Help with using local and generate command

[Sindu Kebede]

Dear all,
I used the local command:

local happy q1_5
local sad q1_6

etc.. I have a lot more variables but to show my problem i resrtict to these 2.
Then I run the command:

gen status = `happy' * 1.7+ `sad' *3

STATA responds: invalid varname
r(198);

How Can i solve this problem? I am using STATA 13.1.

Many thanks

[Jesse Wursten]

Did you run your code in one go? Also, why not simply rename the variables?

[Sindu Kebede]

yes I run the codes in one go. I have so many variables and also I have interaction variables from the local command.

[Jesse Wursten]

Maybe something changed in Stata 14.2, but when I run

clear all
set obs 5
gen q1_5 = 2
gen q1_6 = 3

local happy q1_5
local sad q1_6

gen status = `happy' * 1.3 + `sad' * 3

It works just fine? I still don't see the gain from using locals instead of renaming though...

[William Lisowski]

Perhaps the example in post #1 was not an actual representation of the code run but instead a sample of similar code that was meant to show the syntax used, without being an actual failing example. Maybe there are a large sequence of similar commands within a do-file, and it is not clear which command is failing.

In that case, trying

set trace on

before running the commands that fail will generate lots of output to your Results window, and will show you which command fails, and what the command looked like after substituting for the local macros. Read the output of help trace for more in-depth advice.