Re: st: Log file with too much information

[David Kantor <kantor.d@att.net>]

Hello,
I would add that SMCL is good for when you want to view you logs in a 
way that emulates what appeared on the screen -- with color and 
special border characters around tabulations and listings. You do 
that in the Stata Viewer (Try -help view-). (You may be able to print 
in that form as well.)

SMCL is also what goes into help files (.sthlp). I have, on one 
occasion, inserted example output into help files by cutting and 
pasting from SMCL logs.

But as one other responder (Don Spady) implied, SMCL is not for 
everyone. I, too, usually prefer text. While SMCL has advantages, it 
can only be used within Stata. Outside of Stata, as you have found, 
the additional formatting material gets in the way.

One particular operation I have often done it to compare two logs 
from different runs of a do-file -- with small changes to either the 
data or the do-file. The comparison is made outside of Stata, such as 
with the Windows fc command (or with some viewing or editing 
facitilty). Text logs are much more suitable for this operation. (In 
the past, the "primitive", text-based DOS editor could be used to 
rapidly switch between files, while keeping them aligned, allowing me 
to easily see the differences. Regrettably, this has gone extinct. 
Not all "progress" is improvement. P.S., it can be done in the Stata Viewer.)

HTH
--David

At 12:24 PM 4/22/2013, you wrote:
> David is correct. In addition, start with the -help- for -log-
>
> e.g.
>
>  Full logs are recorded in one of two formats: SMCL (Stata Markup and
> Control Language) or
>     text (meaning ASCII).  The default is SMCL,
>
> and then look at -translate- for after the fact conversion. If
> interested in SMCL, proceed to -help smcl-.
>
> Nick
> njcoxstata@gmail.com
> [...]

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