Introduction to Stata 8

8. Getting data into Stata [U] 24; [GSW] 7
On exchange of data with other programs, see section 15.8.
Open Stata data [R] save
Read an existing Stata data set from disk into memory by:
use c:\dokumenter\p1\a.dta [ , clear]
If there are data in memory, use will be rejected unless you specify the clear option.
You may also issue a clear command before the use command:
clear
If you want only observations that meet a condition:
use c:\dokumenter\p1\a.dta if sex==1
If you want the first 100 observations only:
use c:\dokumenter\p1\a.dta in 1/100
If you want to work with only a subset of variables:
use age sex q1-q17 using c:\dokumenter\p1\a.dta
Save Stata data [R] save
Save the data in memory to a disk file by:
save c:\dokumenter\p1\a.dta [ , replace]
If you already have a disk file with this name, your request will be rejected unless you specify
the replace option. Only use the replace option if you really want to overwrite data.
Enter data with EpiData
To enter data I recommend EpiData, available for free from www.epidata.dk. This easy-touse
program has all the facilities needed. Further information in appendix 2.
Enter data as commands or in a do-file [R] input
Very small data sets. Define the variables with the input command and enter the values.
Finish with end. It can be done interactively from the command line or in a do-file. See
more examples in section 14.7 (Graph examples).
. input case expos pop
0 0 100
0 1 30
1 0 23
1 1 21
. end
You may also enter data directly in Stata's data window (not recommended; see section 2 and
[GSW] 6, 9).
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