Re: st: Passing varlist to a Program

["Michael I. Lichter" <MLichter@Buffalo.EDU>]

Aaron,

I should have added that a working knowledge of Stata macros is 
absolutely essential for programming -- you can start with -help macro- 
and then look in the User's Guide and the Programming Reference manual. 
And then there is the $125 NetCourse 151: Introduction to Stata 
Programming (http://stata.com/netcourse/nc151.html).
-ml

Michael I. Lichter wrote:
> Aaron,
>
> Yes, it can be disturbing for somebody used to standard structured 
> programming languages to start doing work in Stata or any of the 
> mainstream statistics packages. It's not as disturbing as APL or 
> BASIC, though (for different reasons).
> Anyway, if you have the manuals handy, there is a section in the 
> User's Manual about getting started in programming, and the 
> Programming Reference Manual is a helpful supplement. There are 
> accessible articles in the Stata Journal archives on programming, like 
> Nick Cox's classic on programming style 
> (http://www.statajournal.com/article.html?article=pr0018), there is a 
> new book by Chris Baum (http://www.stata-press.com/books/isp.html), 
> and there are the archives of this list (searchable through the Stata 
> web site, for one) and this list itself.
> As for your programming query, here's one way to do it using the 
> -syntax- command.
> version 10.1
>
> cap program drop someprog
> program define someprog
>    syntax varlist
>    describe `varlist', simple
> end
>
> cap program drop myprog
> program define myprog
>    version 10.1
>    syntax varlist
>    someprog `varlist'
> end
>
> sysuse auto, clear
> myprog price-turn
>
> Aaron Thomas wrote:
> > I'm having two problems, and hoping someone can help me with this.
> >
> > I have a program that takes a varlist in stata 10. (So I type 
> > something like:
> > someprog var1-var99
> > Then it does something with the data.)
> >
> > I have another program that takes a varlist, and I want to pass that 
> > varlist to the first program so I can then work with the data it 
> > gives back.
> > (so, something like
> > myprog var1-var99
> > Now, myprog needs to pass that varlist to someprog )
> >
> > I can't seem to do this in Stata.  I can pass var1-var99 to one 
> > program, but writing a program in a way that it can take any varlist 
> > and pass it to the next one is invisible to me, I've been crawling 
> > the web for four hours now looking for a way to do this.  Someone 
> > please help me, or tell me where to get the right help.  Which is my 
> > second problem.  Where do I get some information about programming in 
> > Stata that makes sense?  I program in C/C++, python, lisp, basic, c#, 
> > pascal, java, and several scripting languages, and the flat linear 
> > interpreted style of Stata is unfamiliar ground for me, I can't find 
> > anything readable on it.  Thanks.
> >
> > *
> > *   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/
--
Michael I. Lichter, Ph.D. <mlichter@buffalo.edu>
Research Assistant Professor & NRSA Fellow
UB Department of Family Medicine / Primary Care Research Institute
UB Clinical Center, 462 Grider Street, Buffalo, NY 14215
Office: CC 125 / Phone: 716-898-4751 / FAX: 716-898-3536

*
*   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/