Re: st: issues using the user-written program tabout

[Jordan H <jihool3670@gmail.com>]

Thank you, Eric!  Truncation was the issue.

Jordan

---
Jordan Hoolachan
Department of Biostatistics
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
410-294-3670



On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 10:29 AM, Eric Booth <ebooth@ppri.tamu.edu> wrote:
> <>
>
>
> My guess is that the variable list in -tabout- is limited to the string char limit of 244 characters, though I can't tell where this occurs from the source of tabout.ado.
>
> I've tested it with increasingly longer varlists (in terms of characters, not variables) and -tabout- always breaks when I hit the 244 barrier (sample code below) -- so, I've always just assumed the macro varlist in -tabout- is, at some point, converted to a string (and therefore truncated) as it's passed through the program.
>
> My solution has always been to just break it up into numerous -tabout- commands and append them together.   So, you could change your second command to:
>
> ************
> tabout  side_indicator-MidpointVariableHere   paid_total_cat using tabletest.txt, ///
>  ... <all your options> ....   ///
> npos(tufte)   replace
>
> tabout  NextVariableAfterMidpoint-skin_indicator   paid_total_cat using tabletest.txt, ///
> ... <all your options> ...   ///
> npos(tufte)    append
> ************
>
> and this will stack the tables together in one file (though it will add a new header row).
>  If you want to avoid the new header row, you could also shorten (-rename-) your variable names to stay under the 244 character limit.
>
> Test the length of your varlist with:
> **********
> unab varlist: side_indicator-skin_indicator
> di "`varlist'"
> local length:length local varlist
> di "`length'"
> *********
>
>
>
>
> Finally, here's some code (mentioned above) to show an example of -tabout- breaking once your pass the 244 char barrier:
>
> ************************!
> sysuse auto, clear
>
> unab varlist: mpg-for
> di "`varlist'"
> local length:length local varlist
> di "`length'"
>
> qui {
> tabout  `varlist' using "tabletest.txt", ///
> sum c(mean for) ///
> npos(tufte) replace
> }
>
>
> **longer varlists**
> forval n = 1/16 {
> g newvariable`n'  = 1
>
> unab varlist: mpg-newvariable`n'
> di in yellow "`varlist'"
> local length:length local varlist
> di in red "Length:  `length'"
>
> qui {
> tabout  `varlist' using "tabletest.txt", ///
> sum c(mean for) ///
> npos(tufte) append
> }
>        }
> ************************!
>
> - Eric
> __
> Eric A. Booth
> Public Policy Research Institute
> Texas A&M University
> ebooth@ppri.tamu.edu
> Office: +979.845.6754
>
>
> On Oct 7, 2010, at 5:10 PM, Jordan H wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> I am trying to create a two way table with the levels of  binary
>> outcome variable (paid_total_cat) as the columns and the levels of
>> numerous of predictor variables as the rows.  I have used the
>> following command to produce such a table for the predictor variables
>> "thigh_upperleg_indicator" through "rib_indicator."
>>
>> tabout  thigh_upperleg_indicator-rib_indicator paid_total_cat using
>> tabletest.txt, ///
>> sum c(mean paid_total_adjusted sd paid_total_adjusted min
>> paid_total_adjusted p25 paid_total_adjusted p50 paid_total_adjusted
>> p75 paid_total_adjusted max paid_total_adjusted) ///
>> style(tex) font(bold) h3(nil) body f(2cm 2cm 2cm 2cm 2cm 2cm 2cm)
>> npos(tufte) replace
>>
>> The above command works perfectly and gives me what I want.  I also
>> want to make an identical table using a different list of variables so
>> I use the following command:
>>
>> tabout  side_indicator-skin_indicator paid_total_cat using tabletest.txt, ///
>> sum c(mean paid_total_adjusted sd paid_total_adjusted min
>> paid_total_adjusted p25 paid_total_adjusted p50 paid_total_adjusted
>> p75 paid_total_adjusted max paid_total_adjusted) ///
>> style(tex) font(bold) h3(nil) body f(2cm 2cm 2cm 2cm 2cm 2cm 2cm)
>> npos(tufte) replace
>>
>> The two commands are identical (aside from the predictor variables
>> that are included in the list) but the second command gives me the
>> error message:  "paid_total_ ambiguous abbreviation
>> r(111);"
>>
>> Since the predictor variables are what changes between the two
>> commands, I'm assuming the new variables must be causing the issue.
>> That being said, I've even gone so far as to manually write out all
>> the variables that are referenced by the statement
>> "side_indicator-skin_indicator" but that doesn't fix the problem.  I
>> have also used "set trace on" to try to pinpoint the issue but the
>> programming used within tabout is far too complicated for my skill
>> level.  Here is the snippet of the trace output where the error
>> occurs...perhaps you have a better grasp of what is going on within
>> the program.
>>
>>   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> end tabout.sum_write ---
>>  - }
>>  - }
>>  - else if $do_svy==1 {
>>  = else if 0==1 {
>>    if $oneway==1 local hvar = "_xx_ph_xx_"
>>    if ($do_sum==0) svy_mat `v' `hvar' `svycat' `svylevel' `svyporp' `touse'
>>    else svy_sum `svy_sumvar' `v' `hvar' `svylevel' `colmat' `touse'
>>    do_write `v' `hvar' "`format'"
>>    }
>>  - global fpass = 0
>>  - }
>>  - local vvarname : variable label `v'
>>  = local vvarname : variable label paid_total_
>> paid_total_ ambiguous abbreviation
>> <------------------- here is the error
>>    if ("`vvarname'"=="") label var `v' "`v'"
>>    local vtype : type `v'
>>    if (substr("`vtype'",1,3)=="str") {
>>    capture encode `v', gen(_`v'_x)
>>    local v = "_`v'_x"
>>    global dropv = "$dropv `v'"
>>    }
>>    if ("`v'"=="`lastvar'") global lpass = 1
>>    if $do_svy==0 {
>>    if $oneway==1 local hvar = "_xx_ph_xx_"
>>    if ($do_sum==0) {
>>    do_mat `v' `hvar' `weightstr1' `weightstr2' `colmat' `touse'
>>    do_write `v' `hvar' "`format'"
>>    }
>>    else {
>>    if ($oneway==0) sum_twoway `v' `hvar' `weightstr1' `weightstr2'
>> `colmat' `statkind' `statvar' `touse'
>>    else sum_oneway "`cells'" `v' `weightstr1' `weightstr2' `touse'
>>    sum_write `v' `hvar' "`format'" "`cells'"
>>    }
>>    }
>>    else if $do_svy==1 {
>>    if $oneway==1 local hvar = "_xx_ph_xx_"
>>    if ($do_sum==0) svy_mat `v' `hvar' `svycat' `svylevel' `svyporp' `touse'
>>    else svy_sum `svy_sumvar' `v' `hvar' `svylevel' `colmat' `touse'
>>    do_write `v' `hvar' "`format'"
>>    }
>>    global fpass = 0
>>    }
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> end tabout ---
>> r(111);
>>
>>
>>
>> Does anyone have any insight into this issue?
>>
>> Thanks for the consideration,
>> Jordan
>>
>> *
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>
>
>
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