Re: st: Use of Stata project manager to make backing up and sharing more efficient

[Robert Picard <picard@netbox.com>]

To expand a bit further on -project-, the -archive- and -share()-
tasks copy project files to a date-and-time-stamped archive directory.
You can then drag these archive directories to Dropbox to back up or
share with others.

With -project-, you organize your Stata code using a master do-file
which then calls nested do-files. Because you are using -project- to
run the master do-file and all nested do-files, -project- knows the
name and location of all do-files in the project. And since -project-
automatically logs all do-files, -project- knows the name and location
of all log files in the project.

Within each do-file, you use build directives to indicate which files
it uses and creates. These in turn become part of the project and are
added to project files database. You can also use the -relies_on()-
directive to attach documents to the project even though they are not
used directly by your Stata code. These can be screen shots,
documentation files, etc.

Unlike Stata's new Project Manager, the database of files maintained
by -project- includes all files that are logically associated with the
project and is continually updated as your code evolves. You can at
any time list project files in various ways, including a very useful
concordance table that list all do-files associated with each project
file.

Because -project- is aware of all files associated with a project, it
can even move to an archive directory all files that are not part of
the project (the -cleanup- task).

Finally, the most important feature of -project- is the -replicate-
task. This moves all files created by the project to a replicate
directory and then completely re-runs the project. The newly created
files are then compared with the previous copy to check for
differences. All files created by the project are compared, including
datasets, log files, text files, etc.

Again, -project- is now available on SSC. Type

ssc install project

to install. See the help file for further information and type

net get project

to download the demo projects.

Robert

On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 12:05 PM, Robert Picard <picard@netbox.com> wrote:
> Thanks Stas for the plug. -project- is now available from SSC. Type
>
> ssc describe project
>
> for the package description and
>
> ssc intall project
>
> to install.
>
> Robert
>
> On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 11:46 AM, Stas Kolenikov <skolenik@gmail.com> wrote:
>> You could try Robert Picard's -project-, which is very neatly written
>> and provides a comprehensive suite of project management capabilities.
>> Search statalist archives for installation instructions. It is on his
>> private website that is not linked to Stata search bases (although it
>> should be).
>>
>> -- Stas Kolenikov, PhD, PStat (ASA, SSC)
>> -- Senior Survey Statistician, Abt SRBI
>> -- Opinions stated in this email are mine only, and do not reflect the
>> position of my employer
>> -- http://stas.kolenikov.name
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 10:12 AM, Stephen Cranney
>> <scranney@sas.upenn.edu> wrote:
>>> I'm trying to use the new Stata project function to more efficiently
>>> back up and share my work without having to drag individual files
>>> around. The manual wasn't terribly clear and I thought that, for
>>> example, I could just drop my Stata project file into a Dropbox folder
>>> to share it with my collaborators, but that doesn't appear to be
>>> working. So the Stata project manager doesn't somehow internalize the
>>> data and do files into one file that I can throw around, correct? I
>>> still have to individually drop files into clouds or backups? I was
>>> excited about the new project manager function because it seemed to
>>> imply that I wouldn't have to do that anymore.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance,
>>>
>>> Stephen
>>>
>>> --
>>> Stephen Cranney
>>>
>>> PhD Student
>>> Graduate Group in Demography
>>> University of Pennsylvania
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