Saving CSV files in Stata

[Ciara Lusin]

Hi,

I am trying to save changes in a CSV file in STATA. I have imported the file, wrote the commands and then exported it.
I have used the following commands:

import delimited "/Users/vardanyang/Dropbox/Irish migration - NSV/Ellis Island/Distances_1.csv"
split v1, destring
rename v11 ID_A
rename v12 First_Name_A
rename v13 Last_Name_A
rename v14 ID_B
rename v15 First_Name_B
rename v16 Last_Name_B
rename v17 Age_Dist
rename v18 Dist_FN
rename v19 Dist_lN
export delimited "/Users/vardanyang/Dropbox/Irish migration - NSV/Ellis Island/Distances_1.csv"


After this when I open the csv file in the computer, the changes are saved but when I import it in STATA, the changes are not saved.

Can you please let me know how to proceed so that the changes are saved?

Thanks,
Ciara

[Marcos Almeida]

You need to add the option - replace -, because this is a pre-existent dataset.

Hopefully that helped

[Ciara Lusin]

Hi Marcos,

I actually get the same thing: the names do not change when I import the csv file into STATA, even after using the replace option.
Ciara

[Richard Williams]

Are you sure Stata isn't refusing to import because data is already in memory? Showing exact commands and output might help.

Also, I would give the new csv file a different name. I don't like destroying an earlier version this way. You might decide you want to do something differently and re-use the file you have overwritten.

[Richard Williams]

You might also issue a clear all command before trying to read in the new csv file. Maybe Stata keeps the old data in memory.

[Marcos Almeida]

Also, make sure the ‘new’ file is in the wished directory.