st: Is there a command similar to "bys" if I want to gsort the variables?

[gjhxmu@sina.com]

Dear statalists,

Is there a command similar to "bys" if I want to gsort the variables?

For example,

bys year (area): g num=_n


However, I want to gsort the variable of area.


I have tried as followings,

gsort year -area

by year: g num=_n


Is there an easier way to do it just like -bys-?


By the way, when I typed "d,short" after I typed "gsort year -area", the result was as followings,

Contains data from study.dta
  obs:           155                          
 vars:             6                          5 Jun 2009 01:45
 size:         3,875 (99.9% of memory free)
Sorted by:  year

Why the sorted variable did not contain area?

Thank you for any help!

Best regards,

Rose
 

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