in this video i’ll show you how to use
do files in stata
do files are useful in many ways
they allow you to automate repetitive
tasks
you can write a do file once and then
use it many times over also they’re good
for tracking and saving the steps of an
analysis
if you enter commands through a do file
and execute them
instead of just entering them into the
command window
then it’s easy for you to figure out
what steps you’ve taken to arrive at the
findings that you’ve gotten and to go
back and change them
that’s the third benefit it’s easy to
correct an analysis without starting
from scratch
when you do an analysis on do files and
you find out several minutes or even
hours later that you’ve made a small
mistake
if you have a do file you can just go
back and make that one mistake and run
your steps
automatically if you don’t use two files
then you have to input
your steps one by one and start from
scratch
finally do files are great because it’s
easy to share code with others
makes collaboration easier it makes it
easier for other people to look at your
work
do files are written in the do file
editor
to open the do file editor type the word
do edit in the stata command window
let’s see what it’s like to open the do
file editor in a stata session
type do edit in the command window and
the do editor will appear
you write your stata code in the do file
editor
each line of code is like entering a
command one time each carriage return is
equivalent to pressing enter in the
command window and executing the command
remember to save your do files often
let’s see what it looks like to enter
commands into the do file editor in a
real session
save your do edit file in the file save
as window
i’m calling this file my do file
anything you type with an asterisk will
not be run by stata
they’re comments
i type a series of commands in my do
file and i save it
i can open my do file later by pressing
the open button in the do file editor
there are two ways to execute a do file
if you do a do file it will show the
commands in the result window
if you run a do file it executes the do
file quietly you don’t see all the
commands that are being run
to execute a do file
enter the command do
with the do file’s name in parentheses
to run a do file
you enter run
and the do file’s name in parentheses
let’s see what it looks like to execute
a do file in a real stata session
to run my do file
i type
do
and then the name of the do file dot do
in quotation marks
and as you can see it ran the three
tables
let’s review
a do file is a script of stata commands
you can enter a series of stated
commands save them in a file and execute
them all at once
for more information on do files type
help do in this data command window