Extended ASCII characters in paths names and files names with Stata 14

[Benoît Laplante]

I use several different computers all running Windows 7 with a French interface. Most folders and files include Extended ASCII characters in their names, even the standard user folder as users’ names include such characters. This is not a problem with other softwares and it wasn't with Stata until version 14.

Apparently, the way Unicode is implemented in Stata 14 makes it impossible to open a .do or a .gph file by just clicking on it. I found nothing on this topic in the documentation.

Some other aspects of the behaviour of Stata 14 are a bit puzzling. Consider this:

. graph use "C:\É\É.gph"
could not change to directory C:\�\
chdir(): 170 could not change directory
__pathmkabsolute(): - function returned error
__filemkabsolute(): - function returned error
<istmt>: - function returned error
r(170);

. cd "C:\É"
C:\É

. dir
<dir> 5/07/15 16:23 .
<dir> 5/07/15 16:23 ..
13.0k 5/07/15 16:22 É.gph

I guess this has to do with -cd- being really a Windows command whereas -graph use- is a real Stata command. Still, this is a problem.

Is there a way to keep using Stata without restricting path names and files names to plain ASCII characters?

Am I missing something?

[Hua Peng (StataCorp)]

In -help whatsnew- for update dated 05may2015, item 27:

27. (Windows) graph use and graph save did not use or save, respectively, a graph when the current directory or the directory specified with the full path in the filename included non-ASCII Unicode characters. This has been fixed.

Type -update all- in Stata command window to get the latest update. If the problem with do file still exists in the latest update, please contact Stata tech support at [email protected] with an example.

[Benoît Laplante]

I should have thought about a two-day old update . Many thanks Hua Peng.