st: findname any of

[Jakob Petersen <jpeterb@essex.ac.uk>]

Statalist

I would like to create macro lists of variables based on various 
conditions (Stata 11.2).

The question: Is it possible to specify –findname- to “any of” instead 
of “all of”?

If a variable is not found the `r(varlist)’ seems to end up listing all 
variable
names (same for -ds-):

*1 *************************************
sysuse auto,clear
cap n findname make
local varlist `r(varlist)'
su `varlist'
cap n findname guitar make
local varlist `r(varlist)'
su `varlist'
**************************************


I guess !_rc {} could be used to fix this:

*2 *************************************
sysuse auto,clear
cap n findname make
if !_rc {
local varlist `r(varlist)'
su `varlist'
}
cap n findname guitar make
if !_rc {
local varlist `r(varlist)'
su `varlist'
}
**************************************

-lookfor- could be an (“any of”) alternative, but is much more limited 
in terms of options compared to –findname-

* 3 *************************************
sysuse auto,clear
cap n lookfor make
if !_rc {
local varlist `r(varlist)'
su `varlist'
}
cap n lookfor guitar make
if !_rc {
local varlist `r(varlist)'
su `varlist'
}
**************************************

Any ideas?

Jakob Petersen

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