st: append, empty?

[Jeph Herrin <junk@spandrel.net>]

This is not a question, just a request concerning a minor
nusiance, though there may be a solution I don't see.

I often have to patch together a large number of files with
identical format, but check for errors that depend on the file
index after appending each. Currently, the best way I can find
to do this is, eg,


  forv x=1/100 {
	if `x'==1 {
		use file1, clear
	}
	else {
		append using file`x'
	}
         [check things depending on `x']
  }

However, sometimes I don't know what the first file number is - or the
intervening file numbers - so I have to trap this. It gets very messy.
Ideally, -append- would have an "empty" option, so that  if there is no
dataset, -append- would -use-. Then I could just code

  clear
  forv x=1/100 {
         capture append using file`x', empty
         [check things depending on `x']
  }


See how much cleaner? Is there a logical reason why this would not work?
I don't see how it would but any existing data at risk. Or is there a
better way?

cheers,
Jeph
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