Not really.
With this method, Stata waits for you to submit input. If you just press
Return, then the local macro will be empty. Depending on the program,
that is either fine -- there is a default -- or probably a fatal error
that will show up sooner or later.
This is up to the programmer. If the programmer wants a dialog box, or
users really expect that, then that's clearly another way to proceed.
Similarly, writing a program with options is another way to proceed.
I had to look this up in the help. In several years' Stata programming,
I am not sure I have ever used it. So what, you may well ask. The point
is that it's there for those who want it.
Nick Cox
Martin Weiss
Is it at all possible to add a dialog box to this? The request could
easily
go overlooked...
Nick Cox
Yes, you can do this.
A canonical exchange within the do file is
di "Enter value for foo: " _request(foo)
after which local foo contains the value typed.
See -help display-.
I'd rather take arguments from the command line, but that's a matter of
taste.
Rajesh Tharyan
I have a do file, wherein I have a few scalars which I am using to
expand,
loop , as cutoff limits etc. Is it possible to have the do file
prompt the user to input the value of the scalar, so that I do not have
to
make the changes to the do file.
Suppose I had a do file like
Scalar a=5
......
Expand a
.......
Can I get stata to prompt the user like
Enter the value for expansion :
that input then gets stored as a
The code executes..
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