Re: st: RE: upgrading to v10: do-file won't load

["Michael S. Hanson" <mshanson@wesleyan.edu>]

Michael:

Just noticed your messages.  Since you are using a Mac, let me  
suggest the following to get started using an external text editor  
with Stata:

1. Download and install TextWrangler -- it's a free but relatively  
powerful text editor from BareBones Software: <http:// 
www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/>

2. Download and install the Stata support files (scripts and language  
module) from Dataninja: <http://dataninja.wordpress.com/2006/08/18/ 
stata-scripts/>.  These will provide some basic syntax highlighting,  
Stata-specific commands (such as comment/uncomment with a keystroke),  
and the ability to run .do files (or selections of a .do file) in  
Stata by just pressing a specific keystroke in TextWrangler.


3. Once you are comfortable with this set-up, start investigating  
other text editors to see if their additional power/flexibility is  
worth their additional price (monetary and/or time investment).  All  
the non-free editors listed below have a free trial period.  Although  
changing one's text editor borders on religious conversion for some  
people, if you are not currently wedded to a particular editor I'd  
recommend exploring several alternatives to find which is most  
consistent with your work style and level of coding sophistication.   
Here are some very good text editors on the Mac that you might  
investigate:

BBEdit:  Popular big brother of TextWrangler  <http:// 
www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/>
TextMate:  Popular, unix-inspired programmer's editor  <http:// 
macromates.com/>
Smultron:  Free editor with extensive MacOS integration  <http:// 
tuppis.com/smultron/>
jEdit:  Cross-platform java-based editor  <http:// 
jedit.sourceforge.net/>
MacVim:  GUI port of unix vim editor  <http://macvim.org/OSX/index.php>
Carbon Emacs:  Port of unix emacs editor  <http://homepage.mac.com/ 
zenitani/emacs-e.html>

As always, the easiest way to learn how to exploit the power of a  
text editor (or any program) is to find a friend or colleague who is  
already an expert!


Hope this helps,
Mike


P.S.  In addition to Dataninja, some additional useful links and  
information can be found at the "Stata on a Mac" blog: <http:// 
macstata.blogspot.com/>.  (Neither site is mine.)


On Nov 4, 2008, at 9:36 PM, Michael McCulloch wrote:

> Thanks Friedrich for the reference to external editors.
*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/