Re: st: 64 bit Stata for the Mac /feature request

[Phil Schumm <pschumm@uchicago.edu>]

On Jun 14, 2008, at 11:18 AM, Christopher Intemann wrote:
> For instance, I'm writing my scripts using emacs in stata mode.  
> However, there is no way to run them (or parts from them) directly  
> from emacs.  It would be nice if the upcomming stata release would  
> offer an interface for external editors.

If all you want to do is to run the file you're editing (or selected  
portions of it) in Stata, then you can use an "Open" Apple Event to  
do this.  For more information, see the section on Macintosh editors  
in http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/t/textEditors.html.  I'm not an  
emacs user, but IIRC, it has a "do-applescript" command that you can  
use for this; I thought it had been incorporated into Bill Rising's  
Stata mode for emacs, but perhaps not.  I have used this approach  
with AlphaX (and now TextMate) and it works quite well.

In fact, with the OS X executable update dated 25feb2008, this  
approach now works even better.   Prior to that, when Stata had  
finished processing a file it would notify you via OS X's  
notification system (i.e., bouncing icon in the dock), and wouldn't  
accept any further requests until you had responded to the  
notification by switching focus to Stata.  After the update, Stata no  
longer waits to accept new requests, and there is a preference item  
so that you can disable notification all together.  These changes  
make working with external editors on OS X much nicer.

The question of whether StataCorp should add features to its do-file  
editor has been addressed several times before on the list.  As  
several have noted, many of the users who find it inadequate would  
also find inadequate any editor except their preferred one.  These  
users want to be able to use the same text editor for everything  
(e.g., data-analytic work, coding, writing, etc.), and have invested  
considerable effort in learning how to use their text editor  
efficiently and/or customizing it to suit their needs.  StataCorp may  
decide to add features to their do-file editor in the future (since,  
clearly, there are a lot of users who use it), however my suggestion  
would be to take your preferred editor and figure out how to use it  
well with Stata; that way, you'll be happy whatever StataCorp does.


-- Phil

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