Re: st: 2 issues with 64-bit Stata on Mac OS X

["Eric A. Booth" <ebooth@ppri.tamu.edu>]

On Jun 15, 2009, at 6:03 AM, Michael Hanson wrote:

> I've noticed the following two issues since upgrading from the 32- 
> bit to 64-bit version of Stata/SE 10.1:
>
> 1. Very often when I launch Stata, I get the dialog box telling me  
> it has been at least 7 days since I last checked for updates.  This  
> despite: (1) checking for updates more recently than 7 days, and (2)  
> deselecting the preference to "Enable automatic update checking".   
> It appears that that preference setting does not "stick" for me in  
> the 64-bit version.

I haven't had this issue, but have you tried using the commands to  
change these settings permanently (or putting these commands in your  
profile.do)?

set update_query off, perm
**&/or**
set update_prompt off, perm


> 2. I switch somewhat regularly between using the monitor on my  
> MacBook Pro and a larger external monitor.  I have set up two  
> different sets of preferences for the locations of all the various  
> Stata windows for the two monitors and I use "Manage Preferences" to  
> switch between them.  The preferences work to systematically move  
> the window locations and sizes of all windows (e.g, Command,  
> Variables, Review, etc.) to the desired locations/sizes EXCEPT for  
> the Results window -- which always remains at its last setting.  All  
> windows (including Results) switched from one saved location to  
> another as expected under 32-bit Stata.  Creating new sets of  
> preferences from scratch has not fixed this issue.
>
> Please note that I am running OS X 10.5.7 and what appears to be the  
> most recent version of Stata:

I am using the same OS/Stata version combo & I also switch between  
different monitor settings (external monitor or external digital  
projector) on my laptop, and every once and a while my window settings  
have the same issue.   While it's probably not the best fix, I simply  
delete my preferences file(s) located here:

~/Library/Preferences/Stata10 preferences/

User preference files will have a ".rc" extension.    Stata will  
recreate the default preferences file when you relaunch the program,  
and you'll have to recreate any other pref files you delete (you might  
create a backup copy when you get the settings you want and store the  
backup somewhere else so that it can be copied over when needed (or  
set up a do-file to automate this for you whenever it's needed))

Final tips:  Be sure you are using the same user profile with Stata  
(stata preferences are stored in a user-specific library folder)  and  
that your permissions are all correct (use disk utility to check your  
permissions...I was having issues with Stata after I migrated it to my  
new computer because my permissions were incorrect, fixing them with  
disk utility (/applications/utilities/disk utility.app)  solved these  
issues)


~  Eric

__
Eric A. Booth
Public Policy Research Institute
Texas A&M University
ebooth@ppri.tamu.edu
Office: +979.845.6754
Fax: +979.845.0249




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