As is sometimes mentioned on this list,
. ds <varlist>
lets you see precisely -- and also concisely
but legibly -- what names are included in
a varlist.
If you like what you see, you can copy it,
as recommended by David, to a local:
local myvars "`r(varlist)'"
-ds- is currently undocumented, for arcane
reasons, but its help is perfectly accessible.
Nick
[email protected]
David Kantor
> At 03:33 PM 10/17/2006, Jeph Herrin wrote:
> >Why have I never noticed this before? Stata 9, updated.
> >
> >. d com1-com45
> >
> > storage display value
> >variable name type format label variable label
> >-------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------------
> >com1 byte %8.0g BPH
> >medcom2 byte %9.0g meds: CA
> >com2 byte %8.0g CA
> >medcom3 byte %9.0g meds: CHF/HTN
> >com3 byte %8.0g CHF/HTN
> >medcom4 byte %9.0g meds: ESRD
> >com4 byte %8.0g ESRD
> >medcom5 byte %9.0g meds: GERD
> >com5 byte %8.0g GERD
> >medcom6 byte %9.0g meds: HIV
> >com6 byte %8.0g HIV
> >medcom7 byte %9.0g meds: HTN
> >.
> >.
> >.
> >
> >
> >And I discovered it when
> >
> >. egen total=rtotal(com1-com45)
> >
> >totalled all the -medcom- variables as well. How can I reference
> >just those variables that start with -com-?
> >
> >
> >thanks,
> >Jeph
> >[...]
>
> It should be pointed out that the abbreviation
> com1-com45
> refers to all variables in the span from com1 to com45, in the set of
> variables in their present order (which you can change with -order-
> or -aorder-). It has nothing to do with imputing names that fit the
> paradigm that you might be supposing. It has always worked that way.
>
> As some other respondents mentioned, what you probably want is com*
> -- as long as that covers only the variables you want. If you have
> any names such as "common" or "complete" or "compensation", they will
> also be picked up by com*. That's why I usually avoid both of these
> abbreviation forms. Instead, I use a list that contains the exact
> names I want. If is long, I put it in a macro; sometimes it can be
> assembled programmatically.
>
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