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Re: -varabbrev- setting [was: st: re: question about "testparm"]


From   Michael Hanson <[email protected]>
To   [email protected]
Subject   Re: -varabbrev- setting [was: st: re: question about "testparm"]
Date   Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:35:15 -0500

On Feb 1, 2009, at 2:05 PM, Kit Baum wrote:

I deplore the use of abbreviated variable names in posted examples. IMHO -set varabbrev on- is a terrible idea (whether or not it is the official default*), and examples should run with it off.


I concur. For new, inexperienced, and/or occasional users, having - varabbrev on- is (in my experience teaching with Stata) a recipe for avoidable confusion, errors and lost time. I'd like to join Kit and encourage those who post examples to Statalist -- particularly examples aimed at less-than-power users -- to avoid variable name abbreviations.

Use of the [Tab] key for variable name completion in the Command window largely mitigates any benefits from -varabbrev on-, in my experience. YMMV.

Hope this helps,
Mike

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