error trying to use a file: characteristics too long r(688)

[László Sándor]

Hi,
I am using Stata/MP 14.0 for Unix (64-bit Intel), Revision 03 Aug 2015, and ran into a file saved on Sep 19, 2008 which I cannot -use- because I get the error in the subject line. I do not understand what it is about, and there is not a single instance of this phrase (and Stata) on Google.

This file has been made as part of a series, and the siblings I could use. Even more curiously, I could call e.g. -cf using …- on this file, which runs fine. What could this error be about, and how can I fix it?

For the adventorous, I put the file on Dropbox, temporarily — and beware, it is 332.5 MB large.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ddjjj88f78...p04w5.dta?dl=0

Thanks,

Laszlo

[Friedrich Huebler]

Error 688 means that the file is corrupt. Reference: http://www.stata.com/manuals14/perror.pdf

[László Sándor]

Thanks! Strange the file worked with -cf using-.