Put each item of a macro in quotes

[Lucia Goin]

Hello,

I'd like to create a local macro where each item is in quotes. The problem is that I have some items that have spaces between them.

So, for example, I'd like a local that is something like:

local pies = "blueberry cake" "apple pie" "cheesecake" "blueberry pie"

etc.

Every time I try a different iteration of compound and double quotes, Stata returns the maco clean in display. Any tips?

Thanks!!

[Lucia Goin]

I read that displaying with: display `"`pies'"' protects the double quotes. But are they being stored?

[Nick Cox]

You can test this yourself:

. local pies  `"  "blueberry cake" "apple pie" "cheesecake" "blueberry pie" "'

. mac li
<stuff deleted> 
_pies:           "blueberry cake" "apple pie" "cheesecake" "blueberry pie"

Avoiding the equals sign helps in older versions of Stata.

[Lucia Goin]

Thank you! This worked perfectly.