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Stata Class Notes
Entering Data
1.0 Stata commands in this unit
cd Change directory
dir or ls Show files in current directory
insheet Read ASCII (text) data created by a spreadsheet
infile Read unformatted ASCII (text) data
infix Read ASCII (text) data in fixed format
input Enter data from keyboard
import excel Import Excel .xls or .xlsx file
describe Describe contents of data in memory or on disk
compress Compress data in memory
save Store the dataset currently in memory on disk in Stata data format
use Load a Stata-format dataset
count Show the number of observations
list List values of variables
clear Clear the entire dataset and everything else
memory Display a report on memory usage
set memory Set the size of memory
2.0 Demonstration and explanation
A) Comma-separated file with variable names
We will start with inputting a spreadsheet type of data file into Stata. A spreadsheet type of file is created by programs such as
Excel. For example, in Excel, we can save a file into a comma-separated-values format (.csv) file. Stata reads in this type of data
using the insheet command. Let's first get to the directory where the file hs0.csv is. This data file has variable names on the first
line.
Here is a partial listing from the comma-separated file:
gender,id,race,ses,schtyp,prgtype,read,write,math,science,socst
0,70,4,1,1,general,57,52,41,47,57
1,121,4,2,1,vocati,68,59,53,63,61
0,86,4,3,1,general,44,33,54,58,31
0,141,4,3,1,vocati,63,44,47,53,56
0,172,4,2,1,academic,47,52,57,53,61
0,113,4,2,1,academic,44,52,51,63,61
0,50,3,2,1,general,50,59,42,53,61
0,11,1,2,1,academic,34,46,45,39,36
0,84,4,2,1,general,63,57,54,,51
0,48,3,2,1,academic,57,55,52,50,51
And here are the Stata commands to read these data.
cd d:\stata_data /* note: directory and path may differ on your computer */
dir
insheet using hs0.csv, clear
describe
B) Comma-separated file without variable names
What if the data file does not have the variable names on the first line? We have a such file called hs0_noname.csv. We will also
do a count to see if the inputting was successful.
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Stata Class Notes: Entering Data http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/notes/entering12.htm
insheet gender id race ses schtyp prgtype read write math science socst using hs0_noname.csv, clear
count
C. Space-delimited file
To read a space-delimited file we will use infile command. The first part of the file hs0.raw is shown below.
0 70 4 1 1 general 57 52 41 47 57
1 121 4 2 1 vocati 68 59 53 63 61
0 86 4 3 1 general 44 33 54 58 31
0 141 4 3 1 vocati 63 44 47 53 56
0 172 4 2 1 academic 47 52 57 53 61
0 113 4 2 1 academic 44 52 51 63 61
0 50 3 2 1 general 50 59 42 53 61
0 11 1 2 1 academic 34 46 45 39 36
0 84 4 2 1 general 63 57 54 . 51
0 48 3 2 1 academic 57 55 52 50 51
0 75 4 2 1 vocati 60 46 51 53 61
0 60 5 2 1 academic 57 65 51 63 61
Notice how we specify a character variable below. The variable prgtype is a string variable. We tell Stata that prgtype is a string
variable which should have a length of 10 by typing str10 before the variable name. We will use the hs0.raw data file.
infile gender id race ses schtyp str10 prgtype read write math science socst using hs0.raw, clear
D) Fixed format file
The other type of commonly used ASCII data format is fixed format. It always requires a codebook to specify which column(s)
corresponds to which variable. Here is small example of this type of data with a codebook. Notice how we make use of the
codebook in the infix command below. We will use the schdat.fix data file.
195 094951
26386161941
38780081841
479700 870
56878163690
66487182960
786 069 0
88194193921
98979090781
107868180801
variable name column number
id 1-2
a1 3-4
t1 5-6
gender 7
a2 8-9
t2 10-11
tgender 12
clear
infix id 1-2 a1 3-4 t1 5-6 gender 7 a2 8-9 t2 10-11 tgender 12 using schdat.fix
E. Excel file
The import excel command was introduce in Stata 12. Here is what the file hsbdemo.xlsx looks like.
Here is how the spreadsheet is read in.
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Stata Class Notes: Entering Data http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/notes/entering12.htm
import excel using hsbdemo.xlsx, sheet("hsbdemo") firstrow clear
F) Space delimited data from a do-file
We can also use the do-file editor to input data. The do-file editor is used for writing a sequence of commands and running them all
at once. You can copy and paste the following Stata syntax to the do-file editor and run it.
clear
input id female race ses str3 schtype prog read write math science socst
147 1 1 3 pub 1 47 62 53 53 61
108 0 1 2 pub 2 34 33 41 36 36
18 0 3 2 pub 3 50 33 49 44 36
153 0 1 2 pub 3 39 31 40 39 51
50 0 2 2 pub 2 50 59 42 53 61
51 1 2 1 pub 2 42 36 42 31 39
102 0 1 1 pub 1 52 41 51 53 56
57 1 1 2 pub 1 71 65 72 66 56
160 1 1 2 pub 1 55 65 55 50 61
136 0 1 2 pub 1 65 59 70 63 51
end
After running the above program, we can issue the describe command to get a general idea about the data set. The compress
command reduces the size of the data set. We can save the data set to disk by issuing the save command.
describe
compress
save hsb10
G) Stata data file on hard drive or flash drive
To read in a Stata data file, we use the use command.
clear
use hsb10
use "D:\data\hsb10", clear
H) Stata data file via the Internet
The use command can also be used to read a data file over the internet.
use http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/data/hs0, clear
3.0 For more information
Data Management Using Stata: A Practical Handbook
Chapter 2
Statistics with Stata 12
Chapter 2
Gentle Introduction to Stata, Revised Third Edition
Chapter 2
Data Analysis Using Stata, Third Edition
Chapter 11
An Introduction to Stata for Health Researchers, Third Edition
Chapter 6
Stata Learning Modules
A sample Stata session
Inputting raw data files into Stata
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Stata Class Notes: Entering Data http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/notes/entering12.htm
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I convert files among SAS, SPSS and Stata?
How can I input a dataset quickly?
How can I read Excel files in Stata? (Stata 12)
How can I read Stata 12 data files in Stata 11?
How do I read a data file that uses commas/tabs as delimiters?
How can I handle the No Room to Add Observations Error?
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