Introduction to Stata 8

Reading ASCII data [U] 24
Reading tab- or comma-separated data [R] insheet
In tab-separated data the tabulator character, here displayed as , separates the values. A
tab-separated ASCII file is created e.g. if you save an Excel worksheet as a text (.txt) file. If
row 1 is variable names, Stata will find out and use them. In this and the following examples
the value of type in observation 2 is missing.
id type sold price
1 2 47 51.23
2 793 199.70
You may read a tab-separated ASCII file with variable names in row 1 by the command:
insheet using c:\dokumenter\p1\a.txt , tab
In comma-separated data a comma separates each value:
1, 2, 47, 51.23
2, , 793, 199.70
If you have a comma-separated file without variable names in row 1 the command is:
insheet id type sold price using c:\dokumenter\p1\a.txt , comma
insheet assumes that all data belonging to one observation are in one line.
Reading freefield data [R] infile (free format)
In freefield data commas or blanks separate each value:
1 2 47 51.23
2 . 793 199.70
If you have freefield data the command is
infile id type sold price using c:\dokumenter\p1\a.txt
infile does not assume that data belonging to one observation are in one line, and the
following data are the same as the data above:
1 2 47 51.23 2 . 793 199.70
Reading fixed format data [R] infix; [R] infile (fixed format)
In fixed format data the information on each variable is determined by the position in the line.
The blank type in observation 2 will be read as missing.
1 2 47 51.23
2 793 199.70
infix id 1 type 2-3 sold 4-7 price 8-14 using c:\dokumenter\p1\a.txt
Fixed format data can also be read by infile; to do this a dictionary file must be created,
specifying variable names and positions etc. See [R] infile (fixed format).
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