Stata Technical Bulletin
A. The information given is correct, but for Lotus 1-2-3 files, I have found the following: First, Stat/Transfer looks only at
the top row of the data (the second row of the spreadsheet) to decide if a variable is transferable. If that second row is
blank, a character variable, and perhaps a numeric variable, will not be transferred (actually, Stat/Transfer won’t put the
variable in the variable list from which you select variables to be transferred). So the top row of data is crucial. If you have
a dataset with a lot of missing data, you might want to make sure that the top row or first case is complete and has the
correct variable format (character or numeric) for a successful transfer. We have inserted 999s or strings of “xxxxxxxxx”
for character variables into the first few rows of our files when those rows have missing data in them.
The second addendum concerns Stat/Transfer’s ability to minimize the size of data files. I have found that with Lotus 1-2-3
even variables which are formatted with fixed format, zero decimal places, transfer over as long or float variables. Here
the problem is probably with Lotus rather than Stat/Transfer. I have not been able to get a variable to transfer over as a
byte or an int in spite of several attempts using various features of Lotus. While Stat/Transfer may minimize the size of
variables in other statistical packages like Systat or Gauss, it does NOT do so with Lotus 1-2-3.
In spite of this fact, I have found over time that for all but the smallest datasets, inputting the data via Lotus 1-2-3 and
transferring over the file is by far the easiest way of inputting data, and I strongly recommend the use of Stat/Transfer in
those circumstances.
Q. How do I move large mainframe datasets into Stata?
A. We had a 2.1 megabyte SAS file which we attempted to import into Stata via dbms/copy. Unfortunately dbms/copy gave
us gibberish. We finally got dbms/copy to produce a 7.0+ megabyte ASCII file which we reread into Stata as raw data
(dbms/copy’s raw data format has 13 columns per numeric variable, which accounts for a lot of white space in that file2).
Bottom line: the advice that the “TOSPSS” procedure be used for SAS datasets seems to be solid. In defense of dbms/copy,
they do state that SAS/PC files have an “encrypted field” within them.
Notes
1. We have been unable to determine whether the blank lines got into the spreadsheet from user error or from some characteristic
of Quattro when it saves a .wkl file.
2. PK-ZIP took that 7.0+ megabyte ASCII file and produced a zipped version of just over 500K.
os3.1 Comment on os3: using Intercooled Stata within DOS 5.0
Marc Jacobs, Social Sciences, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, FAX (011)-31-30-53 4405
I am certainly a fan of both Stata, preferably the Intercooled version, and Windows 3.0. Running regular Stata Professional
under Windows 3.0 in 386 enhanced mode never gave me problems, except that it is a bit slower than running Stata directly
under DOS. There are two major advantages to running it under Windows: Windows can emulate expanded memory; and using
the advanced settings with the PIF editor, a user can easily switch from Stata to the editor, where various do-files can be accessed.
In my work, I find that data analyses, do-files, and other Stata programs need a lot of testing. What is more comfortable than
to edit a do-file, run it, find out what went wrong, and then start editing at the same point where you left it?
I too have noticed that Intercooled Stata and the enhanced mode of Windows 3.0 do not work together. Running the former
in the Windows real mode is not satisfactory—it’s just like working on an IBM 6MhzPC again! Several times the Windows
just crashed. Moreover, using the emm386. sys manager prohibited me from running Intercooled Stata in standard mode. The
solution: small jobs I run in regular Stata Professional under Windows; big jobs I run Intercooled Stata directly under DOS 5.0.
I would like to give a warning about using the noems switch when emulating expanded memory under Windows. Do not
do it. Stata files may become corrupted as a result. Set the device driver in such a way that specific emulated RAM is provided.
In other words
device=c:\bin\dos\emm386.exe 1024 ram
rather than
device=c:∖bin∖dos∖emm386.exe noems
os3.2 A follow-up question to os3: using Intercooled Stata within DOS 5.0
Arnold Katz, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, FAX 412-648-1793
Q. Editor: I am under the impression you believe that it is conceptually feasible to run Intercooled Stata from Windows 3.0 in
enhanced mode with the QEMM/386 memory manager. Being able to run Intercooled Stata under Windows would greatly