Re: st: catching variable mismatch in the data

[Eric Booth <eric.a.booth@gmail.com>]

<>

As in:

sysuse auto, clear
rename mpg var4999
rename rep78 var41

       cap noi ds var4??? //fixed
            if `"`r(varlist)'"' != "" exit
            display as err "There is a mismatch between variable names in the data"
            exit
             }
			 
*more stuff that wont run now*
desc, sh
regress var41 t*
  *! this worked


- Eric




On Sep 13, 2013, at 7:26 AM, Eric Booth <eric.a.booth@gmail.com> wrote:

> <>
> 
> It should read:
> 
>>           cap noi ds var4???
> 
>  not 
> 
>>           cap noi ds v4???
> 
> 
> 
> HTH, 
> Eric
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sep 13, 2013, at 7:21 AM, Paul Byatta <paulbyatta@ymail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Hi Eric, 
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks for the help. 
>> 
>> 
>> The correction you recommend seems to be working well, ie it is catching the presence of the variable/s as I want.
>> 
>> 
>> The only hitch is that the dofile doesnt exit when the variables v4??? are present, despite there being an -exit- command. It displays the error message but continues with the rest of the commands in the dofile. What could I be doing wrong? Below is how I have incorporated the command lines.
>> 
>> 
>>           cap noi ds v4???
>>            if `"`r(varlist)'"' != "" {
>>            display as err "There is a mismatch between variable names in the data"
>>            exit
>>             }
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks
>> Paul
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Eric A. Booth <eric.a.booth@gmail.com>
>> To: statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu
>> Cc: 
>> Sent: Friday, September 13, 2013 2:07 PM
>> Subject: Re: st: catching variable mismatch in the data
>> 
>> <>
>> Hi Paul:
>> It appears you want to stop your do file if there is any variable
>> present that has a variable name of the pattern var4???.
>> If you find them, then you want to stop your do-file (based on the use
>> of the error message and -exit- in your loop).
>> 
>> Your loop is failing for a few reasons.  First , var4### is illegal;
>> instead, you want var4???.  Also, the second line with 'capture
>> confirm...' is irrelevant when  you start the loop with 'foreach x1 of
>> varlist var4??? { '  because if there were no var4??? in your dataset
>> the loop would stop there and say 'variable 4??? not found', having
>> never reached the 'capture confirm...' lines nested below.
>> 
>> Instead, I think you can put these 2 lines in your do-file to get the
>> functionality you seek:
>> 
>> **
>> cap noi ds var4???
>> if `"`r(varlist)'"' != "" exit
>> **
>> 
>> - Eric
>> 
>> On Fri, Sep 13, 2013 at 5:35 AM, Paul Byatta <paulbyatta@ymail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Statalist
>>> 
>>> I writing lines of commands that will alert me whenever there is a mismatch between variable names. I know there is a mismatch when the dataset contains a foreign variable name. I also know the foreign variable name/s will take the prefix of "var" and end with with a number greater than 4000 (because the total non-foreign variables are 4000).
>>> 
>>> The commands I have so far
>>> 
>>>             foreach x1 of varlist var4###{
>>>             capture confirm variable `x1'
>>>               if _rc != 0 {
>>>                 display as err "There is a mismatch between variable names in the data"
>>>                 exit _rc
>>>               }
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I know based on an earlier discussion on this list (Re: st: -confirm variable- does not accept varlist (wildcards)) that "capture confirm" command doesnt accept varlist, but does somebody have any alternative suggestions on how to programmatically achieve my goal above.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Thanks
>>> Paul
>>> 
>>> 
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> 


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