Re: st: use13 : an experimental Stata command to import datasets in new Stata 13 format into older versions of Stata

[Richard Williams <richardwilliams.ndu@gmail.com>]

I tried converting this file with Stat/Transfer 12. It ran but the 
variable was saved in str244 format and there was no warning that 
this was happening. The S/T help says

"Stata Version 13 includes a  new strl data type.  These are 
potentially very long, variable length strings.   Stat/Transfer will 
write strings longer than a threshold value to Stata strl's rather 
than strings.  The threshold, by default, is 32 characters, but you 
can change this on the Options (1) screen.  Strings longer 
than  Stata's width limit  of 244 characters will always be written 
to strls.   Dates are written to Stata's internal date format."

I think the moral is if you are going to have monster strings, you 
better have everybody working with Stata 13.

I suspect S/T just assumes you know what you are getting when you ask 
for a conversion, i.e. you have to read the help because it won't 
otherwise warn you what compromises had to be made.

At 03:09 PM 6/19/2013, Robert Picard wrote:
> The -saveold- command of Stata 13 returns an error if the data
> contains a long string:
>
> . clear
>
> . set obs 2
> obs was 0, now 2
>
> . gen s = "x" * 5000
>
> . saveold test.dta
> data cannot be saved in old format
>     Data contain strL or str#, #>244, and prior releases of Stata
> would not know how to process these variables.  Either drop the
>     variables or use recast with the force option to change them to str244.
> r(459);
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 2:25 PM, Sergiy Radyakin 
> <serjradyakin@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 1:11 PM, Nick Cox <njcoxstata@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> I have no access to Stata 13, but there is precisely no point to
> >> -saveold- if Stata 12 is presented with data features it can not
> >> handle. So, at best long string variables will get truncated at 244
> >> characters. That's my guess.
> >
> > The idea is to be creative and make the content accessible in 
> Stata 12. There
> > are several strategies: splitting long variables into chunks,
> >  (resume-->resume_1, resume_2, resume_3....)
> > each no longer than 244, or dumping the long variables into a text file,
> > from which the users can pull the strings using alternative methods, etc.
> > The simplest approach is to truncate the data, but it is not
> > necessarily the best.
> >
> > But the bulk of the users are not going to use the new features of Stata 13
> > right away. Just as many of the datasets that are shipped with Stata 12 can
> > be resaved for Stata 9 without any losses. Consider auto.dta for example.
> > Secondly, since the features of Stata 13 were kept out of public 
> view, noone
> > was planning for them in advance, and having the possibility of 
> long strings
> > would not change the questionnaires being designed this month, and the data
> > collected using them in the next half a year.
> >
> > The feature that lacks in Stata is really: savemin (imaginary 
> name), which would
> > examine the file and save it in the lowest possible version that 
> would not incur
> > losses (that is really a job for save, but let's not get into that).
> > With that, many
> > datasets will end up somewhere in the v4-v7 range (imho).
> >
> > Another strategy could have been dual compatibility: SPSS v7 can read SPSS
> > v11 datasets. It does not understand everything, but the core of data
> > can be read,
> > and decoration is often (not always, but often) not essential.
> >
> >>
> >> I hope you don't get troubled by users who imagine that you have found
> >> a cheap way for them to upgrade without paying!
> >
> > Nothing in the announcement implies that. It is not an upgrade 
> for Stata 12 that
> > delivers features of Stata 13. It is a way to read data from 
> Stata 13 subject to
> > a) limitations of the existing Stata versions and b) my own goals and
> > time/effort
> > constraints. Not sure whether the same argument applies to e.g. 
> StatTransfer,
> > which is doing a similar conversion, though having had more time for
> > implementation (and [hypothetically] more insider information).
> >
> > Best, Sergiy
> >
> >
> >> Nick
> >> njcoxstata@gmail.com
> >>
> >>
> >> On 19 June 2013 18:05, Sergiy Radyakin <serjradyakin@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> And just as long they continue to "forget" doing this.
> >>>
> >>> Also, I am not sure what is the behavior of -saveold- in Stata 13.
> >>> What does it do with the long strings? The documentation is only
> >>> saying "saves the dataset currently in memory on disk ... in Stata 12
> >>> format". How is conversion done?
> >>>
> >>> Sergiy.
> >>>
> >>> On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 1:00 PM, Nick Cox <njcoxstata@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>> Note that getting your colleagues using Stata 13 to use -saveold- to
> >>>> save their datasets is the age-old solution to this.
> >>>>
> >>>> Nick
> >>>> njcoxstata@gmail.com
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> On 19 June 2013 17:54, Sergiy Radyakin <serjradyakin@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>> -use13-  is an experimental Stata command to import datasets in new
> >>>>> Stata 13 format into older versions of Stata
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The dataset format has changed in the new version of Stata to be
> >>>>> released on June 24, 2013 to accommodate new features.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The command will help users who can't upgrade immediately, but need to
> >>>>> load the data produced by Stata 13 (e.g. by their colleagues who have
> >>>>> upgraded) during the transition period.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The use, limitations, and installation instructions are described here:
> >>>>> http://www.adeptanalytics.org/radyakin/stata/use13/use13.htm
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Best, Sergiy Radyakin
> >>>>> *
> >>>>> *   For searches and help try:
> >>>>> *   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
> >>>>> *   http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/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/faqs/resources/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/faqs/resources/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/faqs/resources/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/faqs/resources/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/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/
> *   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/

-------------------------------------------
Richard Williams, Notre Dame Dept of Sociology
OFFICE: (574)631-6668, (574)631-6463
HOME:   (574)289-5227
EMAIL:  Richard.A.Williams.5@ND.Edu
WWW:    http://www.nd.edu/~rwilliam

*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/