regresison results
> that take hours to run. You're of course right in saying that the
> help file should be read but in my case it didn't help v much as the
> -discard- help file says nothing about -est-.
> On 6/18/06, Nick Cox <[email protected]> wrote:
> > The warning about -discard- is also puzzling here.
> > The implication that it is a dangerous command
> > is correct, but only if you don't read the help
> > and consider whether it is what you want.
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--
Ada Ma
Research Fellow
Health Economics Research Unit
University of Aberdeen, UK.
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/heru/
Tel: +44 (0) 1224 553863
Fax: +44 (0) 1224 550926
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