Re: st: problem in uploading data into Stata - data "changes"

[Steven Samuels <sjhsamuels@earthlink.net>]

Gisella,

Show us an example of a data line and your -infix- statements  Also,  
what are the item separators in your text file (commas, tabs,..) ?   
If Excel can figure out the variable columns, then StatTransfer can  
also (see ASCII input options); there is no need to go through Excel.

-Steve
On Jul 1, 2008, at 11:05 AM, Gisella Young wrote:


> Dear all,
>
> I am trying to load a datafile in text format into Stata. I am  
> using the infix command. The problem is that 1 column of data (the  
> firm column, which is the unique identification number for each  
> observation, is different when I open it in Stata as from what I  
> can see in the original text file. In fact I have several such text  
> files for various years, and in every case the problem is the same:  
> all variables upload correctly except for the first one. Not only  
> is that number different but it is no longer unique to each  
> observation. It is however the same number of digits as the  
> original. I have checked that the infix command is specified  
> correctly (eg correct number of digits).
>
> I have also tried saving the text file into excel (and applying  
> text-to-columns) and then converting it into a stata file using  
> Stat-transfer. When I do this all the variable upload correctly  
> into Stata. The problem is that I cannot do this for the entire  
> files because of their size (the limits of Excel mean that only a  
> small fraction of each file can be accommodated), so this is not a  
> solution.
>
> I realise that it may be difficult for someone to suggest an  
> explanation/solution without seeing the actual data, but I wonder  
> whether there are any suggestions as to what the problem might  
> potentially be, and how to get around it?
>
> Many thanks,
> Gisella
>
>
>
>
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