Re: st: Importing data with infile: Identifying records with problems

[John LeBlanc <leblancj@dal.ca>]

I just did a workaround in case it's useful to others.

Sort the records before importing to Stata (assuming relevant id field 
is in left-most columns).
Import
Save list of error messages
incorporate original record number into database: e.g.,
***
gen recno = _n
move recno serial
***

export or print list of recno & their corresponding serial or ID 
numbers. At least one now has an easy way to pull original case report 
forms and fix faulty inputs.

John

Sergiy Radyakin wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 4:57 PM, John LeBlanc<leblancj@dal.ca> wrote:
>   
> > Hi,
> >
> > Is there any way that Infile can report a specific part of a record when
> > there is an error as opposed to a record number? I am importing dozens of
> > scanned files and getting hundreds of lines like the following:
> >
> > '*' cannot be read as a number for tfake[153]
> > '*' cannot be read as a number for corl[157]
> >
> > It would be much easier for me to deal with these if instead of the record
> > number, e.g., 153, I could somehow instruct stata to report the first six
> > characters of the record with the problem since those characters represent
> > the research participant's serial number. Also, the record numbers start at
> >     
>
>
> I am afraid it is not possible. And we are quite lucky that in this case Stata
> reports in which record there was a problem. When it comes to errors in .ado
> programs, it only tells you the error code, but not the line number.
>
> At least basic error reporting in relation to the source code is
> highly desirable
> and would make debugging .ado files a much more pleasant task, ultimately
> improving the quality of the code. See, how it was done in TurboPascal in the
> 1980s:
> http://ugweb.cs.ualberta.ca/~roman/tutorials/History/F2000WinNT4/Pascal/editing.html
>
> Best, Sergiy Radyakin
>
>
>
>   
> > one for every text file that is imported and it therefore becomes quite a
> > headache to manage both a relative record number and file identifier.
> >
> > Thanks for any advice.
> >
> > --
> >
> > Regards, John LeBlanc
> >
> > _________________________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> > John C. LeBlanc, MD, MSc, FRCPC
> > Associate Professor
> >
> > Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Community Health and Epidemiology
> >
> > Dalhousie University
> >
> >
> >
> > IWK Health Centre              Work phone: (902) 470-8930
> >
> > 5850 University Avenue         Work fax:   (902) 470-6913
> >
> > Halifax, Nova Scotia           Email: John.LeBlanc@Dal.Ca
> >
> > B3K 6R8 CANADA                 Pager: (902) 470-8888
> >
> > ________________________________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > *
> > *   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/
> >
> >     
>
> *
> *   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/
>
>   

--

Regards, John LeBlanc

_________________________________________________________



John C. LeBlanc, MD, MSc, FRCPC    

Associate Professor

Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Community Health and Epidemiology

Dalhousie University



IWK Health Centre              Work phone: (902) 470-8930

5850 University Avenue         Work fax:   (902) 470-6913

Halifax, Nova Scotia           Email: John.LeBlanc@Dal.Ca

B3K 6R8 CANADA                 Pager: (902) 470-8888

________________________________________________________________



*
*   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/