There has been a rather confusing exchange of ideas
on selecting a default working folder, about adopath,
and related items. I am not sure who asked which
questions, but it calls for some comments and advice.
I know that some skilled users would give other advice,
but here is mine:
The working directory is the folder where Stata first looks
for datasets and where Stata saves data, unless told
otherwise. You can change the working folder by the -cd-
command.
Stata's installation default working folder is c:\data.
This is fine for doing exercises, but for real work I
consider it a poor choice: To avoid confusing yourself,
you should organize the folders for your own documents
and datasets by subject, such as research project,
teaching activity, or hobby, not by the software you
happened to use. And since your documents and datasets
probably are worth preserving, they should be kept in
folders under your main Documents folder to make sure
they are included in your backup routines.
If your main Documents folder is c:\documents, you could
make it the startup default by including the command
cd c:\documents
in profile.do. If it is d:\, include:
cd d:\
profile.do (if it is placed properly) executes at Stata
startup, so you could also include other commands. But
where to put profile.do? StataCorp suggests c:\data, but
that requires c:\data to be the default Stata working
folder, and that is not my advice.
profile.do should be placed in an -adopath- folder; to
me, the logical place is the PERSONAL folder; in Windows
typically c:\ado\personal.
c:\ado\personal is for general programs etc. created by
yourself. No, not project-specific creations, but things
that you want to use regardless of project. Most
users don't make such stuff, except possibly - yes -
profile.do.
The PLUS folder is for unofficial commands, such as those
that can be found in the SSC archives. In Windows it
typically is c:\ado\plus.
Now, why are the PERSONAL and PLUS folders not placed
under the Stata program folder? I wondered at first, but
after updating from version 7 to 8 I understood: These files
should remain unchanged despite updating the main program.
So it is actually smart.
Claude had the idea to move his own ado-files and those
received from, e.g. SSC, to, e.g. D:\Stata\ado\plus, to
"make it easier when I make back ups of data". This I
do not understand. The location of ado-files does not
affect the opportunities to backup DATA. And there is no
good reason to backup files downloaded from SSC; they can
be downloaded again. Obviously, the official Stata
program files should not be backed up.
Claude also asked what the OLDPLACE folder is for. It is
hardly used; I guess it is for very old users who started
at a time when Stata did not distinguish between the PLUS
and PERSONAL folders.
Happy New Year
Svend
________________________________________________________
Svend Juul
Institut for Folkesundhed, Afdeling for Epidemiologi
(Institute of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology)
Vennelyst Boulevard 6
DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Phone, work: +45 8942 6090
Phone, home: +45 8693 7796
Fax: +45 8613 1580
E-mail: [email protected]
_________________________________________________________
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