st: What's new in v12 file format? [was: stattransfer]

[Nick Winter <nwinter@virginia.edu>]

I just compared the documentation of the dta file format for v11 and v12 
(i.e., dataset format 114 and dataset format 115) available in -help 
dta- from each version of Stata.  That turned up no differences other 
than the actual dataset format version number.

Can Statacorp explain the difference?

Best,
Nick Winter

On 8/18/2011 3:18 PM, Roger Newson wrote:
> Thanks to Svend for this timely warning about the potential hazards of
> -saveold-.
>
> It is difficult to find these deep technical details in the official
> Stata documentation, although there seems to be a lot of stuff in -[P]
> file formats .dta- and the associated online help, at least for those of
> us who can find the time to read them. On the other hand, both StataCorp
> and Circle Systems (who make Stat/Transfer) need to make a living, so
> maybe I should update to Stat/Transfer Version 11 if I want to minimize
> these issues.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Roger
>
>
> Roger B Newson BSc MSc DPhil
> Lecturer in Medical Statistics
> Respiratory Epidemiology and Public Health Group
> National Heart and Lung Institute
> Imperial College London
> Royal Brompton Campus
> Room 33, Emmanuel Kaye Building
> 1B Manresa Road
> London SW3 6LR
> UNITED KINGDOM
> Tel: +44 (0)20 7352 8121 ext 3381
> Fax: +44 (0)20 7351 8322
> Email: r.newson@imperial.ac.uk
> Web page: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/nhli/r.newson/
> Departmental Web page:
> http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/about/divisions/nhli/respiration/popgenetics/reph/
>
>
> Opinions expressed are those of the author, not of the institution.
>
> On 18/08/2011 18:28, Svend Juul wrote:
> > Peter Lachenbruch wrote:
> >
> > In trying to convert a Stata 12 data set to excel using
> > StatTransfer, i got the message that the Stata 12 format
> > is not supported.
> >
> > .. and there were a few comments from other users, including
> > use of the -saveold- command.
> >
> > **********************************************************
> >
> > This is a bit confusing because -whatsnew11to12- does not mention
> > any change of file format from version 11 to 12. I actually
> > wonder if the file format changed at all (and if yes, why?).
> >
> > If you use the -saveold- command in Stata 12, it creates a Stata 8/9
> > dataset, so if you have date-and-time data, Stata 10 or 11
> > will not format them correctly.
> >
> > I wrote to tech support about this, also urging StataCorp to avoid
> > changing the behavior of a command without changing its name
> > (which actually happened in Stata 10: In Stata 8/9, -saveold-
> > created a version 7 dataset; in Stata 10/12 it creates a version
> > 8/9 dataset).
> >
> > The documentation (saveold) states that Stata 11 is "smart enough" to
> > read Stata 12 datasets, but this is currently not the case.
> >
> > Svend
> > _______________________
> > Svend Juul
> > +45 2634 7796
> > sj@soci.au.dk<mailto:sj@soci.au.dk>
> >
> >
> > *
> > * 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/

--
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Nicholas Winter                                 434.924.6994 t
Associate Professor                             434.924.3359 f
Department of Politics                  nwinter@virginia.edu e
University of Virginia          faculty.virginia.edu/nwinter w
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