Dataset

Written by:

Ylva B Almquist

This is what Stata looks like:

The menu bar

The menu bar (File, Edit, and so on) is located in the upper area. It works similar to the menus in many other programs, such as Word or Excel. Some useful File options are listed below.

Open a file
  • Go to File\Open and browse your computer to locate the file that you want to open.
  • Click on Open.
  • Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+O
Save a file
  • Go to File\Save As.
  • Type in a descriptive name.
  • Click on Save.
  • Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+S
Overwrite a file
  • Go to File\Save.
  • Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+S
Import data
  • Go to File\Import.
  • Choose what kind of format you want to import.
  • Browse the file.
  • Click on Open.
Export data
  • Go to File\Export.
  • Choose what kind of format you want to export to.
  • Name the new file.
  • Click on OK.

Note
Most of the options above can be found also in the menu of e.g. do-files.

Windows

The default setting in Stata is that the following windows are shown:

  • Variables
  • Properties
  • Command
  • History
Note
You can change which windows are shown. Go to Window in the menu bar and click on the windows you want to hide/show.
Variables

The Variables window shows a list of variables in the dataset, including the Name and the Label for each variable.

Properties

Every time that you click on a variable in the list, some information for that variable appears in the Properties window, e.g. Name, Label, Type, Format, and Value Label.

Command

The Command window is where you can write your commands.

Note
We highly recommend that you primarily insert command in your do-file instead.
Note
You can scroll among your previous commands by using the Page up and Page down keys on your keyboard.
History

All the commands that Stata performs are listed in the History window.

Note
If you use a do-file, the history list will diminish considerably. A note will instead appear in the History window, stating that you have executed commands from a do-file.
Results

All the results that Stata produces, end up in the Results window.

One really practical thing is that you can copy the table as a picture. Just highlight what you want, click on Edit\Copy as picture, and then paste it anywhere you like.

A table copied as a picture from Stata:

Note
The size of the picture depends on the width of your Results window; wider = smaller table.

Alternatively, you can choose to copy the output as a table and then insert it in another document, e.g. Word. Do this by choosing Edit\Copy table.