Dear all,
Everyday since I started using Stata, I can't help but wonder whence
comes the contrast between the nice, optimized interface of the viewer
and the output window, and the ugliness and unfriendliness of the
do-file editor. I suppose I am not the only one to ever have complained,
either silently or openly, about this issue..
Below is a list of what I hold to be its most crucial weaknesses ; I
write this e-mail hoping that someone at StataCorp is going to hear me
and maybe, some distant day, who knows, take action. Statalisters are
very much encouraged to add to this list.
- There is no decent undo command. Currently we can only cancel one
change.
- The ctrl + S shortcut to save the do-file doesn't seem to work, at
least with me. It took me a while to realize it, so that I had to
experience a few disasters in my early days as a Stata-user.
- Stata opens one do-file editor window for each do-file I work on..
Sometimes I have up to 5 do-file editors opened at a time - the pain..
Firefox-like multiple tabs would be a dream come true.
- It does not highlight stuff in fancy colours, which I would really
like it to do - one colour for known commands would be a minimum ;
different colours for what it thinks should be a varname, an option, an
expression, etc. would be appreciated too, ideally..
I understand there exist some alternative text editors which do
highlight the commands, etc - but it seems to me that a better built-in
editor would be a great enhancement to Stata.
Maybe StataCorp considers creating a more friendly interface in the
future? It would give me the hope and courage to cope with the current
editor's defects.
Best
Timothee
PhD student
London School in Economics
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